Plugin System

Flatboard Team • 18/12/2025 • 23 min de lecture

Plugin System

Flatboard 5 features a powerful plugin system that allows you to extend functionality without modifying core files. Plugins can add features, modify behavior, and integrate with external services.

Understanding Plugins

What are Plugins?

Plugins are self-contained extensions that:

Extend Functionality - Add new features to your forum
Modify Behavior - Change how things work
Integrate Services - Connect with external APIs
Customize Experience - Tailor forum to your needs

Plugin Architecture

Plugins follow a structured architecture:

plugins/
└── my-plugin/
    ├── plugin.json          # Plugin metadata
    ├── MyPlugin.php         # Main plugin class
    ├── assets/              # CSS, JS, images
    │   ├── css/
    │   ├── js/
    │   └── img/
    ├── views/               # Template files
    │   └── admin.php
    └── README.md            # Documentation

Installing Plugins

Method 1: From the Admin Panel (Recommended, since 5.2.2)

Recommended Method

Since Flatboard 5.2.2, you can install plugins directly from the admin panel by uploading the .zip archive — no FTP or shell access required.

Download the plugin .zip from the Flatboard Resource Center or from the plugin author
Go to Admin → Plugins
Click "Install a plugin"
Select the .zip archive and confirm — the archive is validated, extracted, and the plugin appears in the list automatically

The server validates the archive integrity, MIME type, size, and the presence of a valid plugin.json before extracting.

Method 2: Manual Installation (FTP / SSH)

Plugin packages are distributed as .zip archives. The manual workflow is: download → extract locally → upload the folder → activate.

Step 1: Download and Extract

Download the plugin .zip from the Flatboard Resource Center or from the plugin author
Verify that the plugin is compatible with your Flatboard 5 version
Extract the archive on your local machine — you should get a folder (e.g. my-plugin/) with plugin.json at its root

Never upload the .zip file itself to the server. FTP transfers files individually — you must extract the archive first, then upload the resulting folder.

Step 2: Upload the Plugin Folder

Via FTP

Connect to your server with an FTP client (FileZilla, Cyberduck, etc.) and upload the extracted plugin folder into the plugins/ directory of your Flatboard installation:

your-flatboard/
└── plugins/
    └── my-plugin/        ← upload this folder (not the .zip)
        ├── plugin.json
        └── ...

Via SSH

If you have shell access, you can extract the archive directly on the server:

cd /path/to/your-flatboard/plugins/
unzip my-plugin.zip          # extracts to my-plugin/
chmod 755 my-plugin/ -R      # adjust permissions if needed

Step 3: Activate the Plugin

Once the plugin folder is in place:

Go to Admin → Plugins
Find the plugin in the list — it will appear as inactive
Click Activate

Step 4: Configure (if applicable)

If the plugin has settings, click the settings icon next to the plugin name, fill in the options, and save.

**Flatboard 3/4 Plugin Compatibility**

Plugins from Flatboard 3 and 4 are NOT compatible with Flatboard 5 due to the complete architecture rewrite. You'll need to:

Wait for plugin developers to release Flatboard 5 versions
Contact plugin developers for updates
Consider alternative plugins if updates aren't available

Creating a Plugin

Step 1: Create Plugin Structure

mkdir -p plugins/my-plugin/{assets/{css,js,img},views}

Step 2: Create plugin.json

{
  "id": "my-plugin",
  "name": "My Plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "A custom plugin for Flatboard 5",
  "author": "Your Name",
  "license": "GPL3",
  "requires": {
    "flatboard": ">=5.0.0"
  },
  "class": "App\\Plugins\\MyPlugin\\MyPluginPlugin"
}

Step 3: Create Plugin Class

plugins/my-plugin/MyPluginPlugin.php:

