pritish_kul2
★★★★★★★★★
Thinking of starting up your own forum?
Well, it's hard, but definately worth it in the end.
Well, here's a list of some forum software you may want to consider.
Even with a little description for you.
Free Web Forum Software
These software packages can be used to set up forums on your own Web site, and are available free.
ASP-DEv XM Forums
Linear software newly rewritten as XML-based forum. Available as inexpensive hosted service, option for commercial license, or free with 'powered by' logo.
Developer: ASP Resources
Platform: Windows
Basic Bulletin Board Script
See WebBBS.
Ceilidh
Displays the developer's banner ads. (Buying the commercial version lets you eliminate the ads.) Features e-mail notification and listserv capabilities.
Developer: Lilikoi Software
Platforms: UNIX, Windows, OS/2, Macintosh
ConferWeb
Simple system with linear discussions. Also suitable for use as a guestbook. Free for non-profit use. All sites must register.
Developer: Brian Johnson
Platform: Macintosh
COW - Conferencing On Web
Exceptionally powerful for a freeware product. Similar to YAPP.
Developer: Eric Klavins, San Francisco State University, University of Michigan
Platform: UNIX
Discus
Uses a tree structure for categorizing topics and subtopics, but each discussion is presented as a continuous, linear stream of responses. Available in English and several other languages.
Developer: DiscusWare, LLC
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)
DiscussionWeb
Remembers what you have read (something most freeware systems can't do).
Developer: Bob McQueen
Platform: Windows (Written in Perl; UNIX version planned.)
PHP-Nuke
A Usenet News system based on PHP.
Developer: phpnuke.org
Platform: UNIX
Ruboard
Simple BBS software, originally modelled after WWWBoard.
Developer: Andrew Maltsev
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
SEO-Board
Simple message board implemented with PHP and MySQL. Designed to be search engine-friendly.
Developer: Hristo Hristov
Platform: UNIX
Snitz Forums
Feature-rich message board software similar to UBB, based on ASP.
Developers: Snitz Communications
Platform: Windows, UNIX with ASP-enabled server
Sporum
Freeware. Supports both threaded and linear discussions; stores messages in an SQL database.
Developer: KaYue Mak, Smallpig.net, Mike Robb, and others
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
Teemz
Customizable, linear message board software.
Developer: Elated Communications, Ltd.
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)
Thread-IT
Simple message board software implemented with Active Server Pages.
Developer: yMonda
Platform: Windows
W-Agora
BBS software that features a multilingual user interface and ability to upload file attachments to messages. Comes with full source code in PHP.
Developer: Marc Druilhe
Platforms: UNIX, Windows
WebBBS
A template you can hack to suit your own needs. Formerly known simply as "Basic Bulletin Board Script."
Developer: Selena Sol
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
WebMoot (formerly known as WebÞing)
Features realtime chat and e-mail participation.
Developer: Nick Kew, WebThing Ltd. (WebÞ)
Platform: UNIX
Web Wiz Forums
ASP-based bulletin board software. Free download, but there is a modest fee if you want to remove the Web Wiz branding and links from the user interface. Requires MS Access or SQL Server.
Developer: Bruce Corkhill
Platform: Windows
WikiWikiWeb
A simple but powerful tool that's unlike anything else. Essentially, a wiki is an open-ended, interlinked set of web pages that anyone can edit or add to. A wiki can be used as a discussion forum, a database, an organically grown encyclopedia... you name it. There are now many versions, written for many different platforms. A list is available here.
Developer: Ward Cunningham and others
Platforms: Many
WWWBoard
Very widely used.
Developer: Matt Wright
Platform: UNIX
W3 Interactive Talk (WIT)
Highly structured forum software designed for group decision making. Probably the first Web forum system (created June 1994). Unknown if still available.
Developer: Ari Luotonen, CERN
Platform: UNIX
W3news
CGI-based Usenet newsreader. Connects directly to NNTP servers. Page layout is configurable through template HTML pages.
Developer: Kasper Peeters
Platform: UNIX
XMB Forum (Extreme Message Board)
Based on PHP and MySQL.
Developer: XMB Group
Platforms: UNIX
YaBB (Yet another Bulletin Board)
Perl-based message board software.
Developer: Zef Hemel and others
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)
YaBB SE
Enhanced version of YaBB. Not supported since March 2004. The development team has gone on to create SMF.
Developer: various
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)
zForum
Zope-based forum. Works with MySQL or Postgres.
Developer: various
Platform: UNIX, Windows
Zorum
Based on PHP and MySQL. Supports both linear and threaded discussion views. A commercial release is planned, but the original will remain free for noncommercial users.
