How do you build a forum? I been wanting to build one for my site. Are their any good sites that show how to create a forum?
Any help is appreciated!:thumbsup:
Ok: do you just need a forum or do want to write it yourself??
I have found that the best way to learn a language (PHP) to be the "find-what-you-want-and-then-get-info-on-it" approach. I can't say I have found any tutorials on exactly how to write a forum, but there are a lot of (small) forums out there that can give you a guide in the right direction.
(looking at source code will give you a good start)
First: choose a language: PHP/CGI/ASP/CF++ whatever you have avaliable and want to.
Second: choose a way to store the content: text files/MySQL/Postgress+++
Third: read the manual of whatever you chose in 1 & 2.
Fourth: get (small) scripts of the net and learn on what others have done
Well: I can't give you any more specific tips on how to write a forum since I don't know the language you are using, but get back to this thread, and I'll give you some tips!
Good luck!!
NuCleuZ
I can use PHP and ASP With SQL.
But I don't know how to start. That's so difficult. Could everyone tell me which pages I have to write and how to make the best database for a simple forum.
And coding is not problem, I think.
*ducks under the millions of nutters saying use php cos asp is the spawn of bill "satan" gates..etc*
ive made a few asp forums and this is basically what you need (if you can, use asp.net with c#/vb [this requires a server running windows server 2003] and use a mssql database)
tables: users, categories, forums, threads, posts
users stores login details, users post details etc (level of administration is handy here too so you can have moderators and admins and regular members, as well as banning people etc)
categories links a category id with a name and read/write priveliges (i link this with adminlevel from the users database so like if a user has 50 as his level he cant access a category with a restriction of 60)
forums have an id, name, categoryid (permissions can be added but if you are going for simple just make sure when you display these it checks the level of the category before displaying any data)
threads contain an id, forumid, subject, author, lastposter, lastpostdate
posts contain an id, threadid, authorid, message
you need a page to display each of these 4 tables (not users) so that the main page displays categories with links to the page that contains the threads (most forums here have a link on the category name to just display one category but i dont really see the point and you did say basic).. the threads page displays all threads inside that forum id, and the posts page displays all posts for that thread
also you need a page to add posts and threads
administrative pages to add categories and forums should be made but this can be done from the database if it doesnt change much and you are too lazy to write pages
welcome here headpunter!
I must say it's a strange request and i have the same question as nucleuz : do you want a forum to use it OR are you just looking for something to keep busy/practice your skills ? you can find free forums that are a simple or featurerich as you want and that are widely used and tested + are completely skinable.
I don't think that any experienced coder would have problems writing a forum, but it simply is kinda pointless. Unless you have super-special features that you need.
www.phpbb.com its good stuff! :thumbsup:
building a forum is easy like eating everyday . all you have to do is go to php.net and download a full version and install it . if you want a forum like this forum then you have to buy a licence version . go to vbulletin.com .
well if you are using PHP the best way to start is to first make your SQL database and work from that. There is a site where they have precoded forums but not all of them work(and they have the older gamefaqs style) and you might want to know a good bit about PHP, but some of them are good thats what I use.
If you want something thats not as hard you can always get a phpBB or an IPB.
I also Need to have a Forum, but I CAN NOT use SQL, or PHP... I can use ASP, and Access... Is this possible? - How do I do it?
Thanks,
Josh
I also Need to have a Forum, but I CAN NOT use SQL, or PHP... I can use ASP, and Access... Is this possible? - How do I do it?
Thanks,
Josh
Is it possible? Yes.
Will it be efficient? No.
Access simply isn't suitable enough for anything like a forum. If applicable, it would be much better if you could use Microsoft SQL Server. Or even better MySQL.
P.S.
SQL - is an abbreviation for Structured Query Language; its used for managing and querying databases.
Whether you are using Access or SQL Server you'd be using SQL. I'm assuming you meant to say MySQL which is an actual database system.
Is it possible? Yes.
Will it be efficient? No.
Access simply isn't suitable enough for anything like a forum. If applicable, it would be much better if you could use Microsoft SQL Server. Or even better MySQL.
P.S.
SQL - is an abbreviation for Structured Query Language; its used for managing and querying databases.
Whether you are using Access or SQL Server you'd be using SQL. I'm assuming you meant to say MySQL which is an actual database system.
How do I get an ASP Forum?
Thanks,
Josh
www.google.com/search?q=ASP%20Forum%20software
??
I remember using WebWiz's forum way back when (not that long ago about '02).
There are quite a few forums out there in ASP. The first one I wrote was in ASP using Access on a 2GHz Celeron and it wasn't that slow. It handled the couple of hundred users I had pretty well. A lot of the time with ASP, the bottleneck in efficiency is how well the code has been written (for example GetRows, GetString, avoiding objects where possible, disposing of things when no longer needed, locking and scrolling, prepared statements, etc) rather than the DBMS or hard drive seek time etc. You certainly don't want a large busy forum (such as this one) using access though.
I haven't been to aspin.com for a long time but this seems like a good list:
http://www.aspin.com/home/webapps/bbs
This is a bit offtopic but I don't know about StupidRalph's comment on MySQL being better than Microsoft SQL Server. In my experience, MSSQL 2005 does better, performance wise, than MySQL (assuming both are running on Windows at least), particularly when running 64bit and/or at high load.