If you don’t know about WPCommunity, that’s okay. You just need to know that this is the Wenpai Community, also the Chinese WordPress technical exchange community. WPCommunity is the official community platform under Wenpai Open Source.
Ten years ago (2015), I also pondered whether forums, a product of their time, would still exist in the future. Ten years later (2025), I can answer that question very well: yes, they will still exist, just in a new form.
It’s like the AI wave has arrived, yet we still haven’t achieved immortality, all diseases still can’t be eliminated immediately, the wealth gap still exists, wars are increasing, and the world is as messed up as it seems.
But none of that is really that important. The internet is another time and space where almost everyone can communicate and express their ideas equally. I think in the future I won’t have much more time to consider or hesitate, so while I can still write something, I’ll just write.
What Discourse is and why we are using this software as the official discussion forum for WPCommunity, you can read in this article:
In addition to Discourse, we will also develop the bbPress-related business, which is the WordPress forum. As a native lightweight forum, bbPress is still a great plugin.
Discourse is an open-source forum platform designed for modern online communities, revolutionizing traditional forum interactions by integrating real-time discussions, intelligent content management, and an elegant user experience. As a full-stack application built with Ruby on Rails, Discourse features a fluid, chat-like conversation interface and comes with powerful content moderation tools and data analytics capabilities. Whether it’s technical discussions in tech communities, customer support forums for businesses, or online learning spaces for educational institutions, Discourse delivers an exceptional experience through its responsive design and rich plugin ecosystem. Its unique Trust Level system and real-time notification mechanism ensure quality content naturally rises to the top, while Dockerized deployment makes setup and maintenance easier than ever.
From open-source communities on GitHub to Harvard University’s online classrooms, Discourse is redefining the shape of internet forums, enabling valuable conversations to flow seamlessly across any device.
bbPress is a lightweight forum plugin officially launched by WordPress, perfectly integrated into the WordPress ecosystem, enabling users to quickly set up a forum without complex technical knowledge. As a “close relative” of WordPress, it inherits the simple and user-friendly characteristics, seamlessly connecting with existing user systems and themes after installation, making it especially suitable for adding forum functionality to websites already using WordPress.
bbPress adopts a traditional forum structure (categories → topics → replies), with a clean interface and efficient performance, ensuring smooth operation even on low-spec servers. While its features may not be as rich as Discourse, it excels in zero learning curve: familiar WordPress backend management, a vast library of compatible themes and plugins, native SEO support, and the ability to extend functionalities such as paid membership forums through WooCommerce for commercial scenarios.
Typical users include: small discussion areas for personal bloggers, Q&A sections for course websites, and lightweight user communities for corporate websites. If you need a “good enough” forum solution, bbPress is like the “Swiss Army knife” of forums—simple, reliable, and usable everywhere.