Just a question about the ats site itself (never figured THIS would be my first post)

I'm just wondering if ATS is using a particular CMS, or Forum software; and if so which one?

The reason I ask is because i'm working on my own site, and LOVE how the ats site works.

reply to post by jjsr420


Right click, view source.

That doesn't tell me anything.

Its custom built by Skeptic Overlord.

Thanks, THAT answered my question. Wish I could talk to him, i'd love to get some advice.

I get curious how much it costs a month to run this. It has to be staggering to say the least, with all the traffic etc.

reply to post by jjsr420


Send him a U2U. Or wait. He may end up popping his head in here.

Well, hopefully he does. I've been at a dead end with the database design for my own site. Just can't figure out how I want to do it.

reply to post by sarra1833


its writen off in the cia budget dont worry

reply to post by jjsr420


Sorry to be the poo-poo on your platter, but ATS is a conglomeration of proprietary code. (ATS has been customized over the years, and I highly doubt SO is going to pop in and share all the coding he has done. The coding on ATS can never be duplicated, and ATS owns all it's coding.)

Secondly, if you have to ask what software ATS uses, you should probably not be setting up your own site until you do more research. Honestly, to look at the source code, you should be able to determine it's a mix of PHP and JS.

Learn the basics, start small, and see if it grows. That's my best advice. There's no such thing as an ATS style forum software that you can download and set-up on your own. ATS has been customized over years of use.

reply to post by engineer418


I think he bought a core off the shelf years ago, and has customized it over the years, especially with the advent of php.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


I think it far more likely he downloaded a open source forum application and customized it. Software like that is available all over,

ATS uses the LAMP technology stack, which while not being really robust, isn't too bad for ameture sites (sorry ATS, professional opinion). The only real faults for PHP (the framework being used) is it's lack of robustess, security, and OS "hooks". I won't coment on mtsql, the database server that runs ATS other than, "Well, I'll give you; it's SQL".

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
I think he bought a core off the shelf years ago

Simon Gray licensed a PHP-based forum system back in 2002 +/-

Almost exactly ten years ago this month, I started paying for the hosting, and started learning PHP (previously Cold Fusion and Lingo code-slinger).
April, 2003 - ATS Dedicated Server

I hated PHP and still pretty much do. Our long-term plans include a transition to Python and a responsive front-end.

But yes, the core code was cobbled and gobbled into something unrecognizable -- the majority of changes were new features and overhauls to decrease database calls (more efficient). We have a slew of server-side customizations to both Linux and Apache to help the not-the-best-it-could-be code run as efficiently as possible. It seems to work as we supported 162,000 users in one hour yesterday during the height of the manhunt for the remaining Boston Bomber. I had to disable some automated processes to ensure it kept running, but it did.


TLDR Version: The front and back end are both customizations of an old forum package, and it is essentially all custom now.

Woah, so basically that answered my question. I was wondering if I should use something custom coded, or use a cms or forum software. Ok, thanks SO.