Building an online community site is not much of a task. All you need is a concept and a decent WordPress theme. You need to come up with the first requirement yourself, but we got you covered for the later one.
Here, you will find 20+ best WordPress forum themes that have some of the best features and functionalities.
We have made sure that every theme you find here is compatible with the latest WordPress. They are easy to use, deliver optimum performance, and will help you set up an interactive forum on the go.
Without further ado, let us begin with the list 20+ Best WordPress Forum Themes:
Things to Consider While Choosing a WordPress Forum Theme
The following are some of the few points which you should consider while choosing a WordPress forum theme:
- Performance: A WordPress theme that performs at a high speed should be your priority. Do not install a bloated theme with multiple features. Such a theme directly affects the loading and performing speed of your site. Instead, you can make a list of the features you need and search for a theme that meets them.
- SEO: A theme with SEO-friendly code helps you secure a better rank on search engines. You must also be able to add links, tags, and keywords.
- Responsive Design and Cross Browser Compatible: A responsive theme with cross-browser compatibility shapes your site to render on any device and browser. As you don’t know which device your visitors use, it is best to opt for a responsive and cross-browser compatible theme.
- Attractive Design: A theme with attractive visualization is best for visitor retention. Your theme should come with options to add multiple layouts, sliders, and even transition effects.
- Customization Options: You should not have any limitations to shape your site. You should be able to adjust its colors, layouts, typography, animations, and much more. The theme must allow you to build a site of your dreams.
- Plugins Support: Plugins add features and improve the functionalities of your site. To install and use plugins, your theme must support them at first. Make sure your theme supports all the popular plugins. You can consult with the developer for this.
- Social Media Integration: This feature enables you to stay connected with your customers. Your viewers will be able to share your content on their social walls. Moreover, you can connect your social profile with your site. This increases your online visibility as well as brings in more visitors.
- Client Support: Coming across an issue is common when using a theme. You may be able to solve some issues on your own, and for others, you may need client support.
You can learn how to choose a WordPress theme in detail with the help of this guide.
List of Best WordPress Forum Themes
Rara Business Pro
Rara Business Pro is a performance-optimized WordPress theme with a fully responsive design. The theme lets you display the portfolio, experiences, services, and testimonials in dedicated sections.
Rara Business Pro adapts to any screen size. You can choose from unlimited colors and 600 Google fonts to personalize your forum website. You can also add animations, speed, and layout grid.
Upload an image or video along with a Call-to-Action button to disseminate your message. Set an organized site on the go with the one-click installation feature. The theme packs five pre-built custom pages to add a contact page, FAQ page, team page, and testimonials page with ease.
The pricing section and Google Map API integration further clarify your services and location. The theme is compatible with the WPML and the WooCommerce plugins.
- Four unique header
- Five banner design
- Five custom pages
- One-click demo installation
- Unlimited color
- 600+ Google Fonts
- Google Map integration
- WPML plugin
- WooCommerce compatible
- Fully responsive
- Cross-browser compatible
The Conference Pro
The Conference Pro is a content-focused WordPress theme dedicated to readability.
It is a fully responsive theme and features 17 unique homepage sections. The theme is SEO-optimized. You can choose from five unique header layouts and 600+ Google fonts, unlimited color options for your site.
The Conference Pro features a distinct header banner design along with a countdown timer. You can use it to showcase your limited products or services.
The package also includes 10 custom page templates with sections like Schedule, Portfolio, FAQ, Gallery, and testimonials. You can also include pricing tables on your homepage.
The theme is fully compatible with the WooCommerce plugin. As the Conference Pro supports WPML and Polylang plugins, setting up a multi-language site is much easier.
- Mobile-friendly design
- Cross-browser compatible
- SEO-friendly
- One-click demo installation
- 16 home page sections
- Five unique header designs
- 10 custom page templates
- Unlimited color
- 600+ Google Fonts
- RTL script
- WPML support
- WooCommerce compatible
BuddyBoss
BuddyBoss is an advanced yet easy-to-use WordPress forum theme today. Integrating the bbPress plugin, Buddy Boss makes it easy to create a forum on the go.
BuddyBoss seeks to facilitate and improve social networking with the integration of the BuddyPress plugin. Your members can create their separate profiles and share their details with each other.
You can organize your site with events, discussions, messaging, albums, and media. The WooCommerce plugin lets you sell your services and create membership packages. The theme provides a better way to motivate your members by giving them points, badges, ranks, and certificates.
