Time for an update on my forum project.

Along with a fair few bug fixes, I have added or improved the following features:

Improved Admin Control Panel
Move, edit or delete posts and threads
Ban / Reactivate users
Edit user profiles
Change default forum settings (posts per page etc)

Features For Users
New post indicator to keep track of unread posts, which marks them as read once viewed
Improved BB code support
Auto-complete on private messaging form.

See it for yourself
http://forum.jackbmedia.co.uk

The first release of my forum project is now up and running.

http://forum.jackbmedia.co.uk

So far I have included :

Features For Users
Start and reply to conversations
Private Messaging between users
BB Code support for text formatting, URL formatting and adding pictures and youtube videos into posts
Users can upload avatars
User edited profiles with password resetting
Dynamic live error spotting on forms filled in incorrectly

Security
Secure anti-spam registration page
Client-side and server-side form validation
Dynamic live error spotting on forms filled in incorrectly
Secure login page with password encryption

I am still testing things at the moment but feel free to register and chat.

This is a template design that I created a little while ago. It is designed with a 'natural' feel and supplies a lot of content without feeling crowded.

This is a project that I have been working on for about a week. I will probably still be working on it for years to come!

I have decided to design and develop my own forum. I am coding the functionality from scratch, without any templates or pre written code. I have intentionally not researched how other forums are structured or coded to truly see if I can manage it with my own knowledge.

As a result, I am slowly going mad!



So far I have all the basic functionality of a forum completed. Users can safely and securely register, login, logout, add their own threads or add replies to other peoples threads. They can also update their own profiles if they choose.

For now, I have based the design on the Jack B Media 'Scrapbook' design as I like the contrast and simplicity of it.

My new work in progress is a system that remembers previous edits you have made to web pages.

I have lost count of the times I have edited the content of a web page with a content management system, submitted the new information, then realised I had edited the wrong parts or had broken links or images whilst editing.

I am working on a way around this so changes made can be un-done after the page has been submitted. Whether you decide to revert back to the pre-edit version after a minute, or a month, your old information will still be there waiting for you.
It will also be possible to remember numerous steps (with some exceptions).

I will update this post with more information as work progresses

The newest addition to this site is a time based CSS changer. At the moment, it is set-up to completely change the colour of the page every 2 hours, based on the current time of day.

The colours I have chosen are still likely to be changed. They are currently loosely based on the colours I would associate with different times of day.



Although this colour changing idea fairly limited, the method used to implement it could be used in many ways to serve many purposes. It can be set up to change elements of the CSS or page content using measurements of time or date (for example the time of day, month, season).

This is the new dumping ground for all of the things that fall out of my brain, that I currently have no use for.

Hopefully I will be able to make use of everything here in future projects but until then, they will remain here where I can develop them further.

I will be adding some of my current projects here over the next few days and back dating some of my past projects and development ideas.

This is a form that automatically adjusts itself depending on the way it is accessed.

I have used it on the Firebird Studios website to detect which day a user has chosen to book a rehearsal.

The form requests all the information relevant to that day from the website database then shows the user which times and equipment are available for hire for that specific date.



If the user accesses the form without selecting a date first, the form will change its formatting to allow the user to choose their own date from within the form.

This application of the form is quite specific but it could easily be modified to suit other purposes.

This comment system automatically detects the number of new comments submitted to a website.

If comments have been submitted, the site admin will be greeted with a coloured alert box integrated into the navigation of the site. The colour of the alert box varies in intensity depending on the number of new comments that are waiting to be read.



Once the comments have been read, they reclassify themselves as 'Pending' messages until they are either deleted or approved. I have also built in the ability to 'Mark Comments As Unread'.