AtomChatDB is an application meant to mimic the days of Usenet, with groups being identified through the use of a 4-part address system. Similar to the old Usenet, groups can be created in the news.groups.proposals group, and once approved, they can be connected to.
Unlike Usenet, AtomChatDB is a centralised system. It runs on a single server and data is stored in a central database that I have to manage. For this reason, it has much more moderation on user activities than what most Usenet servers ever had. Another difference is that on top of forum posts, AtomChatDB also supports the use of chatrooms, so websocket message rooms.
For the sake of moderation, creating new groups anywhere outside of alt.* is not allowed. To create a new group, you can either go through the creation request process, which is accessible from the main page (go to an address that doesn't exist first) or create a new post in the news.groups.proposals group. One note is that the news.groups.proposals bot only accepts posts in a certain format, so going through the creation request process is probably easier
To connect to a group, you must be authenticated through some method. You can either create an account or you can connect as a guest. Note that guest accounts are significantly limited and include their public IP address as their primary identifier.
Once authenticated, you can connect to any group that exists. Connect to a group by entering its 4-part identifier on the main page. The identifier is made up of the domain, class, focus, and topic. An address requires at least a domain and a class, but can also include a focus and a topic.
User accounts require either a phone number or an email address to be created (to reduce on spam). Once created, you can log in and out of your account, and you can also connect as a guest. Guest accounts are limited to a single connection per IP address. Normal user accounts can have a profile picture as well. Usernames can never be changed and are permanently associated with the account. Every post made includes the user's username. Users can delete posts at any time, but deleted posts may still show the subject title. Chats can be deleted freely.
You can find the source code for this application at Github: atomtables/AtomChatDB and submit issues or pull requests there (if you care, the app is coded so horribly anyways).
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