You can customize the theme to your will despite any level of knowledge. The theme supports Gutenberg, Elementor, and Cornerstone page builder for easy and quick personalization. You can customize the logos, colors, typography, navigation styles, widgets, and much more.
BuddyBoss supports WPML plugin along with the RTL scripts so that you can set up a forum site in your local language.
- Responsive
- Better performance
- Multiple customizations
- bbPress and BuddyPress plugins
- WooCommerce compatible
- Multiple page builders support
- Translation ready along with RTL support
Helpguru
Helpguru is an efficient WordPress theme that lets you create a forum for almost anything. The has a built-in drag and drop page builder to set up a visually appealing site with better functions.
Helpguru is optimized for better performance and speed to retain your visitors. Such a feature is best for higher ranking in search engines as well. The AJAX search feature further improves the browsing experience on your site.
There are three widgets to manage your content, categories, and author sections.
Helpguru looks great on any mobile surface and browser. The live theme customizer lets you edit any element of the theme and get a preview at the same time. Moreover, the bbPress plugin helps you set up a lively discussion forum on your site.
The translation-ready features, along with the WPML plugin support, enable you to set your site in any preferred language.
- Responsive
- AJAX search
- Better performance and speed
- bbPress plugin
- WPML plugin support
- Three widgets
- Built-in drag and drop page builder
- Content ordering
- One-click demo importer
- SEO-friendly
- 24/7 support and detailed documentation
ForumEngine
ForumEngine is one of the best WordPress forum themes on the market. The theme provides a professional look for your website to stand out amongst the rest.
The theme features a powerful admin panel to manage the design and content of your site. There are unlimited color schemes and variants. The live notification system is one of the best features in this theme that complements a forum website.
ForumEngine is mobile-friendly and loads seamlessly on any device. You can add multiple sidebars where you can display your services and raise discussions with your members.
The theme is translation-ready and supports the WPML plugin to translate your site into any language with a few clicks. You also get schema and Yoast plugins to upgrade your rank in search engines.
- Mobile-friendly
- Translation-ready with WPML support
- Powerful admin panel
- Live notification system
- Multiple customization options
Astra
Astra is a lightweight WordPress theme with multiple built-in templates. You can start your site on the go with this theme.
Astra packs pixel-perfect multiple website demos to set up your website in no time. You can then use the visual theme customizer to alter the looks. Add headers, video banners, and sidebars to bring out a professional look.
You get unlimited color and fonts in this theme. The live customizer lets you modify any element of the site and view the edits in real-time.
The theme is 100% responsive. Further, the SEO-friendly code helps to boost the traffic rate. Astra loads extremely fast and delivers optimum performance for a minimal bounce rate.
The theme supports popular plugins such as Contact Form 7, WooCommerce, WPML, and many more.
- Multiple Pre-built demos
- Super-fast performance
- Fully responsive
- SEO optimized
- Live customizer
- WooCommerce integration
Disputo
Disputo is a minimalistic WordPress theme dedicated to corporate forums, agencies, enterprises, and creative sites.
Disputo features a Live customizer along with a drag and drop page builder. You can edit the theme and view the changes instantly. There are multiple demos packed in this theme to get your site started in a few minutes. The one-click demo importer launches your site with the default settings and content.
There are unlimited color options and advanced typography. The theme also packs 12 custom widgets, 4 blog layouts, and slider sortings for a managed and functional website. Dispute also supports various user directories, private messaging, ranting (sending likes and dislikes), live search, forum signatures, and YouTube TV.
With the WooCommerce plugin, you can set certain services and parts of your site as a paid option. In case you need a site in multiple languages, RTL scripts, the WPML plugin comes in handy.
- Responsive
- Customizable
- SEO-friendly
- Drag and drop page builder
- One-click demo import
- Four unique header layout
- Unlimited color
- 12 custom widgets
- WooCommerce compatible
- WPML and RTL scripts
Ekko
Ekko is one of the best themes to build a beautiful website for your social forum. The theme is versatile and comes with a built-in drag and drop page builder for easy setup.
The package contains 60+ predesigned pages, 40+ content elements, and 250+ template blocks to help you set up your theme. Choose from 50+ website demos and install it at a click using a one-click demo importer.
With unlimited Google fonts, multiple color options, unlimited sliders, and 25+ single page templates, you will never run out of customization options.
