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WP Theme for starting a forum, are there any?

by LRDavids
21 replies
I just wanted to find out if there are any as i am thinking about starting a forum. (NOT A MAKE MONEY FORUM).

Thanks
#forum #starting #theme
  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    I seem to recall a plugin that allowed you to turn it into a forum, or maybe it was just the comments? Either way I was less than impressed, and went back to using real forum software.
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    • Profile picture of the author LRDavids
      Hi Mike,

      Can you recommend some of the best forum software?

      Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author AnniePot
        I've used phpBB with a lot of success. It's one of the standards and in most cases you can download it from your hosting control panel.

        It is a standalone setup and not associated with WordPress but it's infinitely better. I use Wordpress extensively, but it's a content management system NOT good software for running a forum.
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        • Profile picture of the author nellterry
          Originally Posted by AnniePot View Post

          I've used phpBB with a lot of success. It's one of the standards and in most cases you can download it from your hosting control panel.

          It is a standalone setup and not associated with WordPress but it's infinitely better. I use Wordpress extensively, but it's a content management system NOT good software for running a forum.
          I've been dealing with this issue for my site all week. Is there a way to have it as a page in your domain, i.e. mydomain/forum and the page redirect to the separate forum as part of your site?
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          • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
            Originally Posted by nellterry View Post

            I've been dealing with this issue for my site all week. Is there a way to have it as a page in your domain, i.e. mydomain/forum and the page redirect to the separate forum as part of your site?
            I only know how to do this from Fantastico in cpanel. When you are installing it, you can name the directory. Normally you leave it blank so that it will install on the root domain, but you could for example name it "forums" and then it would create "yourdomain/forums" and install it there.

            At that point you just have to go to your site and add the navigation link.

            Hope this helps!
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            • Profile picture of the author nellterry
              Originally Posted by MikeTucker View Post

              I only know how to do this from Fantastico in cpanel. When you are installing it, you can name the directory. Normally you leave it blank so that it will install on the root domain, but you could for example name it "forums" and then it would create "yourdomain/forums" and install it there.

              At that point you just have to go to your site and add the navigation link.

              Hope this helps!
              Thanks, Mike, it does. I'll try this.
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  • Profile picture of the author hassan001
    Hi Davids...

    I think I should not waste your time in telling you about features and lists of forums.... You will have a better idea when you will have a look on it yourself....

    However a great software which you will not find in a free list is vBulletin.... WF runs on vBulletin as well....

    Forums

    Go to this link and find demo for every software... Take your time to test features of each and look and feel of each then you decide yourself what you need exactly.....

    Regards
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  • Profile picture of the author JennyBizz
    If you want something that is basic and REALLY easy to use, there is a WP plugin called Mingle that is fantastic!
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  • Profile picture of the author mrketing.me
    For a forum on WP you are better of with a forum plugin, these usually come with their own themes.
    You can try Forums for a standard myBB forum or Mingle for a standard social network, many others exist in the wp-plugins directory
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    • Profile picture of the author bobcarlsjr
      use smf.. they is a plugin to integrate WP and SMF seamlessly.......
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  • Profile picture of the author UMS
    The best WP forum plugin I've found is Simple Press.

    Site is http://simple-press.com/
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    • Profile picture of the author Kezz
      Originally Posted by UMS View Post

      The best WP forum plugin I've found is Simple Press.

      Site is Simpleress
      Agreed, Simple Press rocks.

      It installs effortlessly, works with any theme, integrates seamlessly with s2Member so you can setup paid access easily, and unlike many WP forum plugins has all the power of a stand alone forum script.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    I started with phpBB and switched because it was annoying that HTML is not standard.

    SMF (Simple Machine Forums) comes in most peoples' Fantastico through their web host, and is easy and allows HTML.

    If you're serious about running a forum long term, you can't go wrong with vBulletin. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of others. I don't want to promote other forums here but my strong suggestion is to do some good research and you will find matrix comparisons that will allow you to compare all of the major forum software side-by-side.


    Don't forget, you can always go with a hosted option as well, rather than hosting your own. Actually I started with excoboards and used them for years before hosting my own forums. Yuku is very popular, I think they used to be ezboards? I would avoid forumer for forums where you want to make money... They have a habit of shutting down without warning when they want to upgrade anything, sometimes for weeks at a time. And now complete suites such as webs.com allow you to add a basic forum to your site in the same way that you add an "app" to your smartphone.


    I do strongly advice that whatever you choose, you look into it and make sure that it not only fits all of your needs, but there is still good support. A lot of software is no longer supported, and that can become a nightmare if you've spent a lot of time on your forum and something goes wrong.


    Best of luck! Forums are a lot of work, but they are also extremely rewarding in every way.
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    No theme will make your WP install into a forum... ever.

    There are a few plugins (as mentioned above) that will include/embed/whatever a forum script into your WP.

    While WP is good for many things - why not use a forums script for forums? Just wondering.
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  • Profile picture of the author paul_1
    You should all check out yakezie.com . This is a forumn site for bloggers and when you join the forumn, you'll see that it is a WP site...
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  • Profile picture of the author eCodingMKT
    I've used vbulletin on my forum projects, no problems so far
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Just a note on why it can be beneficial to use a WP plugin for a forum instead of a standalone script.

    Generally speaking, in my case it has been because it enables seamless integration of a user base between WordPress and a forum.

    It is quite difficult to create single logon for a WP based membership site and separate forum. Using a plugin eliminates this issue right out of the gate.

    Additionally, if you wish to have access to areas of your forum for paid members only that can also be difficult to do with forums like phpBB.

    By using a combination of Simple Press and s2Member it becomes incredibly easy to have forum areas available for paid members only.

    And on top of that, you can then have articles on your WordPress site restricted to certain user groups and corresponding areas of your forum available to the same group.

    There are many applications for these types of functions, and a combo of WordPress + s2Member + Simple Press (my favorites) make it all very easy and cost effective to setup.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeff Henshaw
      No theme will make your WP install into a forum... ever.

      There are a few plugins (as mentioned above) that will include/embed/whatever a forum script into your WP.

      While WP is good for many things - why not use a forums script for forums? Just wondering.
      Istvan sums up the issue.

      If you are serious about starting up and maintaining a forum, you need a proper tried and tested script. Not some 'Noddy in Toyland' plug in that may or may not work with Wordpress and if it works, for how long will it work, for how many members and postings and how secure is it?

      Use a script, period! There are suggestions in the thread.

      Just my thoughts,

      Jeff.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    Loving the Noddy reference, Jeff!

    Of course, part of this depends on the use of the forum. If you're just adding a little social flavor, or support to the rest of your site, a WP plugin might work. As Kezz pointed out, it is nice to eliminate that extra step of having to register a second time.


    But if you want a real forum, use real forum software.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Another quick note, Simple Press is certainly not amateur software.

    I'd suggest that assuming any given software is light weight without actually looking at it might lead to missing out on some great stuff.

    I've used a few different dedicated forum scripts in my time and Simple Press is right up there with them, created by very solid coders.

    I in fact found it to be superior to my (extensive) experiences with other forum scripts.

    It's not even so much a plugin as it is a full forum that has been created from the ground up with WordPress integration in mind.

    So I would say don't write it off solely due to it working with WordPress. Take a proper look at it when considering your forum choices.
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  • Profile picture of the author andreaskam
    No mentions of BBpress? bbPress
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