SMF Web Hosting

SMF is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community

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SMF in short is a free, professional grade software package that allows you to set up your own online community within minutes. Its powerful custom made template engine puts you in full control of the lay-out of your message board and with our unique SSI - or Server Side Includes - function you can let your forum and your website interact with each other. SMF is written in the popular language PHP and uses a MySQL database. It is designed to provide you with all the features you need from a bulletin board while having an absolute minimal impact on the resources of the server. SMF is the next generation of forum software - and best of all it is and will always remain completely free!

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shared, vps and dedicated hosting powered by SMF

SMF, which stands for Simple Machine Forums, is one of the oldest and best established options out there for running online forum communities. They have an exceptional reputation and just about everyone who is familiar with forums has used this option at one time or another. Running forums on this platform will give you and your users a very nice experience. It isn’t quite as customizable as some of the other options out there, and it doesn’t have quite the number of features, but it seems to run more smoothly. You’re not likely to have compatibility issues, for example, and keeping the site up and running without problems is often easier thanks to the simplicity of this platform. It is often said that SMF sticks more to the basics of running forums, but they do it extremely well.

Star Rating:

SMF Pros

Easy to Manage
Once you’ve got your site up and running the way you want it, you shouldn’t have any real issues. The platform is very stable and will run as expected all the time. You can also have backups automatically run to avoid any issues.
Free
SMF has been free since it came out and will likely remain free forever. Even the plugins and themes are mostly free. You’ll have to pay for hosting the site and as with all forums, you will need something better than the cheapest shared hosting. A nice VPS is an affordable option that will run SMF smoothly, even with a good amount of traffic.
Site Management
Managing your site and keeping the community in line is very important with forums. You can set permissions to moderators and administrators to ensure they can do exactly what you want them to, and nothing more.

SMF Cons

Features
When you compare SMF side by side to many of the other top forums you will see that SMF doesn’t have some of the features that others do.
Security
While rarely an issue, there have been security flaws in the past. To the best of my knowledge they are all patched now, but it seems like SMF occasionally has a release that is vulnerable so it is important to be aware of.

SMF Review

Initial Setup
Setting up your new forums is really simple with SMF. Most of the settings are configured the way you want them automatically (though it is always a good idea to go through and look yourself). Installing plugins and themes is also fairly simple so you can get everything set up and configured just how you want it without much trouble. If you have run forums in the past you can most likely get everything done in less than a day. If this is your first time, I’d recommend two just to be safe.
Plugins
You’ll have no trouble finding plugins for your site. They can be searched right through the admin panel in most cases. The vast majority of the plugins are free so you can get exactly what you need. Be careful, however, as some people end up installing too many plugins at the beginning, which can cause your site to run slow or require high system resources.
Themes
Themes are easy to use and install with SMF. They are mostly free, but if you want to have a custom theme built for your site there are lots of programmers with experience in SMF, so you will be able to find one that is quite affordable.
Customization
SMF is not quite as customizable as many other types of forums, but that seems to be intentional. Since there are fewer features overall there are fewer issues related to conflicts and things like that. If you really like to have access to every possible feature, this may not be the ideal platform. Most people, however, don’t really want to use many of the extra features that are missing in SMF anyway.
SEO Friendly
SMF is mostly SEO friendly right out of the box, but there are a number of things that can be improved. Like most forums systems, you will want to make sure you find a good plugin to help ensure you are properly optimized. Fortunately this is really easy so most people won’t have any trouble.
Cost of Running
Simple Machine Forums is completely free to use. Plugins and themes are mostly free, and you can run your site very well without any premium options. The one area where you will want to invest a little money is with the hosting. Forums by their nature need a higher level of system resources so make sure you have hosting that can keep up. Most people recommend either high end shared hosting or VPS for any forums that have more than about 50 users on at any time.
Other Programs Like it

If you don’t think that SMF is the right option for you, there are many others available. Choose from one of the following:
- phpBB
- Vanilla
- MyBB
- PunBB
- XMB
Notable Websites using it

If you’d like to see this platform in action there are plenty of sites that use it including these:

Final Thoughts

SMF is a great option, especially for those who are trying to run forums for the first time. It is easier to use than most other software options and runs more smoothly. It has also been around for a very long time with constant updates and improvements over time. The bottom line is this is one of the better options out there for just about anybody running forums.

Automatic Updates

We do all the hard work so you don't have to!

Daily Backups

We keep up to 30 daily backup copies of your SMF site.

Autoupdates

We update SMF core and plugins to keep your
site protected.

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Interserver is proud to guarantee that our uptime will never drop below 99.9%

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SMF Web Hosting

OPTIMIZED HOSTING FOR SMF

STANDARD WEB HOSTING

For Prices and Features

24/7 Customer Service

Unlimited Space and Bandwidth

Unlimted Email Accounts

One Click Install Scripts

30 Day Money Back guarantee

Interserver provides

Star Rating:

SMF Pros

Easy to Manage

Free

Site Management

SMF Cons

Features

Security

SMF Review

Initial Setup

Plugins

Themes

Customization

SEO Friendly

Cost of Running

Other Programs Like it

Notable Websites using it