Welcome to bulletinbored

bulletinbored is minimal, extensible forum software with zero dependencies. Upload files and run — no Composer, no Docker, no deployment needed.

Why bulletinbored?

  • ⚡ Zero Dependencies — No Composer, no Docker, no Node.js. Just PHP 8.x with PDO. Upload the files and you’re live.
  • 🗄️ SQLite & MySQL — Choose your database. SQLite works out of the box; MySQL is supported via config.json.
  • 🔌 Plugin System — Extend functionality with plugins. Hooks, custom routes, middleware, dependencies, and settings API.
  • 🎨 Theme System — Themes work like plugins: create a folder with a style.css and change the forum’s look.
  • 🔗 SEO-Friendly URLs — Clean URLs like /thread/1-slug and /category/2-name via rewrite rules.
  • 🛡️ User Management — Registration, profiles with avatars, roles, moderation, private messages, and notifications built in.
  • 🔐 Centralized Authorization — Role-based permissions with AuthZ, ownership-aware checks, and can:* middleware. No is_admin() bypasses.
  • 🌐 Localization — Multilingual support via JSON translation files (EN ships with the core; add more under lang/).
  • 🔄 Auto Updates — Update Manager with preflight checks, backup/restore, and GitHub Releases integration.
  • 🖥️ Admin Panel — Full dashboard: categories, users, moderation, settings, plugins, themes, catalog, updates.
  • 🧪 Zero-dependency Testing — 1242 assertions covering auth, content, migrations, plugins, renderer, and security.

Repository

Quick Start

  1. Upload all files to a PHP-enabled web server (PHP 8.x, PDO/SQLite or PDO/MySQL extension)
  2. Ensure Apache mod_rewrite is enabled (for SEO-friendly URLs)
  3. Ensure the data/, uploads/, and uploads/avatars/ directories are writable by the web server
  4. Visit the site in your browser — the 3-step installer starts automatically

See Installation for the full guide.

Documentation

  • Architecture — Understand the MVC structure, manager system, and directory layout.
  • API Reference — Public helpers, hooks, managers and core services for plugins/themes.
  • Route Map — Every HTTP route, handler, middleware and entrypoint.
  • Action Handlers — Core request handlers, their modules and protections.
  • Configuration — Database, email, themes, localization, and update server settings.
  • Rendering — Micro template engine: escaping, components, slots, view composers.
  • CLI & Migrations — Zero-dependency CLI (bb.php), migration system, doctor diagnostics.
  • Plugin Development — Create plugins with hooks, custom routes, CLI commands.
  • Theme Development — Build custom themes with a single style.css file.
  • Managers — PluginManager, ThemeManager, and UpdateManager in detail.
  • Localization — Add new languages and manage translation files.
  • Testing — Zero-dependency test suite, E2E flow tests.
  • Versioning — Semantic versioning and release management.
  • Database — Lightweight query builder (DbQuery), immutability, pagination.
  • Security Model — Trust model, known risks, hardening options, trusted proxies.

License

BSD Zero Clause — see License.

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