MyBB 1.8 is still rocking the forum scene, even if the web is moving towards new horizons and coding standards at an incredibly fast pace. The flexibility MyBB offers is something other forum softwares are lacking at the moment and it is well represented by MyBBoost itself, which barely looks like the standard MyBB theme and includes much tweaking and many customizations. Notable examples of how much can MyBB boards differ one from another are Sharree, iAndrew's themes, @WallBB's themes. Check them out!
Themes are nothing without plugins, which will never turn unfashionable. That's why I decided to write down a list of what I consider the real nirvana of MyBB addons that everyone should consider installing immediately to step up their board game.
Whether you are building a forum just for fun or with professional intents, you should never, ever forget to download Google SEO even before planning to install MyBB. This beauty originates from the volcanic mind of @frostschutz back in 2009. 9 years have passed since and still his work tops the list, much to no one's surprise; its functionalities are probably the essentials of any website you are dealing with.
Indeed, Google SEO "implements Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in MyBB according to the guidelines presented in Google's SEO starter guide to make MyBB more friendly to both users and search engines". It makes your URLs more readable; it generates clean meta HTML tags to let search engines index your site with better style = more ranking; it redirects old and expired URLs to your precious content automatically; it tells Google: "Hey, you are watching a 404 not found page" instead of letting it save your error pages as part of your site; it builds up an automatic site tree which helps search engines scan through the relevant content in your site. This is just the iceberg's peak because Google SEO has got a lot of customizations in its core – and a solid documentation which guides you into perfecting your forum's indexing potential. Nonetheless, some of the requirements are not as easy to understand as they should be, being the only flaw in this nearly-perfect piece of software; however there's no need to argue that Google SEO is The MyBB Plugin de-facto.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/frostschutz/MyBB-Google-SEO
Rocking the scene since 2014, MyAlerts has brought to MyBB something missing for way too much: notifications. We all know how does it feel to run a website without notifications: it just looks uncomfortable. MyBB devs certainly thought about this aspect while building the core back in the days, but an email notification is nowadays deprecated and quite annoying. Also, there are not plenty of actions which trigger them and you certainly end up disappointed until you discover MyAlerts.
The new 1.8-compatible version looks outstanding, coming with an OOP code structure and much easier integration rules to follow. Indeed, I was so attracted to MyAlerts that I decided to boost it up introducing extra notifications to the default ones: the plugin has been recently updated and it's available here: Moderation Alerts Pack 4.0.2. The combination MyAlerts + Moderation Alerts Pack is one of the greatest and has been appreciated by tons of users so far.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/MyBBStuff/MyAlerts + Moderation Alerts Pack 4.0.2
XThreads is one of the biggest and hardcoded plugins of all time. Born to kill the threads system with an outstanding flexible interface, it has evolved into a monster over time. XThreads steps up your possibilities to infinity and beyond; you can pretty much control every aspect of your forums and threads, building powerful applications and variegated forums. Download galleries, predefined models, customized first posts are just the peak of an iceberg of features you can add to your board with few hassles and touches.
Despite being a killer, XThreads does not come with an easy-to-understand documentation nor usability, so you do have to take your time in order to learn how to use it properly. I would suggest looking at the author's website which has some well-written examples of just a bunch configuration options, but given it is an enormous plugin you will surely discover new functionalities as you play with it.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: http://mybbhacks.zingaburga.com/showthread.php?tid=288
An XThreads' spin-off which features some of its functionalities ported to profile fields. If you like XThreads, make sure you don't miss out this one.
Download link: http://mybbhacks.zingaburga.com/showthread.php?tid=1271
@dvz is one of the best coders the community currently relies on, and it shouldn't surprise anyone to see a great plugin like DVZ Secure Content here. Dynamic content can be tricky to maintain a properly secured TLS protocol; DVZ Secure Content does a great job at limiting unsafe content to be shared, whether it's a video or an user's avatar. Consequently, your precious HTTPS plate is backed up.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://community.mybb.com/thread-168820.html
Ever heard of General Data Protection Regulation? You may be more familiar with its shortened version, GDPR. From 25/05/2018, an EU law mandates websites to let users accept a privacy policy, let them export their collected data and eventually anonymize/erase their data from every website. A fairly good measure against data leakage and privacy breaches, something users have proven to care a lot in 2018. Amnesia, born from @kawaii and @dvz's efforts combined, is a native MyBB add-on built to bring GDPR compliance over MyBB installations. And it's so easy to install and customize, I had to put it in the top places without any doubt.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/kawaii/mybb-amnesia/issues
This is a 100% biased opinion, but given the two plugins I've written have been downloaded more than 100'000 times overall, I hope I'm not hurting anybody's feelings if I put it right in the middle of this list. Connecting your board to the most used social platforms since 2013, these FFA plugins have been appreciated a lot and they keep on rocking the scene as years pass by. A solid core with moderate extensibility makes the trio something you might feel absolutely essential as everyone nowadays has got a Facebook or Twitter.
