I’ve recently started planning a new WordPress forum plugin called DiscussCamp.
The idea is simple: build a forum plugin that feels native to the modern WordPress block editor. Before planning the actual plugin properly, I wanted to see what already exists in the WordPress ecosystem.
So I started looking for block-based forum plugins.
And honestly, the list is not very long.
There are many WordPress forum plugins, but only a few provide Gutenberg blocks or work nicely with block themes. Some plugins are still heavily shortcode-based. Some have added a few blocks for displaying forum content. And only a small number feel like they are moving toward a more block-first forum experience.
In this post, I’m going to list the WordPress forum plugins that are worth checking if you are looking for a block-based or block-friendly forum solution.
This post is also part of my own research before building DiscussCamp. I’ll be testing these plugins one by one to understand what they do well, what they miss, and what a truly block-based forum plugin should offer.
What Do I Mean by a Block-Based Forum Plugin?
Before going into the list, it’s important to clarify what I mean by “block-based.”
A forum plugin can be called block-based in different ways.
Some plugins provide dedicated Gutenberg blocks for displaying forums, topics, search forms, user profiles, or recent replies. Some plugins still rely on shortcodes but work inside the editor through a Shortcode block. Some do not provide blocks directly but try to improve compatibility with block themes.
For this post, I’m mainly considering plugins that meet at least one of these conditions:
- They provide dedicated WordPress blocks.
- They work well with the block editor.
- They support block themes or full-site editing in some way.
- They are important enough to test while researching modern WordPress forum plugins.
A truly block-based forum plugin should ideally provide blocks for things like:
- Forums list
- Topic list
- Single forum view
- Single topic view
- New topic form
- Reply form
- Search form
- User profile
- Login and registration forms
- Recent topics
- Recent replies
- Forum stats
- Member activity
Not every plugin in this list does all of that. In fact, that is one of the main reasons I wanted to create this post.
Quick Comparison of Block-Based WordPress Forum Plugins
| Plugin | Block Support | Best For | My Research Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| ForumWP | Strong | Simple forum with multiple Gutenberg blocks | High |
| Forumax | Strong | Modern community forum with Gutenberg blocks | High |
| wpForo | Medium | Feature-rich forum with some useful blocks | High |
| BC Forum | Basic | Simple Q&A-style forum block | Medium |
| bbPress + Enable bbPress for Block Themes | Limited | Testing bbPress with block themes | Medium |
| Asgaros Forum | Weak | Lightweight shortcode-based forum benchmark | Low |
| Simple:Press | Weak | Feature-rich traditional forum benchmark | Low |
| Discussion Board | Weak | Simple shortcode-based discussion board | Low |
Now let’s look at each plugin in more detail.
1. ForumWP
ForumWP is one of the most relevant plugins to test if you are looking for a block-based WordPress forum plugin.
It is a forum plugin by the Ultimate Member team. The plugin lets you create forums, allow users to create topics, and let users post replies.
What makes ForumWP interesting from a block-based perspective is that it provides several dedicated Gutenberg blocks. These blocks cover important forum areas such as forums list, topics list, single forum, single topic, login form, registration form, user profile, user topics, and user replies.
That makes it one of the closest examples of a WordPress forum plugin that has already moved beyond shortcode-only usage.
Why I’m Testing ForumWP
ForumWP is probably one of the first plugins I’ll test while planning DiscussCamp.
The main reason is that it already provides blocks for different parts of the forum experience. I want to see how these blocks work inside the editor, how much control they provide, and whether the user experience feels native to WordPress.
I’m especially interested in testing:
- How easy it is to create a forum.
- How the forum blocks behave inside the editor.
- Whether the blocks provide useful previews.
- How flexible the design controls are.
- How login, registration, profile, and topic pages are handled.
- Whether the plugin feels suitable for a product support community.
My Initial Thoughts
ForumWP looks like one of the strongest candidates in this category. It does not seem overloaded with features, which can be a good thing for simple communities.
