phpBB 3.0 with all Dion updates, for me are still a good option.
For free board software, phpBB remains the best option even with its staff/direction issues.
For paid board software, I'm not sure. vBulletin, Xenforo, IPB, Discourse, and WBB have all moved to a "content management system" model and are no longer traditional forum software. They are also significantly more bloated than traditional forum software -- they require 2-4GB memory and multiple cores of a reasonably fast CPU, which means none can run on shared hosting or on a smaller VPS. Discourse and IPB require the most resources.
But to answer your question, I would use phpBB 3.0.14 as the base for any new board I'd set up. It would then be patched for PHP 8.2 compatibility, and a number of the MODs available here and elsewhere would be installed. As for its theme, I'd install a custom version of the theme I use on a couple other sites of mine. (The theme here is old and customized for desktops; its mobile view is simplistic at best. The desktop EditDD editor here is really nice, though. )
Dion:
My reasons for having zero interest in phpBB 4.0 have very little to do with the mythical Chameleon theme. Features/changes that have been proposed/written in the phpBB 4.0 core code are the reasons for my wanting nothing to do with it.
Yes, Chameleon is delayed -- and that's being kind. But the core code has been delayed just as long, if not longer. To be honest here, I think the issue with phpBB 4.0 development is the lack of both leadership and staff, and both are due to...well...I'll keep that to myself. I'll only say that I suspect a number of former phpBB devs would agree to return if two people left the project permanently.
But even that may not save the project. As it stands, phpBB 4.0 should be renamed DrupalBB, because it will be just as bloated and marginalized as that formerly-great product, which went the same (wrong) development path as phpBB and mortally wounded itself in the process.
Silvermaledetto:
You have described to me an even darker picture than what I had envisaged.
Without naming names, even if I would have already mentioned one, the phpbb development elite is increasingly moving away from or in any case losing empathy with the user base, but what is even more harmful is that they are also alienating several programmers and developers, equally prepared if not even more experienced and capable.
I see in their laconic answers in the relevant forums, an unwritten but well intelligible premise
"I am me and you are nobody!"
Now you argue that it is not the timing, but the basic initial choices that are fallacious, and then (since I enjoy Latin quotations) I summarize everything with
"Errare humanum est, perseverare autem diabolicum"
At this point long live Olympus!
Silvermaledetto:
I will frame your post and show it to those who have looked down on me.
Before they were just my subjective sensations, now they are your objective considerations.
Dion, you've already expressed yourself on the matter, but I'd just like your quick consideration on the work of Hanakin and Chameleon, which, if it continues at this rate, I think will end up coinciding with the release of John Wick 9!
Silvermaledetto:
Seeing how Olympus performs Dion's full package with PHP 8 and above, I can't find a single reason to use phpbb 3.3.10.
Or have I really missed something in the last 15 years?
In Italy they banned me from all the forums referring to phpbb.com, since I wrote that switching from Olympus to Ascraeus was a perfect downgrade, but it's not like it changed much afterwards.
I would kindly like the opinion of the Deus ex machina of this forum.
Dion:
Migrating from phpBB 3.0 to 3.1 was a downgrade. Among many other things, the new templating system (Twig) did not support the likes of APCu and memcached (and 10 years later, it still doesn't!), and it set incorrect file permissions (and it still does!) that made it impossible to delete the Twig cache manually via FTP when PHP was running as a user that didn't own the phpBB filesystem.
The phpBB devs like to name their releases after their mascot Bertie. When phpBB 3.2 was released, I privately told several (now mostly former) phpBB developers that it should have been named "Bertie jumps the shark" due to replacing the message parser with a bloated mess that relies on a slow/buggy PHP extension. (Most PHP developers were moving away from libxml2 by 2016.)
Migrating to phpBB 3.3 meant waiting for numerous extensions to be rewritten, in one major case due to perhaps the dumbest, er, most curious design decision in the product's history. That would be removing the user_email_hash column in the database as opposed to coming up with a better way to compute the hash. This stupid, er, curious change occurred because someone found a single example (in 14 years!!!) where the hash would not be unique. Instead of thinking about it and coming up with a backwards-compatible solution, a hasty decision was made to break backwards compatibility -- and in the process, a large number of extensions.
phpBB 3.3 loads a minimum of several hundred scripts to display a page, where 3.0 loads a maximum of about 35 scripts. That's quite a hit on Zend OPcache...assuming it's used. If it's not used, phpBB 3.3 is painfully slow and memory-hungry compared to 3.0.
The one positive thing about phpBB 3.1+ is its extension system, but even that is slow and memory-hungry due to its use of compact() and extract() on every hook (as opposed to directly passing variables by reference).
I have no plans to use or support phpBB 4.0. I will continue to develop and support phpBB 3.3 extensions and things like PHP8 support for phpBB 3.0. And based on conversations with others, I know I'm not the only one in this category. One honestly wonders who will use the product when (if) it's released...
