I have tapatalk installed on my forum, my members like it. ;)

the software used to run our forums since 2004 has been phpBB

competitor software includes IP Board and XenForo or vbulletin

in the case of IP Board [url=http://www.invisionpower.com/pricing]pricing starts at[/url] $175 or there are monthly plans beginning at $10 a month

there is no "pricing" at phpBB, there are no charges or fees.

so we go to IP Board for $175, or there are monthly plans beginning at $10 a month.

as I said in the post above ... last year our [url=http://policecommunitysupportofficer.com/donate.php]income was zero[/url] and so far this year zero again.

that's my view on IP Board :slby:

associate administrators have posted their views on IP Board, I saw this written less than a year ago:

[quote="Ger"] As Christian 2.0 says, IPB offers seamless integration with related packages and a perfect hook system phpBB does not (yet) have. Together with their 1 on 1 support in the client area wich is really 24/7, IPB is a really good choice when you have the need for a stable product and are happy with what the basic package + hooks offer you.

However, IPB has its downsides. One of which is the editor you type your messages in. It's an adapted version of CKEditor and it's kind of buggy. It works for most cases, but ordered lists only work with numbers, not letters or roman. Of course, you can switch to BBcode modus and put in list=a for instance, but when you switch back to RTE modus, your nice alpha-lists are converted to numbered lists. That's just one of the many small but annoying bugs in the RTE. For most messages and probably most boards it isn't that much of a problem, but when your board tends to have many large post with structured information, it's a pain in the ... (fill in the blanks ;) ).

Another downfall of IPB is it's speed. There's so many stuff implemented in IPB and the output is roughly 10-12 times larger than the output in phpBB. Rendering a simple viewtopic page on IPB takes more the twice as long compared to a phpBB viewtopic page on a comparable server. That lightness and speed is a major plus of phpBB compared to any other forum software I know.
[/quote]
so IP Board has pluses over phpBB but it can also be argued that there are downsides to it

Any views on IP board Falkor?

Tapatalk although very popular is unfortunately not free to users, there is a small charge for each member. When active, it bypasses all our phpBB files and uses its own. Basically, it's a new application that happens to use our phpBB database.

Our phpBB files aren't being used by those accessing the board with the Tapatalk iPhone/Android app so it's beyond complete control of Admins or Moderators. If the displaying of information via Tapatalk went wrong Admins / Mods on here would be expected to "sort it out" when the code involved would be Tapatalk files not phpBB, I'm saying that that could be time consuming and quite possibly involve seeking support from Tapatalk, that would not appeal to me personally

Tapatalk would /could easily insert advertising in between posts, they could do whatever they wanted to and all we could do would be to sit back and "trust them" - in fact if this site did have advertising of our own, Tapatalk wouldn't reference it as it does not use the site's files, it puts it's own in place.

For all intents and purposes it would seem initially as if there was no difference, but beneath the surface our "control" would have been diluted, many forums are happy to run that way of course

At the end of the day Tapatalk is a commercial software looking to make money from either inserting advertising into the forums being displayed, or charging a small fee per user or both. [Currently the app is being offered for free as a promotion , no idea how long for though]

We don't have any advertising and last year we got 0 (ZERO) [url=http://policecommunitysupportofficer.com/donate.php]subscriptions[/url], (and so far this year 0 (ZERO) subscriptions) so allowing Tapatalk to move into these "fields" would seem a little rich.

Instead of Tapatalk many phpBB support personnel recommend [url=http://policecommunitysupportofficer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17943&p=192413]Artodia[/url] which we already have installed, this does not take a small fee per user and does not insert advertising at any stage.
[quote="DionDesigns"][quote="poultrymatters"]When using Tapatalk, you can choose whether you want advertising or not.[/quote]
That's not really true, and it's an example of the (IMO) sleazy tactics Tapatalk has used to promote their product. Third-party pixel beacons and tracking cookies can be (and usually are) served, and because you're running an app and not your mobile browser, they completely bypass your browser-based adware protection.

When you use the Tapatalk app, the phpBB server software is disabled. Nowhere is that mentioned in their advertising or documentation. Why? Because they can then foist off support to here, when in fact the actual phpBB software is not being used. Sleazy? Oh yeah. Tapatalk installs its own PHP-based software on your server, and that is why many phpBB features do not work in the Tapatalk app -- it's not phpBB! (One hopes that someday the folks here will install Tapatalk and take a long look at what it installs on the server side...and the contents of the files it installs.)

And finally, since Tapatalk disables your phpBB installation, any ads you have added in your templates will also be disabled. You will lose revenue if you install Tapatalk. Again, this is never mentioned. Sleazy? Oh yeah.

Use a mobile-optimized phpBB style/theme.[/quote]
DionDesigns is a fellow Administrator on phpBB and as you can see above has strong views

I am of course still interested in your views. Please feel free to ask any other questions. [b]When you look at your mobile phone at this time and browse to PCSO.com what are the problems?[/b] please list the problems here [url=http://policecommunitysupportofficer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17943]or on the original Artodia thread[/url] :slww:

Tapatalk is fantastic, would be great if we had that here!

[quote="mj12cz"]Has anyone used Tapatalk on their mobile? I use it for a few other forums and is brilliant.[/quote]
I broached the subject of mobile forum access a couple of years ago. Perhaps Falkor will see the benefits of widening the audience for this excellent site.

Has anyone used Tapatalk on their mobile? I use it for a few other forums and is brilliant.

If that was the case then everything that works OK would never be modernized or updated?

don't fix what isn't broken!

I did message Falkor about this first, who suggested a thread is made to get others views etc :)

I was just wondering if there are any plans to upgrade the forum at all?

I've been a member of this forum in total for around six years, and even though the threads can be busy, I reckon it would be great if there was a refresh of PCSO.com.

Maybe some changes to a more user friendly (and also mobile friendly) system like IP board? Possibly some paid subscriptions to give admin/mods a chuck up with improvements etc?

Either way, thanks for everything on here Falkor :)