wha about a php forum without sql something?

faedia

hello everyone!
im totally a newbie in seting up a forum.

these days i looked around the forums on internet and find most of them using php.
for me,im now in the mood of building one for myself n friends, the theme would be world languages study,

the problem is, my current webspace do support php but i haven't got any sql database yet,
so im here to inquiry if without sql i could build up a php forum?

or if sql db is a must, how much of space should i have??

thanks in advance!!

nudotfm

Yes of course it is possible to use flat file forums, i'm sure this was all that existed before db.

There are several such systems available as open source visit google.com. Haven't got any addresses of the top of my head.

The real question is size, how many posts, how many categories etc. Though their is a minimal overhead of db's in small scenarios, they come into their own with quantities of data.

If you choose the your own style flat file system, you will be re-inventing the wheel and a lot of clever ppl have developed super fast algorithms for searching and indexing that you will only have to recreate anyway.

Funnily enough I have just posted under code critique my nu forum 24k of php code mysql see this post for more info nu mini forum test request

Hope this helps

halojoy

Hello!

I have my own webserver, with xxSQL and whatever database I like.
Still I DO NOT use anything else but flat file data storage for forum
I have tested and setup with good results like 10 different flat without MxxxQL bulletin boards.
Boy, they are fast these small forums!

Maybe one of the best, and very easy to use is:

Easy Forum! is a good looking Discussion Board System written in PHP. Easy Forum! possesses a large number of useful features such as:
Extremely fast and easy-to-install
High performance, low bandwidth.
100% XHTML1.1/CSS2 compliant output
Full PHP3/PHP4/PHP5 compatibility
Up to 99 forums
Best viewed with any browser
Cell phones and PDA support via WAP
No MySQL database required
2 valid RSS/RDF feeds
Text formatting, HTML tags filter
Custom timezone settings
Different icons, smilies, 'http' links
Unrecognizable 'mailto' links
User registration
Backup/Restore, IP banning
Translated in 28 languages
10 pretty color schemes at choice
and many more..

Number 1.

It comes with 10 colors Themes that user can Set by a click!
Have a look at support forum:
http://hot-things.net/forum/

and download here:
http://hot-things.net/htedbs.php

==============================================

Number 2.

This little message board is VERY light weight flat text file forum,
and use another sort of showing threads, tree structure.
I have my own modded version ( I did some work! ) here:
Welcome to submit some test post!
http://213.100.118.115/bb/index.php

The original looks like this:
(not as good as mine, I have made better style and changed the code)
Test junkyard message board:
http://www.phpjunkyard.com/mboard/mboard.php

download from
PHP Junk-yard! ... but is some good small junk, there!
Free PHP message board

##############################################

If there is anything more you like to have.......
using flat file.
Just ask halojoy - I have 100 of free PHP flat software, in my harddrive!
I know all links for download and everything is FREE open source stuff.

you are welcome to Contact me:
flat file halojoy special contact script at
http://213.100.118.115/contact/

A lot of good flat stuff at my FLAT File Wiki
http://213.100.118.115/wiki/

/halojoy - just loves working with PHP FAT FLIES .......

😃 😃

halojoy

maybe you like

to get a nice flat files blog?

There are many blogs working good with flat files.
I found a very nice one:
I have my own version of 'sphpblog' , of course 🙂

Here is how this BLOG looks, at
Simple PHP Blog ... homepage
http://www.simplephpblog.com/index.php

This is the version, sphpblog-0.4.0, you should download and install ( 0.4.4 has many bugs ....!!!! )
Official Release sphpblog-0.4.0.zip 442kB

Happy blogging everybody
/halojoy - from his blog headquarter in sweden

😉

faedia

thank you!!

thank you nudotfm,
i visited the php forum that you gave link, its simple n i love that, but i did not find the "make a thread/post" button...am i a little stupid or something?
sorry for that, pls let me know if u see this reply later...

thank you halojoy!
youare so professional! rich resources you provided i would recommed them to my fellow friends, they are in need of flat n fast forums too!!
as for the blog, currently im using an asp+access one, i dont know if your simple php blog would be faster or not but ihave got many posts in that one, if my previous posts/db could be transferrd to simple php one i would love to take a tour for that🙂

another quenstion, with a php forum without sql db, what will the data be like? are they in .txt fomat or something? will there be any difficulty backup n restore them??

thank you 2 again!

halojoy

faedia wrote:
thank you!!
- I would recommed them to my fellow friends, they are in need of flat n fast forums too!!
- as for the blog, currently im using an asp+access one,
.... i have got many posts in that one, if my previous posts/db could be transferrd ....

with a php forum without sql db, what will the data be like?

are they in .txt fomat or something?

will there be any difficulty backup n restore them??

thank you 2 again!

You should defintitively keep your current blog, if it works alright.
- (not so easy mess with transfer of old data, if it even could be done ...)
But you could start a new blog trying Simple PHP blog version 0.4.0.
If you like.

It is mostly ordinary text files - you can edit using notepad or other simple texteditor.
To backup is only to download and save data file copy in your PC.
Or make another folder at your webspace '/my_backups/'

Sometimes, in flat php forums or blog, they call these text files.
threads.txt
but sometimes use other 3 letters extension:
threads.xxx - forumdata.myd - topic102.tpc
or whatever.
but can be opened and edited with your text-editor, whatever 3 letters in end.

########################################3
did a check on eforum25 ( Easy Forum version 2.5 )
has got one folder: /data/
and one folder: /backup/
so this flat file forum has a 'backup-feature' , that admin can use !

😉

quote from my first reply, about 'easy forum'

Extremely fast and easy-to-install

High performance, low bandwidth.

100% XHTML1.1/CSS2 compliant output

Full PHP3/PHP4/PHP5 compatibility

Up to 99 forums

Best viewed with any browser
Cell phones and PDA support via WAP
No MySQL database required
2 valid RSS/RDF feeds
Text formatting, HTML tags filter
Custom timezone settings
Different icons, smilies, 'http' links

Unrecognizable 'mailto' links

User registration

Backup/Restore, IP banning

Translated in 28 languages !!!!!!!!!!

10 pretty color schemes at choice
and many more...

😃 😃
hmmmm
there are forum using MxxQL that does not have all those features

halojoy

here is one happy flat forum user
that posted in support forum, yesterday 16 July 2005:
http://hot-things.net/forum/show.php?f=3&topic=20050715202258&u=2

Outstanding program! I had almost 0 problems seting it up
and I had no clue what I was doing.
Very kewl.
Anyway, I am looking for a users guide or help file
that would allow the new users to understand what the icons mean
and how to navigate/use the forums.
Is there something like this out there?
Or do I need to develop my own?
I was hoping to have the graphic and explanation of each clickable icon for the users.

Also, what about a spell checker for posts?

Thanks for everything and I love this program.
🙂

faedia

i setup a easy forum 2.5 now...i create a admin password and logged in...but dont know how to log out, neither did i see admin control panel...help

nudotfm

I think its more like a blog than a forum, two minute hack on the html stuff which i should spend some time on it's all templated so easy to change, the programming took the time. Thanks a million for joining. Probably by tomorrow you will be able to claim your free forwarding account. :-)

if you visit the forum underneath the topic is the short description click that to view threads, if there are none you have option to add, if multi threads there is a start thread link in the navigation. Same system for replies. 🙂

The question is my forum a forum or a blog?

Eamonn

faedia

its a forum of coz,but emm.. some people may consider it a toooo simple one..🙂