Dione:
Agli sviluppatori di phpBB piace chiamare le loro versioni con il nome della loro mascotte Bertie. Quando è stato rilasciato phpBB 3.2, ho detto in privato a diversi sviluppatori phpBB (ora per lo più ex) che avrebbe dovuto essere chiamato "Bertie salta lo squalo"
Dione:
Ciò significherebbe rimuovere la colonna user_email_hash nel database anziché trovare un modo migliore per calcolare l'hash. Questo stupido, ehm, curioso cambiamento è avvenuto perché qualcuno ha trovato un solo esempio (in 14 anni!!!) in cui l'hash non sarebbe stato unico.
Dione:
phpBB 3.3 carica come minimo diverse centinaia di script per visualizzare una pagina, dove 3.0 carica un massimo di circa 35 script. È un bel successo su Zend OPcache ...
Se non viene utilizzato, phpBB 3.3 è dolorosamente lento e affamato di memoria rispetto a 3.0.
Dione:
ma anche il sistema delle estensioni è lento e affamato di memoria a causa del suo uso di compact() ed extract() su ogni hook (invece di passare direttamente le variabili per riferimento).
The whole new code decreases performance and is more prone to mistakes/bugs/holes than 3.0.x. It has become a mixture of third party frameworks just to bring up a few new features.
From my long experience almost no coder (especially when it's a team) will dump previous work to restart for a better approach - no matter how bad the decision was in the past. And when it happens at all it is years later already after the project has lost many users and contributers already. So I don't expect 3.2 to be any better than 3.1 and it's just sad to see the rock solid 3.0 slowly fade away.
I would rather stick with 3.0.14 for all the reasons stated above but I do worry about what will happen when my hosting company updates php to a version that is no longer compatible. For example, viewtopic.php?f=64&t=2316556, I know it's not imminent but it will happen eventually and by that time the update may be even more problematic than it was when I tested it recently.
If someone were to do a fork to keep 3.0 working on future php versions it would make the choice much easier. Unfortunately it's a task that's above my current abilities and I don't have enough spare time to try at the moment.
It's just not easy to switch when you've been running with such solid and secure software for many years and have adapted it to fit your precise needs. The MODs are not the biggest issue for me, most of what I want is being developed as extensions and I can do a few of the minor tweaks myself (even if editing the core files is not recommended it can still be done). The extra server load and the potential security/bug issues from external frameworks are a real concern for me though.
I'm on 3.0.14, and have no intention of upgrading anytime soon. Currently have it running on php7 too, though I wouldn't recommend it to others because it's far from a trivial upgrade. The problem is phpBB relies a lot on the preg replace /e modifier, which has been removed in php7, for bbcodes. I managed to adapt a lot of the new bbcode code intended for phpBB 3.2 into phpBB 3.0.14, but still had to get rid of some custom bbcodes I was using (such as the popular spoiler tag mod).
Then there's a lot of edge cases I keep running into. A couple days ago, my site failed following a routine upgrade of php7 modules. Took me hours to pinpoint the cause: the way pass-by-reference was being handled had changed from previous versions of php, which caused a function in functions-template.php to fail.
La differenza tra myBB (debbono intendersi per estensione, anche altre piattaforme di forum gratuite) e phpBB3 è il loro target di utilizzatori previsto.
myBB è progettato per ignoranti dell'utilizzo del computer, che desiderano un prodotto in cui possono fare clic su un pulsante e installare una scheda dall'aspetto gradevole. PhpBB3 è progettato dagli hacker per gli hacker. All'inizio è piuttosto grezzo, ma il suo potenziale è molto più alto di quanto si possa mai raggiungere con myBB. Ha anche una progettazione del database e un sistema di autorizzazioni parecchio migliore rispetto a myBB e la sua sicurezza, è infinitamente superiore.
Questa scheda phpBB3 (qui menziona il suo forum personale che è phpbb olympus based, ipermoddato) ha un'implementazione più ampia di AJAX di quella che ho visto su QUALSIASI forum di discussione ( non lo scrive, ma sottointende pure le nuove versioni phpBB 3.1 3.2 e 3.3 ). L'editor di risposta rapida qui è migliore di qualsiasi editor di risposta rapida che ho visto su altri forum di discussione. Ma questa è una scheda phpBB3 "antiquata"... o almeno così dicono coloro che non capiscono come aggiungere funzionalità a una scheda phpBB3, che i proprietari di myBB possono solo sognare di avere.
Anche il problema di installazione con phpBB3 rientra in questa categoria. In realtà ti fa PENSARE e fare alcune cose. Non è un'installazione con un clic.
Aggiornamenti... beh, questo è un problema con phpBB3 e sarà per sempre un problema con la linea di prodotti phpBB. Il gruppo phpBB è vittima del proprio successo. È stato il primo software per bacheche open source facile da modificare nel filesystem e ha una libreria di hack, MOD e stili che fa invidia a tutti gli altri produttori di software BB. Ma avere così tanto supporto di terze parti, ha reso difficile aggiornare il prodotto principale, senza interrompere alcuni di quegli hack/MOD/stili.
Immagino che si tratti di una decisione: vuoi una scheda (forum) che sia facile da installare e che abbia un bell'aspetto, ma non è (e non sarà mai) quella che vuoi... O... vuoi una scheda che richiede tempo per l'installazione e la configurazione, ma può essere impostata ESATTAMENTE nel modo desiderato?