Best Forum Plugin for WordPress in 2023!

Q: Why create a forum on your WordPress site?

A forum provides freedom to people in discussing whatever they want. There are limited rules and regulations in a forum. Therefore, you will be able to create a great environment for your visitors to hang out through a forum. You will also be able to get the maximum returns out of the forum to boost your search engine rankings as well.

Q: How to choose the best forum plugin for WordPress?

If your requirement is to create a forum where people can ask questions and provide answers, you will need to go for a plugin that is built for purpose. DW Question is among the best WordPress discussion forum plugins developed for the purpose. Keep these basic factors in mind when you are evaluating the different forum plugins. Then you can locate the most perfect forum plugin out there.

Do you want to create a bulletin board or an online community with WordPress? It’s never a challenging thing to do. All you have to do is to locate the right option out of the best forum plugin for WordPress. Once you select the right plugin, you just need to do some tweaks to get it up and running. We are going to share some of the best plugins available for you to consider as of now. Go through the list and pick the ideal plugin that matches all your needs.

Best WordPress Discussion Board Plugin

1- bbPress

You can call bbPress one of the most popular plugins available for creating a forum online. Simplicity and user-friendliness are the main reasons behind the popularity of this plugin. If you are familiar with WordPress, installing this plugin and configuring it will not be something that you’ll struggle with. The dashboard of bbPress is offering a variety of customization options along with simple navigation. You will be able to control many different aspects of the bulletin board through the dashboard. It is providing some excellent themes to you as well.

Pros

User-friendly
Available to you for free
You can make this plugin even more powerful with the help of extensions
Simple dashboard

Cons

You don’t get a lot of features out of the box

Price

Free

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2- BuddyPress

If you want to use a plugin that delivers the feeling of using a social media network, you may consider using the BuddyPress plugin. Regardless of the appearance, this plugin is offering you the chance to create a fully functional forum. It would contain all the important elements that a bulletin board should have, such as topics and internal messaging. However, it is also possible to create groups, allow the users to send group messages, and watch group activity streams, similar to what you can find in a social media network.

Pros

This plugin can create a community that looks like a social media network
Delivers rich functionality
You can easily integrate with numerous other WordPress plugins such as LearnDash.

Cons

You will need to do lots of customizations before you can start using it.

Price

Free

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3- ForumEngine

ForumEngine might look like a simple and basic plugin. However, it has the ability to deliver effective results to you at the end of the day. By installing this plugin, you can help the visitors to get the feeling of using an authentic bulletin board. It is also providing you the chance to have complete control offer functionalities. You will be able to precisely customize the looks of the forum as well. While looking for the best forum plugin for WordPress, you shouldn’t ignore this option.

Pros

Easy to customize and implement
Detailed styling capabilities
You can have the forum on any page of your website

Cons

Only available as a premium plugin

Price

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Similar to BuddyPress, WP Symposium Pro is offering some rich social media functionalities. People who browse through the forum will sometimes feel like they are using Facebook. This plugin is providing an excellent environment for the users to chat and post activities. On the other hand, it is providing features to chat, have an activity wall, join topics, and even send emails. This is quite popular among people who look for the best WordPress bulletin board plugin.
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Pros

This plugin can create a social media network
Offers detailed user profiles
You can further extend functionality with plugins

Cons

Doesn’t look too professional

Price

Free, but the premium version would cost $99 per year

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5- WP Foro Forum

WPForo is among the most detailed plugins available for creating an online bulletin board. You can get numerous options and tools as well. For example, you have the chance to customize different forum views. The admin tools coming to you with this plugin are quite impressive. The overall looks of the community are clean and detailed. You can have a simple view out of it as well.

Pros

Comes with numerous premium features
Delivers in-built styles
Search and filter functionality
Offers multiple forum views

Cons

You will have to pay for all extensions

Price

Free, but you will need to pay for extensions

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6- Asgaros Forum

A non-technical WordPress user who is looking for a simple plugin may consider using Asgaros Forum plugin. If you are looking for a discussion forum plugin WordPress, you may take a look at this. The best thing you will notice in this plugin is the excellent design. You can get numerous customization tools as well. We can also classify it under the best WordPress plugin free.

Pros

Easy to implement
Comes with basic features you need
Easy to customize

Cons

You don’t find many extensions

Price

Free

7- Sabai Discuss

While looking for the best WordPress forum plugins, you will come across Sabai Discuss as well. Anyone who is looking for a discussion community or a Q&A styled forum can use this plugin. It is delivering you the chance to have a forum that looks pretty much similar to StackOverflow. The very first thing you will notice is the clean layout. It is fully mobile responsive as well.

