Unclassified NewsBoard Review
Last Version | 1.6.4 (September 9, 2007). | Released under | GPL License. |
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Resources |
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Price | Free. |
Last Version | 1.6.4 (September 9, 2007). | Released under | GPL License. |
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Resources |
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Price | Free. |
The Unclassified NewsBoard (short UNB) is an open-source, PHP-based forum software, that tries to be revolutionary in the way you are using it. As a good example, administration and the forum itself are merged, and you will discover really intuitive and ergonomical actions where they should be.
To be honest, the project is really complete, and even if we are still waiting for UNB 2 (no release date for the time being), this is a real pleasure to review this kind of project.
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, AJAX. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Localization
Languages supported by Unclassified NewsBoard.
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Yes.
Supported Languages:
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As a LAMP-based forum software, Unclassified Newsboard will run fine anywhere you could install a PHP runtime and a MySQL server.
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 | Flat | Forum Organization |
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Thread Icons | No | Topic Tags | - |
Hot Topics | - | Unread Topics | Yes |
Hidden Topics | Yes | Sticky Threads | Yes |
Related Threads | - | Detect Duplicate Threads | No |
Announcements | - |
Posting Messages / Answers | |||
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Message Editing Form
How to Post Messages.
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Post Editing Format
Supported Markup Language (HTML, Wiki, BBCode,...).
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Spell Checker
Checks typos on posts and topics.
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No | ||
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 | Yes | Smileys | Yes |
Attachments | Yes | Syntax Highlighting | Yes |
Message Rating
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No | Message Quoting | Yes |
The syntax highlighting uses the GeSHi system, that supports a long list of languages (Python, C++, Java, PHP, HTML, CSS,...). New languages can be installed directly into Unclassified Newsboard by putting the GeSHi template files into the unb_lib/geshi folder of your local installation.
Additional Forum Features | |
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Poll Creation | Yes |
Private Messages
Users Can Communicate using an Internal Messaging System.
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No |
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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Yes |
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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Yes |
Post by Email
Post Directly From your Email Box.
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No |
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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No |
Template Engine
It is easier to theme a forum using a known template engine (more docs & examples,...).
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To activate the friendly URLs, simply sets up the named_urls in the configuration file of UNB (board.conf.php).
Member Options & Features | |
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Bookmark Threads
User Profiles Keep a List of Followed Posts and Topics.
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Yes |
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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No |
Payment Subscriptions
Paying Membership Subscription.
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No |
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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No |
Note that Unclassified Newsboard integrates Jabber notifications when a new message is posted. This is really powerful compared to the classic email notifications we see everywhere.
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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Yes | |
Shadow Topics
When a thread is moved, the previous position is kept in order to inform users of this modification.
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Yes | |
Close/Lock Threads
Close/Lock Problematic Threads
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Yes |
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 |
Most optional administration features could be added with additional plugins, following the primary purpose of Unclassified Newsboard.
Database Management | |
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Backup Database
Backup forum datas that you could store somewhere else.
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Plugin |
Prune Database
Remove old and unused datas from your forum.
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Plugin |
Restore Database
Restore a backup of your database if the previous install crashed.
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No |
Administration Tools | |||
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Statistics
Statistics about posts count, users, traffic...
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Yes |
Error/Notice Log Viewer
Forum Logs could be consulted.
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Plugin |
Tasks Scheduler
Maintenance tasks are regularly launched and could be scheduled.
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No |
Mass Mailing
Send an email (newsletters, advertisements, information,...) to all users.
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No |
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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Yes |
Forum Migration
Convert an existing forum to Unclassified NewsBoard.
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Yes. |
Security & Spam Protection | ||
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CAPTCHA
Captcha protects your forum against spam bots.
e.g.,
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Yes
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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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Plugin | |
User Blacklist
Prevent specific user accounts to register (based on email address, name,...) and disable potentially harmful members.
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No | |
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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No |
Secunia Advisories severity affecting Unclassified NewsBoard.
Secunia Advisories impact affecting Unclassified NewsBoard.
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 | Plugin | Smiley Packs | Yes |
Custom Thread Icons |
No |
Additional User Profile Fields
Ask more about your members with custom fields.
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Plugin |
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. |
Words Filtering is supported using the plugin wordfilter that is not enabled by default.
Norms & Accessibility | |
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HTML / XHTML Markup
See W3C HTML Definition.
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XHTML 1.0 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 AA level.
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UTF-8 Support
Default encoding used to support all locales and countries.
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Yes |
Conformance to W3C Norms
Does Unclassified NewsBoard correctly follow (X)HTML and CSS norms?
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Yes. |
Key points and major differences that make Unclassified NewsBoard unique:
Unclassified Newsboard is clearly a really good alternative to the main known forum softwares.
It combines a simple installation to a user friendly administration, and of course all classical features you could find in a bulletin board.
The main difference compared to other forum software is that UNB tries to put things at the good place. For example, administrating a forum category will be done... in the forum category page itself. You do not have to open the classic Administration dashboard to update the options you saw just before. It's finally a good way to gain some times and to not forget modifications you was planning to do.
The last version of UNB was released in 2007, three years ago. It is stable and does not contain any security problem (that proves how much this software is secure). If you are an advanced users of UNB or PHP/MySQL in general, we would however suggest you using the latest code package, that has been released one month ago, in the end of March 2010 to be sharp. We would also advice you not waiting for UNB 2 as a pure successor of UNB 1, because, as the main developer said, Unclassified Newsboard 2 has a different goal. More details, for German speakers, are available in the Unclassified Beta Laboratory.
And, moreover, UNB 1 is already a really powerful software, so why not using straight away?
Comments (4)
UNB is a great board software
UNB is a great board software [see a heavily customised version in action on the appletalker forum]. however potential users should be aware that - whilst there are a couple of scripts allowing you to migrate data FROM another board TO UNB, there are none [that i'm aware of] that will allow you to migrate FROM UNB TO any other board software.
add to this the fact that UNB is no longer in development and that the developer has said that there will be no direct migration path from UNB to the increasingly vapourware-seeming UNB2 and you'd better be prepared for the biggest 'lock-in' of all time!
for this reason alone, i'd advise against any new users moving to UNB - in spite of its undoubted strengths.
Well, not exactly true. The
Well, not exactly true. The developer said that UNB1 is in maintainence mode and possibly some minor features will be implemented.
UNB2 is not a board. See here. That is one of the reasons there will be no migration to it.
So anyone can and should use UNB, since there is support from the developer for a long time to come.
The migration problem is true though, one can not migrate away from UNB.
The spam filter is a bit
The spam filter is a bit aggressive currently, and refused the following message from Yves Goergen (lead developer of UNB):
Look what my new web analytics tool told me, there's people coming in from this site.
Well, while I must admit that UNB (1 and 2) development has been really slow for some time, I can assure you that I have enough resources to maintain the current version. Should there be a bug that needs fixing (like data loss or security issues - both of which haven't occured in a long time), I can do that in a timely manner. My personal need for UNB2 has much decreased so I'm not putting any time into it right now. I have the impression that individual web forums have passed their best times, with the rise of social networks.
Would there be a common, accepted and comprehensive standard format for web forum data exchange, I would possibly implement im/export for it. Such efforts had started a few years ago but were never finshed. Also, other forums would need to support it as well or it doesn't make sense. Anything else is always a one-to-one work. UNB's database format is publicly documented and I can assist anybody who wants to implement a converter.
FSR Admin - Vote for 2012.
UNB is very nice looking,
UNB is very nice looking, But
it is stopped project and Old software. Not suitable for live forum ! Be carefull !
But it can perform simple forum jobs very good. I like it.