bbPress.org

@thetbasket, could you provide a URL, please?

…but was a no-go for me.

Your problem still exists because you probably have a completely different theme than that user did.

…but the sidebars still remained.

Are you using a Full Width Page Template? These templates do not have a sidebar. They are included with your theme. You select a template when you create a page.

I removed the div.bbp-breadcrumb in bbpress.css as suggested…

I didn’t suggest removing div.bbp-breadcrumb, I suggested removing the float:left from div.bbp-breadcrumb. You’ll probably want to style the breadcrumb.

But there was no change.

Again, this is probably because your not using a full width page template.

…but at the same time the function of a forum does not necessarily adhere to that format or fit appropriately within it.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have said “what WordPress is built to do”, because WordPress is nearly limitless. It’s only restriction is the ability of it’s builder. There is a solution to almost any problem within WordPress. Sure, a vanilla installation of WordPress is pretty limited, but alas, it can be extended to do very powerful things.

A forum software is exactly what WordPress is. A Content Management System.

A blog is a forum. A person creates a post (topic) and people comment (reply) on it.

A forum is a blog. A person creates a topic (post) and people reply (comment) to it.

A blog and forum are one in the same. How can it not fit appropriately?

For me, the benefit of having such a plugin is to have a forum that operates well and lightly as a forum on a wordpress site, not necessarily a forum that works within the confines of a wordpress post or page, which is not how forums have functioned nor probably how they best function – considering the horizontal space they typically need for the post title, user that posted, number of replies, and so on, which take up quite a bit of horizontal real-estate.

Again, I think your missing the full width page template.

And since the typical widget that would be placed on the sidebar of a blog would be unlikely to directly apply to the forum, what you have in the end is an unnecessary utilization of space that would – for the end user – probably be better used to create a forum which is less cramped, more spacious, etc. – especially when they have the option to access the widgets and sidebars by going back to the blog – that which those widgets and sidebars were likely created for in the first place.

The bulk of your post deals with your forum not “fitting” within a page, because of the sidebar. I understand where your coming from, so please verify that you are using a full width page template, as these typically don’t have sidebars. This should solve your sidebar issue. If you don’t have a full width page template, create one.

WordPress Codex: Creating Your Own Page Templates

The last resort, and not a good one, is to comment out the get_sidebar() code in your template files.