With the advent of vBulletin coming out with the next gen version 4.0 Publishing Suite and IPB hot on their heels with their latest version software, it's getting tougher and tougher to make a decision about which one suites you. (And your wallet.) Now let's not forget there are other forum software out there and like everything else, there are good ones and there are stinkers. The reason I mentioned VB and IPB is because I'm watching to see how a few forums that belong to good friends are going to go.

But for those just starting out, the choice of a forum software is somewhat overwhelming.

Stop and think about your subject matter.
Are you going to cater to a small niche subject or you going to have a forum that is going to grow like a weed on a subject that is insanely popular?

These are things you have to consider. Some free software will fit the bill for small or large forums while some have some serious limitations as to max growth size.
What are the features you want to have? For me, it's the blogs and articles. Some software will have you adding in code and jiggering this and that to make it work. Some have those built in.
Here in lies other items you have to add in to the equation. How good are you at coding? Can you trouble shoot problems with the code? If yes then some of the open source may be the ticket for you. If no then maybe you need to look at some prepackaged one size fits all types.
VB is good for beginners as well as the coder elite. Its user friendly interfaces in the Admin Control Panel make it less overwhelming. But you can push the wrong button or pull the wrong lever, sending you running to your coder buddy like I have begging him to see if he can fix it. As for IPB, not having seen under the hood I'm speculating that it would be pretty much the same scenario.

Which leads to one of the most important items you must consider.
How good is the tech support?
A lot of just starting out forumteers(c) make the mistake of getting caught up in the "ooh, ahh" factor. It's pretty, does pretty much what I want it to, and the price is right. (Freeware or payware, either one) Then you find out the tech support stinks worse than yesterdays diapers.
Lurk the tech support forums as one of the first things you do when deciding what software you want to use. Is the staff quick to respond to a question? Is it put in a way your cat would understand it? Or do they generally ignore questions and leave you to decipher the techno babble from other users?
Some tech support is great with a large family of knowledgeable staff and members. Their software may not be the cats meow but the support is great for what you get. There's going to be some trade offs you'll run in to.
Take your time shopping around. Don't get in a rush. It's kinda like shopping for a car. It's pretty and goes fast. But how much trouble is it to maintain...

I ahve to say.. vB 4 does look interesting..
not interesting enough for me to spend all that money on it.. lol

but it does look awesome..

I wish you luck and Im glad you decided to keep AnimeAppeal online..

Just saying, IPB's software came out BEFORE VB4.

Good article though, to add from IPBs point of view, most of the time if it's going to break your forums the ACP will warn you first. But it's still possible to screw it up. THe IPB CMS requires you to have some coding knowledge they even tell you this prior to purchase, to get it to work. But it offers a wider array of capabilities. The VB4 cms is nice but sort of limited with what you can do. Pretty easy to use though.

They do include a free portal with IPB that pulls data and is fairly pleasant on the eyes. Which is an alternative to IP. Content.

It doesn't matter who came out first. It matters which one suites the job you have in mind for it and how easy it is to operated from both sides of the ACP.
Again to those first starting out or looking for other forum software, Shop carefully. Take the time to do your research.