🖥️ WordPress BBS‑Style Setup Guide
This guide walks through setting up a new WordPress site that behaves like a classic BBS: members‑only areas, sysop controls, secure logins, and game plugins such as Imperial Barons Online and Imperial Dominion Online.
🔧 Pre‑Setup Requirements
1. Install WordPress
Any modern hosting provider supports WordPress. A .online domain fits the BBS theme nicely, but any domain works.
2. Secure the Site Immediately
Security should be enabled before you open registration.
Recommended stack:
- JetPack (brute‑force protection + downtime monitoring)
- Wordfence (firewall + login security)
- SSL certificate (required)
- Really Simple SSL (optional helper plugin)
3. Create Your Sysop Email
Create:
sysop@<your-domain>
This will be used for:
- WordPress admin notifications
- Game plugin league features
- Future sysop‑level communications
⚙️ Initial Configuration Steps
Step 1 — Install a Membership Plugin
A membership plugin gives you BBS‑style control over who can see what.
Recommended: Ultimate Member
Why:
- Easy role management
- Built‑in content restriction
- Custom login/registration pages
- Works well with game plugins
All standard members should use the Subscriber role.
Step 2 — Harden Login Security
Inside Wordfence → Login Security:
- Enable 2FA for all users
- Add Google reCAPTCHA v3 keys
- Enforce strong passwords
- Protect admin accounts with 2FA + complex passwords
This prevents bot registrations and brute‑force attacks. Optionally, you can enable passkeys.
Step 3 — Choose and Configure a Theme
Themes are personal preference.
Options:
- Divi 4 / Divi 5 (high customization, BBS‑style branding)
- Any theme from Dashboard → Appearance → Themes
Customize:
- Site name (your BBS name)
- Tagline (your board’s slogan)
- Colors and layout to match your retro or modern style
Step 4 — Decide Your Membership Model
You choose how open your board is:
Open Board
Anyone can register.
Closed Board
Only invited users can join.
All members should remain Subscribers unless you have special sysop or moderator roles.
Step 5 — Install the WordPress Game Plugins
Install:
- Imperial Barons Online
- Imperial Dominion Online
These plugins:
- Add multiple new pages
- Create game dashboards
- Add scoring pages
- Add league pages
Because they generate many pages, you’ll want to create a custom menu afterward.
Step 6 — Build Your Navigation Menu
Go to:
Appearance → Menus
Add:
- Public pages (Home, About, Scoring, Rules)
- Subscriber‑only pages (Game dashboards, league pages, internal posts)
Organize them into a clean BBS‑style structure.
Step 7 — Test Everything Before Opening the Board
Test:
- Game plugins
- Scoring pages
- Registration flow
- Login flow
- Subscriber‑only pages
- Public pages
- Menu links
- 2FA
- reCAPTCHA
- Email notifications
Make sure the experience feels like a BBS: public front door, private member areas.
🔐 Content Restriction (Ultimate Member)
Use this to make pages/posts visible only to logged‑in members.
How to Restrict a Page or Post
- Edit the page or post
- Scroll to Ultimate Member → Content Restriction
- Choose one:
- Logged‑in users only
- Restrict by role (Subscriber, Member, Premium, etc.)
- Choose what non‑authorized users see:
- Redirect to login
- Show a message
- Hide content entirely
- Save/Update the page
Apply This to Game Pages
Go to Pages → All Pages and edit each game‑related page:
- Game dashboards
- League pages
- Player stats
- Internal scoring pages
Set them to Logged‑in users only.
This recreates the classic BBS experience where only members see the internal boards.
-= Sysop =-