Making A Forum

[unknown123]

Has anyone got any tutorials for making a forum or know any books that I could buy to help me make a forum from scratch.

Thanks in advance.

[knuts]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forum_software

Has links that compare a bunch of available forum software for lots of environments.
I run PHPBB3, some folks hate it though.

[Chris]

Forums are easy, you don't need books for it (assuming you know PHP & mySQL already). First download existing forums and check the source code. Also install it and check how the database is build (via phpMyAdmin). It will give you tons of tips.

The database is basicly like that:
- user table (you put login/password here, also user/moderator/admin status)
- board table (for boards/subboards)
- topic table (store the information of each topic)
- post table (store the information of answers/replies for each topic)

The core modules are:
- register
- login/logout
- display the forum (index page, subboards, threads list, thread)
- post new thread, answer old thread, edit old post, delete your post/thread
- admin/moderator area (create/edit/remove new board, change user status, ban user)
- instalator

[solice]

Why even build one, unless you need it to do something that no other forums do? And even in that case, just build on an existing on. Check out Simple Machines Forum http://www.simplemachines.org/ as stated with there license, you can change all code http://www.simplemachines.org/about/license.php

[JGadrow]

The reason to make your own is because then it could use common functionality. So, if you want your forum to be informed by your game server or if you want your game server to be informed of your forum (in case of trouble tickets or what-not), then you will likely need to code your own.

[robot]

theres a lot of free script out there where you could download and experiment
making a simple forum are easy

[overklokan]

The reason to make your own is because then it could use common functionality. So, if you want your forum to be informed by your game server or if you want your game server to be informed of your forum (in case of trouble tickets or what-not), then you will likely need to code your own.

the biggest reason i see with any code is that using other's is something everyone can do ... if you have
forum but you used code someone else coded you actualy don't know how to make forum! "there is a big
difference between knowing the path and walking the path" ... other important factors cons using other's
code is that you're screwed if something goes wrong (and it goes, sooner or later) ... knowing your code
in detail is the most rewarding when problems arise! i know guys that wasted weeks digging other's code
just to adjust trivial things ... i say you better go make your own forum! start with basic stuff and add
more, as your wish-list grows