This project was completed for COSC360 Web Development By:

• Adam Badry (92262062)
• Tanner Dyck (65670747)
• Joy Umejiego (81265373)

Title: UBC Forums (MyDiscussionForum Website)

Project Goal: Create a website for users to interact freely with other students and faculty at the university of british columbia. This application is similar to other forums such as Reddit and HackerNews.

Project Deliverables:

Terminology: - Forum admin is referred to as FAdmin. - Site admin is referred to as SAdmin. - User refers to any client acting outside of an admin context.

System Requirements:

MAJOR (Foundational):
    - Hand-styled layout with contextual menus. (i.e. when a user has logged on to the site, menus reflect the change). 
    - 2 or 3-column layout using appropriate design principles. (i.e. highlighting nav links when hovered over, etc) 
    - Form validation with JavaScript.
    - Server-side scripting with PHP.
    - Data storage in MySQL.
    - Appropriate security for data.
    - Site must maintain state. (user state being logged on, etc)
    - Responsive design philosophy. (minimum requirements for different non-mobile display sizes)
    - AJAX (or similar) utilization for asynchronous updates. (meaning that if a discussion thread is updated, another user who is viewing the same thread will not have to refresh the page to see the update)
    - User images (thumbnail) and profile stored in a database.
    - Simple discussion (topics) grouping and display.
    - Navigation breadcrumb strategy. (i.e. users can determine where they are in threads)
    - Error handling. (bad navigation)
    - Allow seperate forums for different clubs.
    

MINOR (Additional):
    - Search and analysis for topics/items.
    - Hot threads/hot item tracking.
    - Activity by date.
    - Collapsible items/treads without page reloading.
    - Alerts on page changes.
    - Styling flourishes.
    - Responsive layout for mobile.
    - Tracking comment history from a user’s perspective.
    - Accessibility. (Alt text for images, screen reader support?)

User Requirements:

Unregistered Users:
    MAJOR:
        - Allow users to register with an email and password
        - Allow users to view content without an account

    MINOR:
        - Allow Forum managers to "Pin" posts so that they are seen first when the forum is viewed.
        - AJAX posts marked as threads, so users may interact with each other live.
        - Collapsable threads.

Registered Users:
    MAJOR:
        - Show User login state through manipulation of UI elements
        - Allow Users to log out
        - Allow Users to delete their accounts
        - Allow users to like and dislike content.
        - Allow Users to sort posts by popular, user interaction, and date.
        - Allow Users to comment on posts.
    MINOR:
        - Allow Users to delete comments and posts

Administrators:
    MAJOR:
        - SAdmin should be able to ban users from the site.
        - FAdmin should be able to ban/kick users from forums.
        - FAdmin should be able to view/remove posts on forums.
        
    MINOR:
        - FAdmin should be able to invite people to moderate. 
        - FAdmin should be able to remove moderators that are newer than them.
        - FAdmin should be able to pin posts.