Wedge

Mostly because they set up their style in the old days, then got big in spite of ugly design, and had to keep it to avoid upsetting the existing fans.

You need to see the picture of Facebook back in 2004,you will just lol.I don't think upgrading a user driven website outlook will upset them,granted,many will complain which  is just normal,majority will be happy because humans like renovation. Many websites are known for their colours — Facebook is White and blue,Google White background...This is what I think should be maintained, improvement by adding smooth interactive function like ajax is a must. There is a need to move with web trends. Thanks.

it also depends who is running it (and what you consider to be a "big board")

For example, I run 40konline on SMF.
They were originally built on YABB as EldarOnline and supported by [Unknown] himself...
the layout has changed many times over the years... including Mambo and Joomla before SMF portals came far enough to dump the external CMS.

I like Red & White Kop and Hogsville, myself. :)


oh... and as for facebook...   they are one of the worst examples to use about applying interface changes since they apparently are planned by drunk monkeys and don't even bother to do focus groups or even ask the users what they think.
(I also disagree on your statement that ajax is a must)

The two forum you listed are very clean with a matching colour, that's not what I am trying to point out.Check how this guy is center aligning post link in his Message Index - nairaland.com/phonesDigg 4.0Then why is Xenforo better than Phpbb?

Many reasons, even though xf does use ajax its not a pure ajax based interface. Plus ajax alone won't make a software stand out.

I'd rather have a well thought out UI that doesn't use AJAX than a poor one which does.

I don't know that xenforo is better than phpbb. I actuallty have never used xenforo and have not touched phpbb in over 6 years.
(I can't get to nairaland... it's blocked from my office)

Ajax is just another function.
The presence or lack of it does not determine how "good" a forum is.

meaures of a forum:
Does it cover the content that you are looking for?
Does it allow you to find that information?

Everything else, IMO is icing.
icing is nice... but too much icing ruins the cake

XF does put phpBB in the corner somewhat, it feels unified, everything is logically laid out, and the AJAX is a nice touch for the most part.

From user experience, Ajax is highly user friendly. Imagine me typing and posting without reloading the page. Not everybody is from Uk and US. I am a Nigerian and many of forum users will always be marveled to see their post sent with just a couple 'turning element.Most of them like Facebook pages and post because it somehow fun to see how the like button rotates and show their likes. Not every body is a tech literate like you guys and something like ajax feature makes the rate the forum high.
Agreed, forum is mostly measure by the content but most content are made by users, anything that will make them post is always welcome.They will only post (especially in a new forum) if they feel the forum have quality.
Thanks for replying my posts, am now 'playing' with the big boys :)

That and most themes are heavily modified and changing would be a nightmare.

That is basically the reason behind by default SMF returns to the message index after posting instead of to the topic. :P (but I'd like to have the preview working in the quick reply ... something like this would be too much, but a bit less...maybe...somehow, somewhere... :angel: )

Though if we were to have it AJAXively fetch the entire editor and not just the buttons and smileys, that would be doable.