nettforums

Nettforums is a web-based forum software designed to host online communities and discussion boards. The platform provides thread-based discussions, user accounts, moderation tools, and a range of customization options to tailor the appearance and behavior of forums. It supports multiple community spaces (categories and subforums), posts with replies, private messages, user profiles, and notification settings.

Nettforums was launched in 2013 by NettLabs, a software studio focused on community software. It evolved from an initial set of core features into a plugin-based architecture that enables extensions and themes. A widely used open-source edition was released in 2015, encouraging community contributions. In 2018, Nettforums introduced a cloud-hosted service offering managed hosting, automatic updates, and backup options, expanding its reach to non-technical users.

Key features include thread creation and moderation workflows, role-based access control (admins, moderators, members), ban and temp-ban capabilities, content filtering, and spam prevention measures. The platform supports rich text and markdown, post editing history, polls, file attachments, hashtags, and search across forums. It also offers themes and a plugin system to extend functionality, plus an API for external integration.

Architecture and deployment: Nettforums is a web application that can be self-hosted or run as a managed service. It typically uses a relational database for storage, with caching layers and a modular backend that loads extensions at runtime. It emphasizes data portability with import/export utilities and supports localization.

Reception and usage: Nettforums has been adopted by hobbyist communities, educational groups, and small organizations seeking a flexible forum solution. Feedback highlights its balance of features and simplicity, while larger deployments may require technical planning.