I just installed bbPress to give it a test drive. When I read that it’s supposed to be simple, I guess I was thinking WordPress simple. Think Notepad simple. The forum software is nowhere near being ready for use on a site.

Now, I totally understand that the project just started development 2 weeks ago and is being built from the ground up. I also understand that the version number is 0.01, so I shouldn’t expect much. And to be fair…I didn’t really expect much. I expected a bare bones piece of software to run forums on a site. Well, it’s bare bones alright.

After registering, there isn’t even a way to change your password, so you’re stuck with the generated one. Also, from a developer’s stand point, it would be a PITA to template the system right now. It doesn’t come with a default CSS file.

I’m sure that bbPress will turn out to be a great piece of software one day. Just take a look at how far WordPress has come in a year.

Now my search begins for a simple piece of forum software. I don’t want avatars, file attachments, and all that jazz. I want people to be able to post topics and reply to them. I want something that can be incorporated with the design of a WordPress site. I might be searching for awhile…

Update: I think I found the perfect package with Phorum. It has a very nice templating system. I think I’ll just need to edit the header, footer, and css files to setup the design I want. 😀

Update #2: Phorum is pretty slick. See it in action on the new Poker Chip Tricks Forums.