# Flarum — Modern PHP Forum Made Simple

> Flarum is a free, open-source forum software that is fast, elegant, and easy to use. It combines the best features of esoTalk and FluxBB into a next-generation discussion platform.

## Install

Save in your project root:

# Flarum — Modern PHP Forum Made Simple

## Quick Use
```bash
composer create-project flarum/flarum my-forum
cd my-forum
php flarum install
php flarum serve
# Visit http://localhost:8888
```

## Introduction
Flarum is a next-generation forum platform that replaces aging PHP forum software with a clean, mobile-first interface. Built on Laravel components and powered by a Mithril.js frontend, it delivers a fast single-page application experience while remaining lightweight enough to run on shared hosting.

## What Flarum Does
- Provides a clean, responsive single-page discussion interface with real-time notifications
- Supports rich text editing with Markdown, BBCode, and mentions
- Offers granular permission groups for controlling who can view, post, and moderate
- Includes built-in tagging, search, and user profiles with activity feeds
- Delivers an extension API that allows deep customization without forking core

## Architecture Overview
Flarum uses a PHP backend built on top of Laravel components (Illuminate) with a JSON:API-compliant REST interface. The frontend is a Mithril.js single-page application that communicates via this API. Data is stored in MySQL or MariaDB. Extensions can hook into both backend events and frontend component rendering, making the platform highly modular while keeping the core minimal.

## Self-Hosting & Configuration
- Requires PHP 8.1+, MySQL 5.6+ or MariaDB 10.1+, and Composer for installation
- Configure your web server (Apache or Nginx) to point the document root to the public/ directory
- Set file permissions so the web server can write to storage/ and public/assets/
- Manage extensions via Composer and enable them through the admin dashboard
- Configure mail driver (SMTP, Mailgun, etc.) in config.php for email notifications

## Key Features
- Extremely lightweight core that loads fast even on modest hosting environments
- Extension architecture allowing community-built add-ons for OAuth, polls, reactions, and more
- Mobile-first responsive design that works on any device without a separate app
- Full-text search with discussion and post filtering by tag, author, and date range
- REST API enabling headless usage and integration with external applications

## Comparison with Similar Tools
- **Discourse** — more feature-rich out of the box but requires more server resources and Docker
- **phpBB** — battle-tested legacy forum with larger community but dated interface
- **NodeBB** — Node.js-based with real-time features, heavier runtime requirements
- **MyBB** — traditional PHP forum, mature but development has slowed
- **Vanilla Forums** — commercial-first with open-source edition, more enterprise-oriented

## FAQ
**Q: Can Flarum run on shared hosting?**
A: Yes. Flarum has modest requirements (PHP 8.1+, MySQL 5.6+) and can run on most shared hosting environments that provide SSH or Composer access.

**Q: How do I install extensions?**
A: Extensions are installed via Composer (e.g., composer require flarum/tags) and then enabled through the admin panel. The Extiverse directory lists community extensions.

**Q: Does Flarum support SSO and social login?**
A: Yes, through community extensions. OAuth providers like GitHub, Google, Facebook, and Discord are supported, and you can integrate custom SSO via the FoF OAuth extension.

**Q: Is Flarum production-ready?**
A: Flarum reached stable v1.0 and is used by thousands of communities in production. It receives regular updates and has an active extension ecosystem.

## Sources
- https://github.com/flarum/flarum
- https://flarum.org/docs/

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Source: https://tokrepo.com/en/workflows/1e6264ae-3b87-11f1-9bc6-00163e2b0d79
Author: AI Open Source