Hi guys,

This forum is very interesting and I couldn't wait to post something, so please forgive me if this has been asked before!

I decided to build my own forum instead of using one of the prepackaged units such as phpbb or vbulletin. I've tinkered with phpbb and even wrote a few mods for it in the past, but I really wanted to offer my users something different, so I decided to build my forum from the ground up so that I would have maximum versatility. I eventually intend to add various modules that normally aren't found in forums.

Any cons to building your own forum (except for the time it takes to build it)? Mine is almost complete, it's functional right now, I just have some major tweaks that I have to work in before going live.

I based it a lot off of a popular forum that I go to on a daily basis and normally has around 600 registered users on line at a time. In the hobby, it's the biggest forum that I have found. I'm making my forum for industrial woodworkers.

Wow! That's a big undertaking. I commend you on your efforts. I can't think of a reason why it would hurt to have your own custom solution. If anything, it would make your site more unique and make you stand out from anyone who can just throw up a phpBB forum on a $1.99/mo webhosting plan and use similar forum titles as you.

The only thing that I would definitely recommend is to keep placement of features in similar spots as you'd find them on phpBB, vBulletin, or Invision. In other words, forum goers always look for the "new thread" button on the top left and bottom left of the thread listing. If they can't find it there, they may get confused, or at least confused enough to be a hindrance to site usability. And so on and so forth.

My GUI is very simple although it doesn't conform exactly to what people are used to. The mission of the forum is to slingshot some other services that I intend to offer. I am not going to just offer a forum, I plan to pioneer some unique services that the woodworking industry hasn't ever seen.

I did encode a START HERE button that takes people directly to a list of threads in chronological order.

Sounds like you have it all worked out. Good luck with it! However, I still stand my ground ... Unique features are great, but keep existing features where people are used to seeing them on forums. It will make all the difference!

One of the modules that I intend on integrating is PPC advertising similar to google's adwords. People aren't going to bid on search queries, they will bid on individual spots. I plan on starting the bidding at $.10 per click and let the market for them adjust the advertising costs accordingly. This way advertisers that are leary about advertising may actually sign up. If a spot does really well, then people will have to bid for that premium position to get it.

I don't currently have a credit card terminal or payment gateway set up, so initially I intend on processing through Webgods forgive me Paypal.

Wow, nice idea. Goodluck with it all.

jack

that's the one thing I was thinking too. A new forum would really add some value to your site I think, but make sure new members who are ultra-familiar with phpbb and vB (like me) can still find the buttons they need.

i coded myself a new forum suiting my requirements. Make sure that you make your forum search friendly and that is professional,very simple and easy to read. Make sure that you add signature which i believe very important. I decided not to use signature, in my forum but it backfired - nobody posting in my forum.

I've fooled around with coding a whole forum. It's too tough for me But goodluck with it. I rather have my own unique, professional looking forum than another vbulletin forum.

do you think that having professional forums like vbulletin would bring you more adsense revenue than handcoded forum? because from my experience my handcoded forum is bringing more clicks. i am still in dilemma of whether to keep my existing forum or switch to vbulletin.