Template:Short description Template:Primary sources {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters | check | showblankpositional=1 | unknown = Template:Main other | preview = Page using Template:Infobox software with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y | AsOf | author | background | bodystyle | caption | collapsetext | collapsible | developer | discontinued | engine | engines | genre | included with | language | language count | language footnote | latest preview date | latest preview version | latest release date | latest release version | latest_preview_date | latest_preview_version | latest_release_date | latest_release_version | licence | license | logo | logo alt | logo caption | logo upright | logo size | logo title | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_upright | logo_size | logo_title | middleware | module | name | operating system | operating_system | other_names | platform | programming language | programming_language | released | replaced_by | replaces | repo | screenshot | screenshot alt | screenshot upright | screenshot size | screenshot title | screenshot_alt | screenshot_upright | screenshot_size | screenshot_title | service_name | size | standard | title | ver layout | website | qid }}Template:Main other Invision Community is a brand of forum software developed in 2002 and originally marketed as Invision Power Board. The current version of the software was written in PHP and uses MySQL for database storage.
Invision Power Services (IPS) was created in 2002 by Charles Warner and Matt Mecham after they left Jarvis Entertainment Group, which had bought the forum software Ikonboard from Mecham. Their first product sold by IPS was the forum software Invision Power Board, which quickly gathered a community of former Ikonboard users.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The software has been marketed for over twenty years and has been updated and changed over that timeframe.
Version 1.x.xEdit
Early releases of Invision Power Board were available as a download free of charge under a proprietary license.<ref name="free">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Version 2.x.xEdit
In 2004 Invision Power Board ended its free releases for non-commercial uses.
After the 2.0.1 update, the free downloads were replaced with a free demo with restrictions of 5000 posts, 1000 threads, 200 members and other restrictions, thus ending its claims that Invision Power Board would be free forever thereby upsetting many users.<ref name="free" /> In version 2.3, the product shipped with 2 skins, the classic light blue skin and a new default darker skin.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Version 3.x.xEdit
Version 3.0 was initially released on Tuesday, June 23, 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Version 4.x.xEdit
In May of 2012, Version 4.0 represented a ground-up rewrite of Invision Power Board and related offerings.
With the release of IP.Suite 4.0, IPS has decided to no longer honor the perpetual lifetime licenses they have sold earlier.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a compensation for legacy customers, they offered a free transition period to the standard license type before legacy customers would be required to pay their first renewal if they wanted to continue to receive support and future updates.
The first officially supported release was version 4.0.0 on 9 April 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> IP.Suite 4 was not properly announced as released until 16 June, at which point it had already reached version 4.0.8.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>