Forum Software Timeline 1994 - 2012

Forum Softwares Timeline
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Alternative Formats: SVG (491 KB) PNG (823 KB) - JPEG (605 KB).

What was the first forum software?
What are the ancestors of the popular forum software?
... When phpBB development began?
Who developed Simple Machines Forum?
Have you ever been curious about knowing:

You'll find these answers on the forum software timeline above. From 1994 to 2012, it describes the history of 18 years of Internet forum software.

Please note that this document may contain small errors. If you discover one, please contact us and will do our best to fix it..
Last Update: August 10th, 2011
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Comments (66)

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Uiwaoni Bali Mojo uetegmayu

Uiwaoni Bali Mojo uetegmayu aogoitu.

..

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Looks great. Please add

Looks great. Please add XenForo, from the former developers of Jelsoft / vbulletin.

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lastnico's picture

Hi! With a great pleasure,

Hi!

With a great pleasure, but have you already released a public version, and can you give us more details about XenForo? We would be really happy to review it here!

Nicolas

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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Hi to all, how is the whole

Hi to all, how is the whole thing, I think every one is
getting more from this web site, and your views are good designed for new users.

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When I originally commented I

When I originally commented I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and
from now on each time a comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the same comment.
Is there an easy method you are able to remove me
from that service? Many thanks!

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We have not yet made XenForo

We have not yet made XenForo to download available outside of private testing, but our community forums have been running on XenForo since they were launched on July 29th. You can get a good idea of the way things fit together from a user perspective right now by visiting http://xenforo.com/community. We expect to make our initial public release in the coming weeks.

Kier Darby

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lastnico's picture

Yes, indeed, this forum looks

Yes, indeed, this forum looks very nice. I'll however wait for an initial release before reviewing it, if you don't mind.

Anyway, I've added XenForo to the list of next reviews.

Good luck for the first release then!

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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The very first hosted forum

The very first hosted forum service I know of was X-Point CGI back in 1996. This was followed by InsideTheWeb.com, Server.com, BeSeen.com, and Bravenet.com in 1997. Boardhost started up in 1998 and Network54 and EZBoard launched in 1999. I'm not certain about BulletinBoards.com. According to the whois database, the domain was registered in December of '97 and Archive.org doesn't have anything for them until 12/98.

As far as software goes, the very first web forum software was WIT back in 1994 (http://www.w3.org/WIT/).

The most popular software back in the early days was WWWBoard from Matt's Script Archive. It was released in 1995.

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lastnico's picture

Very interesting, I'll update

Very interesting, I'll update the timeline according to your post.

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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lastnico's picture

Timeline updated, it now goes

Timeline updated, it now goes back even earlier: in 1994, with the first forum software ever: WIT, developed by W3 consortium.

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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XenForo sucks!

XenForo sucks!

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This is an amazing and

This is an amazing and informative timeline, and looks great too,
Some of the interrelations between a few forum suites we have worked with over the years I didn't know.
Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
Smile

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lastnico's picture

Thank you. I indeed haven't

Thank you. I indeed haven't count how many hours it took, but a total of about 15h would approach Wink

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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ghkgkgk

ghkgkgk

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I got this site from my

I got this site from my friend who informed me concerning this web site and at the moment this time I
am visiting this website and reading very informative content here.

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Proboards should be listed

Proboards should be listed here. It has been around since January 1, 2011. On June 11, 2002, ProBoards Version 2 was launched, followed by version 3 in February 2003, then version 4 on April 30, 2005, and now the current release is version 4.5.

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lastnico's picture

Thanks, ProBoards is now on

Thanks, ProBoards is now on the timeline.

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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^ Sorry, that should say

^ Sorry, that should say January 1, 2000. Proboards was first launched on January 1, 2000.

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Thanks for putting the chart

Thanks for putting the chart together, very informative !

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Funny, i can't find the

Funny, i can't find the BELOVED AEF,
mind adding it please ?

Best Regards
Sadaoui "SAFAD" Abderrahim - Lead Developer AEF Group

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lastnico's picture

Hi, I noticed this too, and

Hi,

I noticed this too, and the recent update of the timeline now integrates AEF. Do not hesitate to promote this infographic on AEF website too!

