Extreme Message Board Review
Last Version | 1.9.11 (February 28, 2009). | Released under | GPL License. |
---|---|---|---|
Resources |
![]() |
![]() |
|
Company | XMB Software. | ||
Price | Free. |
Last Version | 1.9.11 (February 28, 2009). | Released under | GPL License. |
---|---|---|---|
Resources |
![]() |
![]() |
|
Company | XMB Software. | ||
Price | Free. |
Extreme Message Board, also known as XMB provides a powerful forum software, quite complete, with themes, modifications, and support of a good community. Since the last time we reviewed XMB, this software got more and more features, and finally reaches a step where every major requirements for a forum software are present and really easy to use.
Server Requirements | ||
---|---|---|
Programming Language
Required Architecture and Versions.
|
|
|
Web Servers
How the forum is delivered to users.
|
|
|
Databases
How Forum Data are Stored.
|
|
|
Operating Systems
Systems Supporting this Software.
|
Browser & Client Requirements | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Compatible Browsers
List of Compatible Browsers.
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Required Plugins/Technologies
Additional or Basic Requirements from Client Side.
|
HTML, Javascript, CSS. | |||||||||||||||
Localization
Languages supported by Extreme Message Board.
|
Yes.
Supported Languages:
The International Section of the official XMB forum is a good place to find translations. |
Since the 1.6 release of Extreme Message Board, this software had the reputation of a resource hog. This is no longer the case today, and the trend seems to be the opposite now, because XMB can easily support an high traffic.
You will find more information about XMB at:
Compatibility with Smartphones | |
---|---|
Compatible SmartPhones
Compatible Cellphone Brands and Manufacturers.
|
No. |
Application Distribution / Type
How it is distributed / App Store Availability
|
No. |
Forum Threads / Topics | |||
---|---|---|---|
Forum Style | Flat | Forum Organization |
|
Thread Icons | Yes | Topic Tags | No |
Hot Topics | Yes | Unread Topics | Yes |
Hidden Topics | No | Sticky Threads | Yes |
Related Threads | No | Detect Duplicate Threads | No |
Announcements | Yes |
Posting Messages / Answers | |||
---|---|---|---|
Message Editing Form
How to Post Messages.
|
|
||
Post Editing Format
Supported Markup Language (HTML, Wiki, BBCode,...).
|
|
||
Spell Checker
Checks typos on posts and topics.
|
Yes | ||
Image Attachment
How Images can be Attached and Displayed in Message Posts.
|
|
||
Embedded Videos
Videos and Media Websites Supported in Message Posts.
|
No. |
Posting Features | |||
---|---|---|---|
Quick Reply Box | Yes | Smileys | Yes |
Attachments | Yes | Syntax Highlighting | No |
Message Rating
|
No | Message Quoting | Yes |
Creating a new topic of poll is extremely simple, as XMB name suggests it. Features are quite complete, with a spell checker (you need to install aspell command first), a preview function and many way to customize your posts: smileys, thread icons, BBcodes, attachments,...
Additional Forum Features | |
---|---|
Poll Creation | Yes |
Private Messages
Users Can Communicate using an Internal Messaging System.
|
Yes |
Instant Messaging
Discuss with Visitors and Members in a Chat Window.
|
No |
Calendar
Topic, Member Birthdays, Events are available from the perspective of a calendar.
|
No |
Online Users List
Connected User List (Often Found in the Forum Footer).
|
Yes |
Members List
Search and Consult the List of Members.
|
Yes |
Technical Features | |
---|---|
Bundled Software
Additional Software Available with the Forum.
|
No. |
RSS/Atom Syndication
Posts and Threads Exported to Feeds Aggregators
![]() |
No. |
Friendly URLs
URLs are clear and contain information about the topic (title, message,...).
Highly recommended for SEO purposes.
|
No |
Post by Email
Post Directly From your Email Box.
|
No |
Remote Control
Remote Control from External Software/Websites.
|
No. |
Cache System
Cache pages to optimize bandwidth and load times.
|
No |
Template Engine
It is easier to theme a forum using a known template engine (more docs & examples,...).
|
No. |
This forum supports the features you will see in main forum software, nothing less, nothing more.
