Design your own forum software

[Shawn Gossman]

Theoretically speaking here, if you could design your own forum software based on YOUR needs and desires, what would that look like?

What would make your perfect forum software?

 

[Page]

and with the help of AI, maybe it can be done easy nowadays

 

[TechWiz18]

Interesting....if it was something exclusive to myself I'd have to figure out what my niche is. Then again...is it worth the time and effort to look at making modifications/plugins for an existing software instead of maintaining something you created?

Not saying it's a bad idea, it obviously depends on who you are because even with AI it's going to be a time sink cause you know it probably isn't going to be perfect out the gate lol

 

[cpvr]

and with the help of AI, maybe it can be done easy nowadays

You should try coding one with AI and let us know how easy it is.😜

 

[Ravenfreak]

It depends on the niche of forum. But if I was wanting to create a forum software that catered to a gaming community, I would integrate a system where users can earn credits and use these credits to automatically order gift cards for whatever platform they game on. I'm sure something is already achievable using existing software and plugins for that software. I suppose if it was a roleplaying forum I would add a bunch of user customizations that catered to the roleplay or added real time events. Still again all this could be achievable, but I do know that there's a member on Administrata who's been working on his own software for roleplaying for a while now, who was previously a SMF developer.

 

[JoelR]

There's a lot of personalization that social media platforms utilize, and I would love to see some of that individual personalization be brought into the next generation of forums.

For example, when a new member joins, they really need access to introductory material, the 'best of' guides, and other aggregated resources. Whereas a returning member might be more interested in threads they started, threads they participated in, or popular content of the moment. Segmenting and customizing the experience would be incredibly powerful.

 

[devforum]

You should try coding one with AI and let us know how easy it is.😜

ChatGPT knows the XF 2.2 framework (surely 2.3 by now, only throwing 2.2 out there because of the removal of Ajax and the potential template suggestions it might toss out using Ajax).

I've successfully built small add ons with prompts before. It'll even zip the files appropriately to be installed (and able to be disabled/uninstalled) through the ACP if you tell it to, taking a minute or two off your plate by creating the "uploads" folder and all other necessary folders in the file tree, placing each file where it needs to be to work.

I'm sure it's possible, but it'd be a brick by brick process, from experience with just add ons.

That said, if it was going to be commercial and not just a small group type of thing (accessible for just logging communication internally), I wouldn't quite trust it finding all the potential security issues (XSS injection points, etc.) and would, after a working product is spit out, have it audited before deploying for public use.

You could probably nail down something right for you, especially if you just need the essentials, as I've also created a simple user registration/login portal (to access nothing), too.

We're still talking hours, and even days, though, as a simple add on can take an hour or two, but it's quicker than waiting for a developer to get to it if you want it right away.

 

[Page]

You should try coding one with AI and let us know how easy it is.😜

Maybe.. MAybe not 😛

 

[Ravenfreak]

ChatGPT knows the XF 2.2 framework (surely 2.3 by now, only throwing 2.2 out there because of the removal of Ajax and the potential template suggestions it might toss out using Ajax).

I've successfully built small add ons with prompts before. It'll even zip the files appropriately to be installed (and able to be disabled/uninstalled) through the ACP if you tell it to, taking a minute or two off your plate by creating the "uploads" folder and all other necessary folders in the file tree, placing each file where it needs to be to work.

I'm sure it's possible, but it'd be a brick by brick process, from experience with just add ons.

That said, if it was going to be commercial and not just a small group type of thing (accessible for just logging communication internally), I wouldn't quite trust it finding all the potential security issues (XSS injection points, etc.) and would, after a working product is spit out, have it audited before deploying for public use.

You could probably nail down something right for you, especially if you just need the essentials, as I've also created a simple user registration/login portal (to access nothing), too.

We're still talking hours, and even days, though, as a simple add on can take an hour or two, but it's quicker than waiting for a developer to get to it if you want it right away.

How much code did you have to fix from using ChatGPT? I'm sure it can do a decent job up to a point, but you'll need to probably go back and fix up the code.

 

[devforum]

How much code did you have to fix from using ChatGPT? I'm sure it can do a decent job up to a point, but you'll need to probably go back and fix up the code.

For one of the add ons (as a test), I just had to prompt it several times and give it the error that XenForo gave me on installing.

It's a very basic add on like,
Give me a XenForo 2.2 compatible add on optimized for PHP 8.3 that saves a user's signature on install and replaces it with "Hello World". When the add on is disabled or uninstalled, revert back to the user's saved signature.

Most of the time (I just tried again) it would just be because of improper file tree placement (not in the uploads folder).

It took 5 times copying that error before it got it right. So, 6 prompts, including the original.

