5.4.1 — LIGHTHOUSEReleased 2026-04-02

Because Simple is Better Flatboard

A modern, lightweight forum platform built with PHP 8. No database server required — runs on JSON flat files. Open source, fast, and endlessly extensible.

GPLv3
Open Source
PHP 8+
Modern stack
No DB server
JSON flat files
Flatboard

Everything you need

Built to last,
built to scale

From flexible storage to powerful editors, granular permissions to SEO-ready pages — Flatboard gives your community everything it needs, right out of the box.

And also…

Two-factor authentication @Mentions Analytics dashboard (only pro) RSS / Atom feeds Webhooks Moderation tools Dark mode File attachments Draft auto-save Tags & categories User profiles Presence / who's online Multilingual

Plugin Architecture

Extend Flatboard with plugins: polls, blog, private messaging, reputation, auto-moderation, analytics, and many more.

Flexible Storage

Runs on JSON flat files — no database server required. SQLite backend and StorageMigrator available with Flatboard Pro.

Rich Editors

Each admin can easily customise the editor toolbar to match their community's needs — choose tools, presets, and layout, no code required.

SEO Ready

Clean URLs, meta tags, canonical links, and sitemap — benefit from optimised natural search engine ranking out of the box.

Reactions

Members react directly to any post with emoji reactions — boost engagement and get instant feedback without replying.

Groups & Permissions

Categories managed by group permissions — control who can read, post, or moderate each section with fine-grained access rules.

Easy Updates

Update Flatboard to the latest version in one click from the admin panel — no command line, no FTP, no downtime.

Theme Customisation

The default theme lets you customise colours and upload your logo directly from the admin panel — no CSS, no code, no technical knowledge required.

Notifications & Subscriptions

Members receive real-time notifications for replies, mentions, and reactions. Subscribe to any discussion to never miss an update — delivered in-app and by email.

Quick Moderation

Pin, lock, or mark a discussion as solved in one click. Members can flag the best answer directly from the thread — no admin panel required.

Flatboard Pro

Everything in Community,
plus so much more

Adds 7 exclusive plugins, a built-in Analytics Dashboard, and a fully-featured premium theme on top of the Community edition — for a one-time payment of $49.

FlatHome

CMS pages, blog engine, landing page template, navigation builder & contact form — all in one plugin.

FlatSEO

Open Graph, JSON-LD, XML sitemap, robots.txt, 301/302 redirects, GA4/GTM, and per-page overrides.

Premium Theme

4 layouts, 4 navbar styles, dark/light mode, configurable colours, animations & parallax.

Analytics Dashboard

Visit KPIs, 30-day traffic charts, top pages, referrer sources & engagement ratios.

TUI Editor

Dual-mode WYSIWYG & Markdown, image upload, YouTube/TikTok embeds, emoji picker & autosave.

Private Messaging

Full inbox with read receipts, typing indicator, attachments, search & email notifications.

Forum Monitoring

Activity charts, leaderboards, anomaly detection, spam scoring & email alerts.

StorageMigrator

Migrate between JSON and SQLite backends in one click — atomic, rollback-friendly, zero downtime.

Advanced Moderation

Shadow ban, pre-moderation queue for new users, discussion merge with automatic 301 redirects, and bulk actions (hide, lock, pin, delete…).

Private RSS & Atom feeds

Add ?token=your_api_key to any feed URL to access private categories in your feed reader — no login required. Works for all feed types: global, category, user, and tag.

Community-driven

Better, together.

Flatboard gets stronger with every bug report, translation, and idea.
Come ask questions, share your setup, or just say hello.

Documentation

Browse the official docs to install Flatboard, create plugins, customise themes, and master every feature.

Read the Docs

Report a Bug

Found an issue? Report it on the forum so we can fix it quickly. Every report makes Flatboard more stable.

Bug Reports

Community Forum

Ask questions, share plugins, show off your install, and connect with other Flatboard users and developers.

Visit Forum

News & updates

Latest from the blog

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Flatboard Community Insider

Flatboard 5.4.0 - Changelog

🚀 Changelog — Flatboard 5.4.0 Release date: April 1, 2026 Added [Pro] ForumMonitoring: "Active members today" card with 7-day sparkline — A new card appears in the full monitoring page (and as a compact counter in the dashboard widget) showing the number of unique members active today (based on last…

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Flatboard Community Insider

Flatboard 5.4.1 — Release

Flatboard 5.4.0 April 1, 2026 A bigger release than usual — dashboard widgets, private RSS feeds, tag editing, date fixes, and a better update screen. Dashboard widgets Most plugins now have a dashboard widget: ForumMonitoring, FlatModerationExtend, PrivateMessaging, FlatLetter, Reputation, Inactive…

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