<?php
namespace App\Plugins\MyPlugin;

use App\Core\Plugin;
use App\Helpers\PluginAssetHelper;

class MyPluginPlugin
{
    public function boot()
    {
        // Register plugin routes (preferred hook for plugins)
        Plugin::hook('router.plugins.register', [$this, 'registerRoutes']);
        // Inject CSS into <head>
        Plugin::hook('view.header.styles', [$this, 'addStyles']);
    }

    public function addStyles(array &$styles): void
    {
        $styles[] = PluginAssetHelper::loadCss('my-plugin', 'assets/css/style.css');
    }

    public function registerRoutes($router): void
    {
        $router->get('/my-plugin', function() {
            return 'Hello from my plugin!';
        });
    }
}

Step 4: Register Hooks

Flatboard 5 provides many hooks:

app.routes.register - Register custom routes
view.header.styles - Add CSS styles to header
view.footer.content - Add content to footer
view.post.avatar - Override post avatar rendering
view.user.avatar - Override user avatar rendering anywhere on the forum
discussion.created - When discussion is created
post.created - When post is created
user.registered - When user registers
user.updated - When user is updated
notification.types.register - Register custom notification types
visitor.page_info - Provide page metadata for presence indicator

See the complete hook list below for all available hooks.

Plugin Hooks

Available Hooks

Complete reference of all 96 hooks available in Flatboard 5. All data arguments marked by ref are passed by PHP reference — modifying them changes the actual value used by the framework.

Application

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`app.routes.register`	Application bootstrap	Router instance
`router.plugins.register`	Router dispatch	Router instance
`router.not_found`	Unmatched HTML route (404)	`['url' => string, 'redirect' => ?string]` by ref — set `redirect` to issue a 301
`routes.register`	`PluginHelper::registerRoute()` — called when a plugin registers a route	`$routes` array by ref — internal hook used by the helper to append the route
`security.csp.directives`	CSP header generation	CSP directives array by ref

View — Layout

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`assets.styles`	`PluginHelper::addStyle()` — called when a plugin registers a stylesheet	Styles array by ref — internal hook used by the helper to append the asset
`assets.scripts`	`PluginHelper::addScript()` — called when a plugin registers a script	Scripts array by ref — internal hook used by the helper to append the asset
`view.header.styles`	`<head>` (frontend + backend)	Styles array by ref
`view.footer.scripts`	`</body>` (frontend + backend)	Scripts array by ref
`view.footer.content`	Footer (frontend)	HTML content array by ref
`view.footer.links`	Footer links (frontend)	Links array by ref
`view.footer.bottom`	Inside `<footer>` just before closing tag (frontend)	HTML string by ref — use to append content at the very bottom of the footer (e.g. legal links)
`view.navbar.items`	Main navigation bar	Nav items array by ref
`view.main.before`	Before main content (frontend)	HTML string by ref
`view.main.after`	After main content (frontend)	HTML string by ref
`view.admin.sidebar.items`	Admin sidebar	Sidebar items array by ref
`view.admin.main.before`	Before admin main content	HTML string by ref
`view.admin.main.after`	After admin main content	HTML string by ref
`view.theme.content.filter`	Footer custom content + hero custom content (Premium theme)	Content string — return value replaces the original content

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`view.banner.data`	Banner component render	Banner data array by ref
`view.banner.content`	Banner component render	HTML string by ref, banner data

View — SEO

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`seo.meta.before`	`<head>` meta tags	SEO data array by ref
`seo.meta.after`	After default meta tags	Additional meta HTML string by ref

View — Auth Forms

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`view.login.form`	Login page + login modal	Form fields array by ref
`view.login.validation`	Login form submission	Validation error by ref
`view.user.register.form`	Registration page + modal	Form fields array by ref
`view.user.register.validation`	Registration form submission	Validation error by ref

