New Forum - dsExpress

Due to the recent PHP vulnerability exploit I had to disable the SMF forum and look for an alternative. I didn't want to go with any Node.js solutions either due to the frequent supply chain exploits there. Setting up a new forum in my environment and migrating was sufficiently troublesome it was actually easier to just write my own! With the help of a local AI coding agent, we created dsExpress! "ds" for Darkshade, "Express" in tribute to the BBS software I ran in the 90's, BBS Express.

dsExpress re-uses the existing SMF database, so if you had an account on the old system it is still valid! All the content is available, and my static generation scripts for the site (which pulled from the database) still work. I am slowly adding features as necessary.