What's the irc protocol reference for, joe? Maybe you didn't understand. It'd be a forum - but would update in real-time, similar to a live chat feed. After thinking about this a little, why limit the Ajax functionality to just the posting portion of the forum? Why not allow the main forum section pages, and sub section pages to update the post counts, users online, etc, all in real time?
This is beginning to sound like something that would be pretty ugly, as far as web browsing goes. For anyone that has researched Ajax, you probably have found out that Ajax is not a good thing to be using heavily, and for these purposes. Infact, most channels on efnet (#css, #javascript, #php, etc) will ban you for using the term, even. XMLHttpRequest wasn't meant for this type of intensive abuse, but it can be done.
What problems does 'Ajax' cause? Well, say good bye to the back button being available whenever you want. Good bye url updates incase you would like to copy/paste the current url. There's other downsides to using Ajax, but, with proper design and planning, these downsides can be worked around and maybe equally good alternatives can be created.
Downsides to Ajax aside, this project still sounds very interesting, and I have not seen a single forum like this in existance. People seem to like the idea on several different communities including efnet, bwhacks forums, a few on these forums it looks like, etc. It would be something everyone could, and if it were made properly, would switch to, and use and enjoy. It'd be a long road, most likely including a few fresh restarts along the way. Javascript is my weak area, but it's not difficult. I've already been messing around with XMLHttpRequest, and 'Ajax'-style web dev. It's easy, it just takes prior knowledge and planning for it to turn out how you expect it to. Javascript also requires good knowledge of valid strict html and good css practices, which are easy. Does this project still sound like something that should be pursued? Is this something that maybe a group would enjoy working on, or would be best to keep a single person project? Do you think these downsides could be avoided?