View — Discussions & Replies

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`view.discussions.toolbar`	Discussion list toolbar (all themes)	HTML string by ref — append extra toolbar buttons
`view.discussion.badges`	Discussion item card — badge row	Badges array by ref, discussion data — append extra status badges
`view.discussion.create.form`	New discussion form	Form fields array by ref
`view.discussion.create.validation`	Discussion creation submission	Validation error by ref
`view.discussion.edit.form`	Discussion edit form	Form fields array by ref, form context array
`view.discussion.show.before_content`	Discussion view (before first post)	Event data array by ref
`view.discussion.show.after_content`	Discussion view (after first post)	Event data array by ref
`view.reply.create.form`	Reply form	Form fields array by ref
`view.reply.create.validation`	Reply submission	Validation error by ref
`view.sidebar.navigation`	Discussion list sidebar	Sidebar items array by ref
`view.post.user_data`	Post thread component — user data setup	`['post' => array, 'user_data' => array]` by ref — modify `user_data` to override author display data (name, avatar, etc.) for virtual users or bots
`view.post.avatar`	Post thread component — avatar render	`['user_id', 'username', 'avatar', 'size', 'html']` by ref — set `html` to override the default `<img>` output
`view.user.avatar`	`components/avatar.php` and discussion-item list (author + last-post author)	`['user_id', 'username', 'avatar', 'size', 'html']` by ref — set `html` to override the rendered avatar for any user across the forum
`view.post.user.stats`	Post thread component — below the post count badge	`['user_id' => string, 'html' => string]` by ref — append to `html` to inject extra badges/stats next to the post counter (all themes)
`view.post.dropdown.items`	Post action dropdown menu (first post and replies)	Hook data array by ref (`postId`, `discussionId`, `canEdit`, `html`) — append extra dropdown items
`view.post.edit.form`	Post / reply edit form	Hook data array by ref (`postId`, `discussionId`, `content`)
`view.profile.stats`	User profile page — statistics card	`['user_id' => string, 'html' => string]` by ref — append to `html` to inject extra rows below the discussions/replies counters

Content Events

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`discussion.created`	After discussion saved	Enriched event data array
`discussion.created.legacy`	After discussion saved	Created discussion (legacy format)
`discussion.updated`	After discussion edited (`DiscussionController::update()`)	Updated discussion data
`discussion.deleted`	After discussion deleted	Discussion data
`categories.list.filter`	`DiscussionController::index()` and `::forums()` — after categories sorted	Categories array by ref — remove or reorder categories before rendering
`discussions.index.filter`	`DiscussionController::index()` — after discussions loaded	Discussions array by ref — remove discussions from the all-discussions feed before rendering
`best_answer.set`	Best answer selected	`['discussion_id', 'post_id', 'user_id']`
`post.created`	After reply saved	Created post data
`post.updated`	After reply edited	Updated post data
`post.deleted`	After reply deleted	Post data
`category.created`	After category saved	Created category data
`category.updated`	After category updated	Updated category data
`category.deleted`	After category deleted	Category data
`tag.created`	After tag saved	Tag data

User Events

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`user.registered`	After registration	Created user data
`user.updated`	After user profile saved	Updated user data
`user.deleted`	After user account deleted	User data
`ban.created`	After ban applied	Updated user data
`ban.removed`	After ban lifted	Updated user data
`user.profile.tabs`	Profile page render	Tabs array by ref, user array, `isOwnProfile` bool
`user.profile.tab.contents`	Profile page render	Tab contents array by ref, user array, `isOwnProfile` bool
`user.settings.notifications`	Notifications settings form	Options array by ref, preferences array
`user.settings.notifications.save`	Notifications settings save	Preferences array by ref, request data, user
`user.settings.preferences.save`	General preferences save	Preferences array by ref, request data, user

Moderation

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`report.created`	After content report saved	Created report data

Search

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`search.results`	Search service (all types)	Results array by ref, query, type, keywords, filters
`search.before.display`	Before HTML search results	Results array by ref, query, type, filters
`search.ajax.results`	Before AJAX search results	Results array by ref, query, type, filters

Notifications

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`notification.types.register`	`NotificationService::validateNotificationType()` — called at boot time	`$allowedTypes` array by ref — append custom type strings to extend the core whitelist
`notification.before.create`	Before notification written	Notification data array by ref, type string
`notification.after.create`	After notification written	Notification ID, notification data
`notification.email.body`	Before notification email sent	Email body string by ref, notification data

