Wordpress for Blog and Forum

[Nomad]

I have a forum built with wordpress using a plugin called wpforo. When I was rejected by adsense, I added a blog section and published a handful of content. When I submitted the website a second time, it was accepted. Currently, I am running a forum with a blog on WordPress. Has anyone used WordPress for a forum and a blog at the same time?

 

[Heatman]

I have always preferred using WordPress for blogs than for forums. As far as I'm concerned, Xenforo is best suited for setting up forums than WordPress software. I haven't been able to use it for both blogs and forums at the same time.

 

[Cedric]

I'm a big fan of Bob's add on Articles from XenAddons - It replaces the need of a Blog. There is also a possibility to use a addon to make the bridge between Wordpress and XenForo called XFtoWP. For a time I was thinking to purchase this but the Articles addon is too good to really justify the work and cost of XFtoWP.

 

[Shortie]

I knew you could use WordPress for both a blog and a forum at the same time but it was never anything I myself have ever done with a forum I have owned. If I remember rightly, the forum that I co-own once used WordPress for the main page of the forum before we bought the addon for Xenforo that we use now.

 

[Kale]

I'm a big fan of Bob's add on Articles from XenAddons - It replaces the need of a Blog. There is also a possibility to use a addon to make the bridge between Wordpress and XenForo called XFtoWP. For a time I was thinking to purchase this but the Articles addon is too good to really justify the work and cost of XFtoWP.

Yep, love that add on. I think it's perfect for forums that could use it to post content and articles.

 

[SpookyZalost]

You know we actually looked at this a while back over on Makestation however the types of blogging plugins and wordpress support in general in mybb was abysmal at best.

 

[Cedric]

You know we actually looked at this a while back over on Makestation however the types of blogging plugins and wordpress support in general in mybb was abysmal at best.

Sadly MyBB is a bit .. I don't want to say outdated but not as featured packed as paid softwares like IPB and XenForo. In a way it's outdated, but they haven't been as fortunate with developers as XF and IPB.

 

[RankWebSEO]

Sadly MyBB is a bit .. I don't want to say outdated but not as featured packed as paid softwares like IPB and XenForo. In a way it's outdated, but they haven't been as fortunate with developers as XF and IPB.

Yes, you are right but i think its more better than wordpress and also free. I will not recommend wordpress for forums because my experience is not good. As wordpress update time to time ..... if plugin developer did not update his version according to latest WP version then there can be big issue .... And once error in WP means more than 50% chance that you will loose your all contents (If backup is not ready). WP using database heavily ... Draft, update and about for all things .... I think in case forums WP will take double database space than other forums script.

SMF is also good alternate of free forums script.

 

[Cedric]

Yes, you are right but i think its more better than wordpress and also free. I will not recommend wordpress for forums because my experience is not good. As wordpress update time to time ..... if plugin developer did not update his version according to latest WP version then there can be big issue .... And once error in WP means more than 50% chance that you will loose your all contents (If backup is not ready). WP using database heavily ... Draft, update and about for all things .... I think in case forums WP will take double database space than other forums script.

Most probably yes. Wordpress wasn't design to be a forum. My private wordpress website for my business already has a bigger database then XF's database.

 

[Kale]

Yes, you are right but i think its more better than wordpress and also free. I will not recommend wordpress for forums because my experience is not good. As wordpress update time to time ..... if plugin developer did not update his version according to latest WP version then there can be big issue .... And once error in WP means more than 50% chance that you will loose your all contents (If backup is not ready). WP using database heavily ... Draft, update and about for all things .... I think in case forums WP will take double database space than other forums script.

SMF is also good alternate of free forums script.

This is why I will always say to new forum owners and site makers/creators to ALWAYS back up their stuff. While on the topic of this I did use a site that used the Joomla add on called community builder. It has a forum built in and I used it on that site before. This was many years ago, though.

add on

https://extensions.joomla.org/extension/clients-a-communities/communities/community-builder/

 

[SpookyZalost]

Sadly MyBB is a bit .. I don't want to say outdated but not as featured packed as paid softwares like IPB and XenForo. In a way it's outdated, but they haven't been as fortunate with developers as XF and IPB.

Ya, but on the up side. Mybb is also fairly straightforward to program for. While XF may have some great developers (cough threadmarks cough), MyBB might be the easier one to actually develop for given how hooks work in PHP using it.

