Description: YaBB is a leading FREE, downloadable Perl forum that allows you to provide a real-time chat and support system for your visitors. While chat programs allow people to talk directly, you have to be on them 24/7 to please everyone. With forum software like YaBB, you can talk any time, and everyone can join or read the conversation. So get visitors coming back, for interesting discussions, fun chit chat, or needed support without having to spend thousands of dollars.

Installation: It is not difficult to install. Once set up it has a very extensive admin screen which slices and dices!

Stability: Very stable. Maybe a bit slow, but understandable considering all the processing required. No worst than most.

Strengths:

• Very professional script. Great presentation. I doubt you could buy a script as good as this one.
• An incredible amount of control over many features.
• Blocks Email harvesters.
• Great support.

Weaknesses:

• A touch slow on occasions.

Description:  A threaded World Wide Web discussion forum and message board, which allows users to post new messages, followup to existing ones and more. It comes with a WWWAdmin program, which helps you maintain the WWWBoard.

Installation: Average

Stability: Only a few hiccups, but rare.

Strengths:

• Basic BBS board based on CGI output building simple HTML pages and links
• Fast
• Easily modifiable
• Admin feature is adequate
• I like the newsgroup/usenet look

Weaknesses:

• If you manually mess with an HTML file you can have problems.
• Admin feature could do more.
• You must install again to have multiple discussions