UseBB

Infobox_Software
name = UseBB


caption = A default installation of UseBB 1.0.x
developer = The UseBB Team
latest_release_version = 1.0.9
latest_release_date = release date|2008|05|29
operating_system = PHP
genre = Forum software
license = GPL
website = [http://www.usebb.net/ www.usebb.net]

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 sets
* Topic subscriptions
* RSS-feed
* Search engine friendly URL's
* "Single forum" mode
* Modules for the administration panel
* Templates based layout
* XHTML 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.

External links

Official
* [http://www.usebb.net/ UseBB Homepage]
* [http://usebb.sourceforge.net/ Development information] — Information on UseBB 2.0, CVS and statistics
* [http://sourceforge.net/projects/usebb/ UseBB SourceForge.net Project] — File releases, CVS and resource trackers

Unofficial
* [http://usebbzone.com/ UseBB Zone] — UseBB templates and modifications