Online communities are an excellent place where you can engage your viewers and communicate with them. Online communities consist of people who have common interests and ideas. However, if you wish to start an online community for your members, then you would require a proper platform where the members can communicate with one another. Adding a forum to your website can be a solution to your problem. There are two ways by which you can add a forum to the community. You can either add your forum to your existing website or you can separately create a discussion forum website for yourself.
bbPress and MyBB are two different plugins which will allow you to design a discussion forum website. In our article, we will talk about both bbPress and MyBB. We will also draw a comparison between the two plugins.
1. MyBB: An excellent online forum plugin
MyBB is an open-source software which allows you to create a discussion forum where you will be able to bring hundreds of communities together on the internet. You will be provided with a number of themes, plugins and extensions using which you can customise your forum website. A lot of advanced tools and features are available. The user interface is highly interactive. You will easily be able to create your online discussion forum without requiring a lot of technical knowledge.
Few important features of this plugin include:
- You will be provided with an advanced tracking system and a number of built-in templates.
- The theme editor option is included from where you can customise your theme.
- A number of powerful moderation tools are available.
- Registered users can also carry out private conversations.
- A lot of engaging in features are available for the forum users.
Also Read: Best WordPress Themes for Freelancers
2. bbPress: A complete solution for your community website
bbPress is another extremely renowned WordPress forum plugin. It is an open-source plugin which will allow you to create a discussion forum inside your WordPress website. The plugin has a major role to play in increasing the interactivity of your website. Your users will be able to start discussions with one another. bbPress easily integrates with WordPress and it has an extremely fast speed.
Some of the important features include:
- The plugin is extremely easy to set up and work with.
The one-click installation feature is available. - You will be able to create a multisite forum where you can divide your website into different sections.
- You can allow your users to create content using this plugin.
3. A quick comparison between MyBB and bbPress:
| Basis of comparison | MyBB | bbPress |
| Platform | All platforms | WordPress |
| Server requirements | Microsoft IIS, Apache 1.3, Apache 2.0/2.2, Lighttpd and Nginx | Microsoft IIS, Apache 1.3, Apache 2.0/2.2, Lighttpd |
| Database requirements | MySQL, SQLite, Postgresql | MySQL, SQLite, Postgresql |
| Language requirements | PHP 4, PHP 5 | PHP 5 |
| Templates | Various built-in templates are available. The theme editor provides multiple customization options. | All the templates are customizable which allows you to create a forum as per your choice. |
| Multisite compatibility | Not Available | Available |
| Plugin integration | An advanced plugin system is available using which you will be able to extend your discussion forum. | A huge variety of plugins are available which will allow you to extend your discussion forum. |
| Multilingual compatibility | Multilingual support available | Multilingual support not available |
| Spam Protection | Built-in support is not available. | Built-in Akismet support is available. |
Conclusion:
In this way, you will be able to create an excellent online forum website for your members. Before you start designing your website, you must carefully think about all your requirements and select the best plugin for you. If you need any kind of guidance, then feel free to contact us.
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This is nonsense, BBpress lacks many things like preview for posts, and media uploaders, not to mention the text editor works horribly and has many bugs which make it impossible to trust it as a viable platform. Btw, the BBpress templates don’t even exist! what you have to do is to look for a WordPress template that supports BBpress and even then, the merging between forum and blog styles turns out lacking. On the other hand, myBB is a real forum software, super easy to install (especially through Softaculous) and it already comes with everything you need to make it work, so there’s also less time spent looking for plugins and such.