Ekko integrates Contact Form 7 to communicate the event and information to your members. Likewise, the WooCommerce plugin lets you set certain events and sections of the site as a paid option.
Ekko looks great on any device thanks to its responsive design. It is optimized for performance and speed to promote user engagement.
- Responsive
- Optimized for speed and performance
- Fully customizable
- 50+ custom demo sites
- 60+ predesigned pages
- 40+ content elements
- 250+ template blocks
- Cross-browser compatibility
- Built-in page builder
- WooCommerce
- WPML support
- One-click demo import
- Regular updates
ForumPress
Build a professional website in a few minutes using the ForumPress WordPress theme. ForumPress is a minimalist theme that is designed for the sole purpose of building a forum website.
The theme offers an excellent interface to manage user profiles and multiple forums. ForumPress is extremely easy to set up using the built-in setup assistant. The theme features a live search feature that allows your visitors to search exactly what they want. You can even create group discussions, manage conversations, and replies with ease.
Built on the bbPress plugin, ForumPress makes sure to give a uniform look throughout your site. This makes your forum look clean and professional.
The SEO-friendly WordPress theme performs at a super-fast speed. Your site looks elegant on any screen size, thanks to ForumPress’s fully responsive design. There are multiple options with fonts and color templates to style your page.
If you want a forum-dedicated theme that does its job efficiently, ForumPress is your best option.
- Fully responsive
- SEO-friendly
- Live Search
- Easy to manage multiple forums, discussions, and replies
- Multiple color and fonts
- Built on bbPress plugin
KLEO
Kleo is a fully responsive, multi-purpose theme that helps you build a website based around a forum with strong social networking and community aspects. The theme lets you display a portfolio, experiences, services, and testimonials in dedicated sections.
Kleo allows you to customize the layout and design of your site. The options are very flexible, which lets you create a unique look that will set your site apart.
Moreover, Kleo comes with a huge selection of pre-built websites that are ideal for creating online forums.
The WPBakery plugin allows you to create complex grid layouts with columns, tabs, sliders, and many other elements, using a drag-and-drop interface.
The Kleo forum theme also includes complete e-commerce support for collecting payments and creating subscription packages.
- Multiple pre-built demos
- WooCommerce integration
- Simple install wizard
- Customizable design and layout
- Drag-and-Drop page builder WPBakery
- BuddyPress and bbPress integration
Creativo
Creativo is a fully responsive, multi-purpose theme for creating websites with three predefined layouts: Boxed, Wide, and Extra Wide.
The theme is Retina ready because of which the images on your site will look sharp instead of pixelated on larger screens.
The WPBakery plugin allows you to create amazing pages by simply dragging and dropping the elements in the composer. Hence, there won’t be any problem even if the user does not have any coding skills.
Furthermore, the theme supports the popular WooCommerce plugin, which will help you start making money online through your site. Also, you can get in touch with visitors with the help of the live chat plugin.
Creativo is a multilingual theme that allows you to translate your site into any language of your choice and comfort.
- Fully responsive
- Retina ready
- WooCommerce integration
- Live chat plugin
- Drag-and-Drop page builder
- Translation ready
Vilan
Vilan is a professional business, eCommerce, and forum theme that is built with Bootstrap. The theme design is simple, with vibrant color and custom modules. You can easily create the content with the help of these modules.
The fully responsive and SEO-friendly theme loads extremely fast and delivers optimum performance for a minimal bounce rate.
Vilan is highly customizable. Each page has a custom set of options designed to maximize the user’s creativity.
The theme comes with two layout modes: Boxed and Full Width. Also, the theme has a Revolution slider thrown in.
This theme is fully compatible with bbPress, which allows you to create a forum section easily for your support site to help users support each other by creating discussions. With this, you can focus on other important tasks as you will save a lot of time.
- Highly customizable
- SEO optimized
- Unlimited colors
- Revolution Slider
- Two layout modes
- WooCommerce integration
- Fully responsive
- Custom Widgets and Pre-Built Templates
Boss
Here is a responsive theme that redefines the visualization possibilities on a community website. The theme utilizes the power of BuddyPress to take your site to a whole new social level.
There are multiple layouts from fluid style to a standard grid in the Boss. The visual customizer empowers you to bring any design and style to reality. You can control the typography, color, widgets, sliders, logos, and other elements of your site from the quick admin panel.
The theme packs the premium Social Learner add-on. This feature allows you to integrate the Sensei or LearnDash plugins to turn your site into a social learning platform.
