IPB Technology Intelligence

What is IPB (Invision Community)?

IPB (Invision Power Board), now branded as Invision Community, is a commercial community platform that combines forum software with content management, commerce, and engagement features. It provides an integrated suite of tools for building and monetizing online communities.

Originally launched in 2002 as Invision Power Board, the platform evolved from pure forum software into a comprehensive community platform. Developed by Invision Power Services, the software competes with XenForo and vBulletin in the commercial forum market while offering broader functionality. Major communities including NASA, Spotify Community, and Evernote Forums run on Invision Community.

Platform Features

Forum Features

• Topics and Posts: Full-featured discussion threads with rich formatting
• Q&A Forums: Stack Overflow-style question and answer sections
• Clubs: User-created sub-communities within the main forum
• Reactions: Customizable reaction system with reputation
• Activity Streams: Social-style feeds of community activity

Integrated Applications

• Pages: CMS for creating custom content pages and databases
• Gallery: Image and media sharing galleries
• Downloads: File repository with versioning and reviews
• Calendar: Event scheduling with RSVP and reminders
• Commerce: Sell subscriptions, products, and services
• Blog: Member and staff blogging platform

Engagement Tools

• Achievements: Gamification badges and ranks
• Leaderboards: Top contributor recognition
• Messenger: Real-time private messaging
• Notifications: Push notifications for web and mobile

Administration

Comprehensive admin panel, moderation queue, automated rules, SEO tools, and detailed analytics.

Use Cases

Brand Communities

Companies build customer communities for product support, feedback, and user engagement. The integrated commerce features enable subscription-based communities and premium content access.

Gaming Communities

Game developers and gaming communities use Invision for player forums, guides, and downloads. The gallery and downloads apps serve gaming content needs.

Tech Support Platforms

Software companies deploy Invision for customer support with Q&A forums, knowledge base pages, and file downloads for patches and updates.

Creative Communities

Photography, art, and design communities utilize gallery features for sharing work, forums for discussion, and commerce for selling digital assets.

Membership Organizations

Professional associations and membership organizations use Invision to provide member-only content, event calendars, and discussion forums with subscription management.

Fan Communities

Entertainment fan sites combine forums, galleries, calendars for events, and pages for wiki-style content about their subject matter.

Technical Details

System Requirements

PHP 7.4+ (8.0+ recommended)
MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.2+
Web Server: Apache or nginx
60MB+ disk space (plus media storage)
Recommended: Elasticsearch for advanced search

Plugin Development

// Application structure
// applications/myapp/Application.php

namespace IPS\myapp;

class _Application extends \IPS\Application
{
    public function init()
    {
        // Application initialization
    }

    public function defaultFrontNavigation()
    {
        return [
            'rootTabs' => [
                [
                    'key' => 'myapp',
                    'title' => 'My Application',
                    'module' => 'main'
                ]
            ]
        ];
    }
}

// Hook into existing functionality
class _Hooks_Posts extends \IPS\forums\Topic\Post
{
    public function contentImages()
    {
        $images = parent::contentImages();
        // Modify images array
        return $images;
    }
}

REST API

// API endpoint for fetching topics
// GET /api/forums/topics

$curl = curl_init();
curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => 'https://community.example.com/api/forums/topics',
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Authorization: Basic ' . base64_encode($apiKey . ':')
    ],
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true
]);
$response = json_decode(curl_exec($curl), true);

foreach ($response['results'] as $topic) {
    echo $topic['title'] . ' - ' . $topic['views'] . ' views';
}

Theme Customization

<!-- Template syntax -->
{{if member.member_id}}
    Welcome, {member.name}!
{{else}}
    <a href="{url="app=core&module=system&controller=login"}">Sign In</a>
{{endif}}

{{foreach $topics as $topic}}
    <div class="topic">
        {$topic.title}
    </div>
{{endforeach}}

Licensing and Comparison

Licensing Options

• Self-Hosted License: One-time purchase with optional renewal for updates
• Cloud Hosting: Monthly subscription with hosting included
• Applications: Core forum included, additional apps sold separately
• Commerce: Transaction fees may apply on cloud plans

Key Benefits

• Integrated Suite: Forum, CMS, commerce in one platform
• Modern Interface: Clean, responsive design
• Active Development: Regular updates and new features
• Migration Tools: Import from vBulletin, phpBB, XenForo
• Cloud Option: Managed hosting eliminates server management

Considerations

• Higher total cost if purchasing all applications
• Learning curve for development and customization
• Smaller marketplace than XenForo or vBulletin

Comparison

• vs XenForo: More integrated apps, XenForo simpler and focused
• vs vBulletin: More modern, active development
• vs Discourse: Traditional forum vs chat-style, PHP vs Ruby
• vs phpBB: Commercial with more features vs free basic forum