Markdown & Editor

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`markdown.pre_process`	Before markdown parsing (`MarkdownHelper`)	`['raw' => string, 'context' => string]` by ref — modify `raw` to alter the source before parsing
`markdown.parse`	Markdown rendering (all contexts)	Result array by ref, raw markdown string
`markdown.post_process`	After markdown parsing (`MarkdownHelper`)	`['html' => string, 'context' => string]` by ref — modify `html` to post-process the rendered output
`markdown.editor.config`	Editor component init	Config array by ref, `$editorId`
`component.markdown-editor.before`	Before editor textarea	HTML string by ref, `$editorId`
`component.markdown-editor.attributes`	Editor textarea tag	Attributes array by ref, `$editorId`, config
`markdown.editor.init`	Editor JS init script	Script string by ref, `$editorId`, config
`markdown.editor.getValue`	Editor getValue script	Script string by ref, `$editorId`
`markdown.editor.setValue`	Editor setValue script	Script string by ref, `$editorId`, value path
`component.markdown-editor.after`	After editor textarea	HTML string by ref, `$editorId`

Presence & Visitor Tracking

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`visitor.page_info`	`Visitor::getPageInfo()` — unknown URLs only	`['page' => string, 'info' => array]` by ref — set `info['type']`, `info['title']`, `info['url']`
`visitor.before_track`	`VisitorTrackingMiddleware` before write	`['ip_address', 'user_agent', 'page', 'user_id']` by ref
`presence.anonymous_visitors`	`PresenceService::getActiveAnonymousVisitorsDetailed()`	Visitors array by ref
`presence.bots`	`PresenceService::getActiveBotsDetailed()`	Bots array by ref
`presence.users`	`PresenceService::getActiveUsersDetailed()`	Users array by ref

Admin

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`admin.dashboard.widgets`	Admin dashboard render	Widgets array by ref

Cron

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`cron.register`	`PluginHelper::registerCronTask()` — called when a plugin registers a scheduled task	`$tasks` array by ref — internal hook used by the helper to append the task definition

Theme

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`theme.setting.value`	`ThemeHelper::getThemeSetting()` — after reading a theme setting	Value by ref, setting key, field type — allows plugins to override theme setting values
`themeswitcher.themes.expand`	Theme Switcher — build available themes list	Themes array by ref — append sub-theme definitions (e.g. Bootswatch variants)
`themeswitcher.theme.validate`	Theme Switcher — validate theme selection	`['themeId', 'subThemeId', 'valid']` by ref — set `valid` to override validation
`themeswitcher.theme.activate`	Theme Switcher — apply theme switch	`['themeId', 'subThemeId']` by ref — run side effects on theme activation

Plugin Views

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`plugin.view.index`	Plugin index view rendered	`['pluginId', 'viewName', 'viewVars']` by ref
`plugin.view.{viewName}`	Named plugin view rendered	`['pluginId', 'viewName', 'viewVars']` by ref
`plugin.view.index.permissions`	Before plugin index view	Permissions array by ref, pluginId, `'index'`
`plugin.view.{viewName}.permissions`	Before named plugin view	Permissions array by ref, pluginId, viewName
`plugin.view.{viewName}.vars`	Before named plugin view	ViewVars array by ref, pluginId, viewName
`plugin.view.admin.vars`	Before plugin admin view	ViewVars array by ref, pluginId, `'admin'`
`plugin.view.privacy.vars`	Before plugin privacy view	ViewVars array by ref, pluginId, `'privacy'`
`plugin.view.cookies.vars`	Before plugin cookies view	ViewVars array by ref, pluginId, `'cookies'`

Webhooks

Hook	Trigger point	Data
`webhook.received`	Inbound webhook payload	Webhook data array

Using Hooks

// Register a hook
Plugin::hook('discussion.created', function($discussion) {
    // Do something when discussion is created
    Logger::info("New discussion: " . $discussion['title']);
});

// Register with priority
Plugin::hook('post.created', [$this, 'handlePostCreated'], 10);

// Extend the notification type whitelist (by reference)
Plugin::hook('notification.types.register', function(array &$types): void {
    $types[] = 'my_custom_type';
    $types[] = 'reputation_badge';
});

