Invision Community Hosting UK

Key facts

Invision Community 5 needs PHP 8.1 or newer
Invision Community 4.7 runs on PHP 8.0 and 8.1; older IPS 3.x boards need PHP 5
Invision includes a requirements checker script you can run on any server before installing
Background tasks run best from a server cron, set in the AdminCP
Invision includes converters from vBulletin, phpBB, XenForo, SMF and MyBB
Self-hosted licences come from Invision; dijitul provides the hosting at £1 a day + VAT

Hosting Invision Community 5

Invision Community, often called IPS or IP.Board, is a paid platform with forums, blogs, galleries, downloads and commerce in one suite. If you have a self-hosted licence, you need:

PHP 8.1 or newer for version 5, checked against Invision's current list before you upgrade
MySQL 8 or MariaDB 10.x with InnoDB and utf8mb4
The PHP extensions mysqli, gd, curl, mbstring, openssl, xml, exif and zip
A PHP memory_limit of at least 128M, and more for big imports

Invision provides a requirements checker script. We run it on our server before migrating, so you know nothing is missing.

Upgrading from Invision 4 and IP.Board 3

Invision Community 5 was a big change: a new front end, a new theme system and a new approach to applications and plugins. Many version 4 themes and third-party apps need replacing.

Check which marketplace apps and plugins have version 5 releases
Upgrade a copy of the site first, not the live one
Expect to rebuild custom theme work

Older IP.Board 3.x sites are another step back. They were built for PHP 5. Where it is safe, we can host them on an older PHP version while you upgrade. See legacy PHP hosting.

Tasks, email and performance

Invision runs background tasks such as notifications, digests and cleanup. In the AdminCP you can switch these from page-view triggered to a server cron; we set up the cron job for you so tasks run every minute reliably.

Other speed wins: use Redis for caching and sessions if the board is busy, store uploads on the file system rather than the database, and send mail through authenticated SMTP with SPF and DKIM in place. We manage the DNS records with Cloudflare DNS.

Selling with Invision Commerce

If you sell memberships or downloads through Invision's Commerce app, use Stripe or PayPal gateways that handle card entry on the provider's side. That keeps card data off your server and supports 3D Secure 2 for UK customers. Never store card numbers in custom fields or tickets.

Moving your community to dijitul

We copy the database and uploads, update conf_global.php, check the site URL and storage settings in the AdminCP, and test login, posting and uploads before switching DNS. Then you have managed hosting with daily backups and UK support for £1 a day + VAT under Complete Hosting. Very large communities are quoted on a managed VPS.

Frequently asked questions

Who can host a self-hosted Invision Community in the UK?

dijitul, a UK hosting company trading since 2006, hosts self-hosted Invision Community sites on managed Plesk hosting for £1 a day + VAT. We move your community, set the right PHP version, configure the task cron and look after daily backups, SSL and server security.

What PHP version does Invision Community 5 need?

Invision Community 5 needs PHP 8.1 or newer. Support for the newest PHP releases is added over time, so check Invision's current requirements or run their requirements checker script before changing PHP. dijitul sets the PHP version per site to match.

Will my Invision 4 theme work on version 5?

Usually not without work. Invision Community 5 introduced a new theme system and front end, so most custom version 4 themes and many third-party apps need replacing. Check the marketplace for version 5 releases and test the upgrade on a copy of your site first.

Can I move from cloud Invision to self-hosted?

Invision Community offers both cloud and self-hosted options, and moving depends on your licence and on Invision providing your data export. Speak to Invision about licensing first. Once you have the files and database, dijitul can host the self-hosted version for £1 a day + VAT.

How do I set up cron for Invision Community?

In the AdminCP, under the advanced configuration for tasks, choose to run tasks with a cron job. Invision shows the exact command to use. Add that command as a scheduled task running every minute in Plesk. dijitul sets this up for you when hosting your community.

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Set it up and forget about it

Managed hosting, Plesk, Cloudflare DNS, daily backups and your domain for £1 a day + VAT. We move your site for you.

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