Sometimes known as online forums, web forums, message boards, bulletin boards, or discussion groups, Internet forums are interactive websites where members can post discussions and read and reply to posts by other forum members.
This is a guide to Internet forums. Forum software or scripts, as well as dedicated forum hosts, and informational sites and directories that are focused on forums are appropriate for this category. However, individual Internet forums should be submitted in the category that best represents the forum's topic or geographical area, in the case of geographically-focused forums.
Forums are usually focused either on a topic or on a group of people who it is designed to appeal to, which may be more or less specific. For example, there is a forum known as Religious Forums, in which any and all religions may be discussed. However, MennoNet is only for the discussion of the Mennonite religion. I don't know of any but, theoretically, a local Mennonite church might have a forum specifically for members of that congregation of Mennonites.
There are forums for dieting in general, and there are also forums for specific diet plans. The popular subscription diet plan, Nutrisystem, operates a forum for people who are on that plan.
It is common for businesses, such as software companies, to have support forums where users can help one another with troubleshooting issues, many of which are also monitored by company tech support personnel, who may also assist with problems. In some product support forums, company representatives answer all of the questions.
Some forums are made up of people from a specific age group, such as the SENIORSonly Club forum, whose membership is restricted to people fifty years old or older.
There are alumni forums, where people who attended the same school can keep in touch with one another and with things that are going on at the school.
Whatever the topic, someone has probably created a forum for it, and it's likely that there are competing forums. Although forum usage is down somewhat in recent years, given that many of the people who might have otherwise been expected to participate in an Internet forum are spending their time on Facebook, Twitter, or another social media instead, but many forums remain active and vibrant.
Forums evolved from the discussion areas on Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), electronic mailing lists, and newsgroups like Usenet, and they serve a similar purpose.
Important to the longevity of a forum is the sense of a virtual community that develops around its regular users. People who have been members of the same forum for a long period of time often come to feel as if they know one another, although they have likely never met.
One of the first forum sites, which is still active today, is Delphi Forums, which began as Delphi in 1983.
There are several publishers of forum software, often known as scripts, and they are readily available on the Internet. Written in a variety of programming languages, forum posts and statistics may be stored in text files or in a database. Each forum package offers different features, and some are intended to be easily integrated into an existing website. In addition, WordPress blog software has been manipulated to allow for threaded discussions, using its comments features. Unless a theme was created specifically to function as a forum, a blog is not a forum, however.
The structure of a forum is tree-like. At the top are categories, dividing the forum into various general topics. Within each category are sub-forums for more specific topics, and these sub-forums may be further divided into deeper sub-forums, although some forum packages limit the number of levels available. Forum administrators or staff usually set up the categories and the sub-forums, although some scripts allow users to suggest sub-forums.
Within the sub-forums, users of the forum, often known as members, are encouraged to introduce topics for discussion. User-generated discussion topics are known as threads. When a user starts a new topic, he is asked to introduce it in some manner. This is known as the opening post and often abbreviated OP. Replies to threads are known as posts.
Depending on the forum package or options chosen by the administrator, messages are displayed in one of three formats: non-threaded, semi-threaded, or fully threaded, with advantages and disadvantages to each, threaded being the most common.
Forums are operated by an administrator, who has access to all of the functions of the forum software. Often, moderators are employed, or promoted on a volunteer basis from within the membership, who are granted greater access than regular members for the purpose of moderating discussions. Many forums also progressive levels of membership, often based on activity levels.
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Integrated with WordPress, Asgaros is a WP forum plugin designed to support large communities, with simple content management, and to support profiles, member lists, moderators, permissions, user groups, administrative approvals, banning, reporting, notifications, and feeds. Also included are options for uploads, search, polls, statistics, guest postings, ad management, and extensions through the use of other WP widgets. Documentation is available.
https://www.asgaros.de/
The forum software comes with detailed permission settings that give the administrator full access control, along with a content scroller and an optional blog-inspired homepage that serves to promote the community outside of the discussion format. The software supports page creation with SEO-friendly URLs, a photo gallery, surveys and polls, and support for third-party tools integration. The purchase of a license comes with one year of support and upgrades.
