Designing a Forum or Blog From Scratch

[Jason]

Some people are so smart they have built forum software. In fact, someone on Forum Promotion (.net) did that once. I think that is so amazing. Anyway, who has considered this task? Who has done it? What are some challenges of it?

 

[Jamie]

I am currently building forum software, it's been on my mind for a long time to give it a go and so far so good.

I'd say the concept of forum software is straightforward (depending on where you want to go with it feature-wise; I have seen some people here have more complicated ideas than what you might see on traditional software). One of the key challenges for me are the sheer number of features you have to juggle: everything from posting, management and moderation through to customisation features. It's easy to feel overwhelmed. The other key challenge (in particular with my software being a SAAS) is how you make sure that it's scalable, that is when there's lots of posts, lots of users and lots of activity the software still responds in reasonable times.

I think a lot of people would advise against doing it but I'd say give it a go if it interests you. At the very least you'll learn something new 🙂

 

[Jason]

I am currently building forum software, it's been on my mind for a long time to give it a go and so far so good.

I'd say the concept of forum software is straightforward (depending on where you want to go with it feature-wise; I have seen some people here have more complicated ideas than what you might see on traditional software). One of the key challenges for me are the sheer number of features you have to juggle: everything from posting, management and moderation through to customisation features. It's easy to feel overwhelmed. The other key challenge (in particular with my software being a SAAS) is how you make sure that it's scalable, that is when there's lots of posts, lots of users and lots of activity the software still responds in reasonable times.

I think a lot of people would advise against doing it but I'd say give it a go if it interests you. At the very least you'll learn something new 🙂

What languages are you using? What is the main language you are using? How long do you estimate it will take you to finish?

 

[Jamie]

PHP and a sprinkling of JS. For me I wanted to achieve a traditional feel akin to what ZetaBoards was which is why I am using more PHP and server rendered views than JS. (Ordinarily I'd use Vue entirely on the frontend in my projects). I'm using the Laravel framework as well. I picked this stack because that's what I'm most proficient in and where I have most fun (which is the important part).

As for finishing - I don't think it will ever be "finished". There will *always* be some feature to add or bugs to fix. But having said that I'm pretty much at the Minimum Viable Product where I think I'd be happy to let people give it a whirl.

 

[Jason]

PHP and a sprinkling of JS. For me I wanted to achieve a traditional feel akin to what ZetaBoards was which is why I am using more PHP and server rendered views than JS. (Ordinarily I'd use Vue entirely on the frontend in my projects). I'm using the Laravel framework as well. I picked this stack because that's what I'm most proficient in and where I have most fun (which is the important part).

As for finishing - I don't think it will ever be "finished". There will *always* be some feature to add or bugs to fix. But having said that I'm pretty much at the Minimum Viable Product where I think I'd be happy to let people give it a whirl.

Are you interested in selling the product? What might be a good price? How do you feel it compares to popular free and premium software out there?

 

[Arantor]

Well, going Laravel based puts your immediate competition as Flarum and Waterhole for non-SaaS (and of course, XF/IPS for non-SaaS but they're not Laravel based) but going SaaS based is both easier and harder; easier because you don't have to wrangle all the weird server configs people, harder because your competition isn't just the classic forum market but then things like Circle...

 

[Jason]

I know very little about the mechanics. However, as noted, I admire someone else who can.

 

[Cory]

I'd love to try and build my own forum software, but there is far too much to learn for me to even consider it, and I also think enough forum software sites are already available making it somewhat of a redundancy to do so. Though, if you can find yourself making software with a totally unique touch and not just a copy of what has already been made, then I think you may as well give it a try. You can possibly make some money doing so and if you really enjoy forums you can commit to your own software instead of using someone else's creation.

 

[Jason]

Even if you designed good software, marketing is as big a battle or even bigger. It takes a lot of cash.