improvements to the forum

Posted by Chris Murtland
Jul 10, 2018 at 04:45 PM

I originally wrote the forum software myself in 2006. It is basically in the exact same form as it was then. I do have a list of improvements I want to make, and welcome any suggestions. It’s always been a side project for me, but I want to spend more time on it at this point. The first thing I want to do is add SSL security and modernize the display so everything works better on different devices. Editing one’s own posts for corrections is also high on my list, along with basic formatting (probably Markdown), and the ability to include images in posts for things like screenshots.

Better search and categorization options are needed, but I think I would prefer a looser, tag-based approach rather than a strict top-down ordering. I like the idea that structure would emerge organically, as I can’t see us agreeing on what the top-level categories should be :-) I have also imagined a section that is separate from the forum that would allow the community maintenance of a database of software with fields for platform, features, etc., which could also link to relevant forum threads (and external URLs). In other words, giving each application its own detail page.

Anyway, I appreciate everyone’s participation. This is still the only forum where I read every post - and not because of my moderator duties. I enjoy reading it so much that I sometimes forget I have anything else to do with it!