March 29th, 2020 at 11:23 PM
In the days of the past, it used to be compared to vbulliten 3 (one of the most respected forum software releases of all time). MyBB was once an incredibly popular choice for communities that needed highly customizable, relatively advanced software and that didn't want to go towards paid platforms (and still is).
It extends far beyond just money. On a free platform such as MyBB, developers work together, and 95% of what gets releases is free. There aren't a lot of unecessary footer attributions for every plugin. There aren't $20 price tags on tiny features. It doesn't have an overall bloated, commercialized feel to it. Free software is great, EVEN if you have the money for paid software. This is a big part of why we've stayed on it over the years. MyBB especially.
That said, should you use MyBB in 2020? Yes, but with some caveats.
It's very outdated, unfortunately. MyBB 1.8 hit the scene a little bit late, and it lacked one thing that probably put the nail in the coffin for MyBB. It wasn't responsive.
This means that every single theme developer has to do a complete rip and replace on a lot of MyBB's HTML and templates in order to get mobile friendly themes. There are not many themes that are responsive nowadays, and it's not acceptable to have a non responsive theme in 2020 (MS gets about 36% of its traffic on mobile alone).
Why use MyBB?
The MyBB 1.8 check list
I'm compiling a list of absolute must-do things if you use MyBB in 2020. This will address a number of long-standing issues with, and make it a good choice for your community (even over other softwares) due to its customizability, availability of addons, long-standing stability, and so forth. It won't work for everyone, but even in 2020, there are things that MyBB can do that give it a major advantage.
One a fresh install:
Plugins made by members of the MS community:
MyBB is a little outdated in 2020 with regards to a number of things, but the sheer ability to customize it is very difficult to find anywhere else. Developers especially will appreciate its ease of use modifying the HTML and CSS attributes of the forum. With a little work modernizing things, it's still an excellent choice for forums. We can all hope that MyBB is able to get the boost that it needs before too long, but only MyBB 1.9 will really be able to answer this one for us.
It extends far beyond just money. On a free platform such as MyBB, developers work together, and 95% of what gets releases is free. There aren't a lot of unecessary footer attributions for every plugin. There aren't $20 price tags on tiny features. It doesn't have an overall bloated, commercialized feel to it. Free software is great, EVEN if you have the money for paid software. This is a big part of why we've stayed on it over the years. MyBB especially.
That said, should you use MyBB in 2020? Yes, but with some caveats.
It's very outdated, unfortunately. MyBB 1.8 hit the scene a little bit late, and it lacked one thing that probably put the nail in the coffin for MyBB. It wasn't responsive.
This means that every single theme developer has to do a complete rip and replace on a lot of MyBB's HTML and templates in order to get mobile friendly themes. There are not many themes that are responsive nowadays, and it's not acceptable to have a non responsive theme in 2020 (MS gets about 36% of its traffic on mobile alone).
Why use MyBB?
- If you're even semi-comfortable with HTML, CSS, and PHP, MyBB is a no-brainer. It's extremely easy to extend and customize (which was always its biggest selling point). You can make it feel entirely different than it is. The plugins are very advanced. Much like SMF, you can heavily extend it, but MyBB's plugins tend to be much easier to install and maintain, and are generally more stable.
- MyBB 1.8 is also a very well tested, long-stable platform. They've ironed out a lot of issues and have made something that works the exact same way, and has been similar for many years. If you install a plugin or a theme, it's likely to work great for a long time.
- It's also very advanced compared to other free softwares. The ability to rate threads, provide reputation, advanced thread subscribing functionality, huge user control panel, and a large number of other built-in features are very advanced compared to other softwares. It's very solid, good software, even outside of the responsiveness!
The MyBB 1.8 check list
I'm compiling a list of absolute must-do things if you use MyBB in 2020. This will address a number of long-standing issues with, and make it a good choice for your community (even over other softwares) due to its customizability, availability of addons, long-standing stability, and so forth. It won't work for everyone, but even in 2020, there are things that MyBB can do that give it a major advantage.
One a fresh install:
- Make it responsive. Use one of these themes and modify it a little to suit your tastes. Some of these are absolutely beautiful designs, and can be made to feel unique if you (or someone in your community) can put a little customization into it!
- MyBB has a large community of developers that are happy to provide theme assistance. If you post a request on the support forum, most will be happy to help you find resources to accomplish what you need. There is also a wealth of paid themes and theme services for great prices. Even though MyBB is free software, investing in a paid theme is a good idea for a large number of communities.
- MyBB has a large community of developers that are happy to provide theme assistance. If you post a request on the support forum, most will be happy to help you find resources to accomplish what you need. There is also a wealth of paid themes and theme services for great prices. Even though MyBB is free software, investing in a paid theme is a good idea for a large number of communities.
- Install Google SEO plugin. I didn't realize how important this was until very recently. As it turns out, MyBB's built in customizations are made for the best possible server compatibility, and are absolutely terrible for search engine optimization. Google SEO is a fantastic plugin. I put it on here last week (even with our non-standard, nginx based server configuration), and it works like a charm. Google is already picking up pages it had ignored before.
- Install a "thanks" or "like button. Most MyBB communities use these. They're great. We're using a very old MyBB 1.6-based one here at MS, but there are some really good ones available now:
- Thank you/like button (Eldenroot's mod. Top rated one)
- MyReactions: Facebook style reactions with emojis).
- Thanks: The classic thanks button (similar to what we use here)
- Thank you/like button (Eldenroot's mod. Top rated one)
- Install Last Poster Avatar. This puts the last poster's avatar on the forum index and on a number of other places. It modernizes things a little and is overall a high quality plugin.
- Install MyAlerts for modern xenforo-style notifications.
- Install Page Manager. This allows you to add new pages to your forum. See this link for more info!
- Install Advanced Sidebox. This puts a highly advanced sidebar on pretty much any page of your forum. This is so useful that it should be in core MyBB.
- DVZ shoutbox
- Prostats (This plugin has been around for a very long time. Adds a lot of very useful statistics to your footer)
- MyProfile (Very popular plugin that adds profile comments, latest visitors on profiles, buddy lists, and some other features. )
- Get some premium plugins (if you so desire): MyBBoost has some very interesting ones (including full style PM conversations and pageless scrolling). Might look into adding some at some point. Mybb-plugins.com has long been a reputable place to go as well for subscriptions, downloads systems, and a number of other plugins.
Plugins made by members of the MS community:
- Post Activity (Guardian)
- BAM announcements manager
- Multiple Usergroup images on Profile/Postbit
- Profile last visitors/counter
- Public Ban Reason
- Hide Images from Guests (Ported from previous version).
- User Status Updates. In development, will be released in May! See the demo installed here.
MyBB is a little outdated in 2020 with regards to a number of things, but the sheer ability to customize it is very difficult to find anywhere else. Developers especially will appreciate its ease of use modifying the HTML and CSS attributes of the forum. With a little work modernizing things, it's still an excellent choice for forums. We can all hope that MyBB is able to get the boost that it needs before too long, but only MyBB 1.9 will really be able to answer this one for us.
