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Most comparisons below are with OSQA. I've never tried to install Shapado so never compared it with askbot on the same hardware.

• Faster response time (well under 1s for most pages) because I rewrote all templates in a speedier rendering engine - Jinja2. Template rendering time decreased at least five-fold. Those templates will also help make custom skins - this is the plan for the rest of December.
• More reliable code, there are ~350 test cases in the automatic testing suite. Last time I've checked there were none in the other projects.
• Easy to install and instructions do not depend much on platform. Askbot installation uses standard Python packaging solutions.
• Active development - activity in the repositories can be easily compared. I've translated the Chinese CNPROG in the summer 09 and kept improving the program ever since.
• Easier to deploy with other Django apps for those who are interested.
• More of valid markup. I went through all pages I could with the W3C validator.
• Bugs normally fixed on the same day and support is less formal. You can report bugs right here on the forum.

Features that are probably absent in OSQA:

• Search by multiple tags and text query. The query can be modified while tag selection is kept. Also there is a "search as you type" feature - more of a toy but is kind of nice.
• inbox feature - the "red envelope" that pops up when there are new responses or flagged posts (for moderators)
• command line tool to merge, split and rename tags (will be added to UI as well)
• probably finer grained user level - admins, mods, regular users, suspended and blocked. All tested.
• ajax retag

Features absent in Askbot:

• re-posting comments as answers and similar
• no votes for comments yet.

SE import is through command line at this point, which is a downside, but you need to do it only once.

There of course will be more good features, but I think it's better to get things done first and then talk about them. However, starting next week there will be a redo of templates and related things to make site customization easier.

As for the smaller user base - you see the project is still very active. Larger user base will only add motivation.

Most comparisons below are with OSQA. I've never tried to install Shapado so never compared it with askbot on the same hardware.

• Faster response time (well under 1s for most pages) because I rewrote all templates in a speedier rendering engine - Jinja2. Template rendering time decreased at least five-fold. Those templates will also help make custom skins - this is the plan for the rest of December.
• Bugs normally fixed on the same day
• More reliable code, there are ~350 test cases in the automatic testing suite. Last time I've checked there were none in the other projects.
• Easy to install and instructions do not depend much on platform. Askbot installation uses standard Python packaging solutions.
• Active development - activity in the repositories can be easily compared. I've translated the Chinese CNPROG in the summer 09 and kept improving the program ever since.
• Easier to deploy with other Django apps for those who are interested.
• More of valid markup. I went through all pages I could with the W3C validator.
• Bugs normally fixed on the same day and support is less formal. You can report bugs right here on the forum.

Features that are probably absent in OSQA:

• Search by multiple tags and text query. The query can be modified while tag selection is kept. Also there is a "search as you type" feature - more of a toy but is kind of nice.
• inbox feature - the "red envelope" that pops up when there are new responses or flagged posts (for moderators)
• command line tool to merge, split and rename tags (will be added to UI as well)
• probably finer grained user level - admins, mods, regular users, suspended and blocked. All tested.
• ajax retag

Features absent in Askbot:

• re-posting comments as answers and similar
• no votes for comments yet.

SE import is through command line at this point, which is a downside, but you need to do it only once.

There of course will be more good features, but I think it's better to get things done first and then talk about them. However, starting next week there will be a redo of templates and related things to make site customization easier.

As for the smaller user base - you see the project is still very active. Larger user base will only add motivation.

Most comparisons below are with OSQA. I've never tried to install Shapado so never compared it with askbot on the same hardware.

• Faster response time (well under 1s for most pages) because I rewrote all templates in a speedier rendering engine - Jinja2. Template rendering time decreased at least five-fold. Those templates will also help make custom skins - this is the plan for the rest of December.
• Bugs normally fixed on the same day
• More reliable code, there are ~350 test cases in the automatic testing suite. Last time I've checked there were none in the other projects.
• Easy to install and instructions do not depend much on platform. Askbot installation uses standard Python packaging solutions.
• Active development - activity in the repositories can be easily compared. I've translated the Chinese CNPROG in the summer 09 and kept improving the program ever since.
• Easier to deploy with other Django apps for those who are interested.
• More of valid markup. I went through all pages I could with the W3C validator.

Features that are probably absent in OSQA:

• Search by multiple tags and text query. The query can be modified while tag selection is kept. Also there is a "search as you type" feature - more of a toy but is kind of nice.
• inbox feature - the "red envelope" that pops up when there are new responses or flagged posts (for moderators)
• command line tool to merge, split and rename tags (will be added to UI as well)
• probably finer grained user level - admins, mods, regular users, suspended and blocked. All tested.
• ajax retag

Features absent in Askbot:

• re-posting comments as answers and similar
• no votes for comments yet.

SE import is through command line at this point, which is a downside, but you need to do it only once.

There of course will be more good features, but I think it's better to get things done first and then talk about them. However, starting next week there will be a redo of templates and related things to make site customization easier.