# iBulletin 1.0 — Now Available

After a long development and testing cycle, **iBulletin 1.0 is officially available for public release!**

iBulletin is a traditional forum system built for people who miss the feel of classic community message boards but still want the reliability, features, and flexibility expected from modern PHP software.

The goal from the beginning has been simple: create something that feels familiar, fast, and community-focused without trying to turn a forum into another social media platform.

## Some of the Highlights

### Classic Forum Experience

iBulletin is designed around the traditional forum layout many of us grew up using:

- Categories and forums
- Topics and threaded discussions
- Quick Reply
- Private Messages
- User profiles
- Forum subscriptions
- Persistent read/unread tracking
- Topic status indicators
- User ranks
- Friends
- Smilies and BBCode
- Attachments
- Custom topic prefixes

It keeps the familiar structure of a classic message board while improving the experience underneath.

### Flexible Permissions

iBulletin includes a full usergroup and forum permission system, including:

- Primary and additional usergroups
- Per-forum permissions
- Forum moderators
- Moderator roles
- Guest permissions
- Banned user handling
- Username colors
- Configurable ranks and secondary ranks

This makes it possible to build anything from a simple public discussion board to a more structured community with private sections, staff areas, member groups, and specialized permissions.

### Moderation Tools

Moderators have access to a dedicated **Moderator Control Panel** with tools for handling:

- Reported content
- Moderation queues
- Deleted content
- Moderator logs
- Topic and post moderation
- Forum-specific moderator assignments

Mass moderation tools are also included to make managing larger communities easier.

### Plugin System

iBulletin includes a built-in plugin system so functionality can be expanded without directly modifying the core.

Plugins can integrate with the forum through hooks and other extension points, include their own Admin CP functionality, settings, templates, database changes, and lifecycle actions.

The release also includes support for installing plugins through ZIP packages directly from the Admin CP.

### Multi-Database Support

iBulletin supports three database platforms:

- **MySQL / MariaDB**
- **PostgreSQL**
- **SQLite**

The installer and core forum have been tested across all three, allowing you to choose the database platform that best fits your server or project.

### Modernized Installer

The 1.0 installer has been completely refreshed for the public release.

Instead of a single long setup form, installation now walks you through a clean step-by-step process covering:

- Server readiness checks
- Board configuration
- Database configuration
- Database connection testing
- Administrator account creation
- Final configuration review

The installer keeps the visual style of the default iBulletin theme while providing a much cleaner and more modern first-time setup experience.

### Admin Control Panel

The Admin CP provides centralized management for the forum, including:

- Forums and categories
- Users and usergroups
- Permissions
- Moderators
- Plugins
- Board settings
- Languages
- Maintenance tools
- Logs
- Smilies
- User ranks
- Topic prefixes
- Core upgrades

The interface has also received a visual refresh while keeping the traditional forum administration style.

### Guest Posting

Forums can optionally allow guests to create topics and replies.

Guest posting still respects forum permissions, flood protection, IP restrictions, moderation requirements, and other board security controls.

### Notifications and Subscriptions

Members can subscribe to forum content and receive notifications when activity occurs.

iBulletin supports private-message notifications as well as email delivery where configured, with fallback behavior when mail delivery is unavailable.

### Built-In Upgrade System

The Admin CP includes a core upgrade system designed to make future iBulletin updates easier to deploy.

Upgrade packages can perform database migrations and other required update operations while keeping the process within the forum administration interface.

## Built for Traditional Communities

There are plenty of platforms trying to replace forums.

iBulletin isn't one of them.

It's built for communities that still want organized discussions, long-running topics, recognizable members, dedicated moderators, custom forums, and a site that belongs to the community running it.

Whether you're rebuilding an old community, starting something new, or just miss the simplicity of traditional message boards, we hope iBulletin feels familiar in all the right ways.

## Download iBulletin 1.0

**iBulletin 1.0 is available now.**

This is the first public release, and development will continue from here with improvements, fixes, additional features, and expanded plugin development documentation planned for future versions.

iBulletin is released under the **GNU General Public License v3 or later**.

Thank you to everyone who has followed the project, tested builds, reported problems, and helped get iBulletin to its first public release.

**Welcome to iBulletin 1.0.**