I'm pleased to announce our newest version: 1.4.0. I've bumped this version up a bit because there are some pretty major changes under the hood.
We’ve moved from Laravel 10 to 12 and Livewire 2 to 3.7. These updates give us a much more stable and future-proof base to build on, while we wait for newer versions to mature properly. On top of that, ForumSpark is now running on PHP 8.4.
There’s a lot that has changed in the core, so if you run into anything unusual, please report it in the support forum.
ForumSpark Premium
You’ll now notice a new Premium page in your AdminCP.
Everything you already have stays free. Premium is focused on the next step, helping you turn your community into something more serious. This includes building a stronger brand, creating opportunities for revenue, and giving you the tools to grow without hitting limits later on.
A lot of communities reach a point where they want to go further but lack the tools to do it properly. That’s exactly where Premium comes in.
Not everything is available yet, but more will be added over time. I’ll keep you updated as we go.
Conversations
The conversations system has been completely overhauled.
Communities today rely heavily on fast and active interaction. Traditional private messages just don’t really cut it anymore when people expect things to feel instant and alive. But for those who prefer, it's definitely still there.
With Chat docks, reactions, member invites, custom chatrooms, message controls, and real-time events, conversations now feel much closer to a live environment. It keeps people engaged, encourages more interaction, and makes it easier for members to stay connected without leaving the platform.
Give it a spin and let us know what you think.
Blogs (Premium)
1.4.0 introduces blogging to ForumSpark.
Not everything fits into a forum thread. Sometimes you want to publish something more structured, more permanent, or simply easier to discover over time. That’s where blogs come in.
Blogs give your community a way to create lasting content. Think guides, updates, opinions, or anything that deserves more visibility than a standard discussion. It also opens the door for better SEO and long-term growth, since this kind of content continues to bring people in over time.
You can create categories, assign colors, and start writing right away. You can use the auto-topic creation setting which automatically posts a snippet in your preferred forum on your community. There’s also a new widget in the Widget Manager, so you can highlight your most important content across your site.
Multi-Account Aliases
Our Aliases have also undergone some improvements.
The biggest change is that aliases are now fully independent accounts, with easy access from the root account. This gives you much more flexibility and makes managing multiple identities feel a lot cleaner.
Minor Improvements
Additionally, there have been a few smaller improvements across the platform.
The homepage has been updated with new features, refreshed testimonials, and an updated screenshot to better reflect where ForumSpark is today and where it’s heading. First impressions matter, especially for new visitors, so this helps present our community in a stronger way right from the start.
We’ve also improved the styling of quote and code blocks in the editor, making content easier to read and cleaner overall, especially for longer or more technical posts.
Finally, the editor has now been added to the signature profile section, giving members more flexibility and consistency when customizing their signatures.
As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated.