And if you want something more powerful and modular, you might want to have a look at Flyover 2.4, which features more than 25 social networks integration.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: MyFacebook Connect 3.6 and MyTwitter Connect 3.0
My good friend @Wildcard did it again with his best modification so far: Advanced Sidebox does exactly what you think it would, adding great extensibility with a fully manageable sidebar site-wide. Its high customizability, mixed with a superior documentation and countless options to tune your sideboxes at your wish just make it a superb add-on to consider installing immediately. It might not be suitable for everyone since many might have built an embedded sidebar in their themes by themselves – like I did – but for standard-themed boards it is surely a must.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/WildcardSearch/Advanced-Sidebox
2 similar plugins, SimpleLikes and MyReactions, essentially achieve the same purpose: providing a way to like posts with ease, but they differ in the possibilities they offer. One feature they share is the AJAX-driven interface, enhancing the old and slow user rating system with a modern approach.
SimpleLikes, as the name suggests, is as basic as it could be: no complicated features, you show appreciation to a post by clicking on a simple button and you appear in the list of people who like you decided to greet that message. Boom. SimpleLikes is currently running on MyBBoost.
MyReactions does exactly the same thing, except it comes with greater customization as multiple types of reactions are available. I personally love the management panel, built with style and functionality in mind by the brilliant @Matt. It's slightly superior to MentionMe for its extensibility.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/MyBBStuff/SimpleLikes and https://github.com/MattRogowski/MyReactions
I'm not really a fan of @martec, mainly due to his coding style which is far (and far away) from being neat without any doubt. But despite his poor coding style, he managed to create a more-than-decent plugin which is Rin Editor. Based on the popular CKEditor, it brings a truly functioning WYISWYG editor to MyBB, overriding the buggy SCEditor. The implementation lacks some BBCodes MyBB comes with by default, but the high customization and flexibility CKEditor offers – such as autosaving messages – just make it worth it. The plugin's documentation is ground-level, however CKEditor is quite easy to use and it comes with a complete website you can refer to.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://community.mybb.com/thread-189422.html
Themes are nothing without plugins, which will never turn unfashionable. That's why I decided to write down a list of what I consider the real nirvana of MyBB addons that everyone should consider installing immediately to step up their board game.
Google SEO
Whether you are building a forum just for fun or with professional intents, you should never, ever forget to download Google SEO even before planning to install MyBB. This beauty originates from the volcanic mind of @frostschutz back in 2009. 9 years have passed since and still his work tops the list, much to no one's surprise; its functionalities are probably the essentials of any website you are dealing with.
Indeed, Google SEO "implements Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in MyBB according to the guidelines presented in Google's SEO starter guide to make MyBB more friendly to both users and search engines". It makes your URLs more readable; it generates clean meta HTML tags to let search engines index your site with better style = more ranking; it redirects old and expired URLs to your precious content automatically; it tells Google: "Hey, you are watching a 404 not found page" instead of letting it save your error pages as part of your site; it builds up an automatic site tree which helps search engines scan through the relevant content in your site. This is just the iceberg's peak because Google SEO has got a lot of customizations in its core – and a solid documentation which guides you into perfecting your forum's indexing potential. Nonetheless, some of the requirements are not as easy to understand as they should be, being the only flaw in this nearly-perfect piece of software; however there's no need to argue that Google SEO is The MyBB Plugin de-facto.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/frostschutz/MyBB-Google-SEO
MyAlerts
Rocking the scene since 2014, MyAlerts has brought to MyBB something missing for way too much: notifications. We all know how does it feel to run a website without notifications: it just looks uncomfortable. MyBB devs certainly thought about this aspect while building the core back in the days, but an email notification is nowadays deprecated and quite annoying. Also, there are not plenty of actions which trigger them and you certainly end up disappointed until you discover MyAlerts.
The new 1.8-compatible version looks outstanding, coming with an OOP code structure and much easier integration rules to follow. Indeed, I was so attracted to MyAlerts that I decided to boost it up introducing extra notifications to the default ones: the plugin has been recently updated and it's available here: Moderation Alerts Pack 4.0.2. The combination MyAlerts + Moderation Alerts Pack is one of the greatest and has been appreciated by tons of users so far.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/MyBBStuff/MyAlerts + Moderation Alerts Pack 4.0.2
XThreads
XThreads is one of the biggest and hardcoded plugins of all time. Born to kill the threads system with an outstanding flexible interface, it has evolved into a monster over time. XThreads steps up your possibilities to infinity and beyond; you can pretty much control every aspect of your forums and threads, building powerful applications and variegated forums. Download galleries, predefined models, customized first posts are just the peak of an iceberg of features you can add to your board with few hassles and touches.
Despite being a killer, XThreads does not come with an easy-to-understand documentation nor usability, so you do have to take your time in order to learn how to use it properly. I would suggest looking at the author's website which has some well-written examples of just a bunch configuration options, but given it is an enormous plugin you will surely discover new functionalities as you play with it.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: http://mybbhacks.zingaburga.com/showthread.php?tid=288
XThreads Profile Fields
An XThreads' spin-off which features some of its functionalities ported to profile fields. If you like XThreads, make sure you don't miss out this one.
