Why is user.joindate an 'int' field?
 

I am trying to format the sql but I can't because joindate, is a 'int' field

mysql> select DATE_FORMAT(joindate, '%m.%d.%Y') AS joindate from user limit 0,1;
+----------+
| joindate |
+----------+
| NULL |

Why would the unix timestamp be stored in a 'int' field?

the unix timestamp is the ammount of seconds that have been since 1.1.1970, thats why it's saved as an int-val.

because its too long to be a smallint field and a timestamp is always an integer since its seconds since the epoch.

Why not store it in a 'TIMESTAMP' field? Do you know any way I can use date_format on it, since its not in a 'TIMESTAMP' field.

Use the vbdate function: