Forum built with the Zend Framework

Not for 'how-to' coding questions but PHP theory instead, this forum is here for those of us who wish to learn about design aspects of programming with PHP.

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xinnex
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Forum built with the Zend Framework

Post by xinnex »

Simple question really...

How would you architect a forum on top of the Zend Framework if you wanted other developers to integrate/reuse it in their own projects?
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CoderGoblin
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Post by CoderGoblin »

May be a simple question but the answer is very complex...

Can you give us some of your thoughts first to start the discussion ?
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xinnex
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Post by xinnex »

CoderGoblin wrote:Can you give us some of your thoughts first to start the discussion ?
Certainly! Sorry for being so vague..

The reason I'm asking is because I looked through the sourcecode of numerous open source forums (eg. phpBB).
And though some of them seemed reasonably well designed, the code wasn't exactly reusable.

Additional questions:
- How would you layout your folders to avoid namespace-conflicts?
- How would you design the data-access within such an application (still thinking about reuse)? dao?
- Would you design your own member-management or let it be up to the developers?

Separating businesslogic/presentation is of course a must too.. anything to note here?
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Christopher
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Post by Christopher »

You should take a look at what they are doing with Modules in the Front Controller are Router. They just re-arranged everything again, but the Module capability is supposed to support organizing sets of controllers. For DAOs, you probably want to just have put them in the Registry before the Front Controller runs. I am not sure about member management, though it may be good to supply a basic system that is extensible or replaceable.
(#10850)
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xinnex
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Post by xinnex »

Nice! thank you.. the module part is probably what I've been looking for.
(I'm not marking this solved just yet though..;))
zfdeveloper
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Post by zfdeveloper »

Hello,

I think one big problem -and we can't avoid it - when using Zend Framework is that is more resource intensive. Especially over database.

I have developed a site with ~4.000.000 monthly impressions. And lot of DB activity...

Before porting site to ZF server loading was fine, but now... I need to upgrade server... I added some facilities yes, but anyway...

Also, i know actually well forum applications, there are very resource intensive if lot of activity on them...

So, a bit i have doubts is a very good idea to base on ZF a forum.

Anyway, generally speaking most of forum engines are old (even if updated), and ZF is opposite... So may worth a try...
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Maugrim_The_Reaper
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Post by Maugrim_The_Reaper »

It's worth noting that until 1.0 is released there are no plans to engage in massive optimisation of the framework - something I think everyone recognises is needed, but not at the real cost of premature optimisation.
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xinnex
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Post by xinnex »

Optimization isn't, as noted, a concern before the API is stabile.
My goal first of all would be cleaner code, as that is my biggest hurdle with present forums.
zfdeveloper wrote:Anyway, generally speaking most of forum engines are old (even if updated), and ZF is opposite... So may worth a try...
Yes, hopefully a new codebase could do some wonders. Thank you for your insights concerning optimization, I will keep that in mind as a longterm goal.
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