Looking for Unconventional Forum Software

October 30, 2007 8:04 AM

I want to create an online forum to discuss literally all topics. I'll be recruiting well-rounded people who can discuss lots of different sorts of issues in depth. The problem is: what software to use?

Traditional forum software would be awkward, because it would require tens of thousands of individual boards to anticipate every possible realm! One solution is to force order by adopting ask.metafilter's strategy of creating 20 or so main headings, but for various reasons I don't think this particular forum would slice easily.



It'll be a pretty active forum. So while "tagged forum" software (e.g. glorum.com, blogoforum.com) is soon to be the rage, I'm not sure it'd work for me, as presenting a cloud of tens of thousands of tags would help no one. Also, it will be an esoteric crowd with little interest in the prevalence of a given topic (they're inveterate driller-downers).



Ask.metafilter's sort of interface works well here, but I'd need at least some semblance of threading (this will be more conversational than ask.metafilter), more active tagging (admins and other users can add/change tags to ensure best results), and a much more enticingly browsable interface re: archives. The latter is particularly important; I'm anticipating pretty rich archives, and want to encourage users to really plunge into them, rather than stay glued to current topics. I'm not sure how to achieve this, however. Archive browsing is a forte of traditional forum software...but, again, traditional software would require categorizing infinity.



Is there anything out there besides classic forum software (vbulletin et al), cutting-edge tag forum software, and the "ask a question" model? One option I'm considering is Vanilla with the tagging plug-in. But I have a lingering hunch it'd be a worst-of-all-worlds solution rather than best-of-all-worlds.

posted by jimmyjimjim to computers & internet (14 comments total)

How does one get invited to join said forum (hint, hint)?
posted by HotPatatta at 8:20 AM on October 30, 2007

What you're proposing sounds a lot like Barbelith. You may want to look at the setup of their site (which runs on proprietary software, IIRC) for ideas.
posted by danb at 8:24 AM on October 30, 2007

I also want an invite to this site!

The ILX code is open source, and while broken down into boards has an "all site" page that combines them into one. Perhaps some general topic headings as boards, then everyone can look at the all site page?

It doesn't have tagging, though, and the archives are mainly just by date or search. It's on the Ask A Question model, but that's mostly for form.
posted by bonaldi at 8:57 AM on October 30, 2007

Two thoughts, one helpful and one not.

For an infinitely expanding forum base the most appropriate method would be to use the tags as the organizing criteria. Instead of a menu or list of forums, the user would click on tags to get to the forums (or discussion threads) that apply to that (or those) tag(s). Effectively this is putting the search first: the user will click on the search results they want to return the forums of their choice.

Secondly, this really sounds like putting the cart before the horse. Google "premature optimization" to learn a little bit about tackling all conceivable problems before you have them. In short, get the users and discussions going first, then worry about the problems that ensue. It'll ultimately be a smaller task.
posted by rhizome at 9:11 AM on October 30, 2007

I've thought about this before and it occurred to me then that since the aim is to foster free and open discussion of literary subjects the best solution would be something generic but powerful. Start with a few strong categories but rely on tagging to draw out the relationship between specific discussions. This way you don't need a billion and three categories and you aren't dictating what or how your users will construct their dialog. You are merely facilitating; by providing a forum (as in public space) for conversation and tools for self regulation you let the users do the heavy lifting. Not unlike the way Metafilter appears to have evolved. Something like Joomla has the power and relative ease of use for what you need.
posted by Grod at 9:12 AM on October 30, 2007

In short, get the users and discussions going first, then worry about the problems that ensue.

Best advice in the thread.
posted by mkultra at 9:18 AM on October 30, 2007

I'd tend to agree about premature optimization, but I've also seen how the limitations of a technology platform influence both discourse and community. I think the op is right to consider whether starting out with ordinary forum software will leave him with something that never feels all that different from a regular forum.
posted by Good Brain at 9:26 AM on October 30, 2007

I'll surf Barbelith, Joomla, and ILX a little later, but many thanks in advance. Grod, it won't be quite as chatty/freeform as I've made you think (I'm sparing you all lots of extra details!). It'll be more pragmatic, but more loosely pragmatic than ask.metafilter.

rhizome, what you're describing is the sort of tagged forum software I described (and noted the shortcomings of) in my OP. As for putting cart before horse, what I'm doing - selecting software to provide the best framework - is hardly "tackling all conceivable problems before you have them". It's a fundamental decision that ought to be skillfully made. In any case, I'm not really looking to examine my basic assumptions. I'm pretty comfortable with them....I'm just looking for some software advice. :)

To those asking about invites, this forum will be private, and thus not competing with anyone, including Metafilter, but it'd still feel sleazy for me to recruit people from this community to join mine (though needless to say it wouldn't be either/or in any case). I may start a thread on Metafilter Talk to discuss the ethics of that.
posted by jimmyjimjim at 9:41 AM on October 30, 2007

vanilla might be worth checking out for you
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 10:52 AM on October 30, 2007

crap i'm a doofus, just read the part that you already liked vanilla
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 10:53 AM on October 30, 2007

How much do you want do or pay to do? 'cause it seems to me to that you'd want a pretty flexible codebase to start with, which you can later build on.

ExpressionEngine, a CMS/Blogging package with an intergrated forum, fits the bill, but it'll cost ya and someone would need to do the custom development work.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:08 AM on October 30, 2007

I don't know the answer, but this may help you compare some choices: www.forummatrix.org
posted by sprocket87 at 1:05 PM on October 30, 2007

Unfortunately none of the software packages recommended above are anything but the same-old, though some a bit more elegant than others.

I guess the answer is: there's nothing new under the sun out there.
posted by jimmyjimjim at 4:25 PM on October 30, 2007

....but thanks, Brandon, if I do decide to tweak something up myself, ExpressionEngine definitely seems like a good base to build on. Much classic forum software is nightmarishly poorly written and the code's always super-disorganized, making customization a nightmare.
posted by jimmyjimjim at 4:40 PM on October 30, 2007