I've noticed that there's a lot of inconsistency with what the "forum" is, and what the "boards"are. Usually, when I refer to forum, I mean the entire forum. However, I've seen people call the entire forum a "board", and call the individual sections forums, which I suppose is correct.
I'm kinda confused though. Which is actually correct? Is it called a forum, and the individual sections are also called forums? or where does the term "boards" usually come into play?
Technically both are correct in defining the software.
Generally speaking, a forum is the software, a board is the place of discussion within a category of that forum.
People generally have a common misconception when it comes to the terminology, because when talking about the software, both terms can be used, but when talking about a specific area on the software, it should be always considered as a board, not a forum. Even considering sub-boards, they still have to be called by "board".
Depends. Some services such as ZetaBoards call them sub-forums, not sub-boards.
I think the reason boards and forums is interchanged is because boards is likely a shortened term for "message board" which is pretty much, to me, the same as a "forum".
Forum refers to the site at large. Forum describes functionality. The board refers to the specific sections and subject categories on the site.
Having said that, many people refer to forums as forum boards, indicating that the 2 terms overlap.
