Ninjapost is a relatively new forum software to the market.  Regarded as the forum of the future Ninjapost truly grasps the Web 2.0 feel.  Ninjapost costs $50 to be hosted for 6 months, you can also pay an extra $50 if you would like a custom design to match your current website layout.  Very reasonable.

Installation Score: 10/10

Installation is very easy but does require a bit of knowledge about your server which could be tricky to a new forum admin or webmaster.  All you have to do is fill out a small form and create a “A” record for the sub-domain you wish to register your forum on.  I thought it was very easy to set up compared to your traditional forum setup.

User Friendliness Score: 8/10

Ninjapost is very user friendly, most of its features being AJAX.  It has an easy accessible UserCP complete with auto-resizing avatars in which I think every forum software should have.  Remember, you want it as easy as possible for your users.  The AdminCP link was clearly visible aswell.  No need to go hunting all over the page.  Saying that, I seen no place for adding signatures.  Signatures add a personal feel to a users post and quite often you can tell a users personality just from looking at his signature.

How Intimidating is the Admin Panel Score: 7 /10

The great thing about Ninjapost, for new administrators this will be a very suitable admin panel because it is very easy to use but for experienced administrators this could be very simplistic.  There is not much to customize your forum by, well nothing compared to boards such as vBulletin and MyBB.  Saying that, there is still plenty of options to effectively run a board by.

How Efficient is Moderation Score:6 /10

I make a big deal about moderation maybe more so than other forum admin’s as I believe it’s a very important part of running a forum.  I like for the users to be able to easily report offending post and also I like being able to effectively punish someone depending on the extent of the rule break.  Unfortunately, Ninjapost does not provide an infraction/warning system such as you would find in other popular boards. You are able to move users to a ban group but unable to set timed bans.  Users are also able to report offensive posts and an email will be sent to the moderators which I do like.  So, there is some sort of moderation system but nothing complex.

Layout Score: 9/10

One of the things I love about Ninjapost is there layout.  They have thought out side the box and came up with something different.  You will not see another forum like it.  Most of the features and Board are AJAX therefore giving it a more web 2.0. feel.  They have adopted a sidebar navigation which I thought was great.

Customer Support Score: 7/10

Ninajapost provides support through email and phone if you do come across any problems with your forum.  There is a F.A.Q aswell though I do not see any support forum at the moment which I think is a good medium for communication

Overall Score: 8/10

Ninjapost definitely impressed me as a forum admin.  I do think though there is still room for improvement like any board I have reviewed.  I think the moderation features need to be improved on slightly but it is still early doors.  Ninja post has taken a step forward on the forum administration world and to be honest I am glad some one did it.



SimplePress is on of the leading WordPress plug-in forum’s.  What makes this forum so popular is the easiness of you turning your blog into a fully functioning community, and, it’s all free.

Installation Score: 10/10

The installation of the forum was easy as 1..2..3.  It actually only took me three steps.  Upload the contents to the plug-in folder, activate the plug-in then click install.  Then about one minute later you have your fully functioning forum, that is not even true, about 20 seconds later and you have your fully functioning forum.  I could not ask any better from the installation.

User Friendliness Score: 8/10

The user-friendliness was nice.  The forum is incorporated into a page with my blog surrounding it.  Easy to find log-in links and how many PM’s you got ect.  I could not see the user not having any trouble with it.  It was very easy to select an avatar (It uses Gravatar) and really simple to create a signature.  The only bad thing I have to say about it is it overlaps my Tweetmeme plug-in therefore causing a bit of confusion and untidiness.

How Intimidating is the Admin Panel Score: 7/10

The admin panel is a small page inside your WordPress Admin panel.  Small but powerful.  It was very easy to use with AJAX sliding menus.  If you were an experienced forum administrator you would want more from you admin panel.  I like to customize every single detail on my forum but there was only a few options per section.

How Efficient is Moderation Score: 5/10

You were able to report posts.  When reported I was sent an email with the report and a link and comments of the post.  It was kind of buggy as there were “/”‘s before the ” ‘ “‘s if that makes sense.  I see no sign of an infraction/warning system or even the ability to ban users.  I tried the wiki and found no success.  Every forum needs some sort of warning system to keep their users inline of the forum rules.

Layout Score: 5/10

Lay out seemed really nice.  It was surrounded by the blog so users could drift off and read an article while they were waiting for topics to be posted in.  The only problem was the Tweetmeme plug-in.  On the main forum page the forum overlaps the “retweet” making the forum look untidy.  I can’t really give them points for layout since they actually using the users WordPress’ theme – maybe that was actually cleverly thought out.

