Setting up a website in a hosting provider is pretty simple nowadays thanks to all the CMS (Content Management System) solutions available. With a basic CMS platform, you can build your website module by module and commit as many edits and additions as you please. Of course, you can customize the look of your site via templates so your site looks more personal. But well before the birth of popular content management systems like WordPress and Joomla, there were a few forum solutions like phpBB and vBulletin. Both released in 2000, phpBB and vBulletin are still in development today. But with all the developed CMS solutions and increased popularity of social networking sites, should forum solutions be ignored?
If you want to give your visitors a “voice” in your website, implementing a forum solution is the best way to go. Unlike a blog, people can sign up to your website and instantly create a discussion where other members can participate. Some plugins and add-ons of certain CMS platforms may add a similar functionality but forum solutions simply have more features like enhanced user permissions, forum organization, and advanced moderation. Some sites may have both a blog and a forum where the blog is used to provide updates while the forum allows visitors to seek support. Other webmasters prefer creating a social media presence to make it easier for these users to engage but the more privacy-sensitive folks may rather just communicate anonymously. In a forum, we go back to the days where we post under a handle or username. This is why forum solutions will keep going and never be eclipsed by social networking.