An Internet forum

An Internet forum is a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated content. Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, (electronic) discussion groups, discussion forums, bulletin boards, fora[1] (the Latin plural) or simply forums. The terms "forum" and "board" may refer to the entire community or to a specific sub-forum dealing with a distinct topic. Messages within these sub-forums are then displayed either in chronological order or as threaded discussions.

Such forums perform a function similar to that of the dial-up bulletin board systems and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. Early web-based forums such as UBB.classic date back as far as 1996. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games and/or video games, fashion, religion, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics. Internet slang and image macros popular across the internet are abundant and most widely used in internet forums.

Membership and anonymity

Anonymous forums may offer full anonymity or pseudonymity, allowing posts without registration. Captchas, e-mail authentication, and tripcodes are often used to prevent comment spam on such forums.

Registered members of a forum, who are identified by unique usernames, may have additional privileges, such as the ability to edit their previous posts, start new topics, and control their individual settings and profiles. The profiles tend to include graphical avatars and signature blocks which are appended to their future posts, sometimes consisting of elaborate shoutboxes. Members also have the ability to send personal messages to each other. In certain cases, members have been given the ability to close their own topics, edit previously posted comments, or delete posts in topics they have started.

Western-style forums place heavy emphasis on identity and user registration. This makes the tone of discussion very different from the more anonymous 2channel style boards. The burdens of status and persona encourage both highly formal discourse and close personal relationships, depending on the tone given a forum by its moderators and heaviest users. The permanence of messages on many western-style forums can encourage users to self-moderate. Precursor systems like Usenet have been archived as far back as 1981 by Google Groups (formerly DejaNews).

An example of a forum that has very laid back rules is, www.tehnoobs.com/forums

Administrators and moderators

A forum administrator typically has the ability to edit, delete, move or otherwise modify any thread on the forum. Administrators also usually have the ability to close the board, change major software items, change global skins, modify the board, and ban, delete, or create members. Moderators have a subset of these powers, which may include editing, deleting, and moving threads, mass pruning, warning members for offences, and changing minor forum details. It is often possible for moderator privileges to be delegated to other forum members.

A board's moderation system can include moderation of the moderators via a meta-moderation system. The board software may also allow administrators to create wordfilters, automated scripts which strip undesirable text from users' messages. Other features may include sticky threads and allowing moderators and administrators to cause significant threads to display at the top of the forum's index.

Software Features

Forum software packages are widely available on the Internet and are written in a variety of programming languages, such as PHP, Perl, Java and ASP. The configuration and records of posts can be stored in text files or in a database. Each package offers different features, from the most basic, providing text-only postings, to more advanced packages, offering multimedia support and formatting code (usually known as BBCode). Many packages can be integrated easily into an existing website to allow visitors to post comments on articles.

Several other web applications, such as weblog software, also incorporate forum features. Wordpress comments at the bottom of a blog post allow for a single-threaded discussion of any given blog post. Slashcode, on the other hand, is far more complicated, allowing fully threaded discussions and incorporating a robust moderation and meta-moderation system as well as many of the profile features available to forum users. Full content management systems such as Drupal or Mambo can also incorporate full-blown forums as plugins or basic features of forums in other portions of their website.

Comparison with other web applications

One significant difference between forums and electronic mailing lists is that mailing lists automatically deliver new messages to the subscriber, while forums require the member to visit the website and check for new posts. Because members may miss replies in threads they are interested in, many modern forums offer an "e-mail notification" feature, whereby members can choose to be notified of new posts in a thread, and RSS feeds that allow members to see a summary of the new posts using aggregator software. The main difference between newsgroups and forums is that additional software, a newsreader, is required to participate in newsgroups. Visiting and participating in forums normally requires no additional software beyond the web browser.

Wikis, unlike conventional forums, typically allow all users to edit all content, including each other's messages. This level of content manipulation is reserved for moderators or administrators on most forums. Wikis also allow the creation of other content outside of the talk pages. On the other hand, weblogs and generic content management systems tend to be locked down to the point where only a few select users can post blog entries, although many allow other users to comment upon them.

Forums differ from chat rooms and instant messaging in that forum participants do not have to be online at the same time; forums also usually deal with one topic and personal exchanges are typically discouraged. Messages posted to a forum or Usenet are publicly available for some time, which is uncommon in chat rooms, with only few exceptions.

Multiple posts

One common faux pas on internet forums is to post the same message twice. Users sometimes post versions of a message that are only slightly different, especially in forums where they are allowed to edit their earlier posts. Multiple posting instead of editing prior posts can artificially inflate a user's post count. Multiple posting can be unintentional; a user's browser might display an error message even though the post has been transmitted or a user of a slow forum might become impatient and repeatedly hit the submit button. Multiple posting can also be used as a method of trolling or spreading forum spam.

A user may also send the same post to several forums, crossposting. This problem was inherited from Usenet and is a common complaint in many forums.

Spamming

Main article: Forum spam

Forum spamming is a breach of netiquette where users repeat the same word or phrase over and over, but differs from multiple posting in that spamming is usually a wilful act which sometimes has malicious intent. This is a common trolling technique. It can also be traditional spam, unpaid advertisements that are in breach of the forum's rules. Spammers utilize a number of illicit techniques to post their spam, including the use of botnets.

Trolls

Main article: Troll (Internet)

A troll is a user that repeatedly and intentionally breaches netiquette, often posting derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community to bait users into responding. They may also link to shock sites or plant images on networks that others may find disturbing in order to cause confrontation. Although trolling is not hacking, where the intent of such mischief is to cause chaos, the American Computer Misuse act of 1990 could be interpreted as banning it. [2]