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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The lines at the top between

The lines at the top between 2003 and 2004 look messed up like the lines aren't even connected..?

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lastnico's picture

Excuse me, but which lines

Excuse me, but which lines are you talking about, I cannot see what you are pointing unfortunately...

Thanks!

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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lastnico's picture

Hi, Finally, I found the

Hi,

Finally, I found the problem... I was using my browser cache's version, that's why I didn't understand what you were talking about. It's fine now, thanks.

FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.

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Hi, of course this piece of

Hi, of course this piece of writing is actually pleasant and I have learned lot of things from it
concerning blogging. thanks.mechanics to check used cars

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While it's just a blip on the

While it's just a blip on the radar now, WebBBS was a modified (enhanced?) version of WWWBoard, dating from 1996 to 2002. History of it is listed here: http://tetrabb.com/history.shtml

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very nice I once used

very nice
I once used ikonboard and switchched to ikonforums, perpaps you can add this software, too

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikonboard#Ikonboard_3.2[/url]

Quote:
Ikonboard 3.2 is yet to be publicly released, though already has a notable history. Originally development began in late April 2003, however work on this release stalled, and development made later became part of iB 3.1.3. Then development on this release was restarted on February 10, 2006 by 'The Ikonboard Team', however they departed on September 10, 2006 taking their work with them to IkonForums.

and
Quote:
On January 8, 2008 the (former) official German support site 'ikonboard.de - Reloaded' completed its transition in converting to IkonForums, though still provided support for Ikonboard.

http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28145

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I'm running Discus from

I'm running Discus from Discusware. It was pretty good in it's heyday, but, alas, like many on your great list, it's gone. I started using it in 2000 on my site but it was around a few years before that. Please feel free to add its timeline! Tx.

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I got this web site from my

I got this web site from my buddy who informed me about this web site and at the moment this time I am browsing this
site and reading very informative content at this place.

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Can I be cheeky? What

Can I be cheeky? What software did you use to draw up your timeline? It is excellent!!!

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The matchless theme, very

The matchless theme, very much is pleasant to me Smile

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One thing I'm kinda missing

One thing I'm kinda missing in there is Woltlab Burning Board Lite.

Burning Board (the normal version) 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 were free.
On March 23rd 2002, they released Burning Board 2.0 which was a complete rewrite with focus on usability. Due to the development effort, Woltlab decided to charge money for it, while the "old" 1.x versions were still available for free ("sort of lite version") and still being developed to some extent (Version 1.2 was from November 2002, i.e. 7 months after the release of 2.Innocent

In July 2004, they released Burning Board 2.2 and simultaneously, the very first free lite version (1.Innocent which was a stripped down version of the regular Burning Board 2.x, replacing the ancient free Burning Board 1.2.

Burning Board 3.0 (codename Sunrise) was released on July 25th 2007 and was another full rewrite. On May 20th 2008, they released the corresponding Burning Board Lite 2.0, codenamed "Nova" (based on WBB3, not WBB2 as the name suggests)

In October 2009, they released WBB 3.1 (codename Volcano), and in November 2010 the matching WBB Lite 2.1 (codenamed Aurora)

Current versions as of the time writing this post:
WBB: 3.1.6 (August 26th, 2011)
WBB Lite: 2.1.1 (April 7th, 2011)

In development:
WBB version 3.1.7 (to be released some time in April 2012)
WBB version 4.0 is said to be released in 2012, but there's no specific date yet. Codename is "Dragon"

Some early screenshots of WBB4 can be found on one of the developers twitter accounts, even though this is probably not important for this timeline picture just yet Wink
http://twitter.com/#!/BurntimeX
http://twitter.com/#!/BurntimeX/status/142260004244828160/photo/1

PS: most of the info and dates are from the German Wikipedia entry for the WBB. I just saved you some time and trouble with crappy google translations Wink Link to the article below.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woltlab_Burning_Board

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Love it, wonderful to see how

Love it, wonderful to see how forum software has evolved over time

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Its amazing how far its come,

Its amazing how far its come, and that pic has put it all into perspective.