// Override avatar rendering for a virtual user (by reference)
Plugin::hook('view.user.avatar', function(array &$data): void {
    if ($data['user_id'] === 'my-bot') {
        $data['html'] = '<span class="avatar-bot"><i class="fas fa-robot"></i></span>';
    }
});

Plugin Configuration

Settings Storage

Plugin settings are stored in the "plugin" section of plugin.json and accessed via Plugin::getData(). Do not use Config::get/set for plugin-specific settings.

use App\Core\Plugin;

// Read a setting (with optional default)
$value = Plugin::getData('my-plugin', 'setting', 'default');

// Dot-notation is supported for nested keys
$host = Plugin::getData('my-plugin', 'smtp.host', '');

// Write a setting (in-memory only)
Plugin::setData('my-plugin', 'setting', 'value');

// Persist all settings to plugin.json
Plugin::saveData('my-plugin', ['setting' => 'value', 'another' => 'data']);

Admin Interface

Create admin settings page:

Create view file: views/admin.php
Register admin route
Handle form submission
Save settings to config

Best Practices

Plugin Development

Follow Structure - Use standard plugin structure
Namespace Properly - Use proper namespaces
Document Code - Add comments and documentation
Handle Errors - Implement error handling
Test Thoroughly - Test before release

Security

Validate Input - Always validate user input
Sanitize Output - Sanitize all output
Check Permissions - Verify user permissions
Use CSRF Protection - Protect forms with CSRF tokens

Performance

Lazy Load - Load assets only when needed
Cache When Possible - Cache expensive operations
Minimize Queries - Optimize database/file access
Use Hooks Efficiently - Don't overload hooks

Managing Plugins

Activating/Deactivating

Activate - Enable plugin functionality
Deactivate - Disable without uninstalling

Deactivating a plugin may cause errors if other plugins depend on it. Check dependencies before deactivating.

Uninstalling a Plugin

Uninstalling permanently removes a plugin and all its data from your forum.

Using the Admin Panel

Navigate to Admin → Plugins
Deactivate the plugin first — the Uninstall button is blocked for active plugins
Click the Uninstall button (trash icon, red/danger style) next to the plugin
Confirm in the confirmation dialog that appears
The server will:
- Run the plugin's uninstall() hook (if defined), then deactivate() hook
- Remove all plugin permissions
- Clear asset and translation caches
- Remove the plugin's entry from plugins.enabled
- Recursively delete the plugin directory from plugins/

Data Loss

Uninstalling a plugin cannot be undone. All plugin files and any data stored in the plugin directory will be permanently deleted. Plugin data stored in stockage/ (JSON or SQLite) is not automatically removed — consult the plugin's documentation for manual cleanup steps if needed.

Always create a backup before uninstalling a plugin you may want to restore later.

Restrictions

Core plugins (marked cantDisable = "1" in plugin.json) cannot be uninstalled — the button is hidden
Active plugins cannot be uninstalled — deactivate the plugin first

Implementing the Uninstall Hook

Plugins can run cleanup logic when uninstalled:

public function uninstall(): void
{
    // Clean up plugin-specific data in stockage/, custom tables, etc.
    // Called before the plugin directory is deleted
}

public function deactivate(): void
{
    // Called when plugin is deactivated (also called during uninstall)
}

Updating Plugins

Backup - Backup your forum first
Download - Get new plugin version
Replace Files - Replace plugin files
Clear Cache - Clear forum cache
Test - Test plugin functionality

Plugin Dependencies

Some plugins require other plugins:

{
  "requires": {
    "flatboard": ">=5.0.0",
    "plugins": {
      "another-plugin": ">=1.0.0"
    }
  }
}

Pro Plugins

Pro Edition

The following plugins are included exclusively in Flatboard Pro (€49 one-time). They are installed and managed like any other plugin via Admin → Plugins.

FlatSEO (v1.2.1)

A complete SEO toolkit for Flatboard, fully admin-driven — no code editing required.

