Quicksilver Forums Review
Last Version | 1.4.2 (August 12, 2008). | Released under | GPL License. |
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Resources |
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Price | Free. |
Last Version | 1.4.2 (August 12, 2008). | Released under | GPL License. |
---|---|---|---|
Resources |
![]() |
![]() |
|
Price | Free. |
Apart from violating the copyright of a well-known clothing company by using its name, Quicksilver Forums is a PHP forum software providing quite interesting features, which are common with the basis of what a general community manager expects from this kind of tool. You will neither be surprised, neither be disappointed, which is already a really good news. Let's see more information in this review.
Server Requirements | ||
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Programming Language
Required Architecture and Versions.
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Web Servers
How the forum is delivered to users.
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Databases
How Forum Data are Stored.
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Operating Systems
Systems Supporting this Software.
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Browser & Client Requirements | ||||||||
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Compatible Browsers
List of Compatible Browsers.
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Required Plugins/Technologies
Additional or Basic Requirements from Client Side.
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Javascript. | |||||||
Localization
Languages supported by Quicksilver Forums.
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Yes.
No.
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Compatibility with Smartphones | |
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Compatible SmartPhones
Compatible Cellphone Brands and Manufacturers.
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No. |
Application Distribution / Type
How it is distributed / App Store Availability
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No. |
Forum Threads / Topics | |||
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Forum Style | Forum Organization | No. | |
Thread Icons | - | Topic Tags | - |
Hot Topics | - | Unread Topics | - |
Hidden Topics | - | Sticky Threads | - |
Related Threads | - | Detect Duplicate Threads | - |
Announcements | - |
Posting Messages / Answers | |||
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Message Editing Form
How to Post Messages.
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No. | ||
Post Editing Format
Supported Markup Language (HTML, Wiki, BBCode,...).
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No. | ||
Spell Checker
Checks typos on posts and topics.
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- | ||
Image Attachment
How Images can be Attached and Displayed in Message Posts.
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No. | ||
Embedded Videos
Videos and Media Websites Supported in Message Posts.
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No. |
Posting Features | |||
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Quick Reply Box | - | Smileys | Yes |
Attachments | Yes | Syntax Highlighting | - |
Message Rating
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- | Message Quoting | - |
Additional Forum Features | |
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Poll Creation | Yes |
Private Messages
Users Can Communicate using an Internal Messaging System.
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Yes |
Instant Messaging
Discuss with Visitors and Members in a Chat Window.
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No |
Calendar
Topic, Member Birthdays, Events are available from the perspective of a calendar.
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No |
Online Users List
Connected User List (Often Found in the Forum Footer).
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- |
Members List
Search and Consult the List of Members.
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Yes |
Technical Features | |
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Bundled Software
Additional Software Available with the Forum.
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No. |
RSS/Atom Syndication
Posts and Threads Exported to Feeds Aggregators
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No. |
Friendly URLs
URLs are clear and contain information about the topic (title, message,...).
Highly recommended for SEO purposes.
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- |
Post by Email
Post Directly From your Email Box.
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- |
Remote Control
Remote Control from External Software/Websites.
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No. |
Cache System
Cache pages to optimize bandwidth and load times.
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- |
Template Engine
It is easier to theme a forum using a known template engine (more docs & examples,...).
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No. |
Member Options & Features | |
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Bookmark Threads
User Profiles Keep a List of Followed Posts and Topics.
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- |
Email Notifications
Receive Emails When New Messages are Posted in Followed Threads.
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Yes |
Export private messages
Private Messages can be Downloaded by Users.
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- |
Payment Subscriptions
Paying Membership Subscription.
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- |
User Profiles | |
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User Profile
User Information and Settings.
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Yes |
Avatars
Pictures of Members, Useful to Easily Identify their Posts.
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Yes |
Signature
Signatures Added at the Bottom of Each Message.
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Yes |
Ranks
Tags and Labels Identifying the Members, based on specific criteria (Total Posts Count, Credits, Moderation Level...)
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Yes |
Moderation & Threads Management | ||
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Moderation | No. | |
Moderator per section | No | |
Global Moderator | No | |
Move Threads
Move Threads from Topics
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- | |
Shadow Topics
When a thread is moved, the previous position is kept in order to inform users of this modification.
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- | |
Close/Lock Threads
Close/Lock Problematic Threads
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- |
Users Management | |
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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 | No. |
Limit Features For New Users
Features are limited if a user has created a small number of posts.
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- |
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.
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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.
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Yes |
User Banishment | Yes |
Database Management | |
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Backup Database
Backup forum datas that you could store somewhere else.
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- |
Prune Database
Remove old and unused datas from your forum.
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- |
Restore Database
Restore a backup of your database if the previous install crashed.
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- |
Administration Tools | |||
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Statistics
Statistics about posts count, users, traffic...
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- |
Error/Notice Log Viewer
Forum Logs could be consulted.
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- |
Tasks Scheduler
Maintenance tasks are regularly launched and could be scheduled.
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- |
Mass Mailing
Send an email (newsletters, advertisements, information,...) to all users.
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- |
Installation & Upgrading | |
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Installation Method
How this forum software could be installed.
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Installation Wizard |
Upgrading Method
How this forum software could be upgraded.
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Upgrade Wizard |
Updates Notifications
The Admin Panel informs you when a new version is released.
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- |
Forum Migration
Convert an existing forum to Quicksilver Forums.
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-. |
Security & Spam Protection | ||
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CAPTCHA
Captcha protects your forum against spam bots.
e.g.,
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No
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Abnormal Behavior Detection
Detect users or request strange behaviors, and try to process proactive actions.
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- | |
Words Filtering
Offensing Words are automatically replaced.
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No | |
User Blacklist
Prevent specific user accounts to register (based on email address, name,...) and disable potentially harmful members.
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Yes | |
IP Blocking
Prevent access to spam robots and other scripts that could attempt
DDOS or Brute Force attacks on your forum.
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Yes |
Secunia Advisories severity affecting Quicksilver Forums.
Secunia Advisories impact affecting Quicksilver Forums.
Customization | |||
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Plugins
Add new features to your forum installation.
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Yes.
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Themes
Modify the style of your forum easily.
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Yes. | ||
Custom BBCodes | No | Smiley Packs | No |
Custom Thread Icons |
- |
Additional User Profile Fields
Ask more about your members with custom fields.
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- |
Integration with Applications, Social Networks, Intranet... | |
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Social Networks
Users can share information from their social network account...
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No. |
CMS / Blog Bridges
Integration with existing Web publishing tools.
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No. |
User Accounts Integration
Do users be able to log in with their corporate, Google, Facebook,... accounts?
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No. |
Content Aggregation
Forum allows to integrate news and content from other website,
using an aggregation protocol (RSS, RDF, Atom,...).
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No. |
Norms & Accessibility | |
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HTML / XHTML Markup
See W3C HTML Definition.
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XHTML 1.1 Transitional.
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Click to see if it respects HTML norms.
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CSS Stylesheets
See W3C CSS Definition.
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CSS 2. ![]()
Click to see if it respects CSS norms.
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Accessibility (WAI)
Web Accessibility ensures that the forum is usable by people of all abilities and disabilities.
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Conformance to A level.
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UTF-8 Support
Default encoding used to support all locales and countries.
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No |
Conformance to W3C Norms
Does Quicksilver Forums correctly follow (X)HTML and CSS norms?
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Yes. |
Quicksilver Forums is a good and simple forum software, but unfortunately, it does not benefit of a good advertisement.
This review will maybe change community manager opinions about forum software that are not in the most known forum software list, aka "PhpBB, PunBB, Simple Machines,..."