Free Message Boards
In this category, FreebieList.com takes a look at the Internet's best free message boards. A message board (also known as a "bulletin board" or "discussion forum") allows you to establish a community on the Internet. If you run your own Web site and want to get people hanging around, posting comments and reading all the new information, a forum hosting may be just what you're looking for. (Simply using a forum can increase your site's "stickiness" factor by quite a large margin). Below, you'll find some of the best bulletin boards the Web has to offer. Many can be customised to match the look and feel of your site and come with moderation facilities, and a fully featured backend, so you can add, delete and edit posts as required. If you happen to stumble across an outdated link, we'd very much appreciate it if you could report it.
ForumsDot.com - This site provides a free message board service that's ideal for Webmasters who wish to create an online community with their site. ForumsDot.com utilises phpBB and also allows you to choose from over 150 different templates. Along with this, they provide unlimited posts, sub-domain addresses (yourname.forumsdot.com), a remote backup service, plus more besides.
Lefora - Lefora - A free forum service offering user-friendly and engaging message boards that'll add a touch of interactivity to your site. There are no limits on the number of posts or members that you acquire either. Some of the popular features available include: theme customisation, community moderation (flag posts), anti-spam functionality, RSS feeds, member newsletter support, widgets, member notifications, and more.
ExCo Board - Have you ever wanted to add a message board to your own Web site? ExCo Board is a free and easy-to-use message forum incorporating many advanced features. Here, your board is hosted remotely, so you needn't worry about setting up scripts on your own Web server. With a highly customisable interface, statistics, private messaging, etc., ExCo Board is a complete service.
Forumer - Provides a free and reliable message board service by utilising phpBB 2 (although version 3 is available in beta). Registering for a new board takes around one minute and you'll be pleased to hear that a large number of features are included here, such as sub-domain support (so you can easily access your forum), unlimited storage, bandwidth and users, over 30 skins for customisation, and an easy-to-use administration panel.
Forumotion.com - A free forum (message board) provider offering a number of professional and easy-to-use features, including phpBB3 skins, "Web 2.0" interaction, free image hosting, customised e-mail autoresponders, gallery, calendar and reinforced security. If you wish, you can use the forum on your own domain name, although this is not a necessity. They also offer a free blog hosting service, Sosblog, which is the ideal message board alternative.
Hyperboards - A free message board and forum hosting service that's dedicated to constant improvement and user friendliness. The free message boards offered here include the following features: custom pages with template engine, private messaging capability, skins, integrated search functions, unlimited categories and boards, etc. A commercial package is also available here.
YourWebApps DiscussionApp - This version of "DiscussionApp" allows you to integrate a remote threaded message board utility that's customisable and allows moderators to update and remove posts as necessary. There are also many other functions, e.g. our visitors have found particularly useful DiscussionApp's ability to add logos and change the time zone and language.
> This service was formally known as "Server.com DiscussionApp".
ForumCircle.com - Here, you can obtain a free message board for your Web site. ForumCircle.com takes the hassle out of maintaining your own message board by providing a far simpler, remotely hosted phpBB solution. They offer a free sub-domain (http://yourforum.forumcircle.com), a generous data transfer limit, multiple skins, unlimited threads/posts and also full administration access.
Conforums - Conforums.com offers free remotely hosted message boards, which are completely customisable with hundreds of built-in features. Some of the features at Conforums include: a sub- domain for your message board, unlimited categories, boards and posts, personal messaging utility for forum members, etc. You may view a sample message board here, too.
BoardServer - Here's an interactive message board with numerous features (moderator options, language options, filtering, customisable headers/footers, privacy options) to name a few. To install the board, two easy steps are required: configure your options and then "cut and paste" the small snippet of HTML code into your site's pages.
The Forum Company - Need a totally free, customisable message board for your Web site? Forumco.com will provide you with a great free bulletin board that is hosted remotely, so you don't have the hassle of configuring a cgi-bin directory or writing complex Perl scripts. Registering here takes a quick 20 seconds. After that, you can log into an online admin page to tweak your settings.
Bravenet - Amongst other free Webmaster services, Bravenet.com provides a free message board with a ton of useful features. Their forums are remotely hosted, so no script installation is required on your behalf. Some examples of what is offered include: IP address banning, password protection of your boards, usage statistics, image and smiley support, plus plenty of extras.
Network54 - Provides high quality and completely free message board solutions to Webmasters wishing to add a touch of interactivity to their site. To create a new forum, click on the link "create" then work your way through their registration process, where you can customise the bulletin board to your site's specifications, colours, brandings, etc. Network54 also offer various other Internet tools.
VoyForums - Here's another reliable and easy-to-maintain message board provider that has a wide range of features on offer. With one of Voy's forums, you can customise the board to match the look and "feel" of your site, read or delete threaded messages, manage posts on your board and moderate/update comments. No technical expertise is required and full tech-support is available.