ElkArte is a free, open-source forum software that empowers communities to connect and engage. Built on a foundation of modern web standards and best practices, ElkArte delivers a feature-rich, responsive platform that works beautifully across all devices.
Originally inspired by Simple Machines Forum (SMF), ElkArte has evolved into a sophisticated community platform designed for today's social web, with powerful moderation tools, extensive customization options, and an active development community.
Note: This is the 2.0 development branch. For the stable release, visit the master branch.
- @Mentions - Tag users with notifications to keep conversations flowing
- Like System - Appreciate great content with likes, complete with statistics
- Emoji Support - Access 1000+ emoji directly in the editor 🎉
- Notification Center - Stay updated on mentions, quotes, likes, and private messages
- Desktop Notifications - Real-time alerts with favicon unread count
- Auto-Save Drafts - Never lose your work with automatic draft saving
- Inline Attachments - Display images and files directly in posts
- Rich Media Embedding - Automatic embeds for YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, and Dailymotion
- Drag & Drop - Upload files effortlessly with live preview
- Reply by Email - Reply to posts and private messages directly from email notifications
- Ajax Previews - See your content before posting
- Two-Factor Authentication - Enhanced account security
- Advanced Anti-Spam - Industry-leading spam prevention
- Secure Passwords - Industry-standard password hashing
- Optimized Assets - Automatic JavaScript and CSS minification
- Modern Codebase - Built for speed and reliability
- Responsive Themes - Two modern themes that adapt to any screen size
- Extensible Architecture - 100+ plugin hooks and event system
- Drag & Drop Admin - Intuitive interface ordering
- Custom Styling - Easy theme customization and ships with multiple color schemes.
- PHP: 8.1 or newer
- Database: MySQL 5.7+, MariaDB 10.2+, or PostgreSQL 9.5+
- Web Server: Apache, Nginx, or compatible
ElkArte works seamlessly on all modern browsers, smartphones, and tablets with its fully responsive design.
-
Prepare Your Database
- Create a new database using phpMyAdmin, Adminer, or your hosting control panel
-
Download ElkArte
- Get the latest release package
-
Upload Files
- Extract and upload all files to your web server
-
Set Permissions
- Ensure folders are writable by PHP
-
Run Installer
- Navigate to your forum URL in a browser
- Follow the on-screen installation wizard
- Start building your community!
Alternative: ElkArte is available through Softaculous in cPanel for one-click installation.
Switching to ElkArte is straightforward! Use the Open Importer Engine to migrate from:
- Simple Machines Forum (SMF)
- phpBB
- MyBB
- vBulletin
- XenForo
- And more!
ElkArte is built to be extended and customized:
- Plugin System - 100's of hooks and events for custom functionality
- Theme Engine - Create beautiful custom themes
- No Core Edits - Add features without modifying source code
- Active Community - Browse Themes & Addons
We welcome contributions from the community! Here's how you can help:
- Discuss problems on the community forum
- File detailed bug reports on GitHub Issues
- Include steps to reproduce, expected vs actual behavior
- Share ideas on the community forum
- Discuss implementation approaches with developers
- Read our Contributing Guide
- Review the Developer's Certificate of Origin
- Fork the repository and create pull requests
- Follow project coding standards
- Improve documentation and examples Wiki
- Improve/Update translations Transifex
- Contributions licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0
- Documentation: Reference
- Community Forum: ElkArte.net
- Issues: GitHub Issues
ElkArte is free software licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License.
Third-party libraries and images are under their respective licenses.
Made with ❤️ by the ElkArte Community