http://www.aspplayground.net/
Available as open-source software under the terms of the GNU General Public License, bbPress is forum software for WordPress, so it can be downloaded freely, along with the source code. Designed to be easy to install and setup, as are most WordPress themes, it is fully integrated with your WordPress configuration. The bbPress forum can be divided into sections, and users can be allowed to create content, it comes with customizable templates, and is extensible.
https://bbpress.org/
BuddyBoss Web is a WordPress plugin and theme designed to transform a standard WordPress site into a fully-featured online community or discussion forum. It provides out-of-the-box social networking capabilities, such as member directories, activity feeds, private messaging, and social groups, without the need for multiple plugins or custom codes. Core features include member profiles, activity feeds, private messaging, groups, a calendar, online courses, and learning management integrations.
https://www.buddyboss.com/
Offering free and premium versions, the forum software package is built with PHP and MySQL. The software is capable of integrating with existing user login, even cross-domain, through a plugin. The forum permits member titles and rank, as well as a reputation system, and may be extended through plugins. The free version includes a Powered by Codoforum link at the bottom of the page. This may be removed by the purchase of a paid version, three of which are available for a one-time purchase.
https://codoforum.com/
Discourse is a modern, open-source discussion software designed to facilitate long-form conversations. It provides real-time updates, a dynamic trust-level system to encourage quality contributions, and an extensible plugin and theming architecture. Discourse is available under the GNU GPLv2 license, and can be run on virtually any Linux server without paying for managed hosting. Prerequisites, installation methods, and ongoing maintenance instructions are discussed.
https://www.discourse.org/
Discussion Board / Discussion Board Pro
Available as a yearly subscription, Discussion Board is a WordPress forum plugin designed to be mobile and SEO friendly and to work with any WordPress theme. Options to subscribe for one site or for unlimited sites are given. The plugin supports sub-forums, child boards, categories and tags, member subscriptions, user profiles, and various access permissions. Ad Admin approvals feature allows the administrator to decide who can join the discussion board.
https://discussionboard.pro/
ElkArte is a contemporary, open-source discussion platform released under a BSD-3 clause license. It evolved from the Simple Machines Forum codebase, modernizing the foundation to meet today's expectations for social interaction and community building. It is maintained by a team of global volunteers, who refine and keep it relevant for casual and large-scale message boards. It offers a responsive design, draft management, integrated anti-spam defenses, and automatic bundling.
https://www.elkarte.net/
Designed to be a combined successor of esoTalk and FluxBB, Flarum is built with PHP, and available under the MIT open-source license. Flarum uses Composer to manage dependencies and extensions, so the use of the software requires access to the SSH command-line to run Composer. Other server requirements are posted to the site. An online demo and full documentation are available online, along with a community support forum powered by Flarum.
https://flarum.org/
Available on GitHub, Forem is an open-source, blogging-forward, community platform designed to power inclusive forums and social networks. It underpins popular sites like DEV.to and enables organizations to host their own communities with a focus on content creation and peer learning. Forem is released under the AGPL-3.0 license and built with Ruby on Rails, emphasizing transparency and extensibility. It includes threaded discussions, reactions, and nested comments.
https://github.com/forem/forem
Created by Andreas Gohr and the staff at CosmoCode, the site offers a comparison of several types of forum software packages. The user is asked a series of questions about what features are desired in forum software, after which each of the packages that match the criteria is listed and may be compared side-by-side, either all at once or two at a time. Information such as the date of release, the last update, license cost, setup, and several others are given for each.
https://www.forummatrix.org/
Higher Logic Vanilla is an all-in-one customer community platform designed for B2B and B2C companies. It serves as a central hub to drive customer success, reduce support costs, fuel marketing advocacy, and gather product feedback, all within a branded, accessible community. Based on the open-source Vanilla forum script, this is a fully featured community platform, which could be configured as a broad, public forum, although it is proprietary software. It includes all of the tools.
https://www.higherlogic.com/vanilla/
Formerly known as Invision Power Board, Invision Community is a commercial, cloud-based community platform built on PHP and MySQL. It enables organizations to design, launch, and manage online forums, digital storefronts, and member portals from a single interface. Core features include discussion forums with thread and post management, content management, an integrated media manager, gamification tools, real-time notifications, a digital marketplace, and a mobile-friendly experience.
