Should I Write Custom Forum Software?

[Fait]

Hello,

I am thinking about building my whole forum from scratch for a few reasons but I personally have crons and prons.
Currently with Mybb.

Good Things Making Software:
I won't have to deal with my features breaking during updates or moving forum software (things help when mybb 2.0 comes out lol)
My Own Features
Good Feeling Like Hey I Can Build A Forum Software

Bad Things:

More time consuming
I like Mybb
I will be required to re write my whole site when 2.0 comes out or if I move Software's I don't care if its 2015 I don't fell like re writing something that takes a while to get to this point.


Please give me some advice

Thanks Guys!

 

[Austin01]

Well if you write your own, you should probably stick with it for the lifetime of the forum. It sounds like you would want to write it and when MyBB 2.0 is released move back to that, which is very far off from the looks. If you stayed with MyBB, you would have to wait a bit for plugins to be updated, yes, but that is why you wait for them and not jump the gun.

The other big factor for a self-coded software is security, you need to make sure you have secure code otherwise it could spell issues for you in the future.

The big question is, do you have and want to spend the time to code BOTH the software and the converter from MyBB->Yours? That's up to you.

 

[Cosmic]

I've been down this road myself, and I recommend looking into paid scripts. They are much better and more stable than anything one of us could write in a couple years.

 

[Azareal]

Hello,

I am thinking about building my whole forum from scratch for a few reasons but I personally have crons and prons.
Currently with Mybb.

Good Things Making Software:
I won't have to deal with my features breaking during updates or moving forum software (things help when mybb 2.0 comes out lol)
My Own Features
Good Feeling Like Hey I Can Build A Forum Software

Bad Things:

More time consuming
I like Mybb
I will be required to re write my whole site when 2.0 comes out or if I move Software's I don't care if its 2015 I don't fell like re writing something that takes a while to get to this point.


Please give me some advice

Thanks Guys!

Features? I assume that you mean plugins and themes? If you mean actual core features then, the upgrader should surely handle that?

There are pros and cons to building a forum from scratch. If it's a custom system for one site then, there are likely to be alot more bugs for you to deal with than if it was a publically available forum software, however going public would go against one of your key requirements here: Things breaking between releases.
While I'm going down the route of writing a custom software (which I'm going public with), it's more to do with many of the forum software not adapting to the modern age or innovating than "things breaking between releases".

At the end of the day, it's much harder to maintain a forum software than it is to simply build a new theme or to throw together a simple plugin.
The other question is.. Are you planning to make a large sum of money off this site? To fuel developing a relatively decent software, you may need some sort of incentive to keep going, otherwise you end up like many of the forum software developers who end up dropping the software.

 

[jacktheking]

I dont think MyBB 2.0 will be out so soon (dont even say 2015) as MyBB 1.8 have just released.

I would suggest you going for a custom forums software if you can handle all the errors. However, I would strongly suggest you using MyBB 1.8 or 1.6.15 for now.

 

[Fait]

One of my core features that is currently built in to the core of mybb is my Multi Clan Feature but I have decided to stay with Mybb for now as I need to re-write the whole feature eventually anyway.

The main issue would be if I ever wanted to change software. Don't fell like re-writing a script for every change.

 

[kavin]

Hello,

I am thinking about building my whole forum from scratch for a few reasons but I personally have crons and prons.
Currently with Mybb.

I would advise against it. You have plenty of existing options, a new one will be more time consuming than what you can achieve. Why not just fork an existing one like MyBB and build on it? You have a stable base and its upto you to add or remove anything in it.

Good Things Making Software:
I won't have to deal with my features breaking during updates or moving forum software (things help when mybb 2.0 comes out lol)

Well, things will get broken even if you build a custom forum software. You will need to write plenty of unit tests to identify one (especially since no developer community will be assisting you with the source code).

My Own Features

Every forum software ships with a plugin system, and you can add any new feature with it.

Good Feeling Like Hey I Can Build A Forum Software

That's a valid point.