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Wanted to let you know that

Wanted to let you know that this diagram is awesome but here is an update on UBB.Threads as Mindraven sold it almost a year ago. Thread for verification: http://www.ubbcentral.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/243524/New_Owner#...

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This is a great piece of

This is a great piece of work. Very professional!
Where would you say commercial and enterprise class solutions (like GetSatisfaction, Lithium, Jive) fit in this excellent chart?
Also facebook is all over the news with 1 billion members, how many members would you say online forums have, globally? Is there any data on this?
Thank you,
E

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there is a forum software

there is a forum software that is as good as vbulletin its cale pbboard
the link http://www.pbboard.com/
i want to add to the software list

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This is a very impressive

This is a very impressive piece of work!

I wonder what your views are on enterprise-level offers such as Lithium, Get Satisfaction, Jive, etc...
Would love to hear your perspective on these.

Cheers,

E

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If you want to compare this

If you want to compare this with vBulletin you need to have a good English support forum and improve the translation, because it's rubbish.

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Love seeing stuff like this

Love seeing stuff like this and how the market evolves over time.

We have a platform here that's built using Drupal: http://discussionsquare.com

And we have a site running it that's going viral right now. You can reach me at discussionsquare@gmail.com if you are interested in the platform for your site or for a standalone project.

One stat I've been digging for is how does aggregate discussion board use compare to facebook. If anyone knows of that stat, please post here. Discussion is bigger than I think most expect.

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Would be nice to see an

Would be nice to see an update. MyBB already is at 1.6.9 and 1.6 hasn't been mentioned yet in the picture above.

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Please update image.

Please update image.

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merci.?,,

merci.?,,

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Ouf re Taki teliewsa kai

Ouf re Taki teliewsa kai m'auto.
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kai den mporousa na vrw lusi.
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k Spyropoulo Kolokotroni 9 sto Syntagma kai ta
diapragmateutika.
Etsi kai kala leuta peira kai ti dwsi kseplirwsa kai
mou emeine kai kati.
Twra eimai kala...

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How come this was last

How come this was last updated in 2011???

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Hello just wanted to give you

Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text inside your post appear to be running off the screen in Internet explorer. I’m not sure if this really is a format problem or something to do with browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the issue fixed soon. Kudos

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Thanking you for helping us

Thanking you for helping us to choose best forum software by features, review and user ratings. I created my new forum with mybb after comparing at forum-software.org. Visit.

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Thank you very much for this

Thank you very much for this forum
.
. 2ktopopzioni

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I was attracted by the title

I was attracted by the title "Forum Software Timeline 1994 - 2012". It is really good and it is interesting. Absolutely fantastic posting! Lots of useful information and inspiration, both of which we all need!Relay appreciate your work. game Of Thrones Seasons 1-2 DVD Box Set | Southland Seasons 1 4 DVD Box Set | Southland Seasons 1-5 DVD Box Set | Supernatural Seasons 1-7 DVD Box Set | Supernatural Season 8 DVD Box Set | Boardwalk Empire Season 3 DVD Box Set | Boardwalk Empire Seasons 1 3 DVD Box Set | Damages Seasons 1 5 DVD Box Set

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I like this article. It

I like this article. It writes very well. You'll find these answers on the forum software timeline above. From 1994 to 2012, it describes the history of 18 years of Internet forum software. It's good to know that the Dimagi and DataDyne have created a CIC office. I believe it is of great help to them to have their on office. Damages Season 5 DVD Boxset | True Blood Seasons 1 6 DVD Box Set | True Blood Seasons 1-5 DVD Box Set | House MD Seasons 1-8 DVD Boxset | House MD Season 8 DVD Boxset | Monk season 1-8 DVD boxset | One Tree Hill Season 9 DVD Box Set | One Tree Hill Seasons 1-9 DVD Box Set

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I am happy to find this

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Today when every company is

Today when every company is trying to flourish its achieve to the World of Internet, competitors is also increasing like the mouth of a massive. look here

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Unfortunately most are not

Unfortunately most are not very good at it which is why they struggle to make any money.https://beatsoftwareblog.shutterfly.com/

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This article helped me so

This article helped me so much! I wasn't sure how people took such beautiful photos and mine turned out awful! article

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