Customer Support Score:8/10

There was nice customer support.  There is a fully function Wiki, Support Forum and Bug tracker.  Everyone seems to be constantly updated meaning the staff is working hard.  I don’t think the demand yet is in need of a ticket or phone service just quite yet.

Overall Score: 7/10

The forum was a well thought out idea.  In my opinion you cannot replace an old traditional vBulletin forum and I don’t think you could every have a full-blown out forum like Digital Point for example.  There is a few bugs that need fixed and few features that need added for this plug-in to contend with leading forum software such as MyBB, SMF and PHPbb3.



In a SEO post I made a while back I recommended a plug-in for vBulletin called VBSEO.  VBSEO handles all the SEO for your vBulletin forum when installed.  It is proven to dramatically increase your search engine traffic and is regarded as a truly world class product but the bad thing is it comes in at $149. Now, I am going to tell you why I chose this product.

Keyword Friendly URL’s

Keywords in the URL is proven to enhance your chances of ranking better in major search engines and this is supported by VBSEO. Search engines are supposed to read keyword URL’s better. A keyword URL looks like this http://successfulforum.com/this-is-a-keyword-url.html compared to your usual forum structure of a URL, http://successfulforum.com/showthread.php?t=154373.

Custom 404 Page Support

Custom 404′s always add a nice touch to the website. You can always add links to your most popular threads or forums or even create a search engine top help your users find what they are looking for after clicking a broken link. This will dramatically decrease the bounce rate and you will not see as much user’s leaving your forum after hitting a 404.

Basic Segmentation Tracking

One of my favourite features of VBSEO is the basic Segmentation. This allows you too add more functionality to your Google Analytics. Basic Segmentation divides your guests and members into individual groups and allows you to track their activity on Google Analytics. This will help you keep your forum at it’s up most activity and also let you find weakness on your forum which you can build upon.

Full Pingback/Trackback/Refback System

Like WordPress, the blog software I am using just now, VBSEO will add a full pingback/Trackback system to your forum. This means when someone links to your forum, the forum is pinged and you are notified that they are linking to you. This could be could because if you see a lot of links coming from the one site you could optimize and maybe put banner advertisement on that persons site or focus on generating more traffic from that site because the users coming from that site like your content.

More Features of the VBSEO plug-in can be found here.

What’s Your Say?

Do you use this plug-in? Do You like it? Do you think it’s a load of crap? What’s you opinion? I would love to hear it.

Finally, after a long excited  wait, on the 15th of may MyBB Group launched the newest version to their product V1.6

Come over and Test MyBB V1.6 Out

I have the newest version, MyBB V1.6 Beta set up on a sub directory.  It can be found at MyBB Group V1.6 Demo.

Come over talk MyBB, create some posts, create some forums, try out the new features.  Everyone is getting Admin privileges so that you get access to the ACP to test out the new features.

Just be civil.  Don’t delete other peoples tests or projects.

What I Like About It

After me roaming about it for a few hours last night there was a few things that stood out.

New Permissions System

MyBB have created a new permissions system for MyBB V1.6.  It seems to be all AJAX controled and you just drag simple permissions such as create post into the allowed column and that is the permission set.  You can also create custom permission as always.

Thread Prefixes

This is something that should be implemented into every forum.  There is 101 uses for thread prefixes but I usually use them mainly on support forums.  It’s good to see them implemented into the core of the project.

If you are a MyBB user come along and check it out. It looks great. Again, it can be found at MyBB Group V1.6 Demo

Invision power board, also know as IPB is starting to become more and more popular everyday.  Regarded as the next vBulletin you can purchase your own IPB licence for $149.99 or have it hosted on their hosting package for $10/month.

Installation Score: N/A

For installation I am going to put N/A since you can buy hosting with IPB installed for only $10 a month. The process looks very easy and you can have your new forum created in no time. I personally have never made manual installation of IPB so unfortunately I can not give my view on that.

User Friendliness Score: 8/10

I was really impressed with IPB when I first opened it. Everything was layed out nicely and gave to me a nice 4.0 vBulletin look. The log-in, help and admin panel links were all easily visible, there was no scrolling down the page also I liked the statistics that IPB provided at the bottom of the screen. Great user CP, nice AJAX menu controls giving it a real modern feel aswell.  Also, very easy to insert signatures and avatars, they are auto sized, something I really like on forums.

How Intimidating is the Admin Panel Score: 7/10

The admin panel looks very bland, just like the SMF admin panel.  Everything is organised in the side menu.  Some admin’s may prefer this but I don’t.  Saying that there is a lot of juice and settings to play with so it is very customizable.  I think new forum administrators could handle it.