 

[antero360]

Theoretically speaking here, if you could design your own forum software based on YOUR needs and desires, what would that look like?

What would make your perfect forum software?

A platform that:

• integrates with all blacklists/spam detectors so that any malicious ip address and/or username/email can be automatically banned and reported to all other blacklists/spam detectors
• integrates with all platforms such as Discord, Slack, Teams, etc
• self-check for any vulnerabilities and reports to me and me alone (because zero-trust is the only way lol)...
• integrates with all freelancing platforms, so that anyone looking to freelance can get notifications from all platforms

Hell, I may just make this a weekend project lol

 

[TechWiz18]

Maybe.. MAybe not 😛

I actually had some spare time and started the process of creating something with AI. I ran into a snag so I don't have anything functional yet but in theory this is still possible.

 

[ForumHosting]

I would say instead of a website may it be a webforum where engagement is everywhere but organized properly for the niche with latest posts to trending to fun to motivate to life quotes something that uplift people when they see it because at the end of the day if its just like the news or social media these days people wont stay very long.

 

[Page]

I actually had some spare time and started the process of creating something with AI. I ran into a snag so I don't have anything functional yet but in theory this is still possible.

AI can't do everything, you end up having to do many things in the backend then again hosting providers are now getting into more AI crap Xd

 

[cpvr]

I would say instead of a website may it be a webforum where engagement is everywhere but organized properly for the niche with latest posts to trending to fun to motivate to life quotes something that uplift people when they see it because at the end of the day if its just like the news or social media these days people wont stay very long.

Xenforo has a trending topics feature, which is similar to how social media site’s trending topics feature works.

 

[greenhost.cloud]

Theoretically speaking here, if you could design your own forum software based on YOUR needs and desires, what would that look like?

What would make your perfect forum software?

I'd love seamless integrations for sharing ideas, maybe even a way to customize profiles with personal touches. And of course, a vibrant community vibe.

 

[TPerry]

Theoretically speaking here, if you could design your own forum software based on YOUR needs and desires, what would that look like?

What would make your perfect forum software?

The thing is.. what is great for you sucks for me.
The core philosophy needs to be an offering that has tight integration between modules. An over reliance on outside 3rd party integration (as with Xenforo) is a quick way to death because so many become dependent upon an add-on and within a few years (at most) it quits being supported.
As bad as developers might want to hear it, those features need to be first party. No, they don't need to necessarily be "core", but their needs to be stubs for their use.
It is one of the most aggravating things I find about XenForo and their cult members excuse of "it's a fantastic forum". Yeah, well, we aren't in the 2000's anymore Skippy. A site needs to offer more than just a forum and a barely passable gallery/resource offering to get by in todays society of internet users.
But some developers are still stuck int the 2000's almost 2 decades later and they have a cult following that blows smoke up their arse to make them feel warm and fuzzy.

 

[Baw$e]

I have coded a forum before with PHP and MySQL. It wasn't the main feature for my site at the time, but it had all the basic features a forum requires.

 

[Gio]

I had wanted to for a while, and then I never got past being able to code.

 

[amay123]

ChatGPT knows the XF 2.2 framework (surely 2.3 by now, only throwing 2.2 out there because of the removal of Ajax and the potential template suggestions it might toss out using Ajax).

I've successfully built small add ons with prompts before. It'll even zip the files appropriately to be installed (and able to be disabled/uninstalled) through the ACP if you tell it to, taking a minute or two off your plate by creating the "uploads" folder and all other necessary folders in the file tree, placing each file where it needs to be to work.

I'm sure it's possible, but it'd be a brick by brick process, from experience with just add ons.

That said, if it was going to be commercial and not just a small group type of thing (accessible for just logging communication internally), I wouldn't quite trust it finding all the potential security issues (XSS injection points, etc.) and would, after a working product is spit out, have it audited before deploying for public use.

You could probably nail down something right for you, especially if you just need the essentials, as I've also created a simple user registration/login portal (to access nothing), too.

We're still talking hours, and even days, though, as a simple add on can take an hour or two, but it's quicker than waiting for a developer to get to it if you want it right away. If you want to earn money just by playing games from the comfort of your home, give this a try Mwin Game Download APK

ChatGPT is familiar with the XenForo (XF) 2.2 framework (likely 2.3 by now), and can reliably scaffold small add-ons—setting up file structures, zipping them, and even packaging them for ACP installation.

It’s great for brick-by-brick development of simple features. However, for any commercial or widely used product, I’d strongly recommend a security audit post-generation—ChatGPT might miss vulnerabilities like XSS injection points.

If you just need the essentials fast (e.g., a user registration/login portal), ChatGPT can definitely save you time. Expect a few hours or days of work for basic add-ons, but it’s faster than starting from scratch or waiting for a developer.