Hi- 

I am looking for great bb / discussion board software to add to my
social networking website based on Microsoft's .NET

I know phpbb is the best solution out there for Linux but I was told
(by my web programmer) that it does not work great for Microsoft based
sites (although it says they do on the phpbb site)

Hi hsb,

Good day and thanks for your question. I did try to use phpbb on a
Windows platform. Although the initial versions were sluggish, the
latest version works fine. However, I have listed a set of message
boards that are based on ASP (which is the best for Windows based
servers). (Ranked in descending order of user ratings)

Web Wiz Forums Version 7.7 Cost: Free 
http://www.webwizguide.info/web_wiz_forums/default.asp?mode=asp
Free ready to run, inc, WYSIWYG Editor, emoticons, avatars, skins,
email notify, signatures, member groups, ladder sys, private messages,
moderators, file/image upload, IP ban, forum search, active topics,
language files, + lots more. SQL Server/MSAccess. Code: ASP 2.0 &
VBScript

Snitz Forums 2000 Version 3.4.03 Cost: Free 
http://forum.snitz.com/
Message board originally derived from ASP-DEv Support Forums. These
forums are completely database driven and fully customizable. Snitz
Forums 2000 can work for your organization to boost customer support
and provide a medium of communications for anyone! Code: ASP 2.0 &
VBScript

Toast Forums Version 1.6 Cost: Free 
http://www.toastforums.com/
World's first user-skinnable message board! Web-Based Administration,
WYSIWYG Editor, Emoticons, Bad Word filter, Integrate w/existing
member db, API, Email notify, Language files, per-forum security,
moderators, SQL Server/MSAccess, PROMPT EMAIL SUPPORT!   Code: ASP 2.0
& VBScript

MegaBBS  Version 2.1 Cost: Free
http://www.pd9soft.com/megabbs-support/index.asp
A powerful ASP messageboard. Flat, threaded, or nested discussions.
Poll booths, Skins, Outlook style calendars with signups, browser
based photo albums, supports unreg'd posting, and many more unique
features. Documented API. SQL and Access support   Code: ASP 3.0 &
VBScript

ASP Playground Forum SQL  Version 2.2 Cost: $297
http://www.aspplayground.net/
Photo Gallery, Group based security,calendar,multiple
uploads,thumbnail generator, search engine
optimization,multilingual,built-in query analyzer,read
tracking,unlimited subforums,Site integration package,and superior
performance.   Code: ASP 3.0 & VBScript

Philboard  Version 1.14 Cost: Free
http://www.youngpip.com/philboard.asp
Philboard is a linear message forums application, featuring a full
administration backend, moderator functions, message formatting,
graphic smileys, user status levels, topic locking, quoting, post
editing and a search facility.   Code: ASP 2.0 & VBScript

ASP-DEv XM Forum  Version 3 Cost: Free
http://www.asp-dev.com/main.asp?page=1
ASP-DEv Forums are back, full XML output, fully skinable using XSLT,
avatars, group based permissions, private messages, attach files to
posts, multilingual, moderated forums, supports clustered web servers
plus much more.   Code: ASP 3.0 & VBScript

2eNetWorX OpenForum Version 1.3 Cost: Free
http://www.2enetworx.com/dev/projects/openforum.asp
OpenForum is an initial framework for page-level integrated forums.
You can display the forum in any of your existing asp pages with a
single call. OpenForum will preserve the existing querystring of the
url if there is any. with a single call.   Code: ASP 3.0 & VBScript

Polar Web Forum  Version 3.0 Cost: $199 / Free Trial
http://www.polarsoftware.com/products/webforum/index.html
Easiest and most powerful way to add a web forum on your web site.
Written entirely in ASP, it supports an unlimited number of users and
is totally scalable. Easy to use and administrate.   Code: ASP 3.0 &
VBScript

fipsForum  Version 2.6 Cost: Free
http://fips.myserver.at/home/index.asp?l=en&p=Products&i=Freeware&w=fipsForum
Forum application with categories and latest topics on the first page,
search function, admin tool to edit/delete entries, delete/add
categories and adjust main settings. Multilingual (Language files
incl.). A Commercial version costs ? 10.00   Code: ASP 3.0 & VBScript

I hope this answers your question. If you have any clarifications,
please don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you for using this service and have a nice day.

With regards,
aditya2k

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Request for Answer Clarification by hsb-ga on 01 Mar 2004 11:56 PST

That is GREAT!!! Let me ask one more thing: can different languages be
used on any of these packages? in other words, if I want to use Arabic
or chinese, can I still use any of these packages ?

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Request for Answer Clarification by hsb-ga on 01 Mar 2004 11:57 PST

and is phpbb still better rated than the best ASP rated package ?

---

Clarification of Answer by aditya2k-ga on 01 Mar 2004 13:26 PST

As far as multiple languages are concerned, the packages will support
other languages in posts. I am no sure of the interface, and that will
need a considerable amount of research.

phpbb Vs. ASP forums.... you can't really compare them. phpbb is mroe
widely used simply because Apache servers are more widely used, three
times as much as Windows servers.

-aditya2k

Thanks much