ForumSpark Development

[Cedric]

Hi everyone,
As some of you know, I’ve been helping manage ForumSpark for quite a while. The original software was fully written by the former owner, Jamie. As of this week, I’ve officially taken over the entire project and Jamie has handed everything over to me.

This topic will serve as a place to keep you updated, since I know some of you enjoy following development progress and behind-the-scenes changes.






So what is ForumSpark?

ForumSpark is a multi-tenant, hosted forum platform - think "Wix for forums" or a modern take on Zetaboards. Users visit forumspark.net, create a free forum, and get a subdomain like myforum.forumspark.net. Each forum is fully isolated with its own database, users, themes, and configuration.

The design philosophy is nostalgic - it's inspired by classic 2000s-era forum software but built with modern Laravel architecture.

Tech stack: Laravel, Livewire, Alpine.js 3, Tailwind CSS, S3, Laravel Forge, Caddy reverse proxy, custom built tenancy.

The goal moving forward is to modernize the platform - both visually and structurally.

That means:

• Introducing more modern UX patterns
• Expanding features
• Gradually moving away from the heavy “ZetaBoards” vibe
• Making customization accessible without needing development knowledge

The vision is to build a stable, free forum hosting platform with a strong and promising feature roadmap.


Yesterday we released version 1.3.0:

This update focuses heavily on something less flashy, but absolutely critical: legal compliance and long-term reliability.

To ensure ForumSpark can operate responsibly and sustainably, we’ve implemented systems to better align with regulations such as:

• GDPR
• DMCA
• UK Online Safety Act

What this means in practice:

• Users can download their personal data
• Users can request full account deletion
• Improved internal logging and activity tracking for moderation and legal protection
• Clearer handling of reports and content-related issues
• Platform-wide minimum age requirement of 18+

Anyways, that's it for now. Feedback is of course always welcome.

 

[Katrina]

Free is a nice thing! Who doesn't want free stuff?

What are some of the limitations of the platform, especially when people might be used to something like Xenforo?

 

[Cedric]

Free is a nice thing! Who doesn't want free stuff?

What are some of the limitations of the platform, especially when people might be used to something like Xenforo?

That is a great question. It kind of depends what you are after. If you have no desire to purchase hosting and getting into installing scripts, ForumSpark pretty much gives you a maintenance-free community. Just register a board and start building a community, it’s that simple.

There are of course some feature differences between FS and XF, but given that I’m actively developing the software and having a lot of plans, that difference will be much smaller within time. 😊

 

[Katrina]

That is a great question. It kind of depends what you are after. If you have no desire to purchase hosting and getting into installing scripts, ForumSpark pretty much gives you a maintenance-free community. Just register a board and start building a community, it’s that simple.

There are of course some feature differences between FS and XF, but given that I’m actively developing the software and having a lot of plans, that difference will be much smaller within time. 😊

Are there add-ons available?

Recently I worked on a new forum using free software, and it has its limitations such as can't get a list of "New Posts", can't moderate members, no spam clean, etc. Are those types of functions available?

 

[Cedric]

Are there add-ons available?

Recently I worked on a new forum using free software, and it has its limitations such as can't get a list of "New Posts", can't moderate members, no spam clean, etc. Are those types of functions available?

Add-ons currently not really.
What I want to do create a theme/extensions directory inside the ACP, which allows admins to easily install themes and extensions or add-ons. For example, a credit and shop system. But to be fair, this is still all early and not coming within a few weeks. The plan is to provide stability, flexibility and some missing features.

Needless to say, I have big plans. In a year from now, ForumSpark will have grown to a much bigger packed software compared to today.

 

[jweb]

This is a really cool project. I used ZetaBoards to host my first forum and enjoyed it.

I haven't had a forum in a long time and haven't planned on having one, but now....

I definitely enjoy seeing development progress so I'll keep on eye on this. Best of luck!

 

[Cedric]

I've just released our brand new Forum Directory, a much-needed feature to give forums on ForumSpark more visibility.

https://forumspark.net/directory

You can enable your forum and list it in the Directory through your Admin Control Panel. Simply go to the Directory Listing, choose a category (more will be added over time), add your description, and you're done. Make sure to keep your description brief as only 200 characters will show in the Directory.

The Directory automatically grabs a screenshot of your forum in the background. It may take a few hours for your screenshot to appear. If you’ve made significant changes to your forum and want to update your screenshot, there’s a button below the Directory Listing where you can request a new one.

Visitors can easily find forums to join through search or by browsing categories. On the side, you’ll also see sections for Most Active (updated in real time), Trending, and Newest Communities, helping users discover the most dynamic parts of ForumSpark.

 

[Katrina]

I've just released our brand new Forum Directory, a much-needed feature to give forums on ForumSpark more visibility.

https://forumspark.net/directory

You can enable your forum and list it in the Directory through your Admin Control Panel. Simply go to the Directory Listing, choose a category (more will be added over time), add your description, and you're done. Make sure to keep your description brief as only 200 characters will show in the Directory.

The Directory automatically grabs a screenshot of your forum in the background. It may take a few hours for your screenshot to appear. If you’ve made significant changes to your forum and want to update your screenshot, there’s a button below the Directory Listing where you can request a new one.