 

[Fait]

Will if you think about it and I've been told many times "Unless you have more then 4 developers working on the project don't bother as it' bad security wise" I can agree that other software have been out longer and used by multiple sites so therefore it's been fully tested.

As Kavin said it would be more time consuming and why create something when better is out there.

Guess I stick with mybb and when I cross the bridge of 2.0 which won't be till 5 years at least anyway and by then I will have more development staff I work it out then.

Thank all 😉

 

[Azareal]

Will if you think about it and I've been told many times "Unless you have more then 4 developers working on the project don't bother as it' bad security wise" I can agree that other software have been out longer and used by multiple sites so therefore it's been fully tested.

As Kavin said it would be more time consuming and why create something when better is out there.

Guess I stick with mybb and when I cross the bridge of 2.0 which won't be till 5 years at least anyway and by then I will have more development staff I work it out then.

Thank all 😉

Not really. The four developers thing is nonsensical. A single developer with a couple of years can build a forum software. If AtomBB was my job then, I would have finished it a long time ago.
It really boils down to how much time you have to invest in this. Heck, MyBB 1.8 was a one man show for quite a long time and even when it wasn't.. It was mainly bug fixes being pushed.

As for security, it's highly unlikely that someone will try to go after obscure exploits to begin with on a custom software on a minor site, unless they were trying to make a point about the security. Assuming that you're coding in a fairly secure way, it should hammer out 99% of the security problems.

 

[Fait]

You can view my projects here
http://markm.spudgaming.com

Bare in mind that on the site this is Alpha V1 not sure if I am releasing any further. and you are right there 😉

 

[Forces of Steel]

It's up to you. Personally, most custom-made forums proved to be less reliable than the popular ones.

 

[R44]

I am thinking about building my whole forum from scratch for a few reasons but I personally have crons and prons.

From experience here.

If the only reason you're gonna make it is because you can say "I can do it, yay", then I wouldn't be making it a live website. That's got to be the worst excuse for pushing a site live I have ever seen. If Mybb does what you need, stick with it. If it's not doing what you need it to, then think about moving to your own platform.

Ideally, when developing your own platform, you make it unique, and put your own little spin on it. At the end of the day, this will make or break your site.

Good luck

---

Personally, most custom-made forums proved to be less reliable than the popular ones.

This depends on your programming ability. If you can't do it in OOP or MVC, don't even bother nowadays.

 

[Forces of Steel]

This depends on your programming ability. If you can't do it in OOP or MVC, don't even bother nowadays.

Right, and most of them were created by inexperienced programmers.

 

[R44]

Right, and most of them were created by inexperienced programmers.

At the time, yes. But with the way the internet is now, I wouldn't push code I'm not sufficiently happy with, and this is why my website has not been hacked once.

 

[Forces of Steel]

At the time, yes. But with the way the internet is now, I wouldn't push code I'm not sufficiently happy with, and this is why my website has not been hacked once.

I agree with you. Security is very tricky.

 

[Stalin]

If you are going to write your own you must commit to it fully. IMHO I think there are already enough different types of forum software out there.

 

[Fait]

I agree
i'm not really in to forums I was in most of my teenage years but i'm now 19 and heading in a different direction which is YouTube 😛

 

[Ashley]

Well, if you have the time to do so, go for it. I don't know anything about making something from scratch, but I have a feeling that when it comes to software, you're going to need a LOT more dedication/funds for that than you would for the average forum. All I can really do is wish you the best of luck with this.

 

[Azareal]

I agree
i'm not really in to forums I was in most of my teenage years but i'm now 19 and heading in a different direction which is YouTube 😛

Building up a big YouTube Channel is also a massive time investment, just like building up a software.
It could take many many years to get anywhere.

 

[Fait]

Will you have that right 😛

sorry that I have not been active lately things do definitely change in the space of 5 years.

I do have ideas for a site custom coded for gaming but I will not announce them yet.

But in 2-4 or whenever I have time and less active in my life

and thanks all for the suggestions 🙂