A good forum starts simple. Over time, your community will ask for things: a poll here, a photo gallery there, a better way to organize events or welcome new members. Addons are how you add those features without touching the core software.

At the time of writing, the Forovanta library has 20 addons (9 free and 11 premium) and 16 themes (10 free and 6 premium), all available from our Downloads page. This post is a tour of what’s inside.

What Is an Addon?

An addon is a package that adds a feature to your forum. Because addons plug into Forovanta rather than replacing its code, you can:

• Add features only when you need them
• Turn them off if they don’t work out
• Keep your core forum clean so updates stay simple
• Mix and match to build the forum your community needs

Think of Forovanta as the foundation and addons as the rooms you add to the house.

Free and Premium

Many addons are free. Others are premium, usually for more advanced tools such as ad management, security, and analytics. Each listing on the Downloads page is labeled, so you always know which is which before you download.

A Tour of the Library

• Groups (Clubs) (Free): Give your community a place to form clubs around shared interests.
• Calendar (Free): A community calendar for events and meetups.
• pOlLoOzA (Free): A polls addon, because big questions work best when every voice counts.
• Moods (Free): A lighthearted addon that adds a little mood and a lot of personality.
• Community Digest (Free): Sends members an email digest of the latest activity, which helps bring them back.
• Beta Access (Premium): Build your beta community, manage applications, and bring testers together.

For Faith-Based Communities

• Verse Post (Premium): Find the passage, share the Word, and keep the conversation flowing.
• Answered Prayers (Premium): Share a prayer, show your support, and celebrate the answer.

Writing and Content

• bbCode (Free): Write with familiar BBCode tags, with an optional editor.
• Media Gallery (Free): A gallery for your community’s pictures and video.
• Continue Reading (Free): Lets readers open the full story without losing their place.
• CopyBlock (Premium): Your content, your rules. Discourage copying of what your members post.

Marketplaces and Monetization

• Classifieds (Free): Let your community buy, sell, and trade. Free to get started.
• Classifieds Pro (Premium): The upgraded classifieds experience, built to turn community connections into marketplace opportunities.
• Ads Manager Pro (Premium): Run banner and HTML/JavaScript ads with paid packages, campaign controls, and detailed statistics.
• Marketplace (Premium): Turns the Resource Manager into a software marketplace.
• Creator Submissions (Premium): A creator workspace for the Resource Manager.
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Security, Insight, and Support

• Forovanta Sentinel Security Addon (Premium): Watch suspicious traffic and protect your community.
• Xstaics Premium SEO & Analytics (Premium): Know your traffic, understand your content, and build a better community.
• Bug Reports (Premium): Turn community bug reports into organized discussions with screenshots, status tracking, and staff responses.

Featured Addon: Ads Manager Pro

If your forum has grown to the point where it could support itself, Ads Manager Pro is worth a look.

• What it does: Runs banner and HTML/JavaScript ads, with paid packages, campaign controls, and detailed statistics.
• Who it’s for: Forum owners who want to sell ad space or manage promotions without stitching together outside tools.

Themes

Themes change how your forum looks without touching how it works.

Free themes (10)

• Yuletide: A free Christmas theme. Warm lights, winter nights.
• Witching Hour: A free Halloween theme with a little fright and a lot of community spirit.
• Liberty 250: Stars, stripes, and community spirit, celebrating 250 years of freedom.
• Killer Instinct: Retro roots, next-level community.
• Cobalt Rush Blue: Built for speed, driven by community.
• Mobo: Built for performance, powered by community.
• Odyssey: Every conversation starts a new journey.
• Bunker: A fortified look for communities built to last.
• Illumify: Bring your community into the spotlight.
• Purple Haze: Bold violet style and a welcoming space.

Premium themes (6)

• Absolute Plus
• Ribbit Riot: A bold new home for your gaming community.
• Retropolis: Old-school style, new conversations.
• Pastels: A softer side for your forum.
• LaunchPad: Your community, ready for lift-off.
• Mint Cookies: Fresh mint and dark cards, with a little crunch.

We’ll dig deeper into these in an upcoming theme showcase.

How to Install an Addon

1. Download the addon from the Downloads page.
2. Log in to your admin panel.
3. Go to Addons, then Install / upgrade from ZIP.
4. Upload the ZIP file and activate the addon.
5. Adjust its settings and test it before announcing it to members.

Need more help? Our documentation is at docs.zovanta.dev/forovanta, and you can try Forovanta in the live demo at demos.zovanta.dev/forovanta.

How to Choose the Right Addons

It’s tempting to install everything. Resist that. Every addon adds something for your members to learn and for you to maintain. Ask yourself:

1. Does my community actually need this? Add features in response to real requests.
2. Will it slow my forum down? Add one addon at a time and watch your page speed.
3. Can I undo it? Know how to deactivate an addon before you commit.

Start with a handful of addons that solve clear problems, then grow from there.

Staying Safe with Addons

• Download only from the official Downloads page or from developers you trust
• Keep addons updated, since updates often include fixes
• Back up your forum before installing anything new
• Remove addons you no longer use

Want Something That Doesn’t Exist Yet?

• Request it. Post in our forum and describe what you’d like.
• Build it. If you can write PHP, you can create your own. Our next post shows you how.

Which addon would make the biggest difference to your forum? Tell us in the comments.

The corrected post is also saved as blog-04-meet-the-forovanta-addon-library.md, so you have a clean base to build on if you add addons later. A few notes:

• Where the details came from: All names, free/premium labels, and counts come from your Downloads page, and the install path comes from the “Install / upgrade from ZIP” tooltip there. I wrote the descriptions from each listing’s tagline, so for addons with short taglines (Moods, Groups, Verse Post, Continue Reading, CopyBlock) the wording stays general. If you send a sentence or two on what each one actually does, I’ll sharpen them.
• Typo on your site: The Beta Access listing says “Ptrmium Addon” instead of “Premium Addon.” I wrote it correctly in the post, but you’ll want to fix the listing.
• Posts 1 and 2 need a small edit: Because Forovanta has premium addons and themes, lines like “no hidden tiers, no paywall around the basics” (post 1) and “$0” or “FREE forever” on the covers could mislead readers. Saying “the forum software is free” is accurate. Also, the download is currently labeled BETA, so you may want to mention that. I can revise both posts and covers if you’d like.
• Premium pricing isn’t listed on the pages I read, so I didn’t state any.
• 
  

Want a cover image for this post, or should I move on to post 5, “Build Your First Forovanta Addon”? For that one, the documentation at docs.zovanta.dev/forovanta would help. If you can share the addon structure (manifest file, hooks, folder layout), I’ll write it from the real details.