Open the board to visitors

Your board is live on a page. Now you decide who can use it and how new ideas reach the board. This page walks you through the four choices most sites need to make on day one.

Before you start

Your board is shown on a page. If it is not, see Show your board on a page.
You can log in to your WordPress admin as an administrator.

Open the settings page

In your WordPress admin, go to SimpleBoards > Settings.
You will see five tabs: General, Submissions, Comments, Notifications, and Import.

All four choices below are on the Submissions and Comments tabs.

Choice 1: Let guests send ideas, or require an account

Open the Submissions tab.

The first row is Guest Submissions. The checkbox label reads Allow guest users to submit ideas.
When this box is checked (the default), visitors who are not logged in can send an idea. They give a name and an email when they submit.
When this box is unchecked, only logged-in WordPress users can send ideas. Visitors who are not logged in see a message asking them to sign in.

Pick one. Most public roadmaps leave this on. Internal boards usually turn it off.

Choice 2: Review new ideas before they appear, or publish right away

Still on the Submissions tab.

The second row is Moderation. The checkbox label reads Require admin approval for new submissions.
When this box is checked (the default), new ideas are saved as pending. They do not show on the board until you approve them. You will see them in SimpleBoards > Items with a status of Pending.
When this box is unchecked, new ideas appear on the board right away.

You will almost always want this checked at the start. You can turn it off later if you trust the volume and tone of your visitors.

Choice 3: Allow guest comments, or require an account to comment

Open the Comments tab.

The first row is Comments. The label reads Enable comments on board items. This is on by default. When off, the discussion area is hidden on every item. You can turn comments off per board too, on the board settings page.
The second row is Guest Comments. The label reads Allow visitors to comment without logging in. When this is checked (the default), anyone can post a comment. They give a name and an email. When it is unchecked, only logged-in users can comment.

If you want a public board where anyone can join the discussion, leave both on. If you want a roadmap people can read but only members can talk about, turn off Guest Comments but leave Comments on.

Choice 4: Pick where new-idea email goes

Open the Notifications tab.

The Notification Email field is the address that gets email when a new idea is submitted or when an item is rejected. The default is your site's admin email.
If you want a different address (for example, [email protected]), change it here.

Under the email address, you can switch each notification on or off, and you can edit the email subject and body. For now, the defaults are fine. Editing the email text is covered in another how-to page.

Save

Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. You will see a green message that says "Settings saved.".

Test your choices

Open your board page in a new private browser window. You will not be logged in. Try the actions you allowed:

If you allowed guest submissions, try sending an idea. Use a name and a real email.
If you turned moderation on, check that the idea does not show on the board yet. Then open SimpleBoards > Items in the admin. The idea will be there with the status Pending. Click it to approve or reject.
If you allowed guest comments, open an item and post a comment.

If something does not work the way you expect, go back to the matching tab and check the box.

Last updated

2026-05-23 · SimpleBoards 1.0.4