best option for a bare-bones message board/forum?

rip_rike
Sat, 02 Nov 2024 21:30:34 +0000

hello tildes,

i am searching for a bare-bones forum/message board. i'll describe what i need and perhaps someone can point me in the right direction:

must have the ability to

create an account

create topics with the ability to reply

fully customizable front-end (html/css) so i can make it match my website

either self-host or use a custom domain on ext hosting

unimportant but nice to have

display images in posts via external urls

different boards (categories?) to post into (would be nice but not vital)

nested replies (or some visual way to see what you're replying to)

free would be ideal (dreams are nice) but probably wouldn't want to spend more than $5/month as this is a supplement to a website where i don't expect much traffic at all due to the nature of the project. no images/video/audio will be hosted ideally.

i'm ok with "hacker news" or "reddit-like" software but my backend knowledge if very limited. for instance, i looked into self-hosting lemmy but i don't understand how to setup docker. options like phpbb would be fine if i could strip away everything aside from the above-mentioned features.

i want it to be extremely simplistic in appearance and for the end-user (tildes is a great example of the simplistic end-user experience). tildes could be a cool option but i think getting it setup is a bit out of my skill-range.

can anyone offer any suggestions/guidence?

edited to emphasize important aspects and clarify things that are not vital but would be nice to have.

Comments URL: https://tildes.net/~comp/1jto/best_option_for_a_bare_bones_message_board_forum

Votes: 15

Comments: 8