Pros

Simple layout
Offers a user reputation system
Detailed admin and user roles
Moderation and flagging tools

Cons

It is not free

Price

8- WP Symposium Pro

Another social media network-like plugin you can consider is WP Symposium Pro. The most attractive feature that you can find in this plugin is the ability to create an activity wall, which is similar to WordPress. It will provide an opportunity for the group members and friends to post activities and proceed with chatting. You can get some group tools and profile tools with this plugin as well.

Pros

Looks pretty much similar to Facebook
Offers shortcodes for easy use
Detailed profiles

Cons

It- Not the most professional looking plugin

Price

$99 for the premium version

9- DW Question and Answer

When you start hunting for the best forum software for WordPress, you will have the need to create a bulletin board that looks like Quora. That’s where you may consider going ahead with DW Question Answer. Once you create the forum, people can ask questions about it. On the other hand, people who know the answers can respond with their answers.

Pros

Comes in three designs
Filter and search tools
Translation ready
Availability of admin tools

Cons

Serves the only specific purpose

Price

Free, but the premium version would cost $39.

10- Discussion Board

Discussion Board is among the most user-friendly plugins available for WordPress as of now. If your audience is made out of people who don’t have any technical skills at all, you may consider installing this plugin. You will also be able to make your life easy when installing this plugin. Even if you don’t have a good command over WordPress, you may use it. However, features available to you with the free version of the Discussion Board are limited.

Pros

Offers all the basic features you need
Delivers form-driven designs
Offers shortcodes for boosting user-friendliness
Easy to install

Cons

Not all features are available for free.

Price

Free for basic features. The Premium version would cost from $49 to $89 per year based on the features you buy. Offers a lifetime license for $199.

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How To Choose the Best Forum Plugin for WordPress?

Now you are aware of the best forum plugin for WordPress. You will need to adhere to the following criteria at the time of selecting a plugin that matches your requirements. Take a look at them and go ahead with the right plugin that you can use.

Price

Price is one of the very first things you should consider when looking for a WordPress discussion forum plugin. If you have a need to create a bulletin board without spending any money, you will need to go for an open-source plugin such as bbPress.

Social Media Like Features

People in today’s world are used to social media networks. Hence, visitors who come to your forum would love to have such an interface as well. This is where you may think about going for a community that offers an interface similar to a social media network. WP Symposium Pro and BuddyPress are catering to that requirements.
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Modern and Clean Design

Having modern and clean design is a trend that we can see in websites as of now. You will come across the need to follow this trend when you are implementing the forum as well. This is where you may take a look at the plugins such as Discussion Board and WP Foro.

Developer Friendly Plugins

Developer-friendly plugins will be able to help the developers in adding more customization features. If you are keen to enhance the functionality of the bulletin board by adding custom features, you must start looking for that perfect developer-friendly plugin out there. This is where you may think about using a developer-friendly plugin.

Question and Answer Type Plugins

If your requirement is to create a community where people can ask questions and provide answers, you will need to go for a plugin that is built for this purpose. DW Question is among the best WordPress discussion forum plugins developed for the purpose.
Keep these basic factors in mind when you are evaluating the different plugins. Then you can locate the most perfect one out there.

Why Create a Forum on Your WordPress Site?

Forums are a perfect method available for you to create an online community. It can cater to numerous purposes. For example, people can use it to share knowledge and information. On the other hand, it is even possible to use a bulletin board to ask questions and provide answers. Some people tend to use it for casual purposes, such as to chat and hang out.

No matter what, a forum will be able to help you in bringing together a group of like-minded people and provide them to chance to get connected to each other online. It is a safe place available to discuss a variety of topics. On the other hand, people can use the bulletin board for exploring different subjects. They will not just be able to collaborate but can also argue and debate in an online atmosphere. All communities are providing an excellent fertile ground for people to explore different ideas.

It provides freedom to people in discussing whatever they want. There are limited rules and regulations in a forum. Therefore, you will be able to create a great environment for your visitors to hang out.

You will also be able to get the maximum returns out of the forum to boost your search engine rankings as well. Every single thread has valuable content. As a result, you can easily boost your chances of securing better rankings in search engine results. While keeping all these benefits in mind, you can go through the list of best WordPress forum plugins 2021.

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Conclusion

The easiest method available for anyone to create an online forum would be to use WordPress CMS and install a plugin on top of that. Before you proceed with it, you should understand what the best plugins are. Go through the information we shared via this article and locate that perfect one for you to create an online community. For more information click here .

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