NodeBB Joins the Fediverse - Open Source Forum Software

The Integration of NodeBB into the Fediverse

Prior to the prevalence of social media platforms, internet forums were a primary means of online community interaction. Currently, a vast number of these forum sites remain active, making the recent announcement from leading forum software provider, NodeBB, particularly significant. NodeBB is now integrating with the fediverse, also known as the open social web.

Understanding the Fediverse and ActivityPub

The fediverse encompasses applications such as Mastodon – a decentralized alternative to X – Pixelfed, which mirrors Instagram’s functionality, and PeerTube, an open-source competitor to YouTube. These “federated” services operate using the ActivityPub protocol, enabling decentralized social networking experiences.

As users increasingly move away from centralized social media platforms controlled by major companies like Meta and X, the adoption of the ActivityPub protocol has expanded.

Growing ActivityPub Adoption

Several platforms have begun incorporating ActivityPub, including WordPress, Flipboard, Medium, and even Meta’s Instagram Threads. Furthermore, Ghost, a Substack alternative, is actively working towards federation.

NodeBB’s inclusion now extends this option to forum administrators, allowing them to participate in the decentralized social web as well.

The Genesis of NodeBB’s Fediverse Integration

Julian Lam, NodeBB’s co-founder, explains that the initial concept arose in mid-2023 with the aim of connecting NodeBB forums to one another. The original plan involved a centralized service, but further research led Lam to discover Mastodon and ActivityPub, revealing the potential for a decentralized approach.

Financial support from the NLNet Foundation played a crucial role in accelerating the implementation of the ActivityPub protocol. Lam stated that this funding provided the necessary stability to experiment with ActivityPub and engage with relevant developer communities like SWICG and FediForum.

Implementation and Compatibility

New forums created using NodeBB will automatically federate with the broader open social web. Existing NodeBB customers will also gain the ability to interact with other NodeBB forums and any other software powered by ActivityPub, such as Mastodon.

Unlike Discourse, another forum solution, federation will be a core feature of NodeBB, rather than simply an add-on.

“We chose to integrate this functionality directly into the core software, as substantial changes to the core were required to even support accepting content from external sources,” Lam clarified.

Availability and Usage

This new feature is available in version 4 of NodeBB and was successfully used to federate Lam’s announcement from NodeBB to Mastodon.

While precise usage numbers are unavailable due to NodeBB’s open-source nature and commitment to user privacy, download statistics for the default NodeBB theme provide an indication of its reach. The project was downloaded 4,582 times in the last week.

Additionally, 882 NodeBB installations checked in within the past 24 hours, although this figure likely underestimates the total user base as installations do not consistently report their status.

Notable NodeBB Installations

Currently, NodeBB powers the forum sites of prominent organizations like Opera, Moz, MLB: The Show, Bleeding Edge, The Daily WTF, Vivaldi, f.lux, and others.