NodeBB

Node BB! It is one thing to have regular customers buying your goods and services. But it is an entirely different matter to have a dedicated community of brand loyalists. These people not only buy your shit, but they also discuss what you’re selling, how you’re doing, how it’s going, and everything in between. That includes discussing the niche that connects your brand to other fans.

For entrepreneurs of all types, having a community forum where people can discuss everything tailored to your niche is a dream. Having a huge community built that also acts as a funnel for sales on your e-commerce site can almost guarantee that you will have upward mobility to grow and blossom. But if a forum sounds like an outdated idea that belongs in the 20th century, you need to get a goddamn grip and think broadly.

You need to consider NodeBB if you have these kinds of misconceptions about what a forum can be. Your mind will be changed. I can almost guarantee that. Check it out to see if it fits into your plans. Whether you already have a forum or thinking about building a community from scratch, NodeBB takes a decades-old concept and gives it a fresh facelift.

Open source

NodeBB may have a fresh look and concept (more on all of that in a moment). But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the most important aspects of the forum software. Namely, that NodeBB is open source.

If you don’t know why this is important, consider how much pain software, in general, can be. What kind of programs and apps do you use regularly? Maybe you use an Office-type of software. Or perhaps you use a payment processing app that crashes all the fucking time. These software types are most likely not open source, mainly if you use software and apps supported by big dog companies like Microsoft and others.

That means that it can take a ridiculously long time for bugs, features, and changes to be made to better the software/app. It’s a pain in the ass. But with open-source software, the source code is readily available. Anyone can make changes and improvements to the software. For popular software and apps that are also open source, there is usually a dedicated team of experts constantly improving it and making it better.

That’s precisely the case with NodeBB. All of the source code for the forum software is available. You can visit NodeBB’s GitHub page and look at the progress of the software development. You will notice that people are working on it, improving the software, leaving notes, goals, etc. If you want to download the source code and improve it yourself, you can do so.

I am not exaggerating the truth when I say this. NodeBB is constantly in development. The latest change came out three hours before I started preparing for this review. With nearly 12,000 stars on GitHub, it shows that the forum software is popular as hell. When you look at the features of NodeBB, it is easy to see why.

Responsive design

If you have ever browsed a mobile device forum, you probably know what a pain in the ass it can be. Many forums still are not made for mobile devices. Looking around on them can be tedious, confusing, and a chore. It makes you feel like you don’t want to browse around the forum at all. If there is a lot of good conversation and content to look at, that’s a fucking shame.

When you use NodeBB for your forum software, you will never run into this problem. That’s because NodeBB is a mobile-first kind of forum software. It was created with mobile devices in mind. That in and of itself is reason enough to want to consider NodeBB.

Finding that your site can have forum software that browses quickly and effortlessly on a mobile device is a godsend for many adult entrepreneurs. You don’t have to worry about the forum being difficult to load, view, or explore. Your fans can look around until they can’t click anymore. That’s how modern forums should behave and browse. That’s how it goes on NodeBB, making it worth a second look if you want to add a forum to your adult site.

Feels like a social network

NodeBB’s responsive design on mobile devices is not the only thing that makes the forum software feel fresher. When you look around on the forum, you will find that it feels like a social network. It borrows from a few social sites that you have probably used. But it brings it all together to have its own, unique look.

The most apparent inspiration for NodeBB comes from Reddit. Users can click on the navigation bar on the forum’s left side to categorize threads. They can look at threads that are recent, popular, tagged, or they can just search via keyword and find threads and messages that way.

Users can also browse through groups, users, and even categories. Looking through the groups’ section feels a lot like looking through the groups’ section on Facebook. However, it doesn’t have nearly the same amount of filtering options as Facebook. Still, all the groups are here and ready for you to explore.

If you want to reach out to users directly (more on that in a moment), all you have to do is select users. Clicking a user is a lot like looking at an Instagram page. You see their posts, followers, who they are following, reputation, and more. Moreover, you can even see which posts are in reply to whom. So if you notice a post in response to another person, you can click on that person and go down a rabbit hole of conversation. It’s so much easier than actually searching a member’s name via search and reading their posts without any of the contexts that NodeBB provides.

You are also allowed to add categories to your forum software. When I was looking at the demo of NodeBB, I noticed that they had separated their categories into sections like blogs, general discussion, announcements, and more. You can tweak these categories to whatever type of category that you see fit. If you want a place to discuss hentai, big tittied women, and an off-topic section where you talk about your taxes and bowel movements, you have the option of adding this and more to your categories.

As I browsed the demo section of NodeBB, I noticed that it also browsed much like a forum. A clean forum at that, but a forum nevertheless. Emphasize the word ‘clean’ because it’s the best way to describe how your forum will come across. Even on mobile, it felt like I was looking around at a list of Groups on Facebook. It’s simple and obvious, with a design that never gets in the way.

Built-in instant messaging

Even though we’re talking about forums here, NodeBB is a testament to the fact that you can still teach old tech new tricks. The software’s built-in instant messaging feature is proof of that. Private messaging in a forum is nothing new. But it also feels clunky and like it was inserted as an afterthought.

Not so with NodeBB. The forum software allows you to have more than one private message open simultaneously. It works like any other instant message feature. You can instantly talk to others while browsing the forum and interacting on the threads. It will open up your forum and allow your members to interact with one another quickly without stumbling over ancient user interfaces like you typically find in forums.

With the ability to grant roles and permissions, you are given a host of tools to operate and manage your forums your way. You don’t even have to manage them if you don’t want to. Give those privileges to your most trusted members. Or open a Premium section and grant permissions to only paying members. NodeBB allows you to make the forum your own. Try it out and see how it can help you to shape your community!

Suggestions

NodeBB is open source forum software that makes forums not suck. Responsive on mobile and desktop, the forum software is clean, simple, and has some modern social network amenities. It can be expensive. It’s worth the price for those serious about choosing a powerful open source solution to grow their brand’s community.