Please critique table design

[Jennifer Murphy]

To learn Access, I thought it would be a good exercise to write a database to keep track of the discussion forums I use. My goal is to be able to quickly identify which forum I like best for a particular product (Access, Excel, QuickBooks, IrfanView, Statistics, etc.). My plan is to enter a data record for each thread I start. I would later enter information about that thread such as a rating (0-100). I could then average the thread ratings to obtain a forum rating.



I started by defining three tables. I'm, sure I'll need more, but I'd like to get a critique of the design so far. Please comment on anything including the field names. I am especially curious about the naming of the foreign keys in tblThreads.

Thanks so much.

tblForums

One record for each forum I have used or considered.

Field	Type	Contents
ForumPK	Primary Key
ForumName	Text (100)	The full name of the forum.
ForumURL	Hyperlink	The website.
ForumRegisterDate	Date	The date I registered an account.
ForumMyName	Text(25)	The name I use on this forum.
ForumLoginId	Text(25)	The login id I use on this forum.
ForumEmail	Text(30)	The email address I use on this forum.
ForumComments	Memo	Comments.

tblProducts

One record for each product (or subject) that I want help with or to discuss.

Field	Type	Contents
ProdPK	Primary Key
ProdName	Text (50)	The full name of the product.
ProdMaker	Text(50)	The maker of this product.
ProdComments	Memo	Comments.

tblThreads

One record for each thread that I post to any of these forums.

Field	Type	Contents
ThrdPK	Primary Key
ForumPK	Foreign Key	To tblForum.
ProdPK	Foreign Key	Tp tblProducts.
ThrdTitle	Text (100)	The title of the thread.
ThrdDate	Date	The date this thread was posted.
ThrdRtg	Single	The quality rating of this thread (0-100).
ThrdComments	Memo	Comments.

[ItsMe]

If a word for a field name is not likely to be used in more than one table, I would not bother including part of the table name In the field name.

ProdMaker Text(50) The maker of this product
Maker Text(50) The maker of this product

If you are going to use PK as a convention rather than ID, perhaps FK would be appropriate for foreign key field names.
ForumPK Foreign Key To tblForum.
ProdPK Foreign Key Tp tblProducts.

ForumFK Foreign Key To tblForum.
ProdFK Foreign Key Tp tblProducts.

[Jennifer Murphy]

If a word for a field name is not likely to be used in more than one table, I would not bother including part of the table name In the field name.

ProdMaker Text(50) The maker of this product
Maker Text(50) The maker of this product

I thought of that, but how do I know what names I might choose for tables I don't yet know I need? It seems safer to just do it for all of the fields. That way I know for sure what it means and I don't have to think, which usually gets me into trouble.

If you are going to use PK as a convention rather than ID, perhaps FK would be appropriate for foreign key field names.
ForumPK Foreign Key To tblForum.
ProdPK Foreign Key Tp tblProducts.

ForumFK Foreign Key To tblForum.
ProdFK Foreign Key Tp tblProducts.

Yep, that's better. