Forums Compared with Other Web Application

Forums require members to visit the website to check for new posts as opposed to electronic mailing lists which automatically deliver new messages to the subscriber.  However, most modern forums offer an “e-mail notification” feature to avoid the possibility of members missing replies to threads they have specific interests on.  Newsgroups and forums differ in the sense that additional software is commonly required to participate in newsgroups which is a newsreader.  Normally, there is no additional software required beyond the web browser to be able to visit and participate in forums.  Forums differ from wikis as they do not allow people to edit other people’s messages.

Anyone is typically allowed to start new discussions or reply to existing threads, very much unlike blogs.  Although many blogs allow visitors to posts comments in reply, there is a marked limitation in the number of people that can create entries as well as the range of view posts and beliefs.  Forums allow for a wider range of topics since a website running forum software may have more than one forum with each dedicated to a different topic.  Participants in a forum do not necessarily have to be online at the same time unlike chat rooms and instant messaging.