Developer: Zoltan Nagy
Platform: Linux
And a few more.
Open Source Software
Open Source refers to software that is available under a license that permits its use, study, modification, improvement and redistribution.
AZbb
Forum based on PHP. Modify for nonprofit and personal use only.
Developer: AZ
Platform: UNIX, Windows
Backtalk
Text-based linear forum software, compatible with YAPP. Comes with C source code.
Developer: Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss
Platform: UNIX
Bazaar
Bazaar is configurable through template files, though significant technical skills are required for full utilization. Allows the creation of a variety of applications in addition to message boards, such as polls, FAQs, and announcement boards.
Developer: Mike Sosteric
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
BBMatic
Simple bulletin board software.
Developer: Joe DePasquale
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
Beehive Forum
Open-source forum based on PHP and MySQL. Features frame-based layout, email notification, private messaging system, and extendable user profiles.
Developer: Various
Platform: UNIX, Windows
BlazeBoard
PHP-based message board software with email notification, instant messaging, polls, and other features.
Platform: UNIX
Caucus
Formerly a commercial product, Caucus is a high-end, powerful, and extremely customizable linear forum software, now available as open source. Support, services, and add-ons are available for a fee.
Developer: CaucusCare
Platform: UNIX
Class-1 Forum Software
Based on PHP and MySQL, and distributed under the GNU General Public License.
Developer: Class-1 Web Design
Platform: UNIX, Windows
Code Project Discussion Boards
Open source message board software, implemented as an Active-X control and ASP scripts.
Developer: Uwe Keim and Chris Maunder
Platform: Windows
D3E - Digital Document Discourse Environment
Open Source tool for document-centered discussions. Works with customized versions of HyperNews and Phorum.
Developer: Tamara Sumner, Simon Buckingham Shum, and others
Platform: Windows, UNIX
E-Blah
Open source bulletin board implemented in Perl.
Developer: Justin
Platforms: Windows, UNIX
eThreads
Supports distributed servers. Requires Perl and mySql, though it isn't clear if this software is still available for download.
Developer: Eric Richardson
Platform: UNIX
FruitWare BBS
Displays all messages in a forum on one page.
Developer: FruitWare
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
FUDforum
Bulletin board with many features, including tracking which posts each user has read, moderation, support for multiple languages, and integration with newsgroups and email lists. Requires PHP and MySQL or PostgreSQL.
Developer: Advanced Internet Designs
Platform: UNIX
*hypernews.org/]HyperNews [/url]
Allows discussions to be distributed across multiple Web servers. Must display HyperNews license/copyright.
Developer: Daniel LaLiberte
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
Ikonboard
Flat (linear) message board software featuring email notification and instant messaging.
Developer: Ikonboard.com
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
InterMix
Allows readers to register approval and interest ratings for each message. Complete source code is freely available. InterMix II is in development.
Developer: Collective Communication Inc.
Platform: Windows
JForum
Open source forum software implemented in Java. Requires a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, etc.)
Developer: Rafael Steil and the JForum Team
Platform: Windows, UNIX
jGossip
Forum software based on Java and the Struts framework.
Developer: jResearch.org
Platforms: UNIX, Windows, Mac
LWGate
Web interface to mailing lists; includes Web browsing of a mailing list archive. Development on this product appears to be frozen.
Developer: David W. Baker
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
MHonArc
E-mail gateway: permits Web browsing of a mailing list or newsgroup archive.
Developer: Earl Hood
Platforms: UNIX, MS-DOS
miniBB
A minimalist, yet nicely designed, bulletin board. Can be integrated with an existing user database. Open source. Requires PHP and either mySQL or PostgreSQL.
Developer: Paul Puzyrev and Sergei Lariono
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in PHP)
mod_virgule
Open source forum and blog software which drives Advogato. Also see the Virgule scripting engine.
Developer: Raph Levien and others
Platforms: UNIX
mwForum
Open source threaded forum software implemented with Perl and MySQL. The user interface is available in English, German, and several other languages.
Developer: Mark Wichitill
Platform: UNIX
MyBulletinBoard (MyBB)
Free bulletin board based on PHP and mySQL.
Developer: Chris Boulton and others
Platform: UNIX, Windows (written in PHP)
OpenACS
A suite of open source modules designed for building web-based communities, originally based on ArsDigita's ACS.
Developer: Ben Adida, Don Baccus, and others
Platform: UNIX
Phorum
Open source message board software implemented with PHP and MySQL. Features e-mail notification and moderated posting.