Configurable title format with custom separators
Open Graph (Facebook, LinkedIn) and Twitter/X Cards meta tags
Per-page image overrides for social sharing previews

Structured Data (JSON-LD)

Automatically generated JSON-LD schemas:

Schema type	Applied to
`WebSite` + `SearchAction`	All pages
`Organization`	Forum home
`BreadcrumbList`	All pages
`DiscussionForumPosting`	Discussion pages
`QAPage`	Discussions with a best answer
`ProfilePage`	User profile pages

Sitemap & Crawling

XML sitemap with per-URL priority and changefreq settings
Image sitemap support
Live cache invalidation on content changes
Full robots.txt editor in the admin panel
Global noindex controls for search pages, user profiles, and tag pages

Redirects & Verification

301/302 redirect manager — rule-based, no .htaccess editing
Search engine verification codes: Google, Bing, Yandex, Pinterest

Analytics Injection

Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager script injection (admin-configurable, no template editing)

SEO Audit

Per-discussion SEO scoring with actionable recommendations
Auto-translated breadcrumbs for all 5 supported languages

TUI Editor (v1.3.1)

A modern Markdown/WYSIWYG editor powered by Toast UI Editor, replacing the default editor globally.

Editing Modes

Markdown mode — raw Markdown with live preview
WYSIWYG mode — rich text editing, switchable at any time
Preview layout: side-by-side or tabbed

Features

Feature	Details
Image upload	Drag-and-drop or browse
Video embeds	YouTube and TikTok direct URL paste
Table editor	Visual table creation and editing
Syntax highlighting	CodeMirror-powered fenced code blocks
Emoji picker	Built-in emoji panel
Autosave	Configurable interval (seconds)
Spell checker	Browser spell-check toggle
Fullscreen mode	Distraction-free writing
Toolbar	Per-context configuration (new discussion, reply, admin)

Private Messaging (v1.1.1)

A full-featured direct messaging system between registered members.

Mailbox

Inbox, Sent, and Drafts views
Read receipts — know when your message has been read
Typing indicators — real-time "is typing…" indicator
Full-text message search

Composer

Emoji picker
Optional file attachments
Configurable maximum message length (up to 50,000 characters)

Notifications

Email notification on new message (respects per-user preferences)
In-forum notification badge

Administration

Configurable from Admin → Plugins → Private Messaging → Settings:

Setting	Default	Range
Max message length	5 000 chars	up to 50 000
Max messages per user (inbox)	100	configurable
Max recipients per message	1	configurable
Pagination (messages per page)	20	configurable
Auto-delete old messages	Off	1–365 days

Additional options:

User block list — members can block specific users
Welcome/rules message — Markdown-formatted message shown to new users
Date display — relative ("2 hours ago") or absolute

FlatHome (v1.0.2)

A full-featured homepage, CMS, and blog system for Flatboard. FlatHome transforms your forum into a complete web platform with a landing page, custom CMS pages, a blog with comments, and a flexible navigation builder.

CMS Pages

Unlimited custom pages with Markdown or WYSIWYG editor
Auto-generated URL slugs (editable)
Page view counter
PHP template system — assign custom PHP templates (e.g. home, contact) to any page
Page groups — group pages into dropdown menus in the navigation bar
Multi-language menu labels — per-language labels for nav items
Discussion-linked pages — a page can mirror a forum discussion
Homepage flag — designate any page as the site homepage (single enforcement)

Homepage Modes

Mode	Description
`page`	A CMS page is the site root
`forum`	The discussion list is the site root
`blog`	The blog archive is the site root

Blog

Blog posts are forum discussions from a designated category
Full article view with hero banner, author info, tags, and read-time estimate
Markdown comments — logged-in members can post comments via AJAX
Blog sidebar — recent posts, popular posts, tags, categories
Blog category can be hidden from the main forum list
Shortcodes in page content: {remote_version}, {remote_codename}, {remote_release_date}

Landing Page Template

The built-in home template (modeles/home.php) renders a modern landing page with:

Hero section — headline, lead text from page content, two CTA buttons, live discussion preview
Features section — four key capability chips
Join section — documentation, bug report, and community cards
Blog preview — latest blog articles

The Navigation order panel in the admin allows drag-and-drop reordering of all nav items (forum, pages, page groups, blog). Items can be dragged into a group to create a dropdown.

