Add custom fields to threads and posts?

[trgreen]

I run a community site that is geographically oriented, in an area with 7 different cities or counties, all of whom use the forum. Rather than having way too many forums ("Dining" for each of 7 cities, "Schools" for each of 7 cities, etc.), I'd like to just have forums like "Dining" and "Schools," and then let the user choose which city, if any, this post or thread refers to, when they create it or respond. I do not want to use sub-forums - I'm trying to unite the area, not separate it by breaking forums into cities.

I guess what I'm asking for is another field (or fields) associated with each post. Dropdowns, check boxes, text entry, etc. Something I could then search for and display by later. Maybe put them between The "Title" and "Message" text areas. Am I asking for a Taxonomy for posts, but one that is beneath the forum level? I don't know... like all of us, I'm learning as I go.

I'm fairly competent in PHP and MySQL, but I am no means an expert. I took a look at "newthread.php" which led me to "functions_newpost.php" and it was a bit overwhelming... which is why I'm asking here.

Any help appreciated!