Hi guys,
I'm a developer but I'm new to MyBB. After checking out almost all other forum scripts available for PHP I have to say that MyBB has perhaps the greatest potential and the reason for that is well written code with good balance of performance and transparency
HOWEVER
There is one huge exception. Storing templates in the database is just a very bad idea and having tables without primary keys is also bad but much lesser of a problem.
So I would like to suggest releasing of version 1.9 which would be just like 1.8.7 but with templates removed from the db and instead stored as files and dynamically called by controller and also adding primary keys to all tables.
The above code changes can be later used in version 2.0 and removing templates from the database would probably increase the performance by 30 to 50% particularly in application where database is on remote host which is common for many hosting companies.
Also the release of 1.9 can be easily designed in such a way that current users can upgrade without making any changes to the database. The templates that people already have can stay in the database but they simply won't be used and the upgrade will only involve dropping in new scripts into the htdocs folder and a new template file.
If you decide to adopt this idea then I would like to also contribute to the project.
All the best
P.S. There are many forums such as punBB or FluxBB which are much faster than MyBB but they are so badly written, that no sane person should ever touch them. Others such as Vanilla are such a massive bloatware that require huge dedicated servers to run any substantial size forum. Please don't f@ck it up in version 2.0.
Not being funny here, but what?
No primary keys on the tables?
Maybe try looking again at the structures, or, apply common sense. Database tables with no primary keys.
Hi there. Fun fact, I'm a developer. Maybe not for MyBB, but I have made my own software previously and am in the process of doing it *all* again. The link is in my signature, please feel free to berate me as you like.
Let's go through and make a list of what's wrong with your suggestions:
Quote:There is one huge exception. Storing templates in the database is just a very bad idea and having tables without primary keys is also bad but much lesser of a problem.
Gotta ask; where did you learn that? This is FOSS, not something that's being developed for Enterprise. It's not as though you want someone to have to upload a bunch of CSS/HTML files. To an extent, I agree, the way it is now is stupid, and it shouldn't be in the database. But the fact is it is, and it's not that bad. And, the biggest part: It works.
Quote:So I would like to suggest releasing of version 1.9
Ok, here you are:
https://github.com/mybb/mybb2
Disclaimer: If you actually use this in a site, I hold no responsibility.
Quote:The above code changes can be later used in version 2.0 and removing templates from the database would probably increase the performance by 30 to 50% particularly in application where database is on remote host which is common for many hosting companies.
You haven't read anything about MyBB 2.0 have you? It's a completely different architecture base (namely Laravel); so your assertion that it can indeed be used in 2.0 is not only misleading but it is also factually incorrect.
Quote:Storing templates in the database is just a very bad idea
We agree, which is why we're not doing it with 2.0 anymore.
Quote:having tables without primary keys is also bad but much lesser of a problem
Also suboptimal, but less of a focus for us right now compared to keeping the normal 1.8.x bugfixes rolling and 2.0 progressing. It would yield some performance gain, but we don't _really_ want to mess with the schema so much at this stage in the 1.8 lifetime. Even some of the smallest database changes we've made have led to some of the most unexpected support requests.
Quote:So I would like to suggest releasing of version 1.9
This definitely won't happen, and for a very specific reason that we learned with 1.8: maintaining multiple releases is really hard when your development team and time allocation isn't sufficient enough to match the added workload. Maintaining 1.6 and 1.8 alongside trying to work on 1.8 was really a pain for us, and 1.8 and 2.0 aren't even progressing quite as quickly as we'd like, so taking on another release line and dealing with whatever bizarre support issues arise as a result of any changes in that would take time away from what we're already trying to work on. Even the most mundane changes seem to break on people's awful shared hosting setups.
There have actually been debates amongst the team in the past as to whether or not releasing 1.8 at all was a mistake, since perhaps we'd have 2.0 by now if 1.8 didn't become a thing, so that was kind of a lesson to us that makes us less apt to just roll out another release for something like templating changes. We're trying to make internal process improvements for when 2.0 rolls around that will hopefully make rolling out something like a 1.9 more of a realistic proposition (fully testable code should ensure reliability; Gitflow workflow should make wrangling release lines much easier, for example).
Quote:The above code changes can be later used in version 2.0
2.0 is still considerably different from 1.x's templating engine, so it doesn't provide as much benefit to us as much as it might seem at first glance. 2.0's templating already works using a couple helpers, and with 1.x, we'd be manually writing a function to handle this, which wouldn't necessarily help us for 2.0.
2.0 is a complete rewrite, so virtually nothing we do in 1.x will help with developing 2.0 code at all.
Quote:If you decide to adopt this idea then I would like to also contribute to the project.
Even though these changes aren't going to be seen with 1.x, I certainly hope that you'll take a look at the
mybb2 repository on GitHub to see if there's anything interesting there that you have any interest in helping with.
Quote:Please don't f@ck it up in version 2.0.
We'll certainly try not to.
Thank you for your replies guys.
I see that you are determined to go with version 2.0 which is understandable.
Since you are planning to abandon the 1.8.7 code is it possible to get MIT license for MyBB version 1.8.7. only.
I would like to fork and continue the old branch under MIT license.
Thanks,
(2016-08-18, 06:59 PM)jimski Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you for your replies guys.
I see that you are determined to go with version 2.0 which is understandable.
Since you are planning to abandon the 1.8.7 code is it possible to get MIT license for MyBB version 1.8.7. only.
I would like to fork and continue the old branch under MIT license.
Thanks,
The code is under the LGPL, so you can fork it with the current license so long as you follow that license.
(2016-08-18, 07:09 PM)Euan T Wrote: [ -> ]The code is under the LGPL, so you can fork it with the current license so long as you follow that license.
I understand, however the person or persons who hold the copyright to the software have the power to grant MIT license in addition to any LGPL licenses that may be currently in force.
So my question is to the copyright holder(s) if he/she/they will be willing to issue a separate MIT license.
Thank you,
(2016-08-18, 07:30 PM)jimski Wrote: [ -> ] (2016-08-18, 07:09 PM)Euan T Wrote: [ -> ]The code is under the LGPL, so you can fork it with the current license so long as you follow that license.
I understand, however the person or persons who hold the copyright to the software have the power to grant MIT license in addition to any LGPL licenses that may be currently in force.
So my question is to the copyright holder(s) if he/she/they will be willing to issue a separate MIT license.
Thank you,
Can I ask why you want us to change the license? MyBB 1.8.7 is still under active support and will be for at least a year after 2.0 is released. The LGPL still allows you to do what you seem to want to do.
Also, it's a misunderstanding to believe that 1.8.7 will be the last release before 2.0. 1.8 will continue to be supported until 2.0's release and for some time (TBD) afterwards.
(2016-08-18, 07:43 PM)Josh H. Wrote: [ -> ]Also, it's a misunderstanding to believe that 1.8.7 will be the last release before 2.0. 1.8 will continue to be supported until 2.0's release and for some time (TBD) afterwards.
Thank you Josh, I stand corrected.
I still would like to fork the 1.8.7 under MIT license if possible.
Can you tell me who holds the copyright to the code. Thank you.