Member Options & Features | |
---|---|
Bookmark Threads
User Profiles Keep a List of Followed Posts and Topics.
|
Yes |
Email Notifications
Receive Emails When New Messages are Posted in Followed Threads.
|
Yes |
Export private messages
Private Messages can be Downloaded by Users.
|
No |
Payment Subscriptions
Paying Membership Subscription.
|
No |
User Profiles | |
---|---|
User Profile
User Information and Settings.
|
Yes |
Avatars
Pictures of Members, Useful to Easily Identify their Posts.
|
Yes |
Signature
Signatures Added at the Bottom of Each Message.
|
Yes |
Ranks
Tags and Labels Identifying the Members, based on specific criteria (Total Posts Count, Credits, Moderation Level...)
|
Yes |
Members will have power features in order to organize private discussions with each others, with the U2U module, than regroups an Address Book, a Private Messaging System, a Buddy list and so on.
Moderation & Threads Management | ||
---|---|---|
Moderation |
Post-Moderation
The moderation is done afterwards, if an administrator notices a problem or if a member reports something wrong. Each message is therefore directly published.
Reactive Moderation
By reporting any problems, members are reactive against moderation problems.
Moderators' main objective is to regularly check user reports, without having to follow each threads.
Distributed Moderation
By organizing the forum around moderators, who are usually power and experienced users, moderation is self-powered and only depends on the community.
|
|
Moderator per section | Yes | |
Global Moderator | Yes | |
Move Threads
Move Threads from Topics
|
Yes | |
Shadow Topics
When a thread is moved, the previous position is kept in order to inform users of this modification.
|
Yes | |
Close/Lock Threads
Close/Lock Problematic Threads
|
Yes |
Users Management | |
---|---|
User Groups
Organize and define groups of users, and apply different actions and settings on them.
Common Groups: Guests, Members, Moderators, Administrators,... |
No |
User Registration |
|
Limit Features For New Users
Features are limited if a user has created a small number of posts.
|
No |
Guest Posting | Yes |
Multiple Administrators | Yes |
Send Warnings to Users
Inform users by email or PM that they infringe the board rules, and could be excluded for such behavior.
|
No |
Forum/Section Restricted Access
ACL could be use to determine if a user or a group of users can access (in read only, post message) to some sections
and topics.
|
Yes |
User Banishment | Yes |
Administrate moderators, IP Banning and a restriction managers are some nice features XMB includes.
Database Management | |
---|---|
Backup Database
Backup forum datas that you could store somewhere else.
|
No |
Prune Database
Remove old and unused datas from your forum.
|
Yes |
Restore Database
Restore a backup of your database if the previous install crashed.
|
No |
Administration Tools | |||
---|---|---|---|
Statistics
Statistics about posts count, users, traffic...
|
Yes |
Error/Notice Log Viewer
Forum Logs could be consulted.
|
Yes |
Tasks Scheduler
Maintenance tasks are regularly launched and could be scheduled.
|
No |
Mass Mailing
Send an email (newsletters, advertisements, information,...) to all users.
|
Yes |
Installation & Upgrading | |
---|---|
Installation Method
How this forum software could be installed.
|
Installation Wizard |
Upgrading Method
How this forum software could be upgraded.
|
Upgrade Wizard |
Updates Notifications
The Admin Panel informs you when a new version is released.
|
Yes |
Forum Migration
Convert an existing forum to Extreme Message Board.
|
No. |
5 years ago, when we installed for the first time XMB, we experienced several problems that did not reappear this time, hence the general quality of the software seems to have increased a lot.
Security & Spam Protection | ||
---|---|---|
CAPTCHA
Captcha protects your forum against spam bots.
e.g.,
![]() |
Yes
Complexity:
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
|
Abnormal Behavior Detection
Detect users or request strange behaviors, and try to process proactive actions.
|
- | |
Words Filtering
Offensing Words are automatically replaced.
|
Yes | |
User Blacklist
Prevent specific user accounts to register (based on email address, name,...) and disable potentially harmful members.
|
Yes | |
IP Blocking
Prevent access to spam robots and other scripts that could attempt
DDOS or Brute Force attacks on your forum.
|
Yes |
CAPTCHA are easily configurable, with a dedicated interface where you can setup and increase the difficulty of generated images. By the way, a censor list is able to replace rude words by whatever you want, either by replace letters in the middle by a star, or by applying a specific format on them.
