@SinisterSpatula as we move forward I would be interested in helping keep this updated for future users. Seems like Docker made it way more complicated than it had to be when they dropped open source software because of the hosting service. It's a shame because from what I can tell NodeBB is by far the most impressive forum software rivaling the paid options but this barrier to entry is causing a lot of issues for potential contributors.

@nhl.pl Ah that makes sense I just wanted to get a feeler out. I'm looking forward to working with Node

I posted this same thread on another forum and wanted a different audience for the same questions.

I'm starting a new site to merge existing communities into with some friends, this was originally going to be built from the ground up but now we're looking at existing forum solutions. One of the main reasons we're considering a pre-built solution is the ease of dealing with bugs, maintenance, and scalability. With a tried-and-tested framework, we can focus more on building features and expanding functionality rather than reinventing the wheel and troubleshooting core issues.

What we're looking for:

• Modern, responsive framework
  

• Easy moderation tools to help manage content and enforce community standards without hassle. Preferably user-owned groups as well.
  

• Plugin and extension support (e.g., for a custom film database) to expand functionality without heavy backend development.
  

• Open-source or self-hosted options
  

• Highly customizable UI, as we plan to allow users to customize profiles in a similar fashion to myspace as opposed to the current offerings.
  

We're leaning toward NodeBB right now due to its framework and plugin ecosystem, but we're open to hearing feedback about why XF or IPS might be worth considering instead or something entirely different that we haven't heard of. When it comes to choosing a solution money really isn't the problem we just really want something that's not going to force us in one specific direction.