README

ElkArte

Modern, Powerful Community Forum Software

🌟 About

ElkArte is a free, open-source forum software that empowers communities to connect and engage. Built on a foundation of modern web standards and best practices, ElkArte delivers a feature-rich, responsive platform that works beautifully across all devices.

Originally inspired by Simple Machines Forum (SMF), ElkArte has evolved into a sophisticated community platform designed for today's social web, with powerful moderation tools, extensive customization options, and an active development community.

Note: This is the 2.0 development branch. For the stable release, visit the master branch.

✨ Key Features

User Engagement

@Mentions - Tag users with notifications to keep conversations flowing
Like System - Appreciate great content with likes, complete with statistics
Emoji Support - Access 1000+ emoji directly in the editor 🎉
Notification Center - Stay updated on mentions, quotes, likes, and private messages
Desktop Notifications - Real-time alerts with favicon unread count

Content Creation

Auto-Save Drafts - Never lose your work with automatic draft saving
Inline Attachments - Display images and files directly in posts
Rich Media Embedding - Automatic embeds for YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, and Dailymotion
Drag & Drop - Upload files effortlessly with live preview
Reply by Email - Reply to posts and private messages directly from email notifications
Ajax Previews - See your content before posting

Security & Performance

Two-Factor Authentication - Enhanced account security
Advanced Anti-Spam - Industry-leading spam prevention
Secure Passwords - Industry-standard password hashing
Optimized Assets - Automatic JavaScript and CSS minification
Modern Codebase - Built for speed and reliability

Design & Customization

Responsive Themes - Two modern themes that adapt to any screen size
Extensible Architecture - 100+ plugin hooks and event system
Drag & Drop Admin - Intuitive interface ordering
Custom Styling - Easy theme customization and ships with multiple color schemes.

📋 Requirements

Server Requirements

PHP: 8.1 or newer
Database: MySQL 5.7+, MariaDB 10.2+, or PostgreSQL 9.5+
Web Server: Apache, Nginx, or compatible

Client Support

ElkArte works seamlessly on all modern browsers, smartphones, and tablets with its fully responsive design.

🚀 Quick Start

Installation

Prepare Your Database
- Create a new database using phpMyAdmin, Adminer, or your hosting control panel
Download ElkArte
- Get the latest release package
Upload Files
- Extract and upload all files to your web server
Set Permissions
- Ensure folders are writable by PHP
Run Installer
- Navigate to your forum URL in a browser
- Follow the on-screen installation wizard
- Start building your community!

Alternative: ElkArte is available through Softaculous in cPanel for one-click installation.

Migration from Other Forums

Switching to ElkArte is straightforward! Use the Open Importer Engine to migrate from:

Simple Machines Forum (SMF)
phpBB
MyBB
vBulletin
XenForo
And more!

🎨 Customization

ElkArte is built to be extended and customized:

Plugin System - 100's of hooks and events for custom functionality
Theme Engine - Create beautiful custom themes
No Core Edits - Add features without modifying source code
Active Community - Browse Themes & Addons

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! Here's how you can help:

Report Issues

Discuss problems on the community forum
File detailed bug reports on GitHub Issues
Include steps to reproduce, expected vs actual behavior

Suggest Features

Share ideas on the community forum
Discuss implementation approaches with developers

Submit Code

Read our Contributing Guide
Review the Developer's Certificate of Origin
Fork the repository and create pull requests
Follow project coding standards

Documentation

Improve documentation and examples Wiki
Improve/Update translations Transifex
Contributions licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0

📚 Resources

Documentation: Reference
Community Forum: ElkArte.net
Issues: GitHub Issues

📊 Project Stats

📄 License

ElkArte is free software licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License.

Third-party libraries and images are under their respective licenses.

Made with ❤️ by the ElkArte Community

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elkarte / elkarte

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