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POAn efficient database design for a simple forum using php and mysql
 

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  1. POAn efficient database design for a simple forum using php and mysql
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    <p>I am in the process of designing a database for forum functionality for my website.After doing some searching on SO and google, I have come up with the following design: <strong>User table</strong></p> <pre><code>Username : varchar(256) Password : varchar(256) </code></pre> <p><strong>Threads table</strong></p> <pre><code>ThreadId : int UserId : int, related to Users table Title : varchar(255) Date : timestamp, when a thread was created </code></pre> <p><strong>Posts table</strong></p> <pre><code>PostId : int ThreadId : int, related to Threads table UserId : int, related to Users table Date : timestamp, when post was made Title : varchar(255) - post title (optional) Body : text - the actual body of a post </code></pre> <p>Even though this serves my purpose, i can't help but think this is not very efficient, especially for selecting all the posts for a particular thread for which it would be necessary to traverse the entire table.</p> <p>From the top of my head, i can think of a design where the <strong>Users table</strong> and <strong>Threads table</strong> remain as they are, but instead of having a single table for the <strong>Posts table</strong>,I create a <strong>Posts table</strong> for every user having the same name as the user.This way retrieving all the posts belonging to a thread is a lot more efficient,since all I need is the userid of the person who started the thread.With this info I search the table with the same name to retrieve all posts for the specific thread.But is it a good idea to make the number of tables I create directly dependant on the number of registered users?What i also want to know is, which one of these designs will scale better,will be easier to manage? Is there a better database design for my requirement?</p>
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    1. USjust_a_coder
    1. USjust_a_coder
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    1. COCheck out: http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/how-to-create-a-phpmysql-powered-forum-from-scratch/ though obviously use PDO or mysqli instead
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      1. POAn efficient database design for a simple forum using php and mysql
      1. USLawrence Cherone
 

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