However, I’ll need to test whether it feels modern enough, whether it works well with block themes, and how much layout control site owners actually get through the blocks.
2. Forumax
Forumax is another interesting plugin for anyone researching modern WordPress forum plugins.
It provides Gutenberg blocks for displaying forums, topics, search, forum overview, and forum grids. It also seems to position itself as a modern community forum plugin, with features around discussions, forum management, and user engagement.
From a block-based perspective, Forumax is worth testing because it does not just rely on one general forum embed. It provides multiple blocks for different forum sections.
Some of its useful blocks include:
- Forum and topics tabs
- Topics list
- Forums with AJAX filters
- Single forum
- Search
- Forum overview
- Forums grid
Why I’m Testing Forumax
Forumax feels like a newer and more modern plugin compared to many traditional WordPress forum plugins.
I want to test how it handles forum layouts, how the blocks are designed, and whether it gives enough visual control to site owners.
I’m especially interested in:
- The quality of its forum blocks.
- How the topic listing experience works.
- How AJAX filtering feels on the frontend.
- Whether the blocks are easy to customize.
- How well the plugin works with modern WordPress themes.
- Whether its forum overview and grid blocks can inspire better layout ideas.
My Initial Thoughts
Forumax seems like one of the most important plugins to test for this research.
If I’m planning a block-based forum plugin, I need to understand how Forumax approaches the same problem. Its block list is not as broad as ForumWP’s, but the available blocks sound useful for building a modern forum homepage or topic browsing experience.
3. wpForo
wpForo is one of the most popular and feature-rich WordPress forum plugins.
It is not fully block-first in the same way I would expect from a Gutenberg-native plugin, but it does provide several blocks. These blocks are mostly useful for displaying forum-related elements such as forum tree, search, recent posts, recent topics, online members, topic tags, and user profile/notifications.
wpForo is important to test because it represents the mature side of the WordPress forum market. It has many forum features, multiple layouts, user profiles, member ratings, subscriptions, moderation, SEO features, antispam features, and more.
Why I’m Testing wpForo
Even if wpForo is not fully block-first, it is still a plugin that any serious WordPress forum research should include.
I want to test it for two reasons.
First, I want to understand what features users may expect from a mature forum plugin.
Second, I want to see where a block-first plugin could be simpler, cleaner, or more native to the WordPress editor.
I’m especially interested in testing:
- Forum setup experience.
- Available forum layouts.
- Topic and reply management.
- User profile features.
- Moderation tools.
- Search and recent topic blocks.
- How much of the forum experience still depends on plugin settings instead of blocks.
- Whether the forum design is easy to customize.
My Initial Thoughts
wpForo looks more like a full forum system than a block-based forum builder.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. Many users need a mature forum solution with lots of settings and features. But from a Gutenberg-first perspective, I want to see whether its blocks feel central to the experience or more like helper blocks around a traditional forum system.
4. BC Forum
BC Forum is a much smaller plugin compared to ForumWP, Forumax, or wpForo.
It provides a simple custom forum experience with threaded questions and answers. It supports AJAX-based comment submission, multi-level replies, admin approval, and custom styling/template support.
From a block perspective, it provides one block.
That means it may not be a complete block-based forum solution, but it is still worth checking because of its simple Q&A-style approach.
Why I’m Testing BC Forum
Sometimes smaller plugins are useful because they focus on a very specific experience.
I want to test BC Forum to see how it handles:
- Simple forum creation.
- Threaded Q&A.
- AJAX-based submissions.
- Nested replies.
- Admin approval.
- The single block experience.
My Initial Thoughts
BC Forum is not a complete competitor to larger forum plugins. But it may be useful for studying a lightweight approach to discussions.
For DiscussCamp, I’m interested in whether a simpler forum structure can feel better than a heavy traditional forum system, especially for product communities, support forums, and niche discussion spaces.
5. bbPress with Enable bbPress for Block Themes
bbPress is the classic WordPress forum plugin.
