Adding a Nabble embeddable forum to Blogger

Nabble embedded forum

So you want to put a forum / bulletin board on your Blogger/blogspot blog. A chatbox, shoutbox or comment widget in a sidebar just doesn’t cut it, you want a real forum, for free. You heard that it can’t be done.

Well it can be done really, with Nabble embeddable forum (thanks to Ralph for sharing the info). Here is a step by step guide to make your real forum a reality:

 

Create a forum

  1. Go to Nabble.com and register.
  2. Select Start a Free Forum.
  3. Enter your forum name inside and click Create Forum.
  4. Click Yes, create sample sub-forums button.
  5. To add a sub-forum go to Options > Structure > Create a new sub-forum.
  6. Once you’re satisfied with the results, click Embedding Options link on top right corner.
  7. You will see a simple code in a text box, similar to the sample below.
    <a id="nabblelink" href="http://n3.nabble.com/Blogger-Sentral-Forum-xxxxxx.html">Blogger Sentral Forum</a>
    <script src=http://n3.nabble.com/embed/xxxxxx></script>
  8. Copy the code.

 

Embed the forum in a page

  1. Go to Edit Posts > Edit Pages and click New Page button to create a new page.
  2. Switch to HTML mode and paste in the forum code.
  3. Click Publish. That’s it your forum is installed.
  4. Now, view your page. You should see the forum added to the page. It will look something like this:

blogspot forum before Hey, you call this a forum?

 

Customize the appearance of your forum page

I have to agree looking at screenshot, it is nothing to brag about. You probably wish  you could remove all the unnecessary stuff from the page and make the forum fill up the entire blog width.

Well, wish granted, provided you follow the instructions in Apply different layout/styling to static pages. When you’re done with that, your forum page might as well look something like this:

blogspot forum after Now that’s more like a forum

 

Forum features

  • The forum comes with all the features similar to any other forums.
  • Readers will browse, search, post, and navigate without ever leaving your page. The same applies to forum maintenance.

Enjoy!

22 comments to "Adding a Nabble embeddable forum to Blogger"

clare December 22, 2009 at 11:02 PM    

I been searching for something like for the past 2 days. I will try it out. *Fingers Crossed*

Greenlava December 22, 2009 at 11:43 PM    

claza,
Good luck

clare December 23, 2009 at 9:10 AM    

Its working so far...looks good. All I need now is for someone to come and use it! Thanx for your very useful posts :D

Anonymous,  January 3, 2010 at 9:41 AM    

Thanks I have been searching for this information for hours and finally posted on yahoo and some kind sir directed me here! YAY!!!

Program Sukarelawan Teknologi (PROSTEC) January 4, 2010 at 1:59 AM    

hola greenlava..
i'm having problem with this..
i already make new post, then paste code, then save it as static page, but it still didn't work.. how do i get rid of this??

Greenlava January 5, 2010 at 10:50 PM    

@claza
Glad to see your forum is up and running :)

@cro493
You're welcome. Do come back...

@Program Sukarelawan Teknologi (PROSTEC)
Hola...you've fixed it by yourself.

Anonymous,  June 9, 2010 at 1:49 PM    

hey thanks..i'had been searching for this thing for days

Raine Snow September 18, 2010 at 11:30 AM    

Is nabble the best forum available for blogspot? Really am hoping there is a better option, even if it does cost money. Anything you might know of?

Greenlava September 19, 2010 at 5:41 PM    

@Raine Snow
It's the only one (that I know of).

StarSunflower Studio October 11, 2010 at 2:44 PM    

Great Post! Thanks So much for the share!

blog maintenance is not an easy job

Katherine C. December 4, 2010 at 3:39 PM    

Very helpful! Thank you so much! I'd been looking for a way to add a discussion board and this one seems the simplest by far!

MADAS February 3, 2011 at 8:43 AM    

I think this information was so useful and easy to follow. but i find it hard to understand to make my form fill the whole page of my blog

Greenlava February 4, 2011 at 7:40 AM    

@MADAS
Put the Nabble code in a page. Then refer to Apply different layout/styling to static pages to widen it.

bgn April 17, 2011 at 3:54 PM    

this problem can be solved madas. you need to change some codes. its too long to explain here. if you need help, contact me @ uploader.012@gmail.com. plz do not spam.. its my personal mail

godskyra May 14, 2011 at 9:51 PM    

Hi. Your guide worked thx. Can I use LATEX on this forum??? Pls I really want to know.

Greenlava May 15, 2011 at 3:23 AM    

@godskyra
I don't think so. Why don't you ask Nabble support just to make sure.

Guru Prasad June 23, 2012 at 2:55 PM    

Hi
Once we use nabble forum within the blog, after a month, nabble will start showing their ads in the forum pages. Now, this is violation of google adsense where you are not supposed to show any other ads other than adsense. Is it not an issue?

Greenlava June 28, 2012 at 9:01 PM    

@Guru Prasad
My understanding is that serving other ads only violates Adsense policy when they look like Adsense ads. If you can tell them apart then it's okay.
Read the Adsense policy here

Unknown February 1, 2013 at 9:01 PM    

your old post was gold for me,
thanks for usefull tips greenlava :)

Technology Updates April 2, 2013 at 5:34 AM    

thank you you real saved my ass i have been looking for tho about Two months now.

Unknown May 23, 2013 at 12:43 AM    

I have just created a Forum using html you can also check

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