Sandbox

Please, Why joomla Team have chosen SMF forum on them official site joomla.org 

Is there a technical reason ?
Why don't choose simpleboard and or phpBB ?

SMF is very resource friendly, easy to moderate on large boards. We also have contacts with the SMF team who are able to help us when needed.

Basically we felt (after testing) that SMF was best suited to our needs. It's also a forum that users can use and integrate with Joomla.

phpbb - terrible track record with security. We have vast experience with forums/servers.
simpleboard - good, but not for large sites.

Hope it answers a few of your questions.

Thank Brad, you are been very clear !
Only: "simpleboard - good, but not for large sites." When do you mean a site as large" ? (an idea)

As you are a Core Team man, Could you give me your opinion on these ? :
http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,1653.0.html
http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,1889.0.html

Many Thanks

Large site- large resource usage. Quite a few factors come into play...so it is hard to say. However, personally I have had quite a bit of experience with forums, SMF, vBulletin, phpbb, simpleboard.

I'd put SMF and vBulletin up the top. SMF I am liking more each day though.

Hello

Simpleboard is the best choice for joomla / mambo. I've tried smf and phpbb2 too, but it's not the same.

phpbb2:
To many changes in the database. Just try to update mambo / joomla and you will see what i mean. You have got a second administration, different templates, problems with the sessions (googlebot and users)... and many many more. And the safety? No way!

smf:
It's a good choice for a stand alone. But again a second template, bridge, administration and database. No thanks.

simpleboard:
Easy to install easy to use. Adminsitration is in the backend, good security, same template and css. I support the simpleboard for joomla (and on my sites).

Just my 2 cent....

Greets Jan
(Sorry, i'm from the german section)

Jan wrote:simpleboard:
Easy to install easy to use. Adminsitration is in the backend, good security, same template and css. I support the simpleboard for joomla (and on my sites).

In first Many Thanks for all opinions,

Jan, is what I thought about simpleboard, so I'm too glad hear I'm not loonly to think that 

What am I sacrificing by going with Simpleboard, vs. SMF?

My opinion is, of course, biased, but I'd say you have the following advantages/important notes with each system:

Simpleboard:
  - very integrated with Joomla/Mambo, in a "native" sort of way - made especially for it.
  - administration, templating, and such in the same way as Mambo/Joomla.
  - simple, designed for typical usage within Joomla.

SMF:
  - more robust, but also more complicated.
  - more tested; used outside of Mambo/Joomla, with more forums every day on big-boards.com.
  - administration and templating are different, but there are more languages and modifications available.
  - not designed originally with Joomla in mind.

I have nothing but respect for the developers of Simpleboard, and think it is a fine software, filling a niche just like SMF does.  As with any other "this vs. that" questions, in the end you'll always be happiest if you take a look at both and see what you like.

-[Unknown]

Functionality.
SMF is a very deep product with many, many features.
Simpleboard is just that...simple.

Many people don't need a full featured forum like SMF so simpleboard fits that role nicely and is easy to setup.

Simpleboard has everything you will need. Nothing more or less. It's especially made for it and a part of the community.

But the people will say...
Look, the official (!) joomla-site is not using the simpleboard.

It's something like this...
Hey, i am using linux and the IE.

Greets Jan

Thanks for all opinions -- I will go with SMF for now. Seems a little harder to setup initially (and "steeper" learning curve) but my research tells me that it'll be worth it.

Is it recommended that we use the bridge, or the actualy mambo hack?  Can anyone explain the difference, and the advantages of either?

Visit the smf forums.
They have a forum dedicated to it.

http://www.simplemachines.org/community ... .php?f=3.0

We also have a forum to discuss the integration of Joomla and SMF here: http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/board,149.0.html

Thanks.

It all comes down to how efficient the PHP code is and how efficient the SQL queries are.  SMF has proven time and time again that it can hold its own when battered upon by hundreds and thousands of users.

This site is testimony to that fact when this very forum was "SlashDotted".  This forum received over thousand hits a minute pumping out data at around 5 to 8 Mbps.  The server didn't even break a sweat!  Load averages were well below 2.50.

phpBB, as other have said, it is a security nightmare.  SimpleBoard, yes it integrates well into Joomla!, but I doubt it was built to take as much traffic as this site sustains at any moment in time.  The server, as I am typing this message is having a sustained thoughput of about 1.5 Mbps.