Contact Page Template

The built-in contact template provides a ready-made contact form. The recipient email is resolved from plugin settings or the forum configuration. All labels are translated in 5 languages.

Admin Panel

Accessible at Admin → FlatHome — manage pages, page groups, blog settings, navigation order, and plugin configuration from a single interface.

Forum Monitoring (v1.1.1)

Real-time health monitoring and anomaly detection for your forum.

Activity Chart

Visualizes forum activity over a configurable time window:

Available windows: 7, 14, 30, 90, 180, 365 days
Plots discussions, posts, and member registrations over time

Leaderboards

Top users — ranked by post count (up to 100 entries)
Top discussions — ranked by reply count (up to 100 entries)

Anomaly Detection

Automatically flags unusual activity patterns (traffic spikes, burst posting)
Configurable spam score threshold (scale 1–10)
Email alerts sent to administrators when anomalies are detected

Admin Integration

Admin dashboard widget — compact health summary on the main dashboard
Dedicated section at Admin → Forum Monitoring

Flat Moderation Extend (v1.0.1)

Advanced moderation tools that go beyond the core moderation features.

Pre-moderation Queue

Hold content from new users for review before publication:

Configurable post-count threshold — users below this number of approved posts have their content held automatically
Held discussions and replies are invisible to other members until approved or rejected
All administrators and moderators receive an instant notification with a direct link to the moderation queue when new content is held
Accessible at Admin → Moderation Queue

Shadow Banning

Silently hide content from a disruptive user without alerting them:

The shadow-banned user sees their own posts and discussions as normal
Other members do not see the shadow-banned user's content
Applied per-user from the admin panel

Discussion Merging

Merge two discussions into one:

Replies from the merged discussion are moved to the target discussion
Automatic 301-style redirects from the old discussion ID to the new one
Prevents broken links and consolidates duplicate threads

Bulk Actions

Perform moderation actions on multiple discussions at once:

From the admin panel: pin, lock, solve, move, hide, or delete multiple discussions
From the frontend discussion list: moderators can perform bulk actions without leaving the forum

Configuration (Admin → Plugins → Flat Moderation Extend → Settings):

Setting	Default	Description
Pre-moderation enabled	On	Enable/disable the pre-moderation queue
Post-count threshold	5	Users with fewer approved posts are subject to pre-moderation
Shadow ban enabled	On	Enable/disable the shadow ban feature

Storage Migrator (v1.1.1)

Zero-downtime migration between the two storage backends — JSON flat-file and SQLite.

Overview

	Details
Direction	JSON → SQLite and SQLite → JSON (bidirectional)
Downtime	None — forum remains accessible during migration
Safety	Original data is preserved until migration is confirmed
Rollback	Fully rollback-friendly at any step

How It Works

Go to Admin → Storage Migrator
Select the target storage (JSON or SQLite)
The migrator copies all data (discussions, posts, users, categories…) to the new backend atomically
Verify the result — the old data remains intact
Confirm the switch — the forum now uses the new backend

Always create a full backup before migrating. Although the migrator preserves the original data, a backup ensures recovery from unexpected server failures during migration.

SQLite requires the pdo_sqlite PHP extension. The migrator will warn you if the extension is missing before starting.

Community Plugins

Community Edition

The following plugins are included in both Flatboard Community (free) and Flatboard Pro. They are installed and managed like any other plugin via Admin → Plugins.

EasyMDE (v2.3.2)

A modern Markdown editor powered by EasyMDE, replacing the default editor globally.

