Starting a Tracker
 

Hi Guys

i am just starting my own tracker and i decided to use tbdev

i am not a good coder

i know a little bit though

i need some recommendations from friends here how to start

i already tried bigjoos ( very nice but bugs fixing on it is beyond my abilities )

and tried main Source code ( too buggy )

and tried d3si version and i am Working on it its clean not heavy modded he just solved the most common bugs

So my ques. are : am i on the right way ?

Should i get a Pro Coder ?

Any Available References to work according to ?
( I mean like a Pack of a Must to install mods )
I have been Working on the staff panel for a while and i dont know Which functions to add exactly i saw panels with 20+ functions
but i cant sort which functions to add to the mod and which to the sysop. etc......

Can anybody help me with his Complete story of life and list of essential mods he used on creating his tracker

thats all

cheers and thanks

Mat

all source codes will be buggy dependant on server software and server configuartions. If you cant fix bugs well then yes get an advanced coder to help you. If you cant afford to pay for an advanced coder (most of the people that do it for free will probably already have loads of work on) then go with a well tested fully modded source.

DO NOT rely on tbdev mods to do what you want without security flaws or bugs. The mods on tbdev and most other coding forums are user submitted. The experience of the submitting user is not known (unless you find a mod by a respected member of a community of course).. therefore you will most likely run into problems with quite a few of the mods that you may try to install.

as for the "what to install" .. thats pretty easy .. get urself the passkey system if it already dont have one and any of the private tracker patches from tbdev. Once you've got those its all up too you. Do you want a site like TL or SCT where your heavily marketed towards bittorrent .. or do you want a more communal site where people of all backgrounds and experience levels can hang out. In the first instance then get only the mods you think you need and try to limit what you think you need to torrent related mods only.

In the second instance install whatever you like. Shoutboxes, inbox mods, games, arcades, more user settings. Anything and everything can be installed in the second instance.


However also remember the more you install the better your server must be ... Installing games arcades, shoutboxes, advanced forums and stuff and expecting it too run on a cheap $5 shared hosting account simply wont prove ideal.

actually i Shall get a very Good Server

i guess 4 GB rams min. .........etc.

And indeed my tracker should be towards content more than community like SCT or TL

i will warn you now .. do not go for a big dedicated server unless your pretty god damn rich .. do not expect donations to come flooding in when you pen.

When i first started torrenting there were only a few sites around compared to today. Thats because you only really had PHP experts opening a torrent site and possibly a few that really wanted to learn a lot more.

Now with the likes of xam's TS source and all the other premods torrent sites open up everyday of the week. So it gives users more choice. From this choice you get 2 problems:

1. Users hit n run on a load of sites.. since most of the new sites download from larger sites like SCT and TL and then upload to their own.. they all roughly have the same "scene" content and they get the stuff around the same time as most of the smaller sites. So with so many small sites users can afford to get banned from 100 sites since theres probably the same amount of sites opening each week or so.

2. Since theres more choice, getting users to "settle" at your site and become a part of it is much harder. And people will not donate to a site they either do not intend on staying at or a site which they expect wont last long.


Try to go with a fair priced and spec'd shared server to begin with. Use it to get your name out there.. You should be able to support 2,000 users on a "fair" shared server... Now i know you probably have ambitions of having 30,ooo users and 100,000 peers minimum but thats not gonna hapen overnight.. however your bank balance could become NULL overnight if your not careful.


But thats just a bit of friendly advice.. take it or leave it.. just dont go with a big server to start with unless your prepared to pay for at least 6 months of that server mostly on your own as donations are getting harder and harder to accumulate for newer sites

its not gonna be Scene

there are lots of scene trackers out there and i wont be able to compete

my idea will be new

and i am not the one who is Paying - the owner will - i am the manager of the project

but i sure will make a good use of your advice

Mat.

djlee gave u fantastic advice, now its up to you man :)
BTW I'm also in the mood of starting tracker site, and I'll take his advice!