How Efficient is Moderation Score: 10/10

The moderation system in IPB blew me a way.  It’s without a doubt, the best moderation system I have experienced in any forum software.  This system allows you to update admins and other moderators on each reported post status and it has its own unique equivalent system to the vBulletin infraction/warn system.  This allows for an automatic ban after a few bad posts by a member.  Full marks definitely.

Layout Score: 9/10

IPB comes with a very nice layout, like I said earlier gives off a vBulletin look.  Very nice menu’s which make it easier for navigating.  Apart from that it’s just your plain default theme, I would not deduct marks for that though.

Customer Support Score: 7/10

Customer support seems very good with IPB.  Like PHPBB3, there is a very active support forum where you can get help on modification and styles.   There is also a nice in-built help in the admin panel which makes a nice touch.

Overall Overall Score: 7/10

IPB is a great piece of software and something I may invest my money in on the future.  From that great moderation system to the nice modern layout we can see why the IPB team want money for their product, money well spent if you ask me.

Design is a very important part of your forum. Too many times do I come across a forum with the default vBulletin design and it’s just…ugh!!! It was great when it came out but too many people have it now. It’s time to become creative and unique and get our own forum design because you will be hugely surprised in the benefits it has on your forum.

Wave Good Bye To The High Bounce Rate

An attractive and professional theme will decrease your over all bounce rate. Bounce rate being if the visitor joins and visits another page before leaving again. It encourages the user to stay on and prowl the forum which will increase the chances of that visitor becoming a user.

Increase In Page Views

As we were talking about bounce rate, with a low bounce rate your are expected to see more page views. This is could if you have CPM ad networks running on your forum as potentially the more impressions the more money you make. It would also be good for CPC networks as well as the more page view you get the more chance that ads will be clicked.

You Will See More Visitors

With a great design you will see your visitor count sore up. Not so much new visitors but more returning visitors. People will feel more at ease on your forum and will not get lost as much therefore increasing the chances of them returning and more importantly turning them into an active member.

Wrapping It Up

The main benefits of having a clean, easy to use professional theme has been outline in this post. That change in stats are very impressive and it’s amazing what a few colors can do to your site.

vBulletin, regarded as the best forum software available.  Coming in at $195 dollars which is a very big hole to burn in your pocket.  Is it worth it?  Yes, every single penny.  vBulletin is indescribable and comes with a lot of great features already pre prepared.

Installation Score 7/10

Installing vBulletin is little bit trickier than other forum software.  When you have downloaded the software you are required to alter the config files.  Not something I would recommend to anyone who does not have any codling knowledge.  Luckily, they have a knowledge base which has step by step instructions to installing the software.  Having to edit the config files really let me down.

User Friendliness Score: 9/10

The user friendliness side of vBulletin is really good.  It was very easy to edit your profile on your forum which includes adding an avatar and creating a signature.  The admin cp link was right in front of you when you log in.  Very easy to use.

How Intimidating is the Admin Panel Score: 9 /10

The admin panel is really juicy, something which I like.  Saying that,  I am not sure a person who has never handled a forum before would feel the same.  Could be intimidating for a novice but I hardly think you would go out and buy a vBulletin license if this was your first forum.  Speaking from an experienced admin point of view vBulletin lets you tweak every little setting in the forum, it has a tonne of settings.  Very nice, very nice indeed.

How Efficient is Moderation Score: 10/10

vBulletin hands down has the best moderation system.  I usually have a great system set up for vBulletin moderation.  When a post is reported it is sent to a specific forum where we can discuss what action to take.  Same goes with infractions/warnings.  Everything is logged which makes it easier if people want to appeal their ban.  The infractions and warnings are great way to keep your users in shape.

Layout Score: 7/10

I don’t know if it’s just me but the default vBulletin theme can be seen in most forums making it very boring the more and more I look at it.  They have spiced it up recently when they released V4.0.  Nice rounded edges giving it a nice web 2.0 look.

Customer Support Score: 8/10

VBulletin has great support. You get access to a forum which has constant support and a great knowledge base where the installation instructions can be found. You can get support via a phone or the ticket system for an extra $80 a year. In my opinion that should be free if you are willing to buy their product.

Overall Overall Score: 9/10

You can now see why vBulletin is regarded as the most powerful forum software in the world.  From their great moderation system to their excellent admin panel vBulletin is a great all round software.  Definitely worth $195.

P.s Are you a vBulletin owner?  Check out this great plug-in which dramatically improves your SEO and the quality and the amount of traffic you get to your forum.

Simple Machines Forum, SMF, is a new but an upcoming piece of forum software.  It has quickly established a place as a respectable forum software in only its few short years of existence.  Today, in this blog post I am going to tell you what I think of SMF.

