DescentBB

I am in need of a free BB software that I can set up on a windows server 2k4 platform with ease. Oh yea, it has to be free.

Traffic will be less then what is seen here.

Ideas? Links?

TIA

For anything decent, you'll need MySQL (other DBMSs may work, but the de facto standard among free software is MySQL) and PHP installed. Neither is particularly hard to install on Windows but it's a hell of a lot clunkier than on a *nix.

Now, with that out of the way phpBB is relatively easy to set up and administer. There's also Simple Machines which seems alright from a user perspective but I have no experience with setting it up/administering it.

PHPBB

there's even Flash Tutorials

another vote for PhpBB.

it's amazingly simple to administer, miodify and tweak.

x3 phpBB, I have used it myself many times now.

Snitz is a good forum for asp based windows uses. It can use access for the db and is easy to install. Beleive it or not the access db works fine at a site I help to maintain with about 54 individual forums and around 95 members. I have found that compacting the db a few times a year is helpful, however. I use all php forums on my sites but snitz has an active topice feature that I just love. It gives you a choice of how active you topics should be, for instance the typical active since your last logon. It also adds active topic in the last 15, 30, 45 minutes and 1, 2, 6, 12 hours, and since yesterday, 2days, week, 2 weeks, month, last 2months.

Plain jane version here
http://forum.snitz.com/
You would have to add avatars as a mod this version is so plain.

If you want more options go to the server hacker site and download a fully modded version here.
http://www.shnforum.com/forum/sitenews.asp

Otherwise you can add the mods to it yourself

phpBB or Simple Machines would work for you. If I remember right SM's admin is a little more intuitive, but it's been a while and they've probably changed it since then.

Just set up a test enviornment and try them out, if you don't have time to do that error on the side of a proven product and use phpBB

I'm running a heavily modded snitz on my racism discussion site. It has an access database for a backend, but it can also use mysql, and sql

http://www.racismonline.com

works good Thrawn, interesting discussion board as well.

There are two items I currently don't like about snitz
1- written with tons of depracated code, full of warnings and errors. sometimes uncooperative with "Firefox"
2- no port to php or php version.

phpBB
ComputerBB<-My Forum

So I finally get around to putting this together and am getting a "No input file specified" in my browser when I try to use the install.php link.

Anyone have any idea what might be causing that?

Never had that error myself, I am assuming you have all the minimum requirements, a database phpBB can use and a webserver able to process PHP?

2k3 server, PHP, MySQL all running

2k3 server... check the www.phpbb.com forums for tutorials on how to run phpBB off IIS, might be some help.

meh, what a pain in the ass.

So I have the install page up, set the perameters and bam. "The PHP configuration on your server doesn't support the database type that you chose"

So now it's a PHP issue.. The PHP.ini is configured and I'm at a standstill about what could be causing this.

The setup option is set to MySQL 4.x, though I did try 3.x. No joy

Turns out that phpBB doesnt like 5.x MySQL which is what was on there, now there is 4.4.

So now I get the install pamel, but now I get this and I enter all the info and click install:

Warning: mysql_connect(): Access denied for user 'stresstest'@'localhost' (using password: YES) in C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DecisiveBB\db\mysql4.php on line 48

Warning: mysql_error(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DecisiveBB\db\mysql4.php on line 330

Warning: mysql_errno(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\DecisiveBB\db\mysql4.php on line 331
phpBB : Critical Error

Could not connect to the database

Use myphpadmin to set the users and passwords, I use it.

Granted I'm running phpBBs on Apache2/Windows XP Pro.

I feel your pain Stress, We've had nothing but problems since our SQL and PHP versions got upgraded on our server, evidently alot changed in the last few versions - a real pain in the butt. Its not just phpbb - invisionboard didn't like the new sql either.

It's open source, you learn to accept and deal with boneheaded ★■◆● like this after a while.

I run YaBB

http://www.red.game-server.cc/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl

Phorum is also cute for a small "flat board" type forum.

I've come to really dislike phpBB because it's so commonly used and rife with security hazards. If you get a phpBB, make sure you keep on top of the security patches and updates. Way too many script kiddies going around exploiting this stuff.