What do we get if we upgrade to you guys, are we allowed to upload the stuff we want including smilies and such on?
You will find that most free forum hosting services do not allow you do add mods, upload smileys; upload much of anything.
"FREE" generally does mean you do not get all features after all. You'll find that the owner of SMF for FREE has added a lot of nice features to it, gives us the ability to make our forums unique by the ability to edit the Headers/Footers. Look thru the Codes section: You will see a lot of codes, many by members, many found around the net, that help to add things to the forums, change things as well. Look thru the Stylesheet Section: There are many many stylesheets listed there - made by members of Smf For Free.
I guess what I am saying is look thru the sections of the forum that give you some good info on how to change your forum, make it unique. You'll find there is a lot you can do with this service. No, it is not the same as hosting one yourself. NO you will not have access to folders, uploading Mods, uploading smileys. But this is a free hosting service and those things should not be "expected" Overall Ild say this ranks among the best and Im not saying that as a Moderator.