Latest threads hack

[waherne]

Hello,

I have seen a lengthy discussion and praise of some hacks that allow the display of x number of most recent posts on a non-VB web page.

Am I missing something by oversimplying what is involved. My view on life is that it is inefficient to query the underlying database for the last 10 posts each time someone visits your homepage. In addition, searches are a drain on server resources.

My approach would be to set up a text file on my server and write each new post to it and delete the 11th post. I would then have my homepage (index.php) read the text file each time a visitor arrives and present the necessary information accordingly. Data in the text file would be held in 10 rows, an array would be created on reading it, and this would be read out in index.php.

Where new posts require moderator approval, a similar script to update the text file could be installed (writing to the text file when the post was approved).

Is this common sense or am I missing something big?

Willie