Message Board Featurelist

[Brian the Automator]

Authentication

- Default database tables will exist in which user data will be stored.

- A plugin architecture will be implenented so that users can be authenticated via a different source.

 

Categorization

- Forums may be organized by category

- Forums may be ordered within categories

- Categories may be organized

- Categories can both contain categories and forums

 

Thread organization

- Posts in a thread will be tied to a parent message, unless that post is the first post in the thread (having no parent).

- Users will be able to seamlessly switch between a flat view of a thread, and a tree view showing each response in relation to its parent

 

Thread versioning

- Whenever a thread is edited, the system will keep a full history of each modification. The last editied date/user will appear in the post and will hyperlink to a complete edit history of the thread. Normal users will only see the times edited, while moderators will see a complete version history.

 

user-to-user messaging

- Users may send each other private messages

- Users may attach files to private messages

- Users may block messages from a particular user

- Users may create mailing lists to send messages to multiple users

- Inboxes may be turned off to receive messages from normal users, but may receive messages from the system (in relation to planned outages) or moderators.

 

Moderation

- Moderators will have full rights to edit posts

- A list of rules will be set up, so a moderator can flag the offending message with a rule violation and directly link the user to the rule offended.

- Automatic policies may be set up to perform different actions on users (banning from various resources for various time periods) based on rule violations.

- Messages may be sent to a "quarantine" in case moderators need to discuss the fate of a message, and can seamlessly be inserted back into the forum if no rule violation is assessed. A shadow of the message may or may not remain in the forum.

 

Notifications/Feeds

- Email notifications may be opted in for:

- All replies to a given thread

- All replies to your posts/replies

- Inbox messages

- Replies can be made directly via email for any of the above items.

RSS feeds will exist for

- all new threads

- all new threads within a given category

 

Searching

- The ability to search will exist for _all_ messages, with no time limit.

- Search criteria will include: user name, pre-defined user group, subject, message, posted date range, updated date range, forum category, and specific forum.

- Searching will be able to handle wildcards and other search language expressions for advanced users.

 

Filtering

- Posts can be categorized so that users may filter posts in/out on certain subject matters (i.e. - articles, transactions, game threads).

- Users can set up ignore lists to ignore certain posters.

- Users can ignore a users' IP address (the IP address will not be made publicly, but the system will attach users together via IP addresses).

- Users can differentiate ignores between being public and private. If the ignore is private, the ignore user will not be able to see the fact that he is being ignored. If the ignore is public, the ignore user can configure whether he/she sees if he/she is ignored.

 

Third party integration

- Web Services will be set up to be able to perform various administrative tasks from other web sites/applications

- Feeds will be able to be displayed in the users' browser to be displayed dynamically while browsing the forums.

- Ability to add tooltip popups to terms in posts and link them to external sources.