#askfedi What is the best oldschool #forum software one can self-host on a small server?

Zelphir Kaltstahl

"Best" as in some tradeoff of the following:

* bugfree (or not many bugs)
* safe, as in no or no discovered CVEs
* features for users, mods and admins
* maintainability
* safe, as in allows invite-only, and maybe review posts before being actually visible

Background is, that I have been thinking about hosting one for a long time, but it would probably be only for friends and friends of friends.

Roger BW 😷

@zelphirkaltstahl I have been very happy with Discourse. The admin tools are great, it's not super demanding, and I at least find it much more pleasant to use than the PHP-based software. I've been running two sites for a few years and I still recommend it.

topher1kenobe

@zelphirkaltstahl @PurpleJillybeans depends on how you classify old school. bbPress is pretty old and respected.

julian

@zelphirkaltstahl@mastodon.social I would recommend NodeBB as it is a current generation, maintained forum softwar with a healthy plugin ecosystem and responsive developers ()

NodeBB also talks to the Fediverse

Zelphir Kaltstahl

@RogerBW I know about Discourse, but it is kind of exactly what I don't want. Way too JS heavy and doesn't feel like an oldschool forum software at all to me. I'd prefer something, that is more generating static pages, without requiring JS and each post and topic having a URL and all that. Still thanks for the recommendation. Maybe I will consider it after trying others.

Zelphir Kaltstahl

@topher1kenobe That goes in the direction I am looking for. Association with WP makes me very wary, but I will look into that. Maybe it is much better designed than WP.

Zelphir Kaltstahl

@julian Thanks for the suggestion. I think though, that it is way to JS heavy for me. I want basically everything static pages and I don't need anything like live chat and stuff. Based on NodeJS makes me feel like it might be a resource hog on a small server and with all the supply chain dramas happening in the JS ecosystem, I am not sure I want to run it on my server.

Maybe I should have stated my goals a bit more precisely in my OP.

Roger BW 😷

@zelphirkaltstahl Fair enough. I find it much more pleasant than the traditional forum interface, but I don't have fond memories of those.

Zelphir Kaltstahl

I just looked up, whether there is something like #phpbb in the #python world and found #flaskbb. However, the official project website got hijacked by sports betting ... Not very confidence inspiring, and the developer or maintainer stated, that they don't have time to maintain it any longer, so flaskBB is out.

topher1kenobe

@zelphirkaltstahl I know the author, it's good stuff.

Zelphir Kaltstahl

@RogerBW I have very fond memories of those times, being active in some German RPG Maker community. I still feel to this day, that it was the best online community, that I was part of. (rdn-online it was, not sure if anyone here knows it.) Such a forum I envision running. Maybe I am being nostalgic. But I could imagine inviting friends only and having various subforums for our interests and maybe bring to life some good discussions, knowledge collections and resource collections.

julian

@zelphirkaltstahl@mastodon.social that's fair, and something we consider carefully.

We might be building on js but NodeBB has a very small footprint because we take pride in prioritizing speed and efficiency.

Loading community.nodebb.org, 94 requests, 4.27mb.

Loading meta.discourse.org, 274 requests, 11.12mb.

phpBB wins though, 68 requests, 1.25mb

Still, we try. Also our pages are statically generated, and we are PWA if you prefer. You can disable all that if you like.

Edit: oh actually... A brand new NodeBB is significantly leaner, 35 requests, 1.60mb

Arne D. S. Haldorsen

@zelphirkaltstahl I'm sorry this post will probably not help you, but I *think* I'm trying to build what you're looking for.
Unfortunately it's more like a neglected proof of concept (leisure project) than a robust product.

Here it is:
https://codeberg.org/aha/miniprat

These are the goals:
- Lightweight server
- Lightweight and static frontend (doesn't require js, if I remember correctly)
- Invite only (for small groups where someone in the group is server admin)
- Small and simple codebase
- Boring

Ukiah Danger Smith

@zelphirkaltstahl seems like you want something like FluxBB, open source and powers the Arch Linux Forum.

There is always PHPbb, the OG forum software.

Henrik Pauli

@zelphirkaltstahl SMF still exists and has always had a lot of permission settings, I think it could do what you want on that front at least. But it's a PHP beast, a bit messy, and, yeah.

Ukiah Danger Smith

@zelphirkaltstahl looks like this is the most up to date #fluxbb fork

https://github.com/MioVisman/FluxBB_by_Visman