Introduction to phpBB

What is phpBB?

phpBB is one of the most popular and widely used open source bulletin board systems currently available. Forums are powered by phpBB that cater to virtually any sized audience from a handful of users per month to thousands per day.

Sites powered by phpBB are frequently used to provide support, facilitate community interaction, and are even useful for small, collaborative teams searching for a platform where multiple discussions can be easily searched and read.

phpBB is released under the GNU Public License and can be modified and expanded upon. An abundance of add-ons and other third-party modifications are available for free through multiple phpBB user groups and resources. phpBB has a large and active user community, with many contributors producing third-party tools to extend phpBB's functionality well beyond what's available with the core product.

Features of phpBB

• Licensed Under GPLv2
• Written in PHP
• Advanced Administrative Control Panel
• Extensive Moderation Tools
• Search Engine Spider Handling
• Unread Message Tracking
• Private Messaging System
• Fully Customizable User Registration System
• Attachment Support
• Support for Forum Categories, Rules, Password Protection, URL Redirection, Forum-Specific Styling, etc.
• Usergroups
• Advanced Spam Filtering and Blocking Built in
• Supports Multiple Database Storage Systems (MySQL, Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle Database, Firebird, SQLite, etc.)
• Advanced Caching Built in
• Powerful Integrated Search
• Plugins and Custom Styles Supported
• Comprehensive Notifications System

phpBB as a Solution

phpBB is typically a great complementary part of a larger website. For example, you can host a primary site through Joomla and, using RokBridge, enable your users to search for and share information through your phpBB boards. Your primary site could play host to the main content body of your site while the forum exists to make it easier for members of your community to ask questions, find answers, and converse about topics relative to your main site's product and/or services.

phpBB is often deployed in internal enterprise environments where coworkers, remote and local, can collaborate and discuss ideas surrounding a number of different topics. This type of interaction is more open and easier to navigate than a chat room where topics change frequently and long-form content is harder to manage.

Many companies use forums as part of a greater support system. Because phpBB is easily searched and organized, questions that are brought up by users can be answered, kept at the top of pages, and expanded upon by other members of the board.

Why RocketTheme?

RocketTheme provides a complete picture for your phpBB boards when paired with your existing Joomla, WordPress, and/or Magento site. Many of our most popular templates and themes integrate with one-another so your users can enjoy the same experience whether they are browsing items in your Magento store, reading your blog on WordPress, checking out your Joomla site, or interacting with your community on phpBB.

Through useful extensions such as RokBridge for Joomla, this integration can be virtually seamless and easy for you and your users.

Additionally, many of our most popular features originated in Joomla (such as RokBox) appear in our phpBB Styles.

RocketTheme has a large selection of phpBB Styles that keeps getting better. You can use them alongside your existing site, or run it as a stand-alone phpBB installation.