https://invisioncommunity.com/
A forum extension for Joomla, Kunena is free for downloading, although paid templates and plugins are available. The technical requirements are published to the site, along with bug reports, installation and upgrade instructions, and full documentation. A support forum includes official announcements and news about Kunena, as well as an area for community support, and information about extra paid services that may be available. An informational blog is included.
https://www.kunena.org/
The stand-alone, open-source program is designed to build an Internet forum. Available under the GNU General Public License, the software may be downloaded, along with its source code. Highly customizable, miniBB is not a clone of any other software, written in PHP code. Paid support services are available, including installation, customization, synchronizing with an external member base, upgrading, and other custom work. The requirements for running miniBB are posted to the site.
https://www.minibb.com/
Created in 2002, MyBB was formerly known as MyBulletinBoard, then MyBBoard. Written in PHP, the free and open-source software is licensed under the LGPL. The features of the forum software are discussed on its site, including its ease of use, multilingual capabilities, and extendability through hundreds of plugins and themes. MyBB may be downloaded from the site, which includes documentation, a blog, a community support forum, and a list of available modifications.
https://mybb.com/
The fully hosted Internet forum package is offered in three packages, for small businesses and groups, medium-sized businesses and groups, or for larger organizations who need a custom solution, each including the ability to assign unlimited staff and community users, free SSL encryption, and automated daily backups. Its software is also available in a do-it-yourself, self-hosted, open source format. Its features and options are described, and a free trial is available.
https://nodebb.org/
Released in 1998, Phorum is an open-source message board script written in PHP. It is available for downloading from the site, along with templates, language files, modules, and older versions. Also available on its site is information about its history, performance, forum customization capabilities, templates, and other design options, and the advantages offered the forum administrator. Support details, a community support forum, documentation, and a demo are presented.
https://www.phorum.org/
Marketed by PHPJabbers, the online forum software is intended to be used to add a discussion board on an existing website, using a simple forum script to install, create, and manage an online forum. Highly customizable, it can also be used to create a standalone forum. The software is inexpensive, does not require programming expertise, and includes ten different color schemes, an administration panel, and supports the creation of topic categories and user accounts.
https://www.phpjabbers.com/php-forum-script/
Released in 2000, the forum package is written in the PHP scripting language and was initially known as PHP Bulletin Board. The software is free and open-source and available under the GNU General Public License. Offering a flat message structure, hierarchical sub-forums, user groups, full-text search, and plugins, its files can be downloaded from the site, which also includes a demo, documentation, a knowledge base, a support forum, and a blog.
https://www.phpbb.com/
Created in the mid-2000s as an open-source Internet forum package first hosted on SourceForge, the initial development of Project Beehive focused on delivering a lightweight, PHP/MySQL-powerered discussion platform, and was archived on the SourceForge network in March of 2009 when the team transitioned to other code repositories, including GitHub. It is free software under the GNU General Public License, and is platform-independent, runningon any web server supporting PHP and MySQL.
https://beehiveforum.net/
Initially released in 2003, PunBB (PunBulletinBoard) is a lightweight PHP-based Internet discussion board system released under the GNU General Public License. Its primary goal is to be a faster, smaller, and less graphic alternative to discussion boards like phpBB, Invision Community, or vBulletin. Features such as private messaging, polls, file sharing, and attachments are available as third-party extensions. The project's code and rights were sold to Informer Technologies in 2007.
https://punbb.informer.com/
Designed for use as a premium questions and answers plugin for WordPress, SabaiDiscuss can also serve as the basis for a community discussion forum, a knowledge base, or a helpdesk portal. It supports access control, moderation, and an abuse report system, as well as discussion streams, profile pages, a reputation engine, featured posts, bookmarking a social sharing tool, and a selection of sidebar widgets. Screenshots, documentation and a demo site are available.
https://sabaidiscuss.com/
SMF is an open-source (Simple Machines License) Internet forum software designed to be easily understood and operated by novice programmers, hence the name. First released in 2003, as a split from YaBB, a software package created in 2001. Written in PHP and using a MySQL database, it includes Server Side Includes for interactivity between the forum and a website. An online manual, development information, a community forum, and information about customization are included.
