Most “lightweight” forums cut corners. FlatBB is different: plain PHP 8.1+, no Composer/Docker/build step — but the feature list is what small communities actually need.
Built-in languages
Interface packs ship in the box:
- English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch
- Persian (فارسی) with full RTL layout mirroring
Also:
- Header globe language switcher (remembered for visitors; members can set Preferences)
- Admin default language
- Per-visitor time zones for displayed times; site timezone for email/feeds/logs
- Post text follows its own writing direction (mixed-language communities work)
Core features
Discussion: nested categories (one level) + per-group permissions, tags, topics/replies, quotes, @mentions, Markdown + live preview, drag/paste image upload, likes, bookmarks, unread tracking, notifications.
Discovery: full-text search (SQLite FTS5 / MySQL FULLTEXT), Latest / Top / Unread, clean URLs, RSS, sitemap, profiles & avatars.
UX: Discourse/Flarum-style three-column layout that collapses on phones, dark mode, one-click upgrades.
Admin: settings, categories, tags, users, groups, layout blocks, plugins, scheduled jobs, tools.
Need more? The marketplace and AI-friendly plugin API cover SEO, social login (Google/GitHub/X), Q&A, levels, verified badges, Guard/2FA, drafts, and more. Plugin docs for assistants: https://www.flatbb.com/dev/plugins.md
Links
- Site: https://www.flatbb.com/
- Download: https://www.flatbb.com/download
- GitHub: https://github.com/nwnuyhs/flatbb
- Marketplace: https://www.flatbb.com/market
MIT licensed. If you try it, tell us where it breaks — the support forum runs on FlatBB itself.
This article was originally published by DEV Community and written by hongsheng yang.
Read original article on DEV Community