Developing my own forum software

[Gareth]

My friend, Karl Evans, and I plan to develop a new forum software. Karl will be the programmer whilst I take care of everything else. Our vision; to create a fast running, feature packed, valid xhtml, web2.0 stunning forum software package to rival and surpass the big guys.

What's already planned?

Most of the features of phpBB, with some from IPB/vB - the idea is to get all of the the recquired decent features - no unecessary ones.
Built in mod_rewrite - does any other forum software have this?
A stunning web 2.0 default design - the default skins from other forum software are somewhat...disgusting. This will be beautiful.

I'd just like to know what features you guys would like to see, and I'll make a note of them for when it comes to developing it.

[camuk19]

Definatly a simple easy to use interface, along with options to make posting fast such as quick reply, since i hate reloading the page twice to post a comment. Polls will also be helpful. A very organized and easy to use user interface would be awesome as well.

Good luck on your endevour.

[Andrew]

A stunning web 2.0 default design - the default skins from other forum software are somewhat...disgusting. This will be beautiful.



You may think so, but other people love those, it is all about preference.

Anyway, good luck with this, it seems like a good idea, but you would have to have alot of dedication to keep fixing and improving it if needed. :P Good luck.

[jeremy]

as the author of a php script used on tens of thousands of websites, i can tell you that the three most important things are security, usability, and portability. in that order. beginning programmers often forget security. people new to php programming often forget portability (and a lot of this is the fault of php and how it can be set up way differently on different servers). almost everybody forgets usability, or doesn't understand usability.

vanilla doesn't have built-in mod_rewrite, but it is trivial to install a mod to enable it; it is designed to support it.

[Andrew]

I'm just curious as to what happened to this project, I was eager to test it out. :) Still developing or have you given up?

[Gareth]

I'm just curious as to what happened to this project, I was eager to test it out. :) Still developing or have you given up?
Hey Andrew, pretty much given up I think. I still have the money to fund this and the vision, however Karl has became just too busy with college and such to take this on :(

[Vince]

Hey Andrew, pretty much given up I think. I still have the money to fund this and the vision, however Karl has became just too busy with college and such to take this on :(
With all due respect, WHY develop your own? Seriously.

Why reinvent the wheel, when there are plenty of other forum software producers out there with bigger teams of people, and better coders to work on their software full time?

Unless you have a lot of cash to burn, or a lot of spare time on your hands, and a large team of people willing to help you out... I'd strongly advise against it.

[Joshimitsu]

I agree with vince, creating a forum software has crossed my mind before. But, the big forums have been out there for years - it's hard to stand out.


Anyway, to help you out:
Use xml files to install mods/themes like vbulletin instead of phpbb

[LaneyHosting]

I agree with vince, creating a forum software has crossed my mind before. But, the big forums have been out there for years - it's hard to stand out.


Anyway, to help you out:
Use xml files to install mods/themes like vbulletin instead of phpbb

That's one of the main things. If you DID take on this project, plugins would be a huge part. You would need tons of support and a way to help everyone out.

[Submerge]

PI feel the idea i there. There are only a couple big forum softwares out there so competition theoretically would be easy to get into. But it's hard because the other guys are dug into the market very deep. XMB couldn't even survive to the others, and they had the best shot. Prepare to spend lots of money to compete with vBulletin, IPB, and phpBB. No idea how Simple Machines got in there.

[Tyler]

It's not just that they're in the market deep Submerge, vBulletin is VERY well programmed and bugs and improvements are constant. It is only getting better and better. It is one extremely good product.

Just look at how it's evolved over the years...

[Submerge]

It's not just that they're in the market deep Submerge, vBulletin is VERY well programmed and bugs and improvements are constant. It is only getting better and better. It is one extremely good product.

Just look at how it's evolved over the years...

Very true, it would take a lot of work to get to where they are software wise. But I still believe they have a loyal fan base that would be hard to tap into with a new software. But if you could offer a much cheaper alternative, or free. You'd have a good product on your hands as PHPBB seems to be going downhill.

[Tyler]

Well even so, you're going to have to surpass PhpBB in terms of programming quality and depth.. and unless you're extremely devoted and talented, I'm pretty sure it's a very poor choice of how to spend your time.

[Submerge]

I agree fully. I've seen quite a bit of forum softwares in development over the years and none of them have succeeded. I would also say the past years would have been the best times. However, if you can create a better web 2.0 forum alternative to Vanilla there may be room in that niche.