bbs: A Simple Online Forum Powered by Prolog

The bbs project is an uncomplicated yet effective online forum system developed using Prolog. Experience its functionality by visiting bbs.soclearn.org. This platform currently supports creating threads and replying to existing threads, making it ideal for discussions and content sharing.

Key Features:

• Thread creation and replies

Roadmap:

Future enhancements on the horizon include:

• Implementation of tag support
• Ability to upload files
• Moderation tools for better management

Setting Up Your Own Instance:

To easily run your own instance of bbs, utilizing Docker is the recommended approach. Use the following command to start the service:

docker compose up

Following that, initialize the database with these PostgreSQL commands:

psql -U postgres -h localhost -c 'CREATE DATABASE bbs;'
psql -U postgres -h localhost -d bbs -f migrations/init_db.sql

If opting for a non-Docker setup, ensure that PostgreSQL is configured correctly—Docker can still be used just for the database by running:

docker compose up db

Next, open scryer-prolog and execute:

?- [server].
?- run.

It is crucial to utilize the latest version of Scryer Prolog, as the prior stable release (v0.10.0) is affected by a bug hindering the built-in HTTP server's functionality.

Acknowledgements:

The development of this project is supported by the contributions of community members, including Adrián Arroyo for his work on postgresql-prolog and teruel, along with the dedicated developers of Scryer Prolog. Their efforts have been invaluable to the success of this forum.