Amass forum software

[jauburn]

I was astonished today to see that the owner of photography-on-the-net forum (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/index.php) created his own forum software from scratch. He's calling it Amass, and I'm impressed (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1310760). I don't believe it's available to anyone.

Is creating your own forum software (this well) a work of creative madness or just madness?

 

[RobParker]

I don't get how there are so many "0 query" pages but it seems impressive. Not overly keen on the style but that's cosmetic.

 

[Ernest L. Defoe]

Yeah but it's not very responsive. Doesn't play well on mobile.

 

[Pekka]

I don't get how there are so many "0 query" pages .

AMASS engine runs 70% with Redis. More info (old and a bit outdated in in some places, though): http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1310760
About styling: it is version 1.0 (a few days old) and styling will get more attention soon.

Keep using Xenforo (is probably very good software), but I needed something else and was apparently crazy enough to do it

 

[RickM]

Surprised you've gone for such old programming practices.. How come you've not gone for an MVC structure, or friendly URL's? Please tell me you're at least using an ORM, for the sake of your members security if nothing else.

 

[Digital Doctor]

Looks like vb3

 

[Pekka]

Surprised you've gone for such old programming practices.. How come you've not gone for an MVC structure, or friendly URL's? Please tell me you're at least using an ORM, for the sake of your members security if nothing else.

Well, as you apparently have not coded your own forums so as there is no common frame of reference I can not discuss that with you ))

 

[Pekka]

Looks like vb3

The old site was vb3 (was not changed at all in several years) and so this new one had to initially look similar and have total URL compatibility to ease the change pains of the oldies. The internals are very modern, though, so what you see is only about 10% of what you will get

 

[SilverCircle]

Surprised you've gone for such old programming practices.. How come you've not gone for an MVC structure, or friendly URL's? Please tell me you're at least using an ORM, for the sake of your members security if nothing else.

What exactly has an ORM to do with security? It's a myth that you cannot write safe code with plain SQL. Prepared statements combined with type safety are really all you need, and even without such helpers, it's perfectly possible to write secure database code. It just requires more knowledge, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Been there, done that. No ORMs back then.

Besides, MVC is not the holy grail nor is it a requirement for a modern web application. It just reduces the work and simplifies things, but usually adds overhead through the framework. I would recommend to any programmer to begin with *simple* patterns and keep fingers off frameworks, because frameworks hide way too many essential things. Seen lots of programmers who don't even know how to write a single PHP page without using 5MB of framework code behind it.

 

[RickM]

Well, as you apparently have not coded your own forums so as there is no common frame of reference I can not discuss that with you ))

Actually I have, many many moons ago in the days before frameworks. I've been using PHP daily for over 10 years now.

Apologies, reading my last comment back I came across as a bit of a **** - didn't mean it that way at all. It's awesome that you've made a complete system for your community. I was just curious on the choices of coding, that's all.

 

[RickM]

What exactly has an ORM to do with security?

The ORM itsself - little to nothing. Obviously they do use prepaired statements, which is a given if you want to prevent XSS attacks. Using existing, well known, secure ORM's is a great (And quick) way of ensuring very easy and secure database interaction.

Besides, MVC is not the holy grail nor is it a requirement for a modern web application. It just reduces the work and simplifies things, but usually adds overhead through the framework.

Swings and roundabouts. Why do you think pretty much every single major PHP script runs on an MVC framework these days? It's become an 'unofficial standard', even more so with the likes of composer and the PHP-FIG.

You'll be hard pressed to find a major PHP project these days (that isn't stuck on legacy code) not using an MVC based framework. Even the likes of Drupal and PHPBB now run on MVC frameworks, mostly using Symfony components via composer.

I would recommend to any programmer to begin with *simple* patterns and keep fingers off frameworks, because frameworks hide way too many essential things. Seen lots of programmers who don't even know how to write a single PHP page without using 5MB of framework code behind it.

Of course, but that's fairly irrelevant given we're talking about a complete PHP based forum platform here. Hardly the work of a beginner.

 

[Pekka]

Actually I have, many many moons ago in the days before frameworks. I've been using PHP daily for over 10 years now.

Apologies, reading my last comment back I came across as a bit of a **** - didn't mean it that way at all.

Not taken that way, really

It's awesome that you've made a complete system for your community. I was just curious on the choices of coding, that's all.

I just don't feel that I need something, an extra layer, between me and the "actual code". I also do not need to have Scrum sessions with this one man team, or have ways to distribute the component work between the one man team

Building a commercial software like Xenforo with a team of coders requires a different approach for sure.

 

[euantor]

The ORM itsself - little to nothing. Obviously they do use prepaired statements, which is a given if you want to prevent XSS attacks. Using existing, well known, secure ORM's is a great (And quick) way of ensuring very easy and secure database interaction.



Swings and roundabouts. Why do you think pretty much every single major PHP script runs on an MVC framework these days? It's become an 'unofficial standard', even more so with the likes of composer and the PHP-FIG.

You'll be hard pressed to find a major PHP project these days (that isn't stuck on legacy code) not using an MVC based framework. Even the likes of Drupal and PHPBB now run on MVC frameworks, mostly using Symfony components via composer.



Of course, but that's fairly irrelevant given we're talking about a complete PHP based forum platform here. Hardly the work of a beginner.

Ehhhm, prepared statements do NOTHING to prevent XSS. They're meant to stop SQL injections...

Looks (from first impressions) like a nice solution. I always like to see sites trying to break the norm.

 

[keith.arvixe]

I have to admit I am impressed you took the time to create something for your community. It's hard to find those self starters these days. Looks good and I will follow to see you progress

 

[Pekka]

Just FYI: version 1.1 is now online. Changelog is in http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1416019 It is still very "reduced" for guests (no search etc), so it would be worth while to log in to see for all the features.