## esoTalk – Fat-free forum software
esoTalk is a free, open-source forum software package built with PHP and MySQL. It is designed to be:
- **Fast.** esoTalk's code was architectured to have little overhead and to be as efficient as possible.
- **Simple.** All of esoTalk's interfaces are designed around simplicity, ease-of-use, and speed.
- **Powerful.** Despite its simplicity, a large array of [plugins](http://esotalk.org/plugins) and [skins](http://esotalk.org/skins) are available to extend the functionality of esoTalk.
esoTalk is developed by Toby Zerner in memory of his brother, Simon.
### Donate
I've put many hundreds of hours and a lot of love into developing and maintaining esoTalk. If you have benefitted from it, why not consider [donating some schrapnel](http://esotalk.org/donate)? #feedtoby
### System Requirements
esoTalk requires **PHP 5.3+** and a modern version of **MySQL**.
The PHP **gd extension** is required to support avatar uploading.
esoTalk has only been tested on **Apache** and **lighttpd**. If you encounter a problem specific to any other web server, please [create an issue](https://github.com/esotalk/esoTalk/issues).
### Installation
Installing esoTalk is super easy. In brief, simply:
1. [Download esoTalk.](http://esotalk.org/download)
2. Extract and upload the files to your PHP-enabled web server.
3. Visit the location in your web browser and follow the instructions in the installer.
### Upgrading
To upgrade esoTalk from an older version, simply:
1. [Download](http://esotalk.org/download) the latest version of esoTalk.
2. Extract and upload all of the files to your web-server, overwriting old ones. (Be careful that you don't lose custom plugins, skins, and languages you've uploaded to the addons directory, though!)
3. Visit **your-forum.com/?p=upgrade** in your web browser and watch esoTalk complete the upgrade.
### Troubleshooting
If you are having problems installing esoTalk, view the [Troubleshooting](http://esotalk.org/docs/debug) documentation.