I came across a fabulous integration tool for WordPress and phpBB that I though I would like to share with you.
UPDATE March 2011: Please see comments, it looks like this project has been closed down, I recommend SimplePress forum if you need a WordPress forum
The problem many blog owners have is that they want to share the user database of WordPress with a forum so they only have to administer one set of users. This is possible via a WordPress forum plugin, bit these are often quite cumbersome and effect performace , or using Automattic’s own forum solution bbPress (Automattic are the company behind WordPress), but one of the leading and most robust forum systems is phpBB, people want an integration solution for that.
I wrote a post called Case Study: Adding A Forum To Your WordPress Blog about the various forum solutions for WordPress. This may act as a good primer for this post.
wp-united
It sound like an English football team, but it is actually a plugin for phpBB which allows you to share the users and theme of wordpress with phpBB.
The plugin is available to download for free at www.wp-united.com.
Installation
Please note, this install is not for the faint hearted, you will need to be happy editing html and php code. Please remember to backup your install before begining a complex integration project such as this.
This plugin is a php mod not a WordPress mod, it is assumed that you have an existing WordPress and phpBB installation.
I downloaded the package from www.wp-united.com and uploaded the files to the root of the forum as instructed, next there is a tedious task of editing about a dozen files from the bulletin board installation to work with the new mod. The documentation is fairly good to walk you through the process but take your time. It is fiddly, and an incorrect change may effect how your bulletin board works.
Once the upload and edit are complete an installation script is run from the root of the forum, this then creates a new integration tab on the bulletin board’s dashboard.
Integration
There are numerous integration options. including:
- Integrating users, add a new user to WordPress when a phpBB user registers and vice versa
- Import existing WordPress Users to phpBB
- Share the phpBB theme with WordPress or imbed the forum unside of the WordPress header and footer
- Create automatic forum posts when a new blog post is added
My Opinion
I used this plugin because a client had an existing phpBB install, I would no go this route if I was begining a new installation, rather, I would go with bbPress which is already closely tied to WP and will only be more closely integrated in the future, but that is my personal preference. PhpBB is an extremely powerful, and well supported product, think WordPress plugins and themes for a forum solution. Many people swear by it over the simplicity of BBPress.
I found the installation a bit tricky, not as smooth as working with WordPress.
If you have an existing phpBB installation that you want to integrate with WordPress then you cannot go wrong than to use wp-united.
16 thoughts on “Integrating WordPress with phpBB”
Hmmm…interesting article. Neil, do you know if you can have WordPress in one folder and BBPress in a different folder?
Actually, a subdomain rather than subfolder?
Not sure on this one, I built them on the same domain different directories, you need to point phpbb at the blogroot, I can’t see why you cannot fully qualify that with a sub domain.
Weak answer but try it on a test subdomain before trying it in live.
Thanks! you keep letting me know about such useful plugins.
Is WP-United being actively developed? I see a number of unanswered requests for help on its forum and it sounds like a one-person project.
I’ve just been over to the site and the forum does look a little outdated this immediately rings alarm bells with me
My thoughts exactly…. He could be taking a break. It must be hard to maintain enthusiasm for a fairly solitary project like this. But in other cases I’ve seen similar to this, such inactivity was a bad sign. Please post if you learn more.
wp-united
This is a dead project the author has abandoned it and his website has been bombed.
There is a large security whole in this code that allows a person to obtain and modify login and users information.
Glad I did not use it.
Thanks, Neil.
I’ve been looking for a good forum that would run with WordPress. I also use Magic Members to manage my database, I assume that this forum will work with Magic Members?
Alan check these comments, I don;t recommend this integration anymore, simple-press.com simplepress forum is what I recommend now
Neil
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It’s sad that the wp-united.com integration has been abandoned. However, there seems to be a replacement for it with this: https://github.com/mssti/BRIDGE-phpBB—WordPress. I wouldn’t suggest trying this on a live site, but it definitely looks like a good alternative.
Thanks for the update Joshua, personally I’ve moved away from phpbb to simple-press.com, it a little bulky but works really well with wp
Ah, ok. I am always torn between sweet/simple and lots of whistles and eyecandy. Due to the fact that this plugin is no longer being developed, I went with the new bbPress plugin. Not as feature rich as phpbb and simple.press, but I am hopeful about what they are doing with it. And new plugins are being developed every week to extend its capabilities.
This is just to let you know that WP-United is being actively developed again and has changed quite a lot since your review. Do let me know if you happen to try it out.
Thanks for the update John
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