phpBB3
phpBB3 is the current stable version of phpBB. Following over three years of development and an eighteen-month beta/release candidate stage, it went gold on December 13, 2007.
Some of phpBB3’s major features include:
- Modular design for the Admin Control Panel, Moderator Control Panel, and User Control Panel
- Support for multiple database management systems, including MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Firebird, OpenLink Virtuoso, and other ODBC-accessible DBMS
- Support for unlimited levels of subforums
- Ability to create custom-defined BBCode
- Ability to create custom profile fields
- Permissions system
phpBB3 also provides administrators with much more control over every aspect of the forum software, such as how it is displayed to management of user and group permissions. Consequently, this increased functionality makes the administrative interface much more complex, and new users have found it somewhat more intimidating than phpBB2.