Boss integrates Paid Memberships Pro to set charge for memberships in your forum. You can also protect the content as a paid option using this plugin. There is also a Social Login plugin to let your members share your content. Such a feature also helps you reach out to a larger group and build a stronger community.
Translate your site into any language using the WPML plugin and RTL script. For a default setup, you can choose from the demos available in the package.
- Multiple layouts
- Easy-to-use admin panel
- Multiple color, typography, sliders, and widgets
- E-learning platform
- Integrates Paid Memberships Pro plugin
- WPML and RTL scripts
- WooCommerce compatible.
Social Learner
Social Learner is a compact WordPress theme. It is fully compatible with the bbPress plugin and BuddyPress to build you a multi-functional forum website. The theme is best suited for education-related sites.
Social Learner integrates Sensei and LearnDash to enable you to create a community-based education site. The theme makes your site engaging using multiple social interaction sections such as messaging, discussions, video introduction, achievement, and much more.
The powerful admin panel is your hub, where you can control everything in the theme. You can adjust the color, fonts, logos, widgets, navigation styles, and every other element of the theme with a few clicks.
The theme integrates the Paid Memberships Pro plugin to introduce a paid panel among your members. Also, Social Learner integrates the popular WooCommerce plugin to sell your course and products.
Social Learner runs seamlessly on any device is a translation-ready theme. Further, the live notifications and SEO-friendly code make Social Learner one of the best WordPress forum themes on the market.
- Responsive design
- SEO friendly
- Live notification
- Integrates WooCommerce and Paid Memberships Pro plugins
- Translation ready
- bbPress and BuddyPress included.
Woffice
Woffice is another best multi-purpose WordPress theme to build a powerful online community. Woffice is optimized for performance and style that works great for any type of site.
Woffice integrates BuddyPress to build a better social network with your members. The package includes extended features such as a login page, file manager, messaging option, event calendar, project management system, and much more.
The fully responsive and retina-ready feature of the theme renders your site accurately on any screen size.
The theme is crafted on HTML5 and CSS3 to boost the SEO ranks on the search engines. You can choose from over more than 600 fonts and unlimited colors to decorate your site. There are 20+ built-in extensions for a user-friendly experience on your site.
With a one-click demo installer, you can get your site ready in less than three minutes. Woffice is trusted by over 11,000 users and is ready to serve your site needs on the go.
- Responsive and Retina ready
- SEO friendly
- BuddyPress plugin
- One-click demo installer
- Packs five premium plugins
- Member dashboard
- Slack notifications
- Projects Manager
- WooCommerce compatible
- Multiple customization options
Hestia Pro
Hestia Pro is a multi-purpose WordPress theme with a responsive design. The theme has multiple templates and layouts that complement both simple as well as complex websites.
Hestia Pro comes with Gutenberg page builders, such as Elementor, Brizy, Visual Composer, SiteOrigin, and Divi builder. You can create any layout with the drag-and-drop page builders.
The live customizer gives you a live look at the changes you make on your site. There are two sections on this theme to introduce you and your services better: a Portfolio section and a Pricing section. Attaching a video to the header further enhances the appearance of your page.
Hestia Pro is crafted for blazing-fast performance and SEO. It is translation-ready and also supports RTL scripts.
The Mega menus contribute to an easy browsing experience. This feature also lets you control the design and structure.
- Fully responsive
- Live Customizer
- Dedicated Pricing and Portfolio sections
- SEO-friendly
- Translation Ready with RTL script support
- WooCommerce compatible
- Ultra-fast performance
Lynk
Lynk is a responsive, retina-ready, community/social network WordPress Theme that brings all kinds of people together. The theme integrates with BuddyPress as a complete package & includes awesome demos to get you quickly started.
Lynk comes with the WooCommerce plugin that allows you to monetize your website easily or just certain aspects of it. For instance, you can charge a membership fee for access after making the site private, or make certain classified sections as a paid option.
The Drag-and-Drop Page Builder support allows anyone to create beautiful pages for the forum. The fully functional events calendar feature allows you to publicize upcoming events in an interactive calendar format.
Moreover, Lynk has an AJAX-based search. The members will be able to find the right thread or post on the website with the help of this feature.
Lynk comes with the user-friendly install wizard, which will help you get started and build your own online community and forum with WordPress.
