A glimpse on ForumSpark 2.0
Behind the scenes

A glimpse on ForumSpark 2.0

Cedric · · 2 min read · 575 views

I'll keep this one relatively short, because I don't want to give too much away just yet - but there's enough to talk about that it felt wrong to stay quiet any longer. And I can't contain my excitement personally.

ForumSpark 2.0 is in active development.

As most of you know, Mace has recently joined our team. Since joining the team, she's been heads-down on something we've been wanting to tackle properly for a long time: making ForumSpark look and feel like the premium software it is. Not just a tweak here and there, but a real, considered redesign from the ground up. As the UIX-expert she is, she's made some impressive first concepts.

What's changing

The layout system is being rewritten. That means some things are going away, some things are being introduced fresh, and a lot of things that exist today will just be noticeably better. The goal isn't to make it unrecognisable - it's to make it feel mature. Cleaner typography, more intentional use of space, a stronger visual hierarchy, and an interface that doesn't feel like it needs excusing.

The current UIX feels bloated and outdated. This will be improved tremendously.

The design is being done properly

The first concepts are done in Figma. Every screen, every component, every state - designed and thought through before a line of code gets written. This is a different way of working for us, and it shows in the result. The difference between what exists today and what's coming is significant.

I'd love to share more, and I will as things get closer. For now, here are a few previews to give you a sense of the direction.

These are still in progress. What you're seeing represents the thinking, not the final state. But the direction is set. And clear, we hope.

On timing

I'm not putting a date on this yet. Too early for that, and I'd rather give you something worth the wait than rush it out. What I can say is that working with Mace on this has been very exciting, and the pace has been good. And together we'll be able to create that premium-software feeling.

If you have thoughts, things you've always wanted to see improved, or features you'd like to see handled differently in the new design - now is actually a great time to share them.

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Cedric's Avatar
Cedric ForumSpark Team Author

Last but not least: Page Studio. Turn your homepage into a real website or portal, no code required, but available for those who like. Start from one of four ready-made templates or a blank canvas, then stack and reorder content blocks, split sections into columns, and drop in live forum data like trending threads, latest topics, and member stats. Style any section in your own theme colours, fine-tune anything with per-block custom CSS, and set up your own site navigation. Choose how much of your forum shows through, Forum, Colors, or Blank, and see it all in a true live preview across desktop, tablet, and phone.

Page Studio will be available from the Launch plan.

Page Studio, Forum Canvas

Color Canvas

Blank Canvas

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NeoMetallix's Avatar
NeoMetallix Members

Geeze man, I wish I had more time. Now I have more work to do when this launches. ๐Ÿ˜† I suspect you don't have much time outside of this with how much you're doing.

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Cedric ForumSpark Team Author

On Jul 9, 2026, IntellectualLiberation said:

Geeze man, I wish I had more time. Now I have more work to do when this launches. ๐Ÿ˜† I suspect you don't have much time outside of this with how much you're doing.

Itโ€™s been some heavy months lately. ๐Ÿ˜‰

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Cedric ForumSpark Team Author

On Jul 9, 2026, Daedalus said:

Like Jcink has template variables for each individual custom profile to make it easier for customizing the mini profile field and profile pages.

<!-- |field_1| -->

Okay, while I said I wasn't going to focus much on these kinds of things, I'm going to withdraw my statement on this.

While this won't be ready by the 2.0 release (I think...) Custom templates will allow us to modify the current template/layout of each board individually. Which means simply put in this example: the postbit becomes yours to customize by overriding the post rail, topic rows and profile cards, etc. with template code.

I'm still figuring out how far I'm taking this, what will be able to be customized and how easy it's going to be. But.. it's in development. ๐Ÿ˜„

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Daedalus's Avatar
Daedalus Members

On Jul 15, 2026, Cedric said:

Okay, while I said I wasn't going to focus much on these kinds of things, I'm going to withdraw my statement on this.

While this won't be ready by the 2.0 release (I think...) Custom templates will allow us to modify the current template/layout of each board individually. Which means simply put in this example: the postbit becomes yours to customize by overriding the post rail, topic rows and profile cards, etc. with template code.

I'm still figuring out how far I'm taking this, what will be able to be customized and how easy it's going to be. But.. it's in development. ๐Ÿ˜„

Thanks a bunch, being able to have some level of customization over the postbit and mini profile will do wonders.

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Cedric ForumSpark Team Author

As a quick/side note.

Our new v2 docs will be replaced with a brand new in-house documentation system. As a bonus, every ACP page will now see a circle with a question mark at the top right:

Whenever that page has a documentation page linked, you will see the circled question mark icon being able to quickly find the info and documentation you need.

We are nearing launch soon. Some final polishes, tests and general use over the coming weeks and then it's finally time to launch publicly.

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NeoMetallix's Avatar
NeoMetallix Members

On Jul 16, 2026, Cedric said:

As a quick/side note.

Our new v2 docs will be replaced with a brand new in-house documentation system. As a bonus, every ACP page will now see a circle with a question mark at the top right:

Whenever that page has a documentation page linked, you will see the circled question mark icon being able to quickly find the info and documentation you need.

We are nearing launch soon. Some final polishes, tests and general use over the coming weeks and then it's finally time to launch publicly.

Woohoo! Everything looks great, so maybe by 1st or 2nd week August if there are no hiccups?

Cedric's Avatar
Cedric ForumSpark Team Author

On Jul 16, 2026, IntellectualLiberation said:

Woohoo! Everything looks great, so maybe by 1st or 2nd week August if there are no hiccups?

Maybe even sooner. ๐Ÿ‘€๐Ÿ˜‡

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Cedric ForumSpark Team Author

Never will we ever lock you down on ForumSpark. Any progress you make to your community is never lost. If you outgrow our platform or decide to migrate to something else, you can easily export your data from your ACP and move on to your next adventure.

Additionally, it's great to export the data yourself and keep it as a backup. This isn't necessary however as we automatically take daily backups ourselves.

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Daedalus Members

On Jul 19, 2026, Cedric said:

Never will we ever lock you down on ForumSpark. Any progress you make to your community is never lost. If you outgrow our platform or decide to migrate to something else, you can easily export your data from your ACP and move on to your next adventure.

Additionally, it's great to export the data yourself and keep it as a backup. This isn't necessary however as we automatically take daily backups ourselves.

Was this because of what happened with a lot of the communities with the closing of ZetaBoards and InvisionFree with the tapatalk merger?

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Cedric ForumSpark Team Author

On Jul 19, 2026, Daedalus said:

Was this because of what happened with a lot of the communities with the closing of ZetaBoards and InvisionFree with the tapatalk merger?

No, that has nothing to do with it. My opinion is just that you shouldnโ€™t be locked into something and lose progress on a community in case you outgrow us.

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Daedalus Members

On Jul 19, 2026, Cedric said:

No, that has nothing to do with it. My opinion is just that you shouldnโ€™t be locked into something and lose progress on a community in case you outgrow us.

Fair. I was just curious if it was inspired by what happened to some of those larger communities who were unable to obtain their databases.

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NeoMetallix Members

Wow, looking awesome Cedric!

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