Open Bulletin Board

Warning: Autistically technical explanation.

A Registration-free Bulletin Board, shortened to Open Bulletin Board, is a type of online discussion platform whose primary characteristic is the ability to interact with the page immediately, in a manner similar to a real Notice Board. Websites using Open "BBS"s have historically prescinded registration systems and developed posting cultures around user-facing anonymity. However, it should be noted that neither is necessary to build an open bulletin board.

History

Technically the first online forums to exist were open message boards. However open BBs as we understand them developed from the popularity of post-it note style notice boards in Japan's mid 90s web sights. The usage of the term "Bulletin Board System" is incorrect, that refers to the entire server structure a BBS provides, while a message board is delivered from a CGI. The term was established by mid 90s tech hobbyists whose shareware scripts were advertised as importing BBS UIs to the WWW.

The format's chief advantage allowed low-cost forums to run seamlessly, being the core element of all the platforms that pioneered anonymous internet culture. Later developments, the Imageboard, saw the implementation of content ephemerality to get over technical limitations.

Open message boards lingered in irrelevancy everywhere for almost a decade, except in Japan due to cultural and utilitarian reasons (imagine manually switching to english fonts for a forum login every time you wanna write a one line shitpost). Technological developments in the early 2000s enabled the format unprecedented ease of post-attachment, which combined with content creation tools made them a prime source of remix culture. This saw them undergo a massive increase in popularity and become the dominant force behind Internet Culture through the late 00s and early 10s, supplanting the closed bulletin board.

It was also technological developments which cut their growth short, as their niche was absorbed by modern account management systems and news aggregator platforms while the displacement of the personal computer by the smartphone shifted content creation from remixing to recording.

As with all digital technical standards, the vast majority of Open BB scripts represent mere backend or UI changes forked from a few innovative root scripts.

Types

Single Thread BBS

The earliest form of the technology, developed either 1994 or 1995. A glorified comments page with an admin panel slapped on. A single thread that all posts are loaded to. The first scripts distinguished themselves by linking to their reply, forming comment chains.

• [Perl] miniBBS

• [Perl] Kuzuhascript

• [Perl] KuzuhascriptPlus

Threaded BBS

An improvement on the Single Thread BBS first made in 1998, now every post has a subsection for replies. After nearly a decade, Japan can compete with USENET. A transitory format that saw a few adopters, as the leading website, Amezo developed the Floating thread BBS a couple months after adopting the system. Structurally the same as a typical single thread BBS script

• [Perl] resBBS

Floating Thread BBS

First known as "Amezo-style" boards and Textboards in the west, introduced in 1999. A thread 'floats' by being bumped to the first index through replies. Archaic compared to contemporary forums, but it should be noted that western floating thread forums like vBulletin and FUD arrived a year later.

• [Perl] Amezo's resBBS fork
• [Perl] 2channel Script

• [Perl] 0ch

• [PHP] shiichan

• [PHP] world4ch

• [PHP] Kareha

Floating Thread BBS With File Attachments

Also known as the Imageboard, first implemented in 1997. Limitations to the mostly-indie Japanese forum scene saw the first scripts distinguish themselves by enacting thread auto-pruning. This is the point where BBS posting culture absolutely explodes in popularity, crossing the Ocean to the English speaking web and becoming a keystone of Internet Culture.

• [Perl?] Licentious Image Board script
• [Perl] imgboard
• [PHP] GazouBBS

• [PHP] Futaba

• [PHP] Futallaby

• [PHP] Yotsuba Script

• [PHP] Wakaba

• [PHP] AnonTalk Script

• [PHP] Tinyboard

• [PHP] Vichan