Should I write my own forum software?

Question

I have already created a site from scratch. He has a ban, PM, comments, etc. PM and comments are performed using markdowns (e.g., SO).

There are pros and cons to writing mine or using other software. But some of them do not allow me to use other forum software.

• Several logins: one for the site, one for individual forums.
• I need a setup code: I will need to change the toolbar on the forum so that I can access the pages on a regular site.
• Compatibility of views: it can be very different from my site even after applying a lot of css changes.
• Prohibition and user consistency. Users may be banned on the site or on the forums, but not on another. users can choose different or more usernames in the forum instead of being forced to use the same username on both sites and forums.

Should I write my own forum code or use something already written? What are some reasons for or against writing my own and using forum software?

Answer 1

The heuristic that I mean is that if at least two or three of them are true, it might be worth writing to yourself:

• This is one of your main business offers.
• You have the time, money, and resources to point, design, build, test, and support.
• The amount of time that you need to spend on evaluating, prototyping, integrating and customizing the finished packages approaches or exceeds the amount of time that you evaluate in order to build your own.
• Ready-made packages do not have good support. By “good support,” I mean that you can raise a problem and be sure that someone will consider your specific problem and provide a fix if it turns out to be a mistake.
• None of the ready-made packages matches your quality panel for security, performance, quality, etc.
• You do not write open source software, and ready-made packages have an open source virus license; especially beware of AGPL and other similar licenses.

One of the frequently cited articles about this is by Joel Spolsky. Lately, he seems to have just written a fiery bait, but that was one of his standing early posts.

Note that you can also use a combined approach and use some pre-created things, such as recaptcha and gravatar, even from a custom solution.

Answer 2

Writing your own forum software is currently practically not useful. Available software is highly customizable. For example, you can create your own skin to match the layout of your site. You can integrate the login with the name of your website.

Writing your own forum is so difficult that the quality of your own software will be much less than that of phpBB or vBulletin. And do not forget about security errors, the mentioned software has been reviewed by a huge number of people. Until you achieve the same quality (functionality, stability, security, etc.), your site will be outdated and your forum software.

Once again, the current forum software is so adaptable and extensible that it makes no sense to create your own.

Answer 3

I think it depends a lot on your forum needs.

First of all, is the forum itself an important part of the function of your site? Or is it rather a "support forum"?

If this is important for your daily business, then it makes sense to write your own - or at least tweak the existing package a lot.

However, if you need this instead as a customer support tool or some general community revolving around your site, I would recommend looking at a completely different vehicle: something like http://getsatisfaction.com , or the Google group, or some of them.

(I am in no way affiliated with any of these sites).

Regardless of the solution you choose, I would recommend that you seriously consider how important the forum is. If this is not the case, I will not spend too much time setting up / setting up. Instead, focus on what your main draw is on your site, and spend most of your time improving it. Both you and your user base will be much happier with this, IMO.