Download link: http://mybbhacks.zingaburga.com/showthread.php?tid=1271
DVZ Secure Content
@dvz is one of the best coders the community currently relies on, and it shouldn't surprise anyone to see a great plugin like DVZ Secure Content here. Dynamic content can be tricky to maintain a properly secured TLS protocol; DVZ Secure Content does a great job at limiting unsafe content to be shared, whether it's a video or an user's avatar. Consequently, your precious HTTPS plate is backed up.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://community.mybb.com/thread-168820.html
Amnesia
Ever heard of General Data Protection Regulation? You may be more familiar with its shortened version, GDPR. From 25/05/2018, an EU law mandates websites to let users accept a privacy policy, let them export their collected data and eventually anonymize/erase their data from every website. A fairly good measure against data leakage and privacy breaches, something users have proven to care a lot in 2018. Amnesia, born from @kawaii and @dvz's efforts combined, is a native MyBB add-on built to bring GDPR compliance over MyBB installations. And it's so easy to install and customize, I had to put it in the top places without any doubt.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/kawaii/mybb-amnesia/issues
The My* Connect serie
This is a 100% biased opinion, but given the two plugins I've written have been downloaded more than 100'000 times overall, I hope I'm not hurting anybody's feelings if I put it right in the middle of this list. Connecting your board to the most used social platforms since 2013, these FFA plugins have been appreciated a lot and they keep on rocking the scene as years pass by. A solid core with moderate extensibility makes the trio something you might feel absolutely essential as everyone nowadays has got a Facebook or Twitter.
And if you want something more powerful and modular, you might want to have a look at Flyover 2.4, which features more than 25 social networks integration.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: MyFacebook Connect 3.6 and MyTwitter Connect 3.0
Advanced Sidebox
My good friend @Wildcard did it again with his best modification so far: Advanced Sidebox does exactly what you think it would, adding great extensibility with a fully manageable sidebar site-wide. Its high customizability, mixed with a superior documentation and countless options to tune your sideboxes at your wish just make it a superb add-on to consider installing immediately. It might not be suitable for everyone since many might have built an embedded sidebar in their themes by themselves – like I did – but for standard-themed boards it is surely a must.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/WildcardSearch/Advanced-Sidebox
SimpleLikes and MyReactions
2 similar plugins, SimpleLikes and MyReactions, essentially achieve the same purpose: providing a way to like posts with ease, but they differ in the possibilities they offer. One feature they share is the AJAX-driven interface, enhancing the old and slow user rating system with a modern approach.
SimpleLikes, as the name suggests, is as basic as it could be: no complicated features, you show appreciation to a post by clicking on a simple button and you appear in the list of people who like you decided to greet that message. Boom. SimpleLikes is currently running on MyBBoost.
MyReactions does exactly the same thing, except it comes with greater customization as multiple types of reactions are available. I personally love the management panel, built with style and functionality in mind by the brilliant @Matt. It's slightly superior to MentionMe for its extensibility.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://github.com/MyBBStuff/SimpleLikes and https://github.com/MattRogowski/MyReactions
Rin Editor
I'm not really a fan of @martec, mainly due to his coding style which is far (and far away) from being neat without any doubt. But despite his poor coding style, he managed to create a more-than-decent plugin which is Rin Editor. Based on the popular CKEditor, it brings a truly functioning WYISWYG editor to MyBB, overriding the buggy SCEditor. The implementation lacks some BBCodes MyBB comes with by default, but the high customization and flexibility CKEditor offers – such as autosaving messages – just make it worth it. The plugin's documentation is ground-level, however CKEditor is quite easy to use and it comes with a complete website you can refer to.
Ease of use:
Usefulness:
Quality:
Documentation:
Download link: https://community.mybb.com/thread-189422.html
What do you think about these? What are your favorite MyBB plugins?
My favorite one is Thank you/like plugin :) a lot of features, easy to modify and customize. Another one is FLP avatar (improved version by Effone) and Rin editor for sure... in ACP part I love Fastyle!
Shade this is a great list of plugins, I feel we can also have a few more plugins(personal preferences :D) :-
1. Thank you Like plugin - This provides the addiction to forums (SimpleLikes or Myreactions also do the same)
2. Preparser cache (I will use this plugin till Thunderboard is finally released)
3. DVZ Integrity tools (Just cant live without this)
4. Flyover - This plugin just gives massive boost in registrations
5. NewPoints - This is a plugin which I am sure is based on preference and niche of forum. I have used this quite a lot and hence love it :)
1. Thank you Like plugin - This provides the addiction to forums (SimpleLikes or Myreactions also do the same)
2. Preparser cache (I will use this plugin till Thunderboard is finally released)
3. DVZ Integrity tools (Just cant live without this)
4. Flyover - This plugin just gives massive boost in registrations
5. NewPoints - This is a plugin which I am sure is based on preference and niche of forum. I have used this quite a lot and hence love it :)