Hey everyone, I just received a new project request:
A website that includes a forum/community feature where users can register, create posts, comment, and ideally chat with each other. Admin moderation is required, plus there should be options for live webinars, livestreaming, and an event calendar.
My initial thought was to build this using Crocoblock. I’ve worked with it before and have a good handle on creating user structures with various permissions so users can submit posts. For livestreaming and webinars, I’d likely embed those using third-party providers. Overall, I’d keep it highly customized, and I think Crocoblock should be able to handle most of it. I just discussed this with ChatGPT, and it mentioned that real-time functions like live chat could be challenging with this setup.
Has anyone here built something similar with Crocoblock, especially involving forums? Or does anyone have suggestions for other tools I could use? I’m not interested in bbPress as it looks dated, and sites using it often seem stuck in the 2010s. I really want the freedom to create a modern, custom design, and I mainly work with Elementor and WordPress.
My Customer did point me to a complete solution like https://hivebrite.io/, which seems spot-on for the project’s goals. The downside, however, is the price – starts $7.000 per year – and potential limits on customization. So, building a custom solution would likely be more sustainable in the long run if it can be done right.
Any recommendations for alternatives to Hivebrite would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Community!