PHP Can someone help I want to build a forum and don't know where to start

[Stewpid]

Can someone help I want to build a forum and don't know where to start

 

[Tealk]

First of all, why do you want to program a forum? There are already 100 different systems, what would you like to do differently?

 

[Cumulus]

@Stewpid are you looking to build a forum software or just create a forum using a script already avaliable?

 

[Deleted member 1442]

XenForo,

 

[Ghost]

Can someone help I want to build a forum and don't know where to start

Hey, I have created a few forum scripts. It's not so hard if you understand the core behind it.

For example, PHP and SQL is enough for the backend. You'll need to create some HTML forms to submit information from pages. It's helpful if you know JavaScript so you can use AJAX and other functions to make the site look pretty and run fast!

Can someone help I want to build a forum and don't know where to start

here's some examples...


HTML

<form action="new-thread.php" method="post">
    Title<br>
    <input type="text" name="thread_title" placeholder="Title">
    <hr>
    Content<br>
    <textarea name="thread_content" rows="5" style="width:100%;" placeholder="Write something here"></textarea>
    <br>
     <button type="submit">Publish</button>

</form>

general $_POST example:
This example is really just to show you how you can use the $_POST values from your HTML form. htmlspecialchars is just a nice safety feature of PHP to make sure you don't get any malicious text outputs... useful for un sanitized user data, $_GET info, etc.

echo "Title: " . htmlspecialchars($_POST['thread_title']) . "<br>";
echo "Content: " . htmlspecialchars($_POST['thread_content']);

new-thread.php example code:

<?php
    session_start();
    if(!isset($_SESSION['id']){
     header("Location: login.php");
     exit("You must be logged in to publish a new thread.");
    }
    $created_time = time();
    require_once "config/database.php";
    require_once "classes/User.php";

    // ideally user class/function should have a few things like session verifiers and other logic in place...
    $User = new User(); # my custom class, you'll have to make one or another type of user account session file
    $UserInfo = $User->user_info_from_session($_SESSION['id']); # my custom function, you'll have to make your own

    if($UserInfo == false){
      header("Location: login.php");
      exit("You must be logged in to publish a new thread.");
    }
    $error = false;
    if(!isset($_POST['thread_title']) || strlen(trim($_POST['thread_title'])) == 0){
        $error = "You must provide a title for your content!";
    } else if(!isset($_POST['thread_content']) || strlen(trim($_POST['thread_content'])) == 0){
        $error = "You must say something to publish a new thread!";
    } else {

      /*
        A lot of the code below would go in a class like "Thread" for $Thread = new Thread(); and then like $Thread->create($array_of_thread_info);
      */

    
       $Database = new Database();
       $db_connection = $Database->connect();
       // I will use regular php/sql below instead of using my custom $Database functions so you can see examples:
       $sql = $db_connection->prepare("INSERT INTO forum_threads (thread_title, thread_content, user_id, created_unix_time) VALUES (?,?,?,?)");
       $sql->bind_param("ssii", $_POST['thread_title'], $_POST['thread_content'], $UserInfo['id'], $created_time);
       $sql->execute();
       if($sql->error != ""){
           $error = $sql->error;
       }
      $sql->close();
      
    }

    
    if($error){
        echo "<strong>Error:</strong> $error";
    } else {
        echo "You successfully created a new thread!";
    }
?>

SQL Database:

table:
forum_threads

-> columns:
--> id (auto increment, int, primary key)
--> thread_title
--> thread_content
--> user_id (int 11)
--> created_unix_time (stores unix time -- or use a timestamp!)

You would also have other tables like:
- user_info
- thread_replies
- forum_sections
- forum_categories
- forum_subcategories

 

[Daniel]

I don't suggest you make a forum if you're completely new and a little lost at the idea of doing so.

You need to start with something small, if you start with something big and complex it'll be much, much harder to pick up and learn.

Why not make a simple guest book first?

 

[Ghost]

edit for now