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CodingForums
Having trouble with scripting? Visit our help forum to get the answers you need.
This is a 
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The evolution of the JK Help Forum
CodingForums.com
has been an integral part of JavaScript Kit from one form to the next for
over 8 years now. So how did it get
started? Which forum programs did we use along the way before settling with what we're
using now? Here's a quick scroll down memory lane.
Back in early 1998, when JavaScript Kit didn't even yet have it's own domain name
yet, we
implemented our very first forum. We were getting many email questions from surfers, many
of which were duplicates (inquiring about something similar to another question). Setting
up a forum and answering the questions there allowed us to hit many birds with one stone,
so to speak. The server at which JavaScript Kit was hosted at at the time did not
allow us access to a CGI-BIN, so we had to resort to using a forum service. The one we
chose was Inside The Web (now defunct). Like most forum
services, the setup process was extremely fast and intuitive, and before you know it, the
first JavaScript Kit Help Forum was born, with people pouring in to post questions on
their latest JavaScript projects.
In mid 1998, JavaScript Kit moved to a much more robust, powerful
server, with full access to all the server resources, including a CGI-BIN. As soon as the
resources to host our own forum became available to us, we knew it was time to ditch the
forum service and take things over ourselves. Running our own forum gave us infinitely
more freedom on the customization/ personalization of the interface, features, layout of
the forum etc. After looking around, we rested on the forum program
Discus. Developed by a student and professor
at Hope College, MI, USA, Discus is a free, solid, and extremely easy to install forum
program that carried us through until the end of 1998.
As the forum grew in popularity and into an indispensable part of JavaScript
Kit, we were ready to commit to a commercial-strength program with all the goodies
one could ask for from a forum program, along with a more intuitive, attractive interface.
After spending a month researching the various commercial forum programs out there, we
selected InfoPop's CGI/ flat file based
"Ultimate Bulletin Board (UBB)" for its features and attractive look and
style. UBB served our needs well for close to 3 years, though the problem
with flat file based forums is basically a ticking time bomb waiting to
explode as the size of the forum and number of messages increased. After 3
years, backing up message posts became a nightmare, and performance started
to degrade more and more due to the inherent limitations of flat file
systems. Time for yet another overhaul.
In 2002, we made the ultimate decision to just declare
"Abandon ship! abandon ship!" as we registered a new domain called
CodingForums.com specifically to host the forums section of JavaScript, with
a much more robust forum software to boot that is
vBulletin. Powered by PHP and mySQL,
vBulletin is much more robust than UBB and backing up information for the
possible "D" day was a snap too. The enormity of migrating and properly
integrating the old posts from UBB to a new forum software was just too
much, so we basically left it for dead as we started completely fresh,
requiring all existing members to register again and just accept the new
blank forum, no questions asked. Well, luckily the new features and ease of
use of vBulletin was enough for most members to want to stick around.
CodingForums.com is now an indispensable part of JavaScriptKit.com, and a
whole new community has been created thanks to it.
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