Hi Wagner,

[…] Getting the post, date, topic ID etc. from mlf_entries turned out easy, but getting the author was more challenging since the username is stored in mlf_userdata.

Hhm, why don’t you just use the field user_name from mlf_entries? Note: If you run a forum where users without registration can post, this is all you have.

I suppose I have to use JOIN to map the specific posting in mlf_entries to te correct user_id from mlf_userdata?

IMHO, this would only makes sense if

• you run a forum with registered users only and
  
• you mandate them to state their “real name” in their profile.

If yes, I would suggest to create a new VIEW in phpMySQL which collects the required fields from mlf_entries and mlf_userdata (JOIN user_id which exists in both) in order to display user_real_name. In PHP simply query this view. Much easier – and avoids the loop (which can take ages to complete).

I have done similar stuff there. I was interested in displaying the category a post belongs to. My view is based on mlf_entries and mlf_categories joined by mlf_entries.category = mlf_categories.id.