It has been around for a long time and is still an important benchmark when talking about WordPress forums. However, bbPress itself is not really a block-based forum plugin.
It relies on forum post types, theme compatibility, templates, and shortcodes. You can use bbPress shortcodes inside the Shortcode block, but that is not the same as having dedicated forum blocks.
That’s where the Enable bbPress for Block Themes plugin becomes interesting.
This helper plugin is designed to make bbPress work better with full-site editing and block themes. It helps fix display issues and provides a dedicated bbPress content template inside the Site Editor.
Why I’m Testing This Setup
I’m not testing bbPress because it is block-based. I’m testing it because it is the classic WordPress forum benchmark.
And by testing it with Enable bbPress for Block Themes, I want to understand what happens when an older forum plugin is used in a modern block theme environment.
I’m especially interested in:
- How bbPress works with block themes.
- What problems appear without compatibility helpers.
- How much control the Site Editor gives over bbPress pages.
- Whether shortcodes feel limiting.
- What users still like about bbPress.
- What feels outdated compared to modern block editor workflows.
My Initial Thoughts
bbPress is important because many people still know it as the default WordPress forum option.
But from a product planning perspective, it also shows the gap clearly. WordPress has moved strongly toward blocks and full-site editing, but the classic forum experience has not fully followed that direction yet.
That gap is one of the reasons I’m interested in building DiscussCamp.
6. Asgaros Forum
Asgaros Forum is a lightweight and popular WordPress forum plugin.
It is known for being simple, fast, and easy to set up. It includes many useful forum features such as profiles, notifications, reactions, uploads, search, polls, statistics, guest posting, approval, banning, reporting, moderators, permissions, and user groups.
However, Asgaros Forum is not really a block-based forum plugin. Its official setup still focuses on creating a forum page automatically or manually adding the forum using the [forum] shortcode.
Why I’m Including Asgaros Forum
I’m including Asgaros Forum mainly as a benchmark.
It may not be block-based, but it is still a good example of a lightweight WordPress forum plugin. Since DiscussCamp is also likely to focus on simplicity, Asgaros can be useful to study from a product experience perspective.
I want to check:
- How fast the setup feels.
- How clean the frontend forum experience is.
- How forum management works.
- What features are included by default.
- Where a block-based plugin could offer a better editing experience.
My Initial Thoughts
Asgaros Forum may not help much from a Gutenberg architecture perspective, but it can still help from a product simplicity perspective.
A good block-based forum plugin should not only provide blocks. It should also make the whole forum experience easy to understand.
7. Simple:Press
Simple:Press is another mature WordPress forum plugin.
It is positioned as an all-in-one, feature-rich forum plugin. It includes features like user groups, permissions, subforums, private and public forums, themes, customization options, and premium add-ons.
Like Asgaros Forum, Simple:Press is not something I would call a block-based forum plugin. It is more of a traditional forum system for WordPress.
Why I’m Including Simple:Press
I’m including Simple:Press because it represents the feature-rich side of the market.
While planning DiscussCamp, I want to understand what advanced forum users may need. Even if DiscussCamp starts as a simpler product, it is helpful to study mature forum plugins and see which features are essential and which ones can wait.
I want to test:
- Forum structure and hierarchy.
- Permission management.
- User group handling.
- Forum customization.
- Private forum options.
- Admin experience.
- How complex the setup feels for a new user.
My Initial Thoughts
Simple:Press may be too traditional for the type of plugin I’m planning, but it can still provide useful lessons.
The challenge for a new block-based forum plugin is not to copy every advanced forum feature from day one. The challenge is to create a modern forum experience that feels simple, flexible, and native to WordPress.
8. Discussion Board
Discussion Board is another simple WordPress forum plugin worth knowing.
It allows you to add a discussion board to your WordPress site. It is more lightweight compared to big forum plugins, and it can be useful for simple community or support use cases.
However, like many older forum plugins, it is more shortcode-oriented than block-native.
