I am looking for a stable/viable company which provides bbs/message
board systems. We need to add such a system to a corporate intranet we
are supporting.
Prefer softare that we can integrate but will entertain hosted
solutions.

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Request for Question Clarification by sgtcory-ga on 03 Jun 2003 14:42 PDT

Hello calpopken,

Great question. I was wondering in which direction you wanted to go as
far as database and user front end are concerned?

Here are some of the most trusted and viable companies, listed with
their current products. If these are the types of systems you are
needing, I can offer many more :

DB    = Database
Front = Front end


Company : Invision Power Services
URL     : http://www.invisionboard.com/
Why     : Very popular, fast, stable and scalable.
Demo    : http://www.invisionboard.com/demo/index.php
Price   : FREE with link or License $59.95/year
DB      : MySQL 3.22 or better
Front   : PHP 4.0.6 or better 


Company : phpBB Group
URL     : http://www.phpbb.com/
Why     : Huge community support, speed, flexibility and price.
Demo    : (Admin) http://www.phpbb.com/admin_demo/
Price   : GPL - FREE
DB      : MySQL, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL or Access/ODBC
Front   : PHP


Company : InfoPop Corporation
URL     : http://www.infopop.com
Why     : Stable, speed, and strong client portfolio.
Demo    : http://www.ubbcentral.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Board=testing
Price   : $229 - $725
DB      : MYSQL
Front   : PHP


Please let me know if these are the types of leads you need. Thanks
for the clarification -

SgtCory

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Clarification of Question by calpopken-ga on 03 Jun 2003 15:14 PDT

Boy, thanks for the fast response. It looks like we are on the right
track. Are these hosted solutions or software we license and integrate
into the existing intranet? I need to get some clarification from my
web guy on OS, DB and Frontend.

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Request for Question Clarification by sgtcory-ga on 03 Jun 2003 15:25 PDT

Hello calpopken,

Great to see we are on target. When I get clarification from you on
your web requirements, I will list the above, with quite a few more
options. I will also list which ones offer hosted solutions/plug in
code etc.. for your site(s).

Thanks again for the clarification -

SgtCory

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Clarification of Question by calpopken-ga on 04 Jun 2003 10:07 PDT

Here is the information on the server requirements.

Server:
Sun 4U
Solaris Operating System, Unix Platform
Apache

Has CGI installed, Perl 5.63, DBI version 1.28

MySQL NOT installed

Thanks. Cal

Hello again Cal,


Not having MYSQL installed, or using some other type of database
narrows this list down quite a bit. You can't use any of the ones I
listed above, as they all utilize some sort of database for storage. I
also assume your web technician would prefer to use Perl, and I will
stick to that assumption for now ;-)

You are probably going to have to use a system with text file storage,
or one that comes with it's own built in database support. You can
also host your forum with some of the ones I listed above. With that
said, here are some that utilize Perl, without an external database
requirement. When appropriate, I will list a 'Why' with the listing :


Company : Aborior 
URL     : http://www.aborior.com/encore/index.shtml
Why     : Best choice. Comes with it's own binary file database.
(Simplex)
Demo    : http://www.aborior.com/cgi-bin/datacgi/database.cgi?file=Forum&report=TopicIndex
Price   : $150.00 (Lite version is free)
DB      : Simplex 
Front   : Perl
Type    : Independent Installation


Company : ArtScore (CuteCast)
URL     : http://www.artscore.net/cutecast/
Demo    : http://www.artscore.net/cgi-bin/cutecast/cutecast.pl
Price   : FREE or $85 to remove links back to CuteCast website
DB      : Text File Storage 
Front   : Perl
Type    : Independent Installation/Professional Install/Hosted


Company : InfoPop (UBB Classic)
URL     : http://www.infopop.com/products/ubbclassic/
Why     : Very reliable, stable company. Experience.
Demo    : http://www.ubbcentral.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi
Price   : $199 - $699 depending on length of registration
DB      : Text File Storage
Front   : Perl
Type    : Independent Installation/Hosted Solutions


Company : XMLboard 
URL     : http://xmlboard.hypermart.net/
Why     : Data stored in xml formatted files can be used elsewhere.
Demo    : http://xmlboard.hypermart.net/cgi-bin/xmlboardsolo.cgi?board=test
Price   : FREE (GPL)
DB      : Data stored in XML format. Great for external use.
Front   : Perl
Type    : Independent Installation


Company : DCScripts (DC Forum)
URL     : http://www.dcscripts.com/dcforum.shtml
Demo    : http://www.dcscripts.com/cgi-bin/demoboard/dcboard.cgi
Price   : $99 Commercial
DB      : Text File Storage
Front   : Perl
Type    : Independent Installation



The five above are probably the best you are going to find with
regards to independent installations, that do not utilize a database.
The best option for a hosted solution is probably Invision. They do
use a database :


Company : Invision Power Services
URL     : http://www.ipshosting.com/?forumhosting
Demo    : http://www.dcscripts.com/cgi-bin/demoboard/dcboard.cgi
Price   : $10 - $75 month depending on forum requirements
DB      : MySQL
Front   : Php
Type    : Remotely Hosted


You can view more remotely hosted options at the following link. The
only reason I didn't break most of these down like the listings above
is because you seemed pleased with the direction we were heading. Many
of the remotely hosted solutions place banners on your forum, or seem
to lack a support department.

More Remotely Hosted Solutions
http://www.hotscripts.com/Remotely_Hosted/Discussion_Boards/index.html
http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/hostsites.htm#cheapbbs
http://www.thinkofit.com/webconf/hostsites.htm#highpublic


If your web technician can offer insight about your PHP installation,
I can probably find a couple of PHP scripts that do not require a
database. I wish the resources could have been more in number, but I
think you will find the ones I listed are some of the best meeting
your requirements.




Search Strategy Used :
I didn't need any search strategy in answering this question. I have
made great use of many of the BBS/Message Board systems I have listed.


Please feel free to ask me for clarification should you find out more
of your capabilities, or decide you don't like any of the options I
listed. I would love to be as much help as I possibly can.


Thanks for the great question!
SgtCory


P.S.
If you are in tune with an older Web BBS style, you can take a look at
WebScripts WebBBS :

http://awsd.com/scripts/webbbs/

I have used these scripts in the past, and they work great. The only
thing to be concerned about is the current lack of updates. It uses
text files for storage, and has a rather large section in their forum
for hacks and modifcations.

Superb!