 

[Cedric]

Ya, but on the up side. Mybb is also fairly straightforward to program for. While XF may have some great developers (cough threadmarks cough), MyBB might be the easier one to actually develop for given how hooks work in PHP using it.

Definitely agree with you there.

 

[Arantor]

I wonder what the SEO value of a forum + some addon, vs WordPress + Yoast (or similar) looks like. Boosting the SEO of a forum is hard, but a blog is a different endeavour.

 

[RankWebSEO]

Boosting the SEO of a forum is hard, but a blog is a different endeavour.

I dont think because in SEO contents play very big role and if you are managing good forums means there will be many related contents from members and its help in promotion. Means if you are doing little bit SEO like create high quality backlinks from other forums or blog or websites then can get good result.
Same process apply for blog in both search engines get update on regular basis and so good on page and little bit off page can boost ranking and traffic quickly.

 

[Arantor]

User generated content has been hugely penalised over the last few years, far far more than blogs, and I guarantee that forum users don't write good posts from an on-page SEO perspective. At least, I've not seen it happen yet.

There's a reason we all go for articles rather than forum posts - because it's the only way to get authoritative content properly and sensibly marked up as such!

 

[Cedric]

I wonder what the SEO value of a forum + some addon, vs WordPress + Yoast (or similar) looks like. Boosting the SEO of a forum is hard, but a blog is a different endeavour.

When it comes to a forum, the structure and organization can be a bit more complex than a blog, which can make it harder to optimize for search engines. Typically, free forum software doesn't have much built-in SEO features like meta tags, sitemaps and XML feeds, which are essential for SEO. Paid softwares like Xenforo and IPS do though.

On the other hand, a blog built on a content management system like WordPress, generally has more built-in SEO features and a simpler structure, making it easier to optimize for search engines. Plus, there are a lot of popular SEO plugins available for WordPress like Yoast, which can help you optimize the blog for search engines by providing features like keyword optimization, meta tags, and XML sitemaps.

While it might be a bit more difficult to optimize a forum for SEO, it's not impossible. By using the right tools and techniques, such as using a forum plugin that includes SEO features, creating a clear navigation and organization, and creating a sitemap, you can improve the SEO of your forum. But, if SEO is a primary concern, then a blog built on a CMS like WordPress with a SEO plugin may be a better option as it has more built-in SEO features and a simpler structure.

There's not definite answer on this, but I think it's safe to say that a blog will out performance SEO over a forum in most cases. But forums don't need to have a blog with the right add ons nowadays.

 

[Arantor]

That's literally my point: putting aside what the software comes with, the reality is that a blog is about an individual or small group of creators who can write targeted content that can feature all of the on-page SEO stuff - whereas forum topics inevitably don't.

How often have you seen blog posts have well-written snippets to draw you in? How often have you seen forums do that? Specifically: writing a new description alongside the content to bring people in, where you're not just pulling the first paragraph or two from the forum.

Also see the value of putting in images for blog posts which encourage people clicking through - which will no doubt feed back to the search engines about the authoritativeness of a page (especially if the blog has Google Analytics set up)

To your last point 'forums don't need to have a blog with the right add-ons', presumably you're suggesting an articles system for authoritative content. Which is a round-about way of doing the exact same thing, except not strictly in a chronologically ordered and presented fashion.

It's about time we stopped talking about 'blogs and forums' and started talking about the underlying: articles and discussions.

 

[Cedric]

You make valid points about the differences between blogs and forums in terms of their structure and presentation of content. Blogs tend to have more targeted, well-written content with attention-grabbing snippets and images, while forums tend to have more discussion-based content that may not be as polished or visually appealing. It's true that some forums have article sections, but they may not be as prominent or well-organized as those on a dedicated blog. The underlying difference between blogs and forums is indeed the type of content: articles vs discussions.

Discussion-based content will always be much harder to get decent SEO results. Increasing internal linking to other discussions in the forum can certainly help. As well as external linking by encouraging other forums to link to your content whether it's articles or discussion. Also encouraging the content to be shared on social media.

It's just that there is no real known formula to what's best and most successful, as it takes a lot of time and being consistent brings results in long-term. And it keeps changing as well.