Why I’m Including Discussion Board
I’m including it as another lightweight benchmark.
It may not be a strong block-based option, but it can still help answer an important question:
How simple can a WordPress forum plugin be while still being useful?
That question matters a lot for DiscussCamp.
I want to test:
- How quickly a discussion board can be created.
- How topic creation works.
- How user access is handled.
- Whether the experience feels simple or limited.
- What a block-based version of this experience could look like.
My Initial Thoughts
Discussion Board is not the main plugin I’m looking at for block-based inspiration. But it may still be useful for understanding simple forum workflows.
What I’ll Be Looking for While Testing These Plugins
This post is just the starting point.
The next step is to test the plugins one by one and document what I find. I’m not only interested in feature lists. I want to understand the actual experience of setting up and managing a forum in WordPress.
Here are the things I’ll be checking.
1. Setup Experience
How easy is it to create the first forum?
Does the plugin create pages automatically? Does it guide the user properly? Does the setup feel simple or confusing?
2. Block Editor Experience
If the plugin provides blocks, I want to see how useful they are.
Do the blocks show a real preview inside the editor? Are the settings easy to understand? Can I build a forum page visually, or am I still forced to rely on shortcodes and plugin settings?
3. Design Control
This is a big one.
A modern WordPress plugin should give site owners some visual control. I want to test whether these plugins allow customization of layout, spacing, colors, typography, buttons, and other design details.
4. Block Theme Compatibility
WordPress is moving more toward block themes and full-site editing.
So I want to check whether these forum plugins work well with modern block themes. Do forum pages look good? Can templates be edited? Are there layout issues?
5. Frontend User Experience
A forum is not just an admin feature. The frontend experience matters even more.
I’ll be checking how users create topics, reply to discussions, search the forum, view profiles, and navigate between forums and topics.
6. Moderation and Permissions
A useful forum plugin needs good moderation tools.
I want to see how each plugin handles spam, approval, reporting, user roles, private forums, and restricted access.
7. Notifications
Notifications are important for community engagement.
I’ll check whether users can subscribe to topics, receive reply notifications, and stay updated when someone interacts with their posts.
8. SEO and Content Structure
Forums can be valuable for SEO, especially for product support communities and niche communities.
I want to see whether forum topics are indexable, whether structured data is used, and whether URLs are clean and readable.
What a Truly Block-Based Forum Plugin Should Offer
After looking at the current options, I think a truly block-based WordPress forum plugin should go beyond simply adding a shortcode wrapper.
It should provide dedicated blocks for the main forum experience.
For example:
- Forum List block
- Topic List block
- Single Forum block
- Single Topic block
- New Topic Form block
- Reply Form block
- Search block
- User Profile block
- Login Form block
- Registration Form block
- Recent Topics block
- Recent Replies block
- Forum Stats block
- Topic Tags block
- Solved Topics block
- Member List block
It should also work well with block themes and allow users to design forum pages visually.
That does not mean every small setting needs to be inside the block editor. A forum plugin will still need a settings area for permissions, emails, moderation, spam control, and advanced behavior.
But the layout and display experience should feel native to WordPress blocks.
Final Thoughts
The block-based forum plugin space is still surprisingly small.
There are some good WordPress forum plugins. There are also some plugins that provide useful Gutenberg blocks. But very few feel like they are fully built around the modern block editor experience.
That is exactly why I’m doing this research before building DiscussCamp.
For now, the plugins I’m most interested in testing are ForumWP, Forumax, and wpForo. ForumWP and Forumax seem the most relevant from a block-based perspective. wpForo is important because it is mature and feature-rich. bbPress, Asgaros Forum, Simple:Press, and Discussion Board are also worth checking as benchmarks.
This post is just the beginning.
Next, I’ll start testing these plugins one by one and documenting what I learn. The goal is not just to compare forum plugins, but to understand what a modern, block-based forum plugin for WordPress should actually look like.