There really isn't any need for a comparison when it comes to input options.  DotNetNuke Forums only offers one method, while Active Forums offers four different methods.  In addition, each forum or group of forums can have different input options.  These four options are : Plain Textbox, Plain Textbox with HTML, Default DNN Editor or ActiveEditor.  Below are additional details about each option.


Plain Textbox
This is the default input option and most common method for creating posts.  It is a simple text box that allows you to enter regular text.  The Plain Textbox is also the most secure method.  HTML characters are not allowed and all special characters are encoded.

Plain Textbox with HTML This option is identical in appearance to the Plain Textbox.  The only difference is that this method will allow the user to enter HTML formatted text.  It does not provide any kind of design assistance, but merely accepts the text as it is entered.  It is not as secure as the Plain Textbox but it does still try to strip any kind of script tags from the text.

Default DNN Editor One of the many great features of DotNetNuke is the HTML Editor provider.  This allows the site administrator to use one of the many different browser based WYSIWYG HTML editors.  The default editor that ships with DotNetNuke is FreeTextBox.  Other providers are available for r.a.d. editor by Telerik, CuteEditor by CuteSoft and FCKEditor.  We use the r.a.d. editor on ActiveModules.com.  Active Forums allows you to select the Default DNN Editor as your forum input option.  Active Forums will then load the Default DNN Editor when someone creates a topic or reply.

ActiveEditor When we started building Active Forums, we knew that we needed to include some kind of HTML Editor option.  One of our requirements was to make it easy for the forum administrator to specify different toolbar options.  We purchased the source code version of FreeTextBox and modified it to meet our requirements.  When you select the ActiveEditor input option you also get a few other options.  You will be able to enter a series of tags(bold,italic,underline,quote) that represent buttons on the toolbar.  In addition you can choose from three different themes for the appearance of the editor.