Installation Score:10/10

Installation was very easy.  If you have fantastico installed on your web server then you have hit the jackpot.  Like PHPBB3 all you have to do is insert your admin details and a directory to install the software into and you are good to go.  However, I chose to manually install the software.  It was just as easy.  SMF tries to create the databases for you so you don’t have to and there is not so much details you have to insert aswell.  Only a admin username and password, a mysql username and password and mysql server name.

User Friendliness Score: 9/10

First impressions are very good.  The links to user cp, message’s and log out ect are straight in front of you.  No need to look all over the screen for that frisky admin panel link.  Avatar’s are auto resized when they are uploaded which is great.  Saves you a lot of time.  Seems easy enough to insert a signature aswell.  Very respectable user friendliness.

How Intimidating is the Admin Panel Score: 7/10

The admin panel seems very bland.  It has everything you need but seems to have very few settings compared to other forum settings.  I have to admit I like the way the sub-categories are listed underneath their main category, it makes it easier when making changes.

How Efficient is Moderation Score: 2/10

“How do I moderate?” was the first question that sprung to mind.  This part of the forum really let me down.  There is no moderator control panel that can easily be accessed.  The only moderation part I have found is that when your report a post it sends you an email with a link.  Not very efficient.  It has all the lock, sticky and delete commands but I would find it very hard to keep control of the forum.

Layout Score: 8/10

I like SMF’s layout, it gives out real professionalism.  There is a great range of themes available which are very easy to install.  The default skin is nothing special though.

Customer Support Score: 9/10

The support seems very good.  There is an on-line manual and a support forum.  the support forum is very active and looks like you are getting a reply at least once every 24 hours from a support member.  They also have a system where they rewards members who actively help out on the forum.  I like this idea.

Overall Overall Score: 8/10

SMF is an uprising piece of forum software.  Very good out of the box but could so with some improvements.  With a few changes to their forum they can easily be challenging MyBB, PhPBB and vBulletin if they have not already have.

PhPBB is a free open source forum package.  PhPbb3 is regarded as the most used free forum software solution in the world as it grows more and more every day.  Today, in this blog post I am going to review the software and tell you what I think about it.

Installation Score: 10/10

I installed PHPbb3 very easily.  If you have fantastico installed on your server you can have your hob forum set up in 20 seconds.  All I had to enter was an admin username and password, the directory I would wish the software to be installed on and a description and forum name.  It was very easy and simple.  If you don’t have fantastico installed it is a little bit trickier to set up.  You have to go more in depth.

User Friendliness Score: 8/10

Phpbb3 out of the box seems very user friendly.  The log-in, register and FAQ links are straight in front of you when you first appear on the site.  There is no need to search all over the screen.  Once logged in the user control panel, it seems very easy to use.  Everything seems to be laid out nicely which makes everything easier to find.  The only faults I found with the user friendliness are that the admin panel log-in link is at the very bottom of the page, which is nowhere near the user cp and moderation cp link where I think it should be.  Also you have to resize your own image for it to be uploaded in to your avatar which is a slight inconvenience.

How Intimidating is the Admin Panel Score: 6/10

At first glance the forum software looks very neat and tidy.  Everything is organised under headings and sub headings.  Could be intimidating for new administrators but it looks very juicy for current administrators.

How Efficient is Moderation Score: 3/10

The moderation seemed very confusing.  Nothing compared to MyBB or VBulletin.  I found it very hard to infract/warn for particular posts.  I could only imagine what this would do to a new forum administrator who has never used PHPbb3 before.

Layout Score: 7/10

The layout is very bland, something you would expect with the default software.  It is defiantly better than other forum software layouts though.  You can great some great themes where you can spice up your forum.

Customer Support Score: 7/10

Customer support seems very good with PHPbb3.  There is a very active support forum where you can get help on modification and styles.  They also have an irc channel and a knowledge base to solve common problems.

Overall Overall Score: 7/10

PhPbb3 is a great piece of forum software.  It has excelled in many aspects of the forum world and it’s very easy to understand why it’s regarded as the most popular free forum software in the world.

Another new blog post today and it’s a discussion post. Everyday new plug-ins are created and released to the public. From contact forms to ad managers you have a plug-in for everything. But when is enough enough? When do we stop adding more plug-ins to our site? Today in this blog post I am going to let you have your say.

My Opinion

Plug-ins are great pieces of code which add extra functionality to a forum. Most of my plug-ins are mainly for the admin part of the forum. I tend to stay away from the user side of the forum because it may look intimidating for new visitors. Personally, yes I think it is possible to congest your forum with plug-ins. However, finding the right balance you will have a great unique forum.

I want To Hear Your Opinion

Do you congest your forum with plug-ins? Do you think it’s possible to congest your forum with plug-ins?  How many plug-ins are enough?  How many plug-ins are too many? We would love to hear your feedback.