A bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS), was a computer server running software that allowed users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet were developed to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to internet-based email.
Ward Christensen holds an expansion card from the original CBBS S-100 host machine.
The 300 baud Smartmodem led to an initial wave of early BBS systems.
Amiga 3000 running a two-line BBS
BBS ANSI Login Screen example
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporarily archived. Also, depending on the access level of a user or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to be approved by a moderator before it becomes publicly visible.
FUDforum, another Internet forum software package
The Wikipedia Village Pump is a forum used to discuss improvements on Wikipedia.
Forum (Fully Threaded display format)