UseBB
UseBB is an open source forum system written in the PHP 4 scripting language and using the database management system MySQL to store dynamic content. It is being distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is meant as a light package for small to mid-sized websites. In opposition to most other packages, the feature set is limited to the essential, but more attention was given to the usability of the forum.
Some important features:
Support for many character setsTopic subscriptionsRSS-feedSearch engine friendly URL’sSingle forum modeModules for the administration panelTemplates based layoutXHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS valid
The current versions (1.0) do not support private messages, user groups or subforums.
Latest versions
1.0: 1.0.9 (released May 29, 2008)2.0: currently under development, available in a Subversion repository
History
The UseBB project was founded on October 22, 2003 by Dietrich Moerman. Ever since, it is registered on SourceForge.net. UseBB originates from the idea to build a single forum software solution called SBBS (Simple Bulletin Board System). It was decided to restart from scratch and to find a new name. The UseBB name was inspired by Usenet, however it also means The Usable Forum Software.
After twenty-two alpha and beta releases (designated with a 0.x version number) and three release candidates the final 1.0 release was made at July 1, 2006.
Future plans
Because the code base of the 1.0 branch does not permit rapid development and makes implementing new features more difficult, a new major version (2.0) rewritten from scratch in object-oriented PHP 5 is being developed. This will facilitate the development of new features such as private messages, subforums and tags and enable the use of plugins and Ajax.