Editing Features

Feature	Details
Syntax highlighting	CodeMirror-powered fenced code blocks
Image upload	Browse or paste images directly into the editor
Video embeds	YouTube and TikTok direct URL paste
Emoji picker	Built-in emoji panel
Autosave	Configurable interval (milliseconds)
Spell checker	Browser spell-check toggle
Side-by-side preview	Live Markdown preview panel
Fullscreen mode	Distraction-free writing
Toolbar	Per-context configuration (new discussion, reply, edit, PM, admin pages)

Configuration (`Admin → Plugins → EasyMDE → Settings`)

Key options:

Setting	Default	Description
Syntax highlighting	On	Highlight code in fenced blocks
Spell checker	On	Enable browser spell checking
Autofocus	On	Focus the editor on page load
Line numbers	Off	Show line numbers in editor
Line wrapping	On	Wrap long lines
Tab size	2	Number of spaces per tab
Autosave	Off	Save draft to browser storage periodically
Autosave delay	10 000 ms	Interval between autosaves
Toolbar per context	(see below)	Customizable toolbar for each editor context

Toolbar contexts: discussion-create, reply, post-edit, discussion-edit, settings, pm, page-edit, default.

Logger (v1.1.5)

A forum activity logger with optional webhook delivery. Every selected event is recorded and can be forwarded in real time to an external URL.

Tracked Events

All events can be toggled individually:

Category	Events
Discussions	`created`, `updated`, `deleted`
Posts	`created`, `updated`, `deleted`
Users	`registered`, `updated`, `deleted`
Categories	`created`, `updated`, `deleted`
Tags	`created`, `updated`, `deleted`
Reports	`created`
Bans	`created`, `removed`

Webhook Delivery

Set a webhook URL in the plugin settings to receive a POST request for each enabled event. The payload contains the full event data.

Configuration (Admin → Plugins → Logger → Settings):

Setting	Description
Webhook URL	Target URL for event delivery (leave empty to disable)
Enabled events	Toggle each event type individually

Troubleshooting

Plugin Not Loading

Check:

Plugin structure is correct
plugin.json is valid
Plugin class exists and is correct
Check error logs

Plugin Conflicts

Solution:

Deactivate conflicting plugins
Check hook priorities
Review plugin code
Contact plugin developers

Plugin Errors

Solution:

Check error logs
Enable debug mode (temporarily)
Review plugin code
Check Flatboard 5 compatibility

Resources

Developer Guide - Advanced development
API Documentation - API integration
Theme Guide - Theme integration
Troubleshooting - Common issues

Last updated: March 17, 2026

Plugin System

Plugin System

Understanding Plugins

What are Plugins?

Plugin Architecture

Installing Plugins

Method 1: From the Admin Panel (Recommended, since 5.2.2)

Method 2: Manual Installation (FTP / SSH)

Step 1: Download and Extract

Step 2: Upload the Plugin Folder

Via FTP

Via SSH

Step 3: Activate the Plugin

Step 4: Configure (if applicable)

Creating a Plugin

Step 1: Create Plugin Structure

Step 2: Create plugin.json

Step 3: Create Plugin Class

Step 4: Register Hooks

Plugin Hooks

Available Hooks

Application

View — Layout

View — Banner

View — SEO

View — Auth Forms

View — Discussions & Replies

Content Events

User Events

Moderation

Search

Notifications

Markdown & Editor

Presence & Visitor Tracking

Admin

Cron

Theme

Plugin Views

Webhooks

Using Hooks

Plugin Configuration

Settings Storage

Admin Interface

Best Practices

Plugin Development

Security

Performance

Managing Plugins

Activating/Deactivating

Uninstalling a Plugin

Using the Admin Panel

Restrictions

Implementing the Uninstall Hook

Updating Plugins

Plugin Dependencies

Pro Plugins

FlatSEO (v1.2.1)

Meta & Social

Structured Data (JSON-LD)

Sitemap & Crawling

Redirects & Verification

Analytics Injection

SEO Audit

TUI Editor (v1.3.1)

Editing Modes

Features

Private Messaging (v1.1.1)

Mailbox

Composer

Notifications

Administration

FlatHome (v1.0.2)

CMS Pages

Homepage Modes

Blog

Landing Page Template

Navigation Builder

Contact Page Template

Admin Panel

Forum Monitoring (v1.1.1)

Configuration (`Admin → Plugins → EasyMDE → Settings`)