A forum on your WordPress blog or website is an effective way by which you can start your own online community. A forum can help you adding a robust approach to your blog while the technology behind it will plays an important role which lets you open up a communication channels between the members which a blog cannot address. While there are large number of WordPress plugins available to do the job, but the question always come standing that which are the best. With this article, I made a list of our best recommended WordPress forum plugins which will help you out to build a perfect online forum for your WordPress blog or website.
Tal.ki Embeddable Forums
The plugin allows you to add a forum, message board or discussion board to your site and allow your members to start their own conversations and topics on your blog. Moreover, the plugin comes with global login systems, which includes Facebook, Twitter, Google and many others.
Mingle Forum
The plugin allows you to easily and quickly put a Forum on your WordPress site/blog.
Question and Answer Forum
The plugin allows a question and answer forum to be added to a site/blog. It can be fully integrated with your theme using custom post types.
Forums
The plugin lets you easily integrate the powerful myBB bulletin board software with WordPress.
WP-Forum Latest Posts
The plugin will list the latest posts from your WP-Forum although there are some option to customize the output and others.
Forum Restrict
The plugin allows restricting forums to certain users.
Vanilla Forums
The plugin integrates Vanilla Forums with WordPress, including embedded blog comments, embedded forum, single sign on, and WordPress widgets.
WP-United: phpBB WordPress Integration
The plugin integrates phpBB and WordPress to make a social site. It lets you enable any of these modules: sign-on, theming, widgets, cross-posting and behaviour.
BuddyPress Rate Forum Posts
The plugin allows users to rate forum posts in BuddyPress. Good posts are highlighted and poor posts diminished. Highlighted karma points shown for each user. It only works with forums for groups; not compatible with site wide forums.
bbPress
bbPress is forum software, which have been made the WordPress way.
bublaa forum and comments
The plugin embed a bublaa forum into your site and replace your comment system with bublaa comments (optional).
U BuddyPress Forum Editor
The plugin is a tinyMCE WYSIWYG HTML editor for BuddyPress Forum.
WP Symposium
The plugin turns your WordPress website into a Social Network. It i provides a forum, activity (similar to Facebook wall), member directory, private mail, notification panel, chat windows, profile page, social widgets, activity alerts, RSS activity feeds, Groups, Events, Gallery, Facebook Connect and Mobile support.
WP Forum Server
The plugin is a complete forum system for your WordPress blog.
BuddyPress
The plugin lets you build a social network for your company, school, sports team or niche community.
U BuddyPress Forum Attachment
The plugin allows members to upload files on BuddyPress forum.
Threader
The plugin utilizes the regular WordPress comments to create a very simple guestbook, or a more elaborate (but still very simple) forum.
Q&A by Degree3
The plugin lets you add social Q&A to improve user retention, generate content, and engage your users throughout your site.
WP Bulletin Board
The plugin is an easy to use forum for your WordPress site which features Facebook authentication, support for displaying your twitter account on your forum which your members can follow and much more.
Photo Credit: Flickr/mik Krakow