https://simplemachines.org/
Primarily a premium forum plugin for WordPress, Simple does include a free version, but with limited support and extensions would have to be purchased separately. Its premium packages include full access to its premium plugins, themes, and updates, with three options based on the level of support preferred. Several extensions are available, as well as integrations with the Simple Press Member Manager and Subscriptions plugins. Products and pricing are yearly and posted on the site.
https://simple-press.com/simple-press-forums
Designed for businesses, communities, and blogs, Talkyard is an integrated discussion and Q&A platform that combines features from Stack Overflow, Slack, Discourse, and Reddit into a single, cohesive system. Users can ask questions, share ideas, and engage in structured conversations that remain searchable and accessible over time. Core features include a Q&A Knowledge Base, Ideation, Team Chat, Blog Comments, Discussion Navigation, Task Assignment, and Permissions.
https://www.talkyard.io/
Also known as the Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link, The Well is one of the oldest online communities, created in 1985. Best known for its Internet forums, and for requiring the use of real names, the site also includes email, shell accounts, and member web pages. The site is divided into subject areas known as conferences, each reflecting the interests of the participants. Within these hosted conferences, members open threads known as topics.
https://www.well.com/
Written in PHP, vBulletin is a proprietary Internet forum software that was launched in 2000. The premium software is available in two packages. Those who wish to host the software themselves may purchase it outright, the other option being one of three month-to-month or annual fees, with vBulletin hosting the forum in its cloud. Features and options are discussed, including its vBulletin Mobile Suite, which is optimized for mobile visitors. A support forum is included.
https://www.vbulletin.com/
WoltLab Suite is a commercial, modular forum and community-building software developed by WoltLab GmbH, a German company specializing in web applications for online communities. Launched as WoldLab Burning Board in 2004, it has since evolved into the unified WoldLab Suite platform, which includes modules for a forum, gallery, calendar, file base, and blog. Its forum supports custom emojis or icons, trophies, ranks, and live updates. Pricing tiers vary by selected modules.
https://www.woltlab.com/en/
Created by the gVectors Team, wpForo is a forum plugin for WordPress. Designed to be mobile and SEO friendly, extendable, and suitable for small or large online communities. Options are included for extended, simplified, and questions-and-answers layouts, and may be customized with various styles with different colors, settings, options, and switches. Of course, it supports categories and its drag-and-drop management system makes it easy to set parent-child relationships.
https://wpforo.com/
The XMB forum software is open-source software that runs PHP scripts and uses MySQL for database management and is designed to be easy to set up and use. Available under the terms of the GNU General Public License, it may be freely downloaded and used, as well as modified and redistributed. It may be downloaded from the site, along with a collection of themes and modifications. Other resources include documentation and a community support forum.
https://www.xmbforum2.com/
The YaBB-Server-Software is one of the prominent Foren-Server-Systems. It is developed on the software of the Singleboard version of YaBB. The YaBB-Server makes it possible to build a complete forum in a few seconds, and the software uses only one system file and a language file. For the forums themselves, additional forum folders are provided, which contain only the forum data (user data, board data, templates), those the necessary diskspace limits to a minimum.
http://www.yabbserver.com/
Yet Another Bulletin Board Development Testbed & Mods
Maintained by someone identified as "Dandello," the YaBB Development Testbed & Mods website provides community-driven snapshots and modifications for the YaBB forum platform. Included are "Quick-Guides for versions 2.5.2 and 2.6, along with diff files, file downloads, and other resources, and a link to the YaBB area on SourceForge is provided, where the most recent version can be downloaded. News and updates relating to the forum script may be posted in this area.
https://www.yabbforumsoftware.com/
YAF is an open-source (Apache License) .NET forum project. Begun in 2003, it is supported by a team of international developers. General forum features are available, including a thumbnails feature for albums, polls, timestamps, multilingual support, Unicode encoding, and RSS and Atom feeds for all pages. It is available as a standalone application, a DNN module, and a sample web forms application. It may be downloaded from the site, and a support forum is available.
http://www.yetanotherforum.net/
