tcgm / Forumcord

Forumcord

Forumcord is a WPF-based desktop application built with .NET 8, designed to provide a Discord-like experience for interacting with various forum software (XenForo, myBB, phpBB) through an embedded Chromium browser.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Usage
• Project Structure
• Customization
• Contributing
• License

Features

• Embedded Chromium Browser: Uses CefSharp for displaying and interacting with forums.
• Custom Forum Sources: Add, edit, and manage multiple forum sources with custom icons.
• Persistent Data: Maintains cookies, history, and other browsing data across sessions.
• Customizable Alerts: Collects and displays user alerts from forums.
• Context Menus: Custom context menus for managing forum sources.
• Favicon Fetching: Automatically downloads and caches favicons for forums.

Prerequisites

• .NET 8 SDK
• Visual Studio 2022 (or any other IDE supporting .NET 8 and WPF)
• CefSharp.Wpf NuGet package

Installation

Using Visual Studio

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/tcgm/Forumcord.git
   cd Forumcord

2. Open the Project in Visual Studio:

   • Launch Visual Studio.
   • Select File > Open > Project/Solution.
   • Navigate to the cloned repository folder and open Forumcord.sln.

3. Restore NuGet Packages:

   • Visual Studio should automatically restore the required NuGet packages when the solution is opened. If not, right-click on the solution in the Solution Explorer and select Restore NuGet Packages.

4. Build the Project:

   • Press Ctrl+Shift+B to build the solution or go to Build > Build Solution.

5. Run the Application:

   • Press F5 to run the application or click on the Start button.

Using .NET CLI

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/tcgm/Forumcord.git
   cd Forumcord

2. Install Dependencies: Restore the NuGet packages required by the project:

   dotnet restore

3. Build the Project: Build the project to ensure all dependencies are correctly configured:

   dotnet build

4. Run the Application: Start the application:

   dotnet run

Usage

1. Add Forum Sources:

   • Use the interface to add new forum sources by specifying the name, URL, and optionally, an icon path.
   • Right-click on a source to edit or remove it.

2. View Alerts:

   • Alerts from forums are collected in the background.
   • Open the Alerts panel to view all collected alerts, with new ones highlighted.

Project Structure

• Forumcord/
  • App.xaml / App.xaml.cs: Application entry point.
  • MainWindow.xaml / MainWindow.xaml.cs: Main window containing the browser and source list.
  • SourceEntryControl.xaml / SourceEntryControl.xaml.cs: Custom control for displaying forum sources.
  • EditSourceWindow.xaml / EditSourceWindow.xaml.cs: Window for editing source properties.
  • AlertsControl.xaml / AlertsControl.xaml.cs: UserControl for displaying user alerts.
  • Models/Source.cs: Model representing a forum source.
  • Helpers/: Contains helper classes and methods (e.g., for downloading favicons).

Customization

• Default Icons:

  • The default icon for sources is forumwhite.png. You can replace this with your own image.
  • Ensure the image is set as an Embedded Resource in the project properties.

• Context Menus:

  • Customize the context menu by editing the OpenContextMenu method in SourceEntryControl.xaml.cs.

• Alert Collection:

  • Modify AlertsControl.xaml.cs to customize how alerts are collected and displayed.
  • Update the alert URLs and parsing logic as necessary for different forum software versions.

Contributing

1. Fork the Repository:

   • Create your own fork of the repository on GitHub.

2. Create a Branch:

   • Create a new branch for your feature or bugfix.

   git checkout -b feature/your-feature

3. Commit Your Changes:

   • Commit your changes with a descriptive message.

   git commit -am 'Add new feature'

4. Push to Your Fork:

   • Push the branch to your forked repository.

   git push origin feature/your-feature

5. Submit a Pull Request:

   • Open a pull request on the original repository.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU v3.0 License. See the LICENSE file for details.