bbPress.org

I think it’s best we say its… Not fit for purpose.

Well that entirely depends on your purpose.

I agree with many of your points but you can make them of many other (if not all) bb sites. The majority of sites look similar because of usability. People are used to things working a certain way, and they expect familiarity (which is how many many people out there define ‘usability’). That’s why car design doesn’t change much. It’s not perfect, but people like it. That’s why people cried bloody murder over OS changes from Windows 3.1 to XP, but they got over it. Change is hard for users to accept. They don’t want to learn how to drive, again, they want to get on the road and talk about STEAM, damn it!

Yes ‘easy’ integration with your WordPress site is a misrepresentation at this time. But the rest? That’s all perception and usage. You CAN redesign the hell out of a bbPress site. If you want to. The base code IS customizable, there ARE a lot of plugins. These are facts. What you do with the options is up to you, though.

I don’t think bbPress is perfect, but after spending years trying to mesh my site with other forums out there, I’d rather have this than them.

(Steam is a joke from http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/posting which is my favorite thing ever)