Disclaimer: look at the date this was posted

Following Facebook’s acquisition of the Oculus Rift, the popular Virtual Reality headset crowdfunded by Kickstarter, officials from Facebook contacted us with a similar proposal: purchasing MyBB and developing it into a more full, fun, and professional project.  Today, we is pleased to announce that for $3.4 million, Facebook has acquired MyBB.

What does this mean for MyBB?

MyBB 1.8 will continue as scheduled, being the last of the 1.x series. It will have many new features integrated, such as chat, Facebook log in integration, etc. MyBB 2.0, however, will get an exciting new rewrite and a set release date of April 1, 2015.

The new codebase

What we’re most excited about is the code. No longer hundreds of thousands of lines long, the MyBB code on your server will shrink down to a simple interface that pings Facebook’s API to gather all the information needed. All forum data will be hosted on Facebook’s servers, offering a secure and fast platform for the database. Your forum’s database will seamlessly upload during the upgrade from 1.8 -> 2.0. The code on your server will remain LGPL as in the 1.x series, combining with Facebook’s server side code for a unique blend of open source and proprietary that will allow for the most modern, fast, and advanced social community software.

Users & Profiles

Another thing we’re excited for is user integration. No longer will your users need to remember long, complex passwords, as they will be able to login and register via their Facebook account. This will be the only login method, and your user’s data will be merged with Facebook during the upgrade process. The upgrade will auto-detect existing Facebook accounts based on email and merge them together. The profile page on your MyBB install will pull information directly from Facebook! No more is the need to upload avatars or change bios or locations, all will be integrated directly.

Messaging

Because we’ll be using Facebook accounts for your standard MyBB account, the opportunity for using Facebook’s messaging system is wide open. All members who have messaged each other on MyBB will automatically be made Facebook friends and will be able to carry out their discussion in the way so many members of the community have been asking for: conversation style.

Forums & Posts

Posts will take on the style of a Facebook post, with replies appearing as comments. This will allow us to utilize Facebook’s comment history and like features. Images will become the only form of attachments, and will display inline just like in a Facebook comment!

Mobile Access

This feature makes us especially happy: any MyBB forum will be accessible via the Facebook iOS or Android app! There will be no more need for a mobile MyBB theme or plugin, as the Facebook app will handle it all.

Additional Features

Mass emails will no longer require a mail server, but will send as a group message via Facebook. Facebook style notifications will also be on your forum, as well as the ability for members to create and moderate their own groups. Best of all, however, your new forum will be browsable by Oculus Rift.

We’re excited as a team for this new opportunity and have more exciting announcements for you in the near future!

… April Fools!