Forums - which is best?

[Yampiedog]

I am in the process of creating a forum (not in competition of this one!) however I am just seeking some advice from the technologically minded members on which one to use. I have seen there are literally hundreds of versions all varying in cost / complexity / vulnerability etc...
So, which one do people recommend?

[Megaman]

it depends what features you want the forums to have - there are a lot of free forums out there with the most popular being phpbb. this for example includes varying access levels etc. if you pay for a forum system you will get more control over security, quicker tech support and some offer functionality like purchasing via the forums. Some also have a number of easy bolt on plugins to add functionality you want. So id try and decide what sort of features you would like and then pick a solution to fit your requirements. As mentioned before many open source forums will be more than adequate for a lot of people and will cope with 10,000's of users

[Yampiedog]

I am tending towards a phpBB forum as most I use are, and I like it as a user.

[Megaman]

Well phpbb has a big userbase and as such and vulnerabilities are quickly patched for it, its certainly worth using as a starting point. If you need more features from a pay to use forum system then simply migrate to it later. Most forums have conversions utils from PHPbb as its one of the most popular forums out there. A lot of content management systems embed phpbb too as its quite reliable.

[Yampiedog]

What sort of time would I have to devote to running a forum?

[Yampiedog]

Do I have to design the site online or can I do it on my computer first?

[Megaman]

PM me details of what you are looking to do, maybe i can help you out.

cheers

Martin