In the last 4 months I've been exclusively working on a forum script (php/mysql). I will be releasing it as an open-source forum script in a month. I know the market is over-crowded with forums but I really like working on competitive markets
Now I have 1 more month till release, and I'd like your opinion on some additional feature that you think are a must for a forum software. Basically I am asking your opinion on "what else" should I develop to make the software appealing to webmasters.
I've put the current version on my SEO site: http://www.seoguide.org/forums.php
I'll list what the software can do, and what it can't.
The software does not support these popular features: avatars, signatures, image uploads, a members list, calendar, user/post ranks/ratings, half of the administration is through php files to speed up the forum (most forums keep things like posts per page in the database). Requires PHP 4.3.0 and mysql 3.23.23
The software supports: tree forum structure with unlimited levels, code/design separation (all html is in separate HTML files which can be edited), stickies/locks, moving posts, seeing new posts till last visit, moderators, post previews, language packs; private, post-only, html-allowed, articles (topics sorted by creation date) forums; built in mod_rewrite; things like search, register user and a member's profile are called through forms for PR leakage purposes; anti-spam protection; IP/IP ranges/UserID/Email Banning; last N posts on the main forum page and as an addon (see http://www.seoguide.org); open/close registration; time zones; sha password encoding; gzip compression; smilie support; very easy customization IF you know php/html.
My major concerns at the moment are:
1) I don't like signatures. I've dedicated a whole user info field where every member can write a huge amount of info about himself (contact, CV, sites, etc.). It appears in his profile. Do you think sigs are very important? I guess I'll be providing a sig addon, but this feature won't be a part of the default version.
2) Members List. Does anyone use it? Isn't the search functionality better?
3) A lot of the administration is in a php file. For example, to appoint user 'Test' with id 2 as a moderator to forum with ID 3 you write this in the php file: $moderators = array(3 => array(2 => 'test')); That kind of administration eliminates db queries but it makes administration not so easy to people not familiar with php.
4)User sessions are cookie based, which has pros (no session IDs) and cons: users without cookies cannot login/post. DO you think there are a lot of people without cookie support?
5)Avatars. How important are they? Would you not consider a forum script because of lack of avatar support?
Sorry for the long post, but I'm really excited about this project and been working hard on it. I would appreciate all opinions/suggestions about the final feature set.
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