Modern, Secure, Open-Source Forum Builder with Full RTL/LTR Support
Demo: https://pourdaryaei.ir/forum/
Product Status: Beta (v1.0.2) Goftar is currently in public beta testing. Core features are implemented and functional. Recommended for staging and testing environments.
Goftar (meaning "speech" or "discourse" in Persian) is a lightweight, self-hosted forum platform built with PHP and SQLite — designed from the ground up for communities that speak RTL languages like Persian, Arabic, and Urdu. It delivers a modern user experience with zero external database dependencies, making it incredibly easy to deploy on any shared hosting or VPS.
- No MySQL needed — runs entirely on a single SQLite file
- RTL-first design — the entire interface is built with bidirectional layout support using CSS logical properties
- Truly lightweight — no heavy frameworks, no Composer dependencies, no Node.js build step. Just upload and run
- Feature-rich — polls, gated content, galleries, NSFW system, static pages CMS, file uploads with quota management, and a powerful admin panel — all out of the box
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🗳️ Polls | Create polls in topics with single/multiple vote types |
| 🖼️ Gallery BBCode | Insert image galleries with multi-file upload, external URL support, and GLightbox viewer |
| 🔒 Gated Content | Lock content behind likes or replies — users must interact to reveal |
| 👁️ NSFW System | Age-verified content gates with blur overlay and per-topic cookie-based verification |
| 🎵 Audio Player | Embedded audio playback via Plyr with lightbox integration |
| 📥 Video Embed | Embed videos from YouTube, Aparat, Vimeo, and direct links |
| 📥 Download Box | Attach downloadable files to posts with file details |
| 😊 Emoji Picker | Quick emoji insertion with responsive dropdown |
| 📋 Code Copy | Auto-injected copy button on code blocks |
| 💬 Quote Reply | One-click quote with author attribution |
| ✨ Markdown Editor | Full Markdown toolbar with bold, italic, strikethrough, code, and blockquote |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 📄 Static Pages | Create custom pages (About, Rules, Privacy) with Markdown/HTML, slug-based URLs, and automatic footer menu integration |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 📝 Admin Notes | Internal staff notes/tickets with priority levels, status tracking, assignee management |
| 📈 Statistics Dashboard | 5 interactive Chart.js visualizations — hourly/weekly activity, monthly trends, category breakdown, user growth |
| 📁 Upload Management | Per-user quota system, category filtering, auto WebP conversion, admin approval workflow |
| 👁️ Guest Content Control | 7 individual settings to hide specific content types from guests |
| 🛡️ WAF | Web Application Firewall with configurable protection levels |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🔒 CSRF Protection | Token-based CSRF validation on all forms and AJAX requests |
| 🛡️ XSS Prevention | Output encoding, content sanitization, and DOM-safe rendering |
| 🔑 2FA | Two-factor authentication with TOTP (QR code setup + backup codes) |
| 🚫 IP Blocking | Manual and WAF-driven IP ban system |
| ⏱️ Rate Limiting | Request rate limiting to prevent abuse |
| 📧 SMTP Support | Full email configuration with TLS/SSL encryption |
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🌙 Dark / Light Theme | CSS custom property-based theming with dynamic switching, 12 accent colors |
| 📱 Fully Responsive | Three breakpoints — desktop, tablet (768px), mobile (550px) |
| 🌐 RTL / LTR | Complete bidirectional support using CSS logical properties |
| 🔔 Real-Time Notifications | Polling-based notification bars for PMs and topic updates |
| Requirement | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| PHP | 7.4 | 8.1+ |
| PHP Extensions | sqlite3, gd, mbstring |
sqlite3, gd, mbstring, openssl, curl |
| Web Server | Apache (with mod_rewrite) or Nginx |
Apache 2.4+ |
| Disk Space | ~20 MB | ~50 MB (with uploads) |
| Permissions | Write access to storage/ and config/ |
— |
Shared Hosting? Goftar works perfectly on shared hosting. No MySQL, no Composer, no special server configuration needed.
Download the latest release from GitHub Releases and upload all files to your web server's document root (e.g., public_html, htdocs, or var/www/html).
Make sure the web server can write to the storage and config directories:
chmod -R 755 storage/
chmod -R 755 config/Open your site URL in a browser. You'll be automatically redirected to the multi-language installer. The installer will:
- Check server requirements — verifies PHP version and required extensions
- Site configuration — enter your site title, slogan, and URL
- Admin account — create the administrator username, display name, and password
- Security questions — set up recovery questions for password reset
- Review & Install — confirm all settings and click Install
The installer automatically creates the SQLite database and disables itself after completion.
After installation, log in with your admin credentials, go to the Admin Panel, create your first category, and start creating topics.
- Log in to the forum with your admin account
- Click on your username in the top-right corner
- Select Admin Panel from the dropdown menu
- In the admin panel, go to Category Management
- Click Add New Category
- Fill in the category name, description, icon, and color
- Click Save
Your new category will now appear on the forum homepage.
- Go to the forum homepage
- Click on the category you just created
- Click the New Topic button
- Enter a title for your topic
- Write your content using the Markdown editor
- Optionally add a poll, attach files, or insert images
- Click Submit
Your topic is now live and visible to all users!
| Component | Technology |
|---|---|
| Backend Language | PHP 7.4+ (no frameworks, vanilla PHP) |
| Database | SQLite — single file, zero configuration |
| Frontend | Vanilla JavaScript + jQuery, CSS Custom Properties |
| Icons | Font Awesome 7.1 |
| Markdown | Parsedown (PHP) with custom BBCode extensions |
| Charts | Chart.js |
| Lightbox | GLightbox + Plyr (video/audio) |
| Font | VazirMatn (Persian/Arabic), system fonts (Latin) |
| Authentication | TOTP-based 2FA + QR code enrollment |
| i18n | Separate language files (Persian, English, Russian) |
- 🌐 Website: https://goftarforum.ir
- 🐙 GitHub Repository: https://github.com/abdulhalim/Goftar
- 📥 Download Latest Release: https://github.com/abdulhalim/Goftar/releases
This project is released under the MIT License.
Goftar — A secure, fast, RTL-ready forum platform for any community.