Joomla is a powerful, open-source content management system used by millions of websites around the world. It gives you complete control over your site's pages, menus, and extensions. But out of the box, Joomla doesn't include a built-in community forum or discussion feature.

That's where Website Toolbox comes in. You can embed a fully featured discussion forum directly into a Joomla page, or simply link to your forum from your site's navigation. Either way, you get user accounts, moderation tools, and real-time conversations.

This works really well for:

• SaaS product communities
• Online course discussions
• Customer support forums
• Member associations and clubs
• Feedback and feature request boards
• News and media comment sections
• Private member groups

This step-by-step guide walks you through the process.

Step-by-Step: Add Your Forum

Embed the Forum

Embedding places the forum directly inside a page of your Joomla site, so visitors can read and post without ever leaving your website. Joomla uses modules to add custom content like this to your pages.

1. Get your Website Toolbox embed code:
   1. Log in to your Website Toolbox account or create a new forum if you don't already have one.
   2. Go to Integrate Embed → Embed your forum and copy the embed code.
2. Log in to your Joomla administrator panel.
3. From the top menu, go to Content → Site Modules, then click the New button.
4. From the list of module types, choose Custom to create a Custom HTML module.
5. In the Custom Output field, switch the editor to source code view and paste your Website Toolbox embed code. If your editor filters out the iframe, you may need to allow iframe in your editor plugin settings, or temporarily set your editor to None before pasting.
6. Give the module a Title such as "Forum", select a Position for your template, and set the module status to Published.
7. Click Save to publish the module.
8. Copy the URL of the page where the forum now appears on your site.
9. Go back to the Website Toolbox Integrate → Embed section and paste your Joomla page URL into the Where is the forum embedded? field.

Link to the Forum

Linking opens your forum on its own page or in a new tab when visitors click a menu item. It's simpler to set up and works especially well on mobile devices.

1. Get your Website Toolbox forum URL:
   1. Log in to your Website Toolbox account or create a new forum if you don't already have one.
   2. Copy your forum URL.
2. Log in to your Joomla administrator panel.
3. From the top menu, go to Menus → your main menu, then click New.
4. Under Menu Item Type, choose System Links → External URL.
5. Paste your Website Toolbox forum URL into the Link field.
6. Give the menu item a Menu Title such as "Forum".
7. Click Save to add the link to your site's navigation.

Single Sign On

Joomla has a dedicated Website Toolbox forum extension that enables Single Sign On between your Joomla site and your forum, and makes embedding even easier. When a visitor logs in to your Joomla website, they're automatically logged in to your forum too.

See our Joomla extension guide for full installation instructions.

If you prefer, you can also set up Single Sign On from your Website Toolbox account:

1. Log in to your Website Toolbox account.
2. Go to Integrate → Single Sign On.
3. Under Your Website Builder, select Joomla from the dropdown.
4. Follow the prompts to complete your setup.

What Your Members Can Do

Once your forum is connected, your members get a full-featured community experience. Website Toolbox includes many more features beyond what's listed here. Visit the Features Tour to see everything that's available.

Frequently Asked Questions