EsoTalk database

The esoTalk database schema refers to the database structure used by esoTalk and its derivative project esoBB. The forum software uses a relatively simple database structure categorized into the separate categorical aspects of a basic forum. The tables are as follows: conversations, logins, members, posts, searches, shouts, status and tags. Each table contains a primary or borrowed key which is used to reference the conversation or post number (conversationId and postId respectively) and member count (memberId).

The forum software relies upon a relational SQL-based database system in order to manage members, conversations and posts. The software officially supports MySQL and MariaDB; other MySQL-based softwares are known to work. On a default installation, the database prefix is et_.

History

esoTalk has used the same basic database schema since its inception, with tables being added by way of new features. During beta 1, the et_status table was added to the schema in order to recall the conversation page being viewed by a particular user.

Terminology

Since esoTalk beta 1, user log-ins have recorded the client's IP address in the form of a "cookie IP." The cookieIP column is used in both the members and logins tables, the latter of which is used to record the number of attempted log-ins and password requests in order to prevent spam. The purpose of the cookie IP was highly conflated by the Esoteric Chat community, with its purpose often going exaggerated. Since esoBB beta 2, the cookie IP has been stored in a hashed form.