Freedom251 › Discussion Forum Software
Question2Answer
What Question2Answer is
Question2Answer is an open-source platform for running a question-and-answer community on a self-hosted website. Members can ask questions, post answers and find discussions with integrated search. Categories or tags, voting, comments, follow-on questions and closed questions help organize participation. Reputation points, RSS, email notifications and personal news feeds give members ways to follow activity. Account management includes roles for experts, editors, moderators and admins, as well as avatars, custom fields, private messages and public wall posts. Site owners can adjust the site with CSS themes, translations, sidebars, widgets, pages and links, and add plugins for further customization. Question2Answer integrates with WordPress and Joomla, and supports custom single sign-on for other sites. The WordPress integration can use the site's existing user database while storing Q&A data in separate tables in the same MySQL database. Captchas, moderation and flagging help manage spam. It runs as a web app and requires PHP 5.4 or later with MySQLi and MySQL 5.0 or later. The software is free under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later, and credits Gideon Greenspan and contributors as its creators.
Who it suits
Question2Answer suits organizations and communities that want to host their own Q&A site and manage member roles, discussions and moderation. It can also fit sites that use WordPress or Joomla, or need custom single sign-on with another site.
What it does well
- Free, open-source software under GPL version 2 or later
- Integrated search, categories or tags, voting and comments
- Roles for experts, editors, moderators and admins
- WordPress and Joomla integration, plus custom single sign-on
- Captchas, moderation and flagging for spam control
What to know first
- Requires a self-hosted setup with PHP and MySQL
- Requires PHP 5.4 or later with MySQLi
- Listed as a web app rather than a mobile app
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Question2Answer | Open-source Q&A software for PHP/MySQL · Requires PHP 5.4+ with MySQLi and MySQL 5.0+ | Free |
As question2answer.org lists them, read 7 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Visit https://question2answer.org/
- Prepare a self-hosted web environment with PHP 5.4 or later, the MySQLi extension and MySQL 5.0 or later.
- Set up the Q&A site as a web app.
- Use the available WordPress or Joomla integration, or configure custom single sign-on for another site if needed.
Verdict
Choose Question2Answer for a self-hosted community that needs member questions, answers, roles and moderation tools in free, open-source software. Its integrations may suit sites using WordPress or Joomla. Teams without the listed PHP and MySQL setup requirements should look elsewhere.
Questions
Is Question2Answer free?
Yes. The listed plan costs nothing, and the software is open source under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later.
What does Question2Answer run on?
It is listed as a self-hosted web app. Requirements include PHP 5.4 or later with MySQLi and MySQL 5.0 or later.
Does Question2Answer work with WordPress?
Yes. Its WordPress integration can use the WordPress site and user database, while storing Q&A data in separate tables in the same MySQL database.
What other integrations does it offer?
It offers out-of-the-box WordPress and Joomla integration, along with custom single sign-on support for other sites.
Who created Question2Answer?
The product credits Gideon Greenspan and contributors with creating it.
Does it have mobile apps?
It is listed as a web app.
Facts from Question2Answer's own pages
- Accounts and roles
- Built-in account management supports experts, editors, moderators and admins, along with avatars, custom fields, private messages and public wall posts. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Creator
- The product page credits Gideon Greenspan and contributors with creating Question2Answer. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Customization
- The site describes CSS themes, translation, custom sidebars, widgets, pages and links, plus plugins for deeper customization. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Question2Answer offers out-of-the-box WordPress and Joomla integration, and custom single sign-on support for other sites. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- License
- The software is free and open source under the GNU General Public License version 2 or any later version. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Q&A features
- Features include integrated search, categories or tags, voting, comments, follow-on and closed questions, reputation points, RSS, email notifications and personal news feeds. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Release
- The product page identifies version 1.8.8 as released on July 25, 2023. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Requirements
- The product page lists PHP 5.4 or later with the MySQLi extension and MySQL 5.0 or later as requirements. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Security
- The documentation says Q2A checks or escapes user input to prevent SQL injection, cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery and form spoofing attacks. · docs.question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- SEO
- The product page lists XML sitemap support and neat URLs as SEO features. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Spam controls
- The product page lists captchas, moderation and flagging as ways to combat spam. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- Support
- The service page says the Question2Answer Q&A site provides free community support and lists a Discord channel for chatting about Q2A. · docs.question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- What it does
- Question2Answer is an open-source Q&A platform for online communities, where members can ask questions and share answers. · question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
- WordPress integration
- The WordPress integration can use the WordPress site and user database, with Q&A data stored in separate tables in the same MySQL database. · docs.question2answer.org, 7 Oct 2026
Where Question2Answer stands on Freedom251
- Discussion Forum Software#5 of 16
- Online Community Platforms#27 of 54