This is a brilliant discussion.  I've decided to stick this thread.  If there is any objection please let me know.

I'm totally blown away by Forum scripts and software I've never heard about before, and how good they are.  CodoForum being one.  But @tbelldesignco if you could add your tutorial of FlaskBB this would be awesome!  

@fitkoh  How about a tutorial about Codoforum?  Particularly since there seem to be some serious hurdles that need to be overcome. If and when you have time to spare of course. I've always wanted to know what free mybb alternative there are, that are lighter to the touch. Am being on a great learning curve. Thank you for all of the quality contributions.

Well, i have been trying almost all type of forum software. According to your specs i will recommend you SMF. It is very simple easy and free. I have tried many forum software's but SMF is one of the most best forum software for Low Specs. There is another forum software Wedge which is very lite. But i don't recommend that because there were many bugs at the time i tested it. MyBB is an other great forum software but it does not work properly on a low specs VPS.
As compared to SMF, MyBB has better plugins themes and control. MyBB plugins are almost up to date while most of SMF mods are outdated and does not works properly without modification. But that is very easy to modify mods to make them works. So overall SMF is better for low end hosts.

(12-17-2020, 10:36 AM)deanhills Wrote: But @tbelldesignco if you could add your tutorial of FlaskBB this would be awesome!  

For sure, I have already been working on getting the vHost file configured and compiling the steps for the Apache Install. I should have a working product by the end of the day and the tutorial in the sails right behind it.

I think that one of the best forum software available nowadays is: XenoForo. It is not free but their support is amazing, if you get any trouble you their support will be easily sorted out.

XenoForo has the following requirements:

• PHP: 7.0 (PHP 7.4 recommended)
  
• MySQL: 5.5 (MariaDB / Percona also compatible)
  
• PHP extensions: MySQLi, GD (with JPEG support), PCRE, cURL, SPL, SimpleXML, DOM, JSON, iconv, ctype
  
• Common PHP functions must not be disabled
  

They offer a requirements test script to know if your machine is capable of running their product.

(12-17-2020, 06:24 PM)LightDestory Wrote: I think that one of the best forum software available nowadays is: XenoForo. It is not free but their support is amazing, if you get any trouble you their support will be easily sorted out.

XenoForo has the following requirements:

• PHP: 7.0 (PHP 7.4 recommended)
  
• MySQL: 5.5 (MariaDB / Percona also compatible)
  
• PHP extensions: MySQLi, GD (with JPEG support), PCRE, cURL, SPL, SimpleXML, DOM, JSON, iconv, ctype
  
• Common PHP functions must not be disabled
  

They offer a requirements test script to know if your machine is capable of running their product.

Agreed. However Xenforo is expensive, unless you have a contact who can provide you with a free License. I get a sense of that it's for business entrepreneurs who don't mind paying for a license for more sophisticated and up market Forum scripts. It looks pretty and classy. And is used for exclusive forum discussions for their clients or customers - attached to professional websites.

For me even the price of the script is over the top for a Forum - $140 - except of cause vBulletin, but vBulletin has much more to offer than XenForo for the same category person who wants a serious Forum.
https://xenforo.com/community/threads/xe...ng.114386/
https://elitehosts.com/vbulletin-vs-xenforo/