Flarum is an open-source forum software that offers a modern, intuitive and responsive design to create online communities. Designed to be extensible and flexible, it allows for seamless integration of custom features and extensions. Flarum is about simplicity, with an easy installation process and a user-friendly interface. Built with the PHP programming language, it has a strong emphasis on performance and can be easily customized to fit individual needs. The platform is built on the Laravel PHP framework and Mithril.js, ensuring a solid foundation for web developers and community managers looking to create and manage online forums.
Forum hosting platforms like FreeFlarum rise to the challenge, offering a reliable, user-friendly environment for meaningful discussions.
Quick Introduction to FreeFlarum
Eager to set up a forum without the fuss? FreeFlarum provides the solution. Creating a Flarum-based forum takes less than 5 minutes. It’s designed for those who value speed, modernity, and the freedom to retain control of their data.
Why FreeFlarum Stands Out To Us
- Blazing Fast: Experience lightweight architecture and rapid response times with Flarum.
- Genuinely Free: Funded by donations, FreeFlarum champions new community growth without monetizing user data.
- Data Freedom: Your community, your rules. Export data whenever you wish, free from restrictive marketing tactics.
- Safety & Security: Benefit from daily backups to offsite locations and robust SSL protection. Your forum’s integrity is a priority.
- Simplicity at its Best: Avoid the fatigue of constant patches and updates. FreeFlarum handles the technicalities, plus offers a range of extensions out-of-the-box.
The Vision Behind FreeFlarum
FreeFlarum is more than just a forum hosting service. It’s a vision for a future where communication isn’t monopolized by tech giants like Facebook, X (Twitter), etc. The rise of fake news, manipulation for profit, and undue influence on democratic processes has laid bare the vulnerabilities of centralized power.
By promoting an open platform like Flarum, FreeFlarum encourages a movement back to community-owned and operated communication channels. Their mission is clear: empower individuals to reclaim ownership of online communities.
Core Values and Strategy
- Customer-Centricity: FreeFlarum puts its users first. They promise no lock-ins, giving forum owners total freedom over their data and a smooth transition if they wish to migrate.
- Community Ownership: With a “keep customers happy” ethos, they emphasize transparency and the right to data ownership.
- Strategic Focus: Every feature is weighed against FreeFlarum’s priorities. Is it making community management easier and more engaging? Is it sustaining the FreeFlarum project or benefiting the broader Flarum ecosystem?
Support and Troubleshooting
While FreeFlarum operates independently from Flarum and its Foundation, they remain committed to user support. Whether you face access issues, need account modifications, or require assistance with domain linking, FreeFlarum’s team is a message away. For a seamless experience, they also recommend checking their status page before reaching out.
Extension List for FreeFlarum
FreeFlarum currently offers 198 extensions, offering a wide range of functionalities. Should you find an essential extension missing from the list, you are encouraged to make a request on their GitHub repository.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the available extensions:
1. User Experience & Features:
- FFans Clipboardjs (Golden): Modern approach to copy code with language display.
- MiniFLAR BBCode Progress Bars: Embed progress bars in posts using BBCode.
- Follow Users (IanM): Follow and receive notifications for user activities.
- Synopsis (IanM): View discussion summaries.
- Level Ranks (Shahiem Seymor): Add level/experience bars.
- Neon Chat (Juan): Realtime Chat feature.
- Profile Cover (Sami Ilyes Mazouz): Add cover images to profiles.
- Lite YouTube Embed (Sami Mazouz): Simplified YouTube embedding.
- Direct Links (Clark Winkelmann): Enhance linking and composer auto-fill capabilities.
2. Security & Administration:
- GB Password Strength (Hasan Özbey): Password strength estimator.
- HTML Head Items (IanM): Add items to the HTML
<head>attributes. - Stickiest (Hasan Özbey): Enhanced discussion pinning options.
- Diff (Hasan Özbey): View post edit histories.
- Shadow ban (Clark Winkelmann): Covertly ban users.
- hCaptcha (Christian Lopez): Enhance security with hCaptcha.
- SEO (V17 Development): Improve search engine optimization.
- Third party login only (V17 Development): Restrict logins and sign-ups to oAuth.
- Turnstile (Blomstra team): Implement Cloudflare Turnstile.
- Checklists (Alexander Skvortsov): Add checklists to Flarum.
3. Community Engagement:
- Syndication (Amaury Carrade): Introduce RSS and Atom feeds.
- Staff Badge (Serakoi): Display staff badges on profiles.
- Money: Reward users for various actions.
- Online: Display online users.
- Flamoji (Hasan Özbey): Intuitive emoji manager.
- Group Invitation (Clark Winkelmann): Invite users to groups using links.
- User badges (V17 Development): Assign badges to users.
4. Customization & Design:
- davwheat Custom Side Nav Links (David Wheatley): Add custom side navigation links.
- Font Awesome 6 (Team Blomstra): Upgrade to Font Awesome 6.
- BBCode Button (Billy Wilcosky): Add custom BBCode buttons.
- Imgur Upload (Matteo Contrini): Simplify image uploads.
5. FoF (Friends of Flarum) Extensions:
- FoF Stop Forum Spam: Check registrations against StopForumSpam database.
- FoF Webhooks (David Sevilla Martín): Enable webhooks.
- FoF Night Mode (Christian Lopez): Introduce night mode.
- FoF Upload (Daniël Klabbers): Intelligent file upload solution.
6. Fun & Miscellaneous:
- Catch the fish (Clark Winkelmann): Fun game for users.
- Birthdays (Ngo Quoc Dat): Add user birthday features.
- Keyboard Shortcuts (Ngo Quoc Dat): Add shortcuts for enhanced navigation.
- Feedback (Marco Colia): Introduce a feedback module.
- Acgembed (zequeen): Media embedding from acfun.cn and bilibili.com.
A Note on Affiliation
It’s important to understand that FreeFlarum and Flarum are distinct entities. While FreeFlarum utilizes Flarum’s open-source software, inquiries specific to Flarum or its extensions should be directed to their respective channels. Nonetheless, FreeFlarum can guide users, offering logs and pointers to address Flarum-related challenges.
Conclusion
FreeFlarum knows the essence of what online communities should be: free, open, and owned by the people who create them. Leveraging the innovative capabilities of Flarum, it presents an ideal choice for those looking to build, grow, and manage their forums with ease. Join the movement, and take a step toward a more democratic digital communication landscape.
As always, if you are in need of a community platform to seek advice: Admin Junkies – Admin, SEO & Webmaster Community
Nomad
October 7, 2023I have used multiple open source forum software, however, I have never tried my hands on Flarum. I have used a couple of forums built on Flarum and I think it is nice software. I did not know there was a free forum service like FreeFlarum. By the way, can you also use a custom domain with FreeFlarum, how much does it cost to use a custom domain with FreeFlarum?
Cedric
October 7, 2023Hi Nomad,
Yes you can use a custom domain on FreeFlarum.
https://docs.freeflarum.com/en/tutorials/custom-domain/
Debashis
October 8, 2023It’s impressive to see such commitment to simplicity, user control, and data freedom by a free forum software. The dedication they have towards open, community-owned communication channels in contrast to tech giants is admirable. The extension list is extensive and adds significant value. FreeFlarum seems like a great option for anyone who is looking forward to kick-starting their own forum but doesn’t have enough funds to go for paid forum software.
Ravenfreak
October 15, 2023I’ve only joined one forum that used Free Flarum, though the forum eventually converted to Woltlab Suite. I tested out Free Flarum the other day, just because I never messed around with the software before. If you’re into modern forum software and don’t want to pay for hosting, Free Flarum is a great host.