Secunia Advisories severity affecting Extreme Message Board.
Secunia Advisories impact affecting Extreme Message Board.
Customization | |||
---|---|---|---|
Plugins
Add new features to your forum installation.
|
No.
|
||
Themes
Modify the style of your forum easily.
|
Yes.
~116 Available Themes. |
||
Custom BBCodes | No | Smiley Packs | Yes |
Custom Thread Icons |
Yes |
Additional User Profile Fields
Ask more about your members with custom fields.
|
No |
Integration with Applications, Social Networks, Intranet... | |
---|---|
Social Networks
Users can share information from their social network account...
|
No. |
CMS / Blog Bridges
Integration with existing Web publishing tools.
|
No. |
User Accounts Integration
Do users be able to log in with their corporate, Google, Facebook,... accounts?
|
No. |
Content Aggregation
Forum allows to integrate news and content from other website,
using an aggregation protocol (RSS, RDF, Atom,...).
|
No. |
Norms & Accessibility | |
---|---|
HTML / XHTML Markup
See W3C HTML Definition.
|
XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
![]()
Click to see if it respects HTML norms.
|
CSS Stylesheets
See W3C CSS Definition.
|
CSS 2. ![]()
Click to see if it respects CSS norms.
|
Accessibility (WAI)
Web Accessibility ensures that the forum is usable by people of all abilities and disabilities.
|
Conformance to A level.
![]() |
UTF-8 Support
Default encoding used to support all locales and countries.
|
No |
Conformance to W3C Norms
Does Extreme Message Board correctly follow (X)HTML and CSS norms?
|
Yes. |
XMB is unfortunately still using the ISO-8859-1 encoding, which is okay for most European/US languages, but could be problematic if you want to support cyrillic, chinese or arabic languages for example. The default theme is however compliant to W3 norms, which is great!
Key points and major differences that make Extreme Message Board unique:
Extreme Message Board is good forum, but some users accustomed to vBulletin or IP.Board might be a little bit disappointed by this forum, which is good for standard communities, but can be limited if you have to manage thousand of users (think about the lack of user groups for instance).
For people really concerned about optimizations, XMB Documentation contains nice tips about how to tune and improve performance of your MySQL server.
Comments (9)
in the site they say the last
in the site they say the last relese is 1.9.11 and no updates
how come ?
Best Regards
Sadaoui "SAFAD" Abderrahim - Lead Developer AEF Group
Indeed, there's no plan for a
Indeed, there's no plan for a new release for the time being. It looks a bit odd as the project is still active and the official forum regularly commented
FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.
where to find this 5years
where to find this 5years patch thing ?
Best Regards
Sadaoui "SAFAD" Abderrahim - Lead Developer AEF Group
Hello there! Do you know if
Hello there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help
with SEO? I'm trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I'm not seeing very good
success. If you know of any please share. Thank you!
There are a lot of mods
There are a lot of mods (plugins) out there for xmb that allows admins to add a calender, send warnings to users, back up databases, additional profile fields, and a shoutbox etc so I think this review on xmb was a bit rushed.
It is really easy find forum
It is really easy find forum alternatives to costly software. Doves Forum, MyBB, Simple Machines, phpBB, XMB, punBB, Phorum, AEF, and bbPress are just a few of the many open source scripts that you may look at for a cost-free solution, but pay attention to the RSS structure that they provide.
XMB I think has kicked the
XMB I think has kicked the bucket, their site only consist of the support forum, which if you really look at, it has been taken over by spammers.
They talk about a version 2.0 release, but I do not think that is going to happen seeing as it was last mentioned in march.
there are lots of great light boards out there, XMB is a sinking ship that looks like it got left behind.
There are many mods (plugins)
There are many mods (plugins) from the XMB, which allows administrators to add calendar, send notifications to users back to the database, profiles of additional fields and shouts, etc. So I think it comment is XMB was a bit hasty. PHP Web Developer India
Can extreme message board be
Can extreme message board be used on mobile templates of normal websites. i want to try it for my site which is basically meant for Indian users. www.price4india.co.in/