Forums System Architecture 

The settings for your forums system control how incoming and outgoing information is handled. Some settings are global and some are specific to a category or forum.

The figure below illustrates how the components of a forums system work together.

...

       1.      A user logs onto a forum and posts a message there.

       2.      The incoming message is sent through special filters, called interceptors, which screen the message for any content specified in the settings for the interceptors. The interceptors either alter and pass on the message, allow it through unaltered, or reject it.

       3.      Permissions set at system (global), category, and forum level are applied to the message.

       4.      The message goes to the database.

       5.      When the message is retrieved by another user, it comes from either the database or the cache.

       6.      The outgoing message passes through category and forum permissions.

       7.      The message passes through filters that dynamically format the message content before it can be viewed by users.

       8.      Another user reads the posted message.