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https://github.com/cblgh/cerca

lean forum software
https://github.com/cblgh/cerca

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lean forum software

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README 

        
# Cerca

_a forum software_



Meaning:

* to search, quest, run _(it)_

* near, close, around, nearby, nigh _(es)_

* approximately, roughly _(en; from **circa**)_



This piece of software was created after a long time of pining for a new wave of forums hangs.

The reason it exists are many. To harbor longer form discussions, and for crawling through

threads and topics. For habitually visiting the site to see if anything new happened, as

opposed to being obtrusively notified when in the middle of something else. For that sweet

tinge of nostalgia that comes with the terrain, from having grown up in pace with the sprawling

phpBB forum communities of the mid noughties.



It was written for the purpose of powering the nascent [Merveilles community forums](https://forum.merveilles.town).



## Features



* **Customizable**: Many of Cerca's facets are customizable and the structure is intentionally simple to enable DIY modification

* **Private**: Threads are public viewable by default but new threads may be set as private, restricting views to logged-in users only

* **Easy admin**: A simple admin panel lets you add users, reset passwords, and remove old accounts. Impactful actions require two admins to perform, or a week of time to pass without a veto from any admin

* **Transparency**: Actions taken by admins are viewable by any logged-in user in the form of a moderation log

* **Low maintenance**: Cerca is architected to minimize maintenance and hosting costs by carefully choosing which features it supports, how they work, and which features are intentionally omitted

* **RSS**: Receive updates when threads are created or new posts are made by subscribing to the forum RSS feed



## Config

Cerca supports community customization.



* Write a custom [about text](/defaults/sample-about.md) describing the community inhabiting the forum

* Define your own [registration rules](/defaults/sample-rules.md), [how to verify one's account](/defaults/sample-verification-instructions.md), and link to an existing code of conduct

* Set your own [custom logo](/defaults/sample-logo.html) (whether svg, png or emoji)

* Create your own theme by writing plain, frameworkless [css](/html/assets/theme.css)



To enable these customizations, there's a config file. To choose a config file, run cerca with

the `--config` option; the default config file is set to `./cerca.toml`.



```

cerca --config ./configs/cerca.toml

```



The configuration format is [TOML](https://toml.io/en/) and the config is populated with the following

defaults:



```TOML

[general]	

name = "" # whatever you want to name your forum; primarily used as display in tab titles

conduct_url = "" # optional + recommended: if omitted, the CoC checkboxes in /register will be hidden

language = "English" # Swedish, English and a few others. contributions for more translations welcome!



[rss]

feed_name = "" # defaults to [general]'s name if unset

feed_description = ""

forum_url = "" # should be forum index route https://example.com. used to generate post routes for feed, must be set to generate a feed



[documents]

logo =  "content/logo.html" # can contain emoji, ,  etc. see defaults/sample-logo.html in repo for instructions

about = "content/about.md"

rules = "content/rules.md"

verification_instructions = "content/verification-instructions.md"

```



Content documents that are not found will be prepopulated using Cerca's [sample content

files](/defaults). The easiest thing to do is to run Cerca once and let it populate content

files using the samples, and then edit the files in `content/*` after the fact, before running

Cerca again to see your changes.



Either write your own configuration following the above format, or run cerca once to populate it and

then edit the created config.



## Contributing

If you want to join the fun, first have a gander at the [CONTRIBUTING.md](/CONTRIBUTING.md)

document. It lays out the overall idea of the project, and outlines what kind of contributions

will help improve the project.



### Translations



Cerca supports use with different natural languages. To translate Cerca into your language, please

have a look at the existing [translations (i18n.go)](/i18n/i18n.go) and submit yours as a

[pull request](https://github.com/cblgh/cerca/compare).



## Local development



Install [golang](https://go.dev/).



To launch a local instance of the forum, run those commands (linux):



- `go run run.go --dev`



It should respond `Serving forum on :8277`. Just go on [http://localhost:8277](http://localhost:8277).



### Building binaries with reduced size 

This is optional, but if you want to minimize the size of any binary (whether it be the `cerca` executable 

or any of the binaries in [`cmd/`](/cmd/) follow the instructions below. Less useful for active development, more 

useful for sending binaries to other computers.



Pass `-ldflags="-s -w"` when building your binary:



```

go build -ldflags="-s -w" .

```



Additionally, run [upx](https://upx.github.io) on any generated binary:



```

upx --lzma cerca

```