Engage users through Discussion forums
A forum is a great place, which people generally join to seek information, establish credibility in the subject matter, share knowledge or just socialize. If your business thrives online or if you want to tap in the potential audience online for your business, launching forum can be a great idea. By having your own discussion forum, you can provide your visitors yet another reason to stick and come back again and again to your website.
Have a quick look at some of the open source applications that can help you launch your own discussion forums in minutes.
phpBB
This popular open source PHP forum application lets you create forums using modular design and easy to use administration panel. It also offers support for unlimited levels of sub-forums. In addition to this, phpBB also supports multiple database management systems, including MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Firebird, OpenLink Virtuoso, and other ODBC-accessible DBMS.
Vanilla
It is a lightweight Content Management System that focuses on speed, portability and reliability, making it an ideal CMS solution. Its WYSIWYG editor lets you create sidebars on the fly and its smart tagging allows for custom metadata and easy data insertion. It has a media gallery which offers you with bulk upload option, drag and drop sorting of content and a built-in file management interface.
bbPress
bbPress features complete documentation, plugins directory and an active community. Easy to customize, bbPress has a good URL structure that is beneficial for SEO.
SMF: Simple Machines Forum
It is a powerful forum script that lets you integrate and connect your forum with various CMS such as, e107, Mambo, Xoops and iGamingCMS. The SSI( Server Side Includes) lets you interact your website and forum easily. Also, SMF supports multiple languages and has an advanced permission and user management.
SEO-Board
SEO-Board is search engine friendly forum that offers features like anti-spam protection, multi-language, bsic BBCode, RSS/Atom and many others. It comes with simple interfaces and doesn’t have fancy features. It is free for both personal and commercial use.
PunBB
It is a lightweight PHP-powered discussion board that offers an extensions repository from where you can download, install and add extra functionality to your forum.
Phorum
This pure HTML template system is easy to understand and designers can create templates that meet the client requirements. It possesses a very flexible hook and module system that allows developers to easily create modules for customization.
IceBB
Offering a powerful admin control center and the PHP skinning system, IceBB lets you customize the look and feel of your forum easily. It offers private messages system, search, inline moderation and multi-quote in your forum. Also, you can have unlimited subforums with IceBB.
UseBB
It is a light open source PHP4 and MySQL based forum application that is ideal for small to medium sized websites which need a clear and efficient forum package.
XMB: eXtreme Message Board
Its easy to use Member Management system, theming interface and anti-spam image verification system helps you get your message board up and running in minutes.
Hope you will utilize these tools for initiating a discussion forum to engage users to your website. Please share your feedback and suggestions.
Related:
