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QDB Quotes Instance — Step 2: Feature Description

Problem

We want a new site instance whose index page recreates the nostalgic look of the classic QDB (circa 2007, as it ran on bash.org) — numbered quotes, vote score, monospace body, burnt-orange/white chrome, blended with small UX refinements from a later QDB interface (qdb.us, circa

  1. — but clicking a quote leads into a live discussion thread

instead of a dead end.

Reference Material

  • Classic QDB, 2007 Wayback snapshot (the operator's own brand, archived from its bash.org-hosted era): base palette/chrome/markup shape — #ID, courier-new quote body, burnt-orange/white Arial chrome.

  • qdb.us, 2016 Wayback snapshot (the operator's own later build): voting UX refinements worth borrowing — labeled up/down actions, a score-vs-total-votes display, and no-reload voting — adopted as "small modifications" on top of the classic QDB base look, not a wholesale second skin.

User Stories

  • As a former QDB visitor, I want the quote list to look and read like the old QDB (colors, fonts, numbering, markup shape) so browsing feels genuinely nostalgic.

  • As a visitor, I want to click a quote and land on a real discussion thread with replies, so the nostalgia experience adds something the original site never had.

  • As a visitor, I want to upvote/downvote and flag a quote without a full page reload, the way qdb.us's refined voting worked, so the list feels responsive and reflects real community signal.

  • As an operator, I want this delivered as its own site instance (own branding/content root) so the existing zenmemes/chouse boards are unaffected.

  • As a developer, I want voting to reuse the existing reaction system rather than a new data model, so no database schema changes are needed.

Core Requirements

  • Stand up a new site instance via a new SiteProfileRegistry entry plus per-vhost FORUM_SITE_ID/FORUM_REPOSITORY_ROOT/FORUM_DATABASE_PATH/ FORUM_STATIC_HTML_ROOT values, following the existing chouse precedent.

  • Index page renders each thread root as a flat #ID (score) quote body entry matching the archived classic-QDB markup/CSS shape identified in Step 1: monospace quote body, burnt-orange/white Arial chrome, no subject title, no preview truncation, no labels.

  • Voting/flagging controls borrow qdb.us's refinements — no full-page reload, a visible score — layered on the classic-QDB-styled list rather than replacing its look.

  • Clicking a quote's #ID link navigates to the existing /threads/<id> discussion page, unmodified — replies render exactly as they do today.

  • Upvote/downvote reuse the existing per-post reaction/tag system (already powering Like/Flag, scored through a generic tag-weight table) by adding new tag weights — no new record family, table, or migration.

  • The flag action reuses the existing Flag reaction as-is.

Shared Component Inventory

  • SiteProfileRegistry / ThemeRegistry — reused and extended with one new profile entry and one new theme, same mechanism as chouse.

  • templates/pages/thread.php and its reply/compose partials — reused unmodified as the discussion view; no new thread/reply rendering.

  • The existing reaction/tag API (apply-post-tag action, Like/Flag today) and its generic score weighting — extended with upvote/downvote tag weights rather than replaced; no new write path.

  • templates/pages/board.php / templates/partials/thread_card.php — not reused for this instance's index; Step 1 established the content shape (full body, no subject/preview/labels) doesn't fit the existing card, so a new list partial is needed, scoped to this instance only.

Simple User Flow

  1. Visitor opens the quotes instance's homepage and sees a flat list of #ID entries: net vote score, monospace quote body, burnt-orange chrome.

  2. Visitor clicks a quote's #ID.

  3. Visitor lands on that quote's existing discussion-thread page and can read or post replies normally.

  4. From either the list or the thread view, the visitor can upvote, downvote, or flag the quote; the displayed score updates accordingly.

Success Criteria

  • The new instance is deployable through site-profile + vhost env vars alone, with zero changes to zenmemes/chouse rendering behavior.

  • The index page's palette, fonts, and per-entry markup shape match the archived classic-QDB reference closely enough that a former visitor recognizes it at a glance, with voting that feels as responsive as qdb.us's.

  • Every quote's #ID link reaches a fully working discussion thread (existing reply functionality intact, untouched).

  • Vote score shown per quote reflects real upvote/downvote reactions, with no new database table or schema migration.