- Global AJAX search
- Fully responsive
- Retina ready
- Drag-and-Drop page builder
- WooCommerce Integration
- Instinctive Front End forms
- Simple install wizard
- Customizable User Menu
OneSocial
OneSocial is a professional WordPress theme with a minimalist and clean design. The theme integrates BuddyPress and bbPress plugins. Thus, OneSocial is a good choice for building an online forum.
OneSocial is a fully responsive theme with a major focus on simplicity and ease of use. No matter the purpose, OneSocial is ready to build you any type of community website and expand your reach.
The theme offers multiple customization possibilities. You can create a simple yet intuitive site using the demo site and the one-click installer in a few minutes. There are also language files in the package enabling you to translate your site into any preferred language.
OneSocial integrates the WordPress Social Login plugin. This feature makes it easy for your visitors to join your forum. Moreover, you can use the WooCommerce plugin to monetize your membership and services.
OneSocial is a great option if you are looking for a simple theme to run your business or a community.
- Fully responsive
- Retina ready
- SEO friendly
- Translation ready
- WooCommerce compatible
- bbPress and BuddyPress plugin integration
- Live notification
- 500+ icons
- Unlimited customizations
WildCommunity
WildCommunityis a simple community WordPress theme that integrates BuddyPress and bbPress plugins for extended social involvement. The theme is easy to use, even by a beginner, thanks to the powerful admin panel.
A quick and easy demo installer will get your site ready in no time. You can personalize any element of the theme using the Theme Customization API. The theme supports the Live Chat and Event Manager plugin.
The theme has a responsive layout and features four frontpage designs. The package also integrates WPML, WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, and AddThis plugins.
WildCommunity is widget-ready, SEO-ready, Translation-ready, and Cross-browser compatible. You can set up a stunning community for any purpose using this theme.
- Responsive
- Translation ready
- SEO friendly
- BuddyPress and bbPress plugins
- Four front pages and 40 inner page designs
- Integrates WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, and Event Manager
Tips for Building Forum Websites
We believe that now you have an idea of which theme is the best option for your forum. Here are some tips that will help you build an engaging community and provide better support to your members.
1. Decide the Purpose of Your Forum
Firstly, you need to be clear about the purpose of your forum. You need to plan and decide how you’re going to structure the forums and keep website visitors engaged with your project, organization, or brand.
2. Choose a Theme
You’ll need to select the right WordPress forum theme based on the focus of your forum. The forums should blend in with the rest of your site, and the theme should make it easy to create new topics, respond to them, and organize the discussions in your forums. The more closely a theme matches your desired design, the less customization you will have to do.
3. Make Your Sub Forums and Threads Simple
When you are creating new forums, make sure that it is easy to follow. The subforums must not be difficult or confusing to use.
4. Stay in Touch
When building a community, you must engage with the members as much as you can. This is a trait of a responsible admin.
5. Encourage Active Participation and Discussion
Forums thrive on discussions. Encourage discussion between your members by asking questions, prompting them to comment on other people’s posts, or soliciting a specific member’s opinion. There will not be much action going on if your members are just passive observers. So, you can encourage them to start their own threads. This will ensure that your community is active and engaged at all times.
How Can You Maintain a Stronger Forum Website?
When creating a forum website, you must think carefully about what content to include and what actions to avoid. Any veteran forum admin will tell you to stay active to make your forum stronger. Along with this advice, here are some extra tips that will help you maintain a friendly and stronger community.
- Spams: Spams are not only annoying in a forum website but also cause SEO issues. Google search engine penalizes your site if you don’t remove the spams. So make sure that you run a spam-free website.
- Trolls: As an admin, it is your responsibility to maintain a friendly and supportive community. You need to ensure that your forum is free from any trolls and discrimination among the members.
- Remove Irrelevant Content: As an admin, you need to make sure that the content and discussions in your forum are interesting, fun, and relevant. You must remain active to maintain a healthy forum. Always take a proactive approach, bring up interesting issues, and encourage participation from each member.
Wrap Up
So these were our list of 20+ best WordPress forum themes. All these themes are best on their own. They have multiple features with an easy-to-use interface. This makes each theme on the list capable of building you a stunning and functional forum site.
However, we recommend Disputo as a probable best option. The theme has multiple features such as private messaging, user profile listing, sending likes/dislikes, live search, forum signatures and much more. Further, the theme is easy to use and features unlimited personalization possibilities.
We hope you found a theme that suits you the best. If you want to read more articles related to WordPress, you may look at the following: