Here is the list of features I think should be in a normal forum. I hope that this would be the best forum in the world.

1. An upload file function in the post, and a download function that can be set for download for certain users, such as guest cannot download but members can.
2. A poll function for all user. I've tried democracy but member's cannot create polls! I know this is just an experimental though. Why not try the lester's wp-polls and make it a plugin for forum? Link
   
3. A rating for a topic. Similarly, a rating will tell how good is a content. 1 star to 5 stars. Example plugin for this. Link
   
4. BB Codes for forum. As you can see, most forum uses BB codes instead of TinyMCE. Therefore, BB codes will definitely a better choice. Wikipedia Link: Link
5. Spoiler for post. Certainly, if we have some answer's to the question, let's say, “What is the best forum plugin for wordpress?” The person can guest before looking at the answer. Then in the spoiler, we can input “Simple: Press Forum” as the answer for the question.

Cheers~

Regards,

HeHeHunter

lol… we need a patch just to fix these emoticons… hehehe

1. Not on my list! I'll add it but there are some serious concerns around doing this.
2. I went with democracy because it is lightweight. Other polls plugins tend to be as big as the forum plugin. I would perhaps prefer to see about changing code to enable users to create polls as opposed to go with anything bigger. I want to keep this simple….!
3. Ratings - OK. I can see the appeal to some users.
4. BB Code. I don't think this is going to happen in any forseeable future. I hunted for a good BBCode editor and couldn't fnd one. If anyone knows of a decent BBCode plugin editor then let me know and I will investigate.
5. Same as 3 - can see the appeal.
6. Fixed in the first patch that will be released.

Dear Mr. Papa,

I mean not to make the developer to be busy. It's just a suggestion. I just write how I feel to improve the work of his plugin.

And to be sure, I am not a GamerZ fan. This is because I couldn't find a better example. I am sorry.

Normally, I test the plugin via localhost. Therefore, I do not own a site. However, the forum plugin works best.

Dear Yellow Swordfish,

Here is an example for file upload: Link

I am sorry for #2. My main message for it should be, A poll function for 'all user' and not to change the poll plugin. The democracy poll plugin works good enough.

As for BB Codes, maybe you can check out the tutorial from here.

I am sorry if you see me as a rude guy. I never want to burden you with a list of features. I am just trying out the plugin and see how good it works, then I will test other wordpress plugin. By the way, keep up the good work.

Thanks.

Regards,

HeHeHunter

Edit: Additional features that I could think of.

Auto merge for a post. Example like Mr. Papa posted after me and the third post. I think the idea of merging both post would be good. Example

Show last edit: Sample Image:

Yellowfish,

Thank you for the plugin. I truly love to see how the forum will look like next.

Regards,

HeHeHunter

I would love to have a spoiler option too - I modified one of my forums using the code option (which i have no use for) and the result can be seen here - but i don't know enough about these things to know if i've messed anything up (I suspect I have because I'm getting “access denied” errors when I try and do stuff like delete posts) - and of course, as soon as i upgrade all those alterations will be lost - so it'd be really nice to have. I run a number of fan sites for movies and things and am loving these forums - this one little thing would be a big improvment for me - and it could probably be incorporated pretty easily - hell if i can macgyver something together myself it's gotta be easy!

just wanted to check what the status on the poll function is.

If I enable democracy, the user needs to go to the backend of wp, create a poll and remember its id, then manually insert it into the forum, right?

no nice button directly from the forum to create a poll? maybe just a button to select from a list of polls, so the user won't have to manually type the poll tag?

thx Andy for the quick answer.

I just came up with another request/question to which I could not find an answer in this forum:

Is it not possible to synch the wordpress user's profile with his forum user profile? I mean why make people enter their details twice if we could synch them? I.e. you have to enter your name, surname, website and Nickname twice once in the blog profile and once in the forum profile….

this does surely not sound like much trouble to me!?

The profiles have always been the same since the very first version…

As to avatars I think the best answer is not yet. WP have not made up their mind where they are going with this as far as I can see. I am willing to revisit further down the road though.

Plus quite a few users are now using their forum avatars in their blog. And if you are using gravatar.com it makes no difference.

The 'display name' is the only bit of the profile data that the forum alows users to override. When a new user is created the display name for the forum is set to the same one as to the WP blog. But the forum holds it's own copy. Sorry - missed that. All other profile data is the same. The forum did this from the beginning for Admin but V3 opened it up for all members.

we already have a trac ticket open to consider adding sub-forums…  currently unknown if they will make into 3.2 or not…

good to see ya again Bernard!