We have been planning to add a forum for over a year as more and more visitors ask questions in blog comments. We hoped that forum would encourage and empower many knowledgeable visitors to provide responses. Fiona does not really know everything!
One of the primary requirements of the forum software that we would eventually choose was integration with WordPress, on which the blog is built. Existing users who have registered on the blog do not have to re-register on the forum, plus other benefits to ease the task of installing it.
Andy Staines (UK) and Steve Klasen (US) developed this forum software as an add-on to WordPress. Like most add-on developers, they provide the software absolutely free of charge. The difference between other add-ons (or plugins) and this forum software is on the scale of several orders of magnitude. This forum system is huge. The guys deserve huge plaudits for their hard work, 7 days a week, and instant responses to support queries on their own forum.
The timing of their latest release (version 4.1) was perfect for us. I took time off work to do stuff on the site and they released it bang on time for us. I could not have asked for more.
Thank you Andy and Steve, and thanks to the many unpaid volunteers who tested it at various stages and provided feedback and error reports. It has been a monumental effort.
http://www.SimplePressForum.com