[JJR512]

Essay on Making Hacks

When I first opened my message board, it was with UBB (this was in May 2000; I don't know if vBulletin was even around then). On Infopop's site, I read about the hacks that were available, and downloaded them, and installed them. I knew nothing at all about programming, but the hacks came with instructions that said exactly what to do. By knowing what the feature was that I was adding (the purpose of the hack), and by looking over the code that I was adding and replacing, I came to have a very basic understanding of how it all worked. I came up with some of my own ideas about new features or modifications, and realized that for much of what I wanted to do, I could find examples of similar things already in the code. Since I had already learned the basic idea of how it all worked, I was able to find the bit of code that worked the feature that was similar to what I wanted to do. By trial and error, I was able to learn more about the programming language, and was able to do bigger and better things.

I don't believe I ever created any of my own hacks for UBB. I modified some of the existing features and modified some other hacks. But I didn't get more into making my own hacks until after switching to vBulletin. With the new language of the program itself, as well as the separate and different language of the database system, I had to begin anew. But again, as I installed others' vB hacks, I came to have a basic understanding of the new system, and I was once more learning my own tricks.

My hacks, at first, were fairly simple, just doing basic things. As I created each one, and installed more and more from other fellow hackers, I learned more and more, and was able to do bigger, more complicated things. And I've never studied programming or taken any classes. I did buy a basic book on PHP, but to be honest, I never looked in it much. Aside from vBulletin itself, my greatest asset has probably been the PHP website (www.php.net), to use as a function and syntax reference. But, as I just indicated, my biggest resources in learning this has been vBulletin itself. I believe that anybody can install some of the hacks from other people here and use that experience to see how vB works. All you have to do is pay attention to what it is you're doing. Don't just blindly follow the directions; open your eyes and learn. Then, don't be afraid to try things yourself. Everything I learned I learned by trial and error. I learned how to install Windows after accidentally formatting my parents' hard drive. (So make backups first!)

So, don't be afraid to try things for yourself, and don't be afraid to ask for help.