Developer: Brian Moon
Platform: UNIX
phpBB
Popular open source message board software implemented with PHP. Features e-mail notification. Requires an external database (MySQL, MS SQL, PostgreSQL, or Access).
Developer: The phpBB Group
Platform: UNIX, Windows, Macintosh
Pinguinite
Highly customizable open source forum software designed for Linux/Apache/MySQL system. HTML template design with innovative features and administrative options.
Developer: Neil McIver
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
Prattle
Simple open source forum software with a linear conversation structure, implemented with PHP and MySQL.
Developer: Steve Yelvington
Platform: UNIX
PunBB
Open source message board software implemented with PHP. Requires an external database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite).
Developer: Rickard Andersson and others
Platform: UNIX, Windows, Macintosh
Quicksilver Forums
Open source forum software implemented with PHP and MySQL.
Platforms: UNIX, Windows
Scoop
Open source system similar to Slash.
Developers: Brent Metzler, Rusty Foster, Chad Kreimendahl, and others
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
SKForum
Open source system based on J2EE and MySQL, which also features an address book, a wiki, polling, a guest book, and other widgets.
Developer: Anders Hovmöller
Platform: UNIX
Slash
Open source news and message board software implemented with Perl and MySQL.
Developers: Patrick Galbraith, Chris Nandor, Brian Aker, and others
Platform: UNIX
SMF (Simple Machines Forum)
Open source community software based on PHP and MySQL.
Developers: Jeff Lewis, Joseph Fung, David Recordon, and others
Platform:Windows, UNIX, Macintosh
Squishdot
Open source blog and discussion software inspired by Slashdot. This is a plug-in module for Zope.
Developer: Butch Landingin and others
Platform: UNIX
UseBB
Free, open source bulletin board software based on PHP and MySQL. Features RSS and topic subscriptions via email.
Developer: Dietrich Moerman and others
Platform: UNIX
Vanilla
Free, open source, multi-lingual discussion forum software based on PHP and MySQL.
Platform: UNIX, Windows
Venice Web Communities System
Linear forum software with open source, under development.
Developer: Eric Bowersox and others
Platform: UNIX, Windows (written in Java)
Yazd
Open source, Java-based forum software. Uses JDBC to connect to a wide range of supported databases. The user interface is available in several languages.
Developer: various
Platform: UNIX
Well, it's hard, but definately worth it in the end.
Well, here's a list of some forum software you may want to consider.
Even with a little description for you.
Free Web Forum Software
These software packages can be used to set up forums on your own Web site, and are available free.
ASP-DEv XM Forums
Linear software newly rewritten as XML-based forum. Available as inexpensive hosted service, option for commercial license, or free with 'powered by' logo.
Developer: ASP Resources
Platform: Windows
Basic Bulletin Board Script
See WebBBS.
Ceilidh
Displays the developer's banner ads. (Buying the commercial version lets you eliminate the ads.) Features e-mail notification and listserv capabilities.
Developer: Lilikoi Software
Platforms: UNIX, Windows, OS/2, Macintosh
ConferWeb
Simple system with linear discussions. Also suitable for use as a guestbook. Free for non-profit use. All sites must register.
Developer: Brian Johnson
Platform: Macintosh
COW - Conferencing On Web
Exceptionally powerful for a freeware product. Similar to YAPP.
Developer: Eric Klavins, San Francisco State University, University of Michigan
Platform: UNIX
Discus
Uses a tree structure for categorizing topics and subtopics, but each discussion is presented as a continuous, linear stream of responses. Available in English and several other languages.
Developer: DiscusWare, LLC
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)
DiscussionWeb
Remembers what you have read (something most freeware systems can't do).
Developer: Bob McQueen
Platform: Windows (Written in Perl; UNIX version planned.)
PHP-Nuke
A Usenet News system based on PHP.
Developer: phpnuke.org
Platform: UNIX
Ruboard
Simple BBS software, originally modelled after WWWBoard.
Developer: Andrew Maltsev
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
SEO-Board
Simple message board implemented with PHP and MySQL. Designed to be search engine-friendly.
Developer: Hristo Hristov
Platform: UNIX
Snitz Forums
Feature-rich message board software similar to UBB, based on ASP.
Developers: Snitz Communications
Platform: Windows, UNIX with ASP-enabled server
Sporum
Freeware. Supports both threaded and linear discussions; stores messages in an SQL database.
Developer: KaYue Mak, Smallpig.net, Mike Robb, and others
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
Teemz
Customizable, linear message board software.
Developer: Elated Communications, Ltd.
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)
Thread-IT
Simple message board software implemented with Active Server Pages.
Developer: yMonda
Platform: Windows
W-Agora
BBS software that features a multilingual user interface and ability to upload file attachments to messages. Comes with full source code in PHP.
Developer: Marc Druilhe
Platforms: UNIX, Windows
WebBBS
A template you can hack to suit your own needs. Formerly known simply as "Basic Bulletin Board Script."
Developer: Selena Sol
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
WebMoot (formerly known as WebÞing)
Features realtime chat and e-mail participation.
Developer: Nick Kew, WebThing Ltd. (WebÞ)
Platform: UNIX
Web Wiz Forums
ASP-based bulletin board software. Free download, but there is a modest fee if you want to remove the Web Wiz branding and links from the user interface. Requires MS Access or SQL Server.
Developer: Bruce Corkhill
Platform: Windows
WikiWikiWeb
A simple but powerful tool that's unlike anything else. Essentially, a wiki is an open-ended, interlinked set of web pages that anyone can edit or add to. A wiki can be used as a discussion forum, a database, an organically grown encyclopedia... you name it. There are now many versions, written for many different platforms. A list is available here.
Developer: Ward Cunningham and others
Platforms: Many
WWWBoard
Very widely used.
Developer: Matt Wright
Platform: UNIX
W3 Interactive Talk (WIT)
Highly structured forum software designed for group decision making. Probably the first Web forum system (created June 1994). Unknown if still available.
Developer: Ari Luotonen, CERN
Platform: UNIX
W3news
CGI-based Usenet newsreader. Connects directly to NNTP servers. Page layout is configurable through template HTML pages.
Developer: Kasper Peeters
Platform: UNIX
XMB Forum (Extreme Message Board)
Based on PHP and MySQL.
Developer: XMB Group
Platforms: UNIX
YaBB (Yet another Bulletin Board)
Perl-based message board software.
Developer: Zef Hemel and others
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)
YaBB SE
Enhanced version of YaBB. Not supported since March 2004. The development team has gone on to create SMF.
Developer: various
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in Perl)
zForum
Zope-based forum. Works with MySQL or Postgres.
Developer: various
Platform: UNIX, Windows
Zorum
Based on PHP and MySQL. Supports both linear and threaded discussion views. A commercial release is planned, but the original will remain free for noncommercial users.
Developer: Zoltan Nagy
Platform: Linux
And a few more.
Open Source Software
Open Source refers to software that is available under a license that permits its use, study, modification, improvement and redistribution.
AZbb
Forum based on PHP. Modify for nonprofit and personal use only.
Developer: AZ
Platform: UNIX, Windows
Backtalk
Text-based linear forum software, compatible with YAPP. Comes with C source code.
Developer: Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss
Platform: UNIX
Bazaar
Bazaar is configurable through template files, though significant technical skills are required for full utilization. Allows the creation of a variety of applications in addition to message boards, such as polls, FAQs, and announcement boards.
Developer: Mike Sosteric
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
BBMatic
Simple bulletin board software.
Developer: Joe DePasquale
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
Beehive Forum
Open-source forum based on PHP and MySQL. Features frame-based layout, email notification, private messaging system, and extendable user profiles.
Developer: Various
Platform: UNIX, Windows
BlazeBoard
PHP-based message board software with email notification, instant messaging, polls, and other features.
Platform: UNIX
Caucus
Formerly a commercial product, Caucus is a high-end, powerful, and extremely customizable linear forum software, now available as open source. Support, services, and add-ons are available for a fee.
Developer: CaucusCare
Platform: UNIX
Class-1 Forum Software
Based on PHP and MySQL, and distributed under the GNU General Public License.
Developer: Class-1 Web Design
Platform: UNIX, Windows
Code Project Discussion Boards
Open source message board software, implemented as an Active-X control and ASP scripts.
Developer: Uwe Keim and Chris Maunder
Platform: Windows
D3E - Digital Document Discourse Environment
Open Source tool for document-centered discussions. Works with customized versions of HyperNews and Phorum.
Developer: Tamara Sumner, Simon Buckingham Shum, and others
Platform: Windows, UNIX
E-Blah
Open source bulletin board implemented in Perl.
Developer: Justin
Platforms: Windows, UNIX
eThreads
Supports distributed servers. Requires Perl and mySql, though it isn't clear if this software is still available for download.
Developer: Eric Richardson
Platform: UNIX
FruitWare BBS
Displays all messages in a forum on one page.
Developer: FruitWare
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
FUDforum
Bulletin board with many features, including tracking which posts each user has read, moderation, support for multiple languages, and integration with newsgroups and email lists. Requires PHP and MySQL or PostgreSQL.
Developer: Advanced Internet Designs
Platform: UNIX
*hypernews.org/]HyperNews [/url]
Allows discussions to be distributed across multiple Web servers. Must display HyperNews license/copyright.
Developer: Daniel LaLiberte
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
Ikonboard
Flat (linear) message board software featuring email notification and instant messaging.
Developer: Ikonboard.com
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
InterMix
Allows readers to register approval and interest ratings for each message. Complete source code is freely available. InterMix II is in development.
Developer: Collective Communication Inc.
Platform: Windows
JForum
Open source forum software implemented in Java. Requires a database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, etc.)
Developer: Rafael Steil and the JForum Team
Platform: Windows, UNIX
jGossip
Forum software based on Java and the Struts framework.
Developer: jResearch.org
Platforms: UNIX, Windows, Mac
LWGate
Web interface to mailing lists; includes Web browsing of a mailing list archive. Development on this product appears to be frozen.
Developer: David W. Baker
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
MHonArc
E-mail gateway: permits Web browsing of a mailing list or newsgroup archive.
Developer: Earl Hood
Platforms: UNIX, MS-DOS
miniBB
A minimalist, yet nicely designed, bulletin board. Can be integrated with an existing user database. Open source. Requires PHP and either mySQL or PostgreSQL.
Developer: Paul Puzyrev and Sergei Lariono
Platforms: UNIX, Windows (written in PHP)
mod_virgule
Open source forum and blog software which drives Advogato. Also see the Virgule scripting engine.
Developer: Raph Levien and others
Platforms: UNIX
mwForum
Open source threaded forum software implemented with Perl and MySQL. The user interface is available in English, German, and several other languages.
Developer: Mark Wichitill
Platform: UNIX
MyBulletinBoard (MyBB)
Free bulletin board based on PHP and mySQL.
Developer: Chris Boulton and others
Platform: UNIX, Windows (written in PHP)
OpenACS
A suite of open source modules designed for building web-based communities, originally based on ArsDigita's ACS.
Developer: Ben Adida, Don Baccus, and others
Platform: UNIX
Phorum
Open source message board software implemented with PHP and MySQL. Features e-mail notification and moderated posting.
Developer: Brian Moon
Platform: UNIX
phpBB
Popular open source message board software implemented with PHP. Features e-mail notification. Requires an external database (MySQL, MS SQL, PostgreSQL, or Access).
Developer: The phpBB Group
Platform: UNIX, Windows, Macintosh
Pinguinite
Highly customizable open source forum software designed for Linux/Apache/MySQL system. HTML template design with innovative features and administrative options.
Developer: Neil McIver
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
Prattle
Simple open source forum software with a linear conversation structure, implemented with PHP and MySQL.
Developer: Steve Yelvington
Platform: UNIX
PunBB
Open source message board software implemented with PHP. Requires an external database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite).
Developer: Rickard Andersson and others
Platform: UNIX, Windows, Macintosh
Quicksilver Forums
Open source forum software implemented with PHP and MySQL.
Platforms: UNIX, Windows
Scoop
Open source system similar to Slash.
Developers: Brent Metzler, Rusty Foster, Chad Kreimendahl, and others
Platform: UNIX (written in Perl)
SKForum
Open source system based on J2EE and MySQL, which also features an address book, a wiki, polling, a guest book, and other widgets.
Developer: Anders Hovmöller
Platform: UNIX
Slash
Open source news and message board software implemented with Perl and MySQL.
Developers: Patrick Galbraith, Chris Nandor, Brian Aker, and others
Platform: UNIX
SMF (Simple Machines Forum)
Open source community software based on PHP and MySQL.
Developers: Jeff Lewis, Joseph Fung, David Recordon, and others
Platform:Windows, UNIX, Macintosh
Squishdot
Open source blog and discussion software inspired by Slashdot. This is a plug-in module for Zope.
Developer: Butch Landingin and others
Platform: UNIX
UseBB
Free, open source bulletin board software based on PHP and MySQL. Features RSS and topic subscriptions via email.
Developer: Dietrich Moerman and others
Platform: UNIX
Vanilla
Free, open source, multi-lingual discussion forum software based on PHP and MySQL.
Platform: UNIX, Windows
Venice Web Communities System
Linear forum software with open source, under development.
Developer: Eric Bowersox and others
Platform: UNIX, Windows (written in Java)
Yazd
Open source, Java-based forum software. Uses JDBC to connect to a wide range of supported databases. The user interface is available in several languages.
Developer: various
Platform: UNIX