Visitors can easily find forums to join through search or by browsing categories. On the side, you’ll also see sections for Most Active (updated in real time), Trending, and Newest Communities, helping users discover the most dynamic parts of ForumSpark.

It would be nice to have it as the Default to be listed automatically into the Directory and then opt-out if they don't want it there.

 

[Cedric]

It would be nice to have it as the Default to be listed automatically into the Directory and then opt-out if they don't want it there.

I’d prefer to give people the choice before anything goes public. Some forum owners might not notice it’s enabled and may want to keep their forum private. Having it listed in the directory by default could go against that.

 

[jweb]

I was checking out the themes and that Dynamic one reminds me of one I had for my old forum on ZetaBoards 😀.

They are really nice.

 

[Cedric]

I was checking out the themes and that Dynamic one reminds me of one I had for my old forum on ZetaBoards 😀.

They are really nice.

I think back in 2015 or so, I ran a forum on MyBB called ForumDynamic. This theme is from that forum, but it's clearly an unfinished one. Jamie started development on it, I'll likely finish it sometime soon. But yeah, ZetaBoards had the greatest themes.

 

[Katrina]

I think back in 2015 or so, I ran a forum on MyBB called ForumDynamic. This theme is from that forum, but it's clearly an unfinished one. Jamie started development on it, I'll likely finish it sometime soon. But yeah, ZetaBoards had the greatest themes.

Found it!

ForumDynamic

 

[Cedric]

I can’t remember what I ate yesterday, but my forum-building memory is strong. 😎💪

 

[Page]

I don't get how you can afford it 😛 IS there an option in the future for able to download and host it ourselves?

 

[Cedric]

I don't get how you can afford it 😛 IS there an option in the future for able to download and host it ourselves?

Unfortunately not. There is a very specific infrastructure required to run this.

 

[Al]

Stellar work, as usual, young pup. Wishing you the greatest of successes.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I have created a forum on Forum Spark! I'll promote it when I get things fully squared away. I'm really happy you took over this project Cedric, I know it's in good hands and I look forward to see what you have in store for the platform!

 

[Cedric]

Hi everyone!

I've just released the new What’s New page on ForumSpark, a central activity page designed to make it easier to keep up with everything happening across the community.

The page is accessible from the top navigation bar as well as the user menu (newspaper icon). It includes five filterable tabs: New Posts, New Topics, Trending, Watching, and Best Answers, so you can quickly switch between different types of activity.

https://forumspark.net/whats-new

The page refreshes automatically every 30 seconds, ensuring you always see the latest content without needing to reload manually. If you want to browse further, simply click “View more” to load additional results.

Unread topics are clearly highlighted with bold titles and a colored border, while read topics appear normal/muted. A divider also shows which topics have not been updated since your last visit, making it easier to pick up where you left off.

You can mark all topics as read using the button in the panel header. Hovering over a topic title will display a preview card with the author’s avatar, a short content excerpt, and reply and view counts for quick scanning.

Each row also shows the forum it was posted in, along with reply and view totals and the latest reply information. This should make staying active on ForumSpark much smoother and more intuitive.

Custom themes have also been migrated to support the new page and its updated CSS.

Additionally, we will be removing the links for Today’s Active Topics, Today’s Top Posters, and All-Time Top Posters in the next update. These will be replaced by the upcoming Top Posters leaderboard and the new What’s New page.

Hope you enjoy!
Thanks,
Cedric

 

[Cedric]

Hello, Single Sign-On!

Finding and joining communities just got a whole lot easier. With pride, I present to you: ForumSpark Hub and SSO.

SSO makes perfect sense on a platform like ForumSpark. It allows you to join any community in the network with a single click of a button. If you join 5 communities on ForumSpark, you don't create 5 accounts. You don't manage 5 passwords. You don't rebuild your profile 5 times. Your identity follows you wherever you go.

Communities are no longer isolated islands - they become part of a connected network. Now imagine at some point, we have a thousand communities on ForumSpark... Never a dull moment!

This is where the ForumSpark Hub shines.

The Hub is your central identity across ForumSpark. One account, one profile, one place to manage it all. But it's also designed to be your starting point:

• Dashboard - See all the communities you're part of at a glance
• Feed - Stay up to date with the latest topics and replies across all your forums
• Notifications - Get notified about activity on any of your connected communities, all in one place
• Discover - Find and join new communities in the ForumSpark network
• Linked Accounts - Manage all your forum memberships from a single page

All forums have SSO enabled by default - but if you'd prefer to disable it for your community, you can do so from your Admin CP Settings page.

You'll find some extra links on our ForumSpark homepage, your user menu dropdown and the profile page where your SSO info can be found.

Getting started: You'll need to register a new account on the Hub. If you use the same email you've already been using on ForumSpark, it'll automatically link your existing forums to your Hub account - no extra steps needed.

Give it a try and explore it a bit.

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback - share it. This is a big evolution for ForumSpark and I want it shaped with the community.

I’ll be updating the documentation and homepage later this week with full details about the Hub and SSO along some other missing bits.

PS: Make sure your forum is listed in the Directory for it to show up in the Discover page.

 

[Gizmo]

SSO is amazing. I'm super excited about what you've got with Forum Spark 🥰

I signed up to a new forum and didn't even need to enter a username.