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Well at the time of writing this article, PHPBB version 3 is at Release Candidate 7. Testing this software was fun and a bit frustrating at the same time. One of the things I liked most about previous versions of PHPBB is it’s easy admin area. With version 3 the admin area seems a little less intuitive at times. I think the part that makes it confusing is the permission system is so elaborate. While I have always thought that more is better, it does take some time to make sense of the permissions and what needs to be changed.
Some of the more notable features I noticed in my quick test were:
- Mark users as friends or foes
- Enhanced attachments implementation and management
- Easier to add advertisements with the new theme system
Bottom line is that PHPBB3 is well worth a try if you’re looking to start a forum.
JamRoom is a versatile PHP application for managing artists/bands and beyond. If you’re looking to start a website for Indie artists or a record label, JamRoom is a great choice. When I installed and tested the software, the first thing I noticed was it’s simple admin control panel. The admin control panel may look slightly “old school” but it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. The next thing I noticed was that each area had changeable themes. The main sites look is controlled by the skin found in the jamroom/skins directory and can be changed in the admin control panel. The artists have separate themes that are changeable, so that artists can have a unique profile. Finally the control panel uses it’s own style found in the jamroom/styles directory.
The core download of JamRoom is free for non-commercial use with up to 5 artists. Another nice thing about this software is that you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars right off the bat. You can start small and upgrade as you go.
