Open source forum software [In Development]

I'm developing an open source forum software with a built in CMS....on par with Phpbb, SMF, VBulletin, IPB (but free) and want specific things in mind to be included.

 

What are some things you would like to see in a forum software and some things you do not want included?

 

Ex: cms system, thank you system, attachments, theme system, merge/import system etc.....

 

I have a website though it is only a day old and no content and a sourceforge page. Can I post this project here and ask for volunteers or should I ask elsewhere?

 

Note: Until we are an established company, I do not have the funding to pay developers

yes you may post here. maybe a ranking system?

if you need voluneteers, post in the freelance section.. or wait until a mod moves this thread there.

actually, you can split this thread into two.. you can make a poll for what people want to see in a forum, and in the freelance section you can ask for volunteers on the project.

yes you may post here. maybe a ranking system?

 

You want to see a ranking system?

I would assume he means a reputation system or a separate points system.  I'm a mod over at DevShed as well, and we have three separate points systems.

i like the "thanking system" implemented at codingforums.com

i like the "thanking system" implemented at codingforums.com

DevShed's reputation system is very similar, but the more times you're "thanked" the more points your "thanks" are worth, so someone like Requinix can dump 5,000 points on someone, but a new user can only give 1.  It's a bit unbalanced, actually, and the ability to give "disrespect" in addition to "respect" gets the system abused.  I'd like it a lot more if it were policed, but sadly there's no way to police it since it's really kind of a crappy add-on.

I think a points system and a thanking system could be combined? I also like the idea for a "reputation" system as well but use it solely based on content of threads?

 

Ex:

Points per post and thanks

Rep for content and/or knowledge in posts or something

I think asking for what features to be included at this very early stage is probably not that important. IMO, I would concentrate on getting a good base system developed.

 

Allot of existing forum software failed to do this and this is why allot of forum software is poorly designed and hard to work with.

 

I would concentrate on getting the basic down. You'll need a flexible ACL system, good user tracking and above all a good system for implementing plugins.

 

SMF for one has an absolute nightmare of a system for integrating plugins. IMO plugins should not put code into the core of the application. Take Wordpress for example. While not really implemented as well as it could be, they do have a good plugins system based on events that allow plugins to extend the functionality of Wordpress without ever modifying the Wordpress code itself.

 

Most of the features mentioned above I wouldn't even really consider building into the application itself. They should likely be built as plugins, even if they ship with the software by default.

 

As for a SourceForge page. SourceForge is so last decade man, all the cool kids are hosting on GitHub these days.

Ranking systems attract trolls. I would steer as far away from them as you can. A thanking system as AyKay mentioned, however, is a great idea. No one thanks a troll, they will only thank a useful contributor. Therefore, they might even drive away trolls...

i like the "thanking system" implemented at codingforums.com

DevShed's reputation system is very similar, but the more times you're "thanked" the more points your "thanks" are worth, so someone like Requinix can dump 5,000 points on someone, but a new user can only give 1.  It's a bit unbalanced, actually, and the ability to give "disrespect" in addition to "respect" gets the system abused.  I'd like it a lot more if it were policed, but sadly there's no way to police it since it's really kind of a crappy add-on.

yeah, most systems that involve any sort of ranking or reputation etc. will almost always be abused if it is not monitored. Sadly some people do not have anything better to do with their lives then abuse forum functionality that is meant to help and not to harm. Like you were saying about the disrespect and respect, which coincides with the thanking system, just takes it a step further. I am not really a big fan of any sort of negative reputation simply because you will always have those certain people that will abuse the system and give everyone negative rep regardless if they were helpful or not. That is why I am always for systems where the user can only give positive feedback and not negative, if the user did not help with the topic, simply do not thank the user. As Joe92 said as well, not having a negative rep system might actually help steer "trolls" away from your forum and on to another forum where they can act like idiots. On another topic, as thorpe said, figuring out what features you will want to add will and should take a back seat until you get the basic functionality, base code of the site completed.

Some good points to take in !

 

I suppose I wanted to pick your brains to see what you wanted in a forum so I can get an idea first. I had this as a crude dev timeline:

 

1. Code base

2. Admin cp design / layout

3. User cp design / layout

4. Permissions

5. Groups

6. Portal design / layout

7. Portal misc.

8. Merge system / Installation wizard

9. Template system

10. Project website

 

I know this is probably not the most professional outline but hey....it works for me. Should I have a different plan of attack or what?

 

I would love to see this in some major forums http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/index.php?topic=338359.0

 

I would also love it (on here especially) if more people marked there problems solved, maybe a reminder sent out to the email address of the OP asking if their thread was solved after x dormant days on said thread. It's is easy when learning a new area to ask a few questions and forget to mark a thread solved by mistake.

Idea added to whiteboard, thanks

I'm still working on this although I am need of help and will post in the freelance section for offers.

 

You can find the dev site here: www.arcbb.com

 

It will be a fork of mybb with a full cms built around it utilizing the mybb permission system. Thanks for the help everyone!