How well can Wpforo handle the growth of a website? No problems for smaller sites, but what if it would grow to the size of, say, IGN.com or something like that. Would it be able to handle that traffic without significant load time issues?
wpForo is a Wordpress plugin, so limitations (if any) come also from Wordpress.
So, this is a matter of a powerfull server, mostly, and some optimized Wordpress/wpForo from a specialist. But a so big site, has also the money, so no issues ....
Ok, so if Wordpress is a limitation maybe it's best to run it on invision board or something imilar like that?
@danniee Not sure i understand. IB is a standalone forum.
@dimalifragis exactly. It's a standalone forum, so maybe better to use that on a subdomain if the site grows? Not sure how well wpforo would be able to handle large amount of activity?
@danniee I can't answer that. We are comparing two different things. Two databases, two user databases, different.
Why are you asking this? Have you a such big site? Bigger forums than wpForo.com for example?
For what are we talking about?
@dimalifragis it's growing and it's impossible to say at this point but everyone has to make plans for the future. I don't want to sit here down the road and have to worry about a slow forum that can't handle the traffic. It would be better to switch at an earlier point if that is the case. Thus why I am asking, how much traffic can wpforo handle compared to say invision board or phpbb.
@danniee I have a forum that uses wpForo with over 3 million posts and 120 thousand members. The most important thing is server configuration and minimizing the use of WordPress plugins. I disabled most of the unnecessary wpForo features to lighten the server workload. I use a dedicated server to host my forum.
In my opinion, there are still many optimizations that need to be done for wpForo, as it must be acknowledged that this plugin is still quite heavy, even to run on a dedicated server, especially with a large number of forum members and posts, unfortunately, I cannot provide the link here, as it is an internal community.
@adisaputro thanks for the input. Indeed, it seems a bit heavy and bloated and as my community is growing (close to 10k members), I am starting to consider whether I should switch over to one of the big forum softwares and run it on a subdomain.
@danniee I won't defend wpForo, you might consider using other forum software that is lighter. Unless you're willing to learn or pay someone who can optimize your server's performance so wpForo doesn't run heavy on the server.
@danniee I won't defend wpForo, you might consider using other forum software that is lighter. Unless you're willing to learn or pay someone who can optimize your server's performance so wpForo doesn't run heavy on the server.
I have run Vbulletin and Xenforo boards. Both can get heavy too with all the plugins. Aint no substitute for server horsepower with big boards.
Sure, you can emasculate VBulletin, Xenforo, IPS etc by going minimalist, zero plugins but that is true of wpForo as well.
@verek that's interesting. So from your experience, wpforo isn't really more resource heavy than Invision boards for example?
I guess the benefit of using a stand-alone forum is that you can run it on a subdomain, but then you lose the smooth integration that wpforo offers.
A big board, no matter which platform, will require a beefy server.
I guess the benefit of using a stand-alone forum is that you can run it on a subdomain, but then you lose the smooth integration that wpforo offers.
That is one benefit (subdomain). And most of the reputable standalone forum softwares will also offer a bridge to your Wordpress site if it is important to you. Ironically, since the advent of Wordpress - VB, Xenforo IPS etc have developed their own CMS's to satisfy customer demand, thereby making their offerings not so "light" anymore.
And no, I don't find wpForo particularly resource heavy. Sure, the code can be made more streamlined and efficient but that always true of any DB reliant software.
Bottom line, big board, big server, always. And that is what your planning should revolve around initially.
Sidenote: I would not touch VBulletin or phpbb these days.
@verek thanks for the input mate. So you would say wpforo is just as future proof as Invision Board? No real point switching over if worried about performance?
As with any platform, it's as much about the company/people behind it as with the software itself. Invision has been in the game a long time and their offering is fully mature. I have no real qualms about wpForo but in comparison they are very young. That said, as you have seen for yourself here, the developers are very committed and dedicated and that bodes well for wpForo's future. IMHO the previous forum plugins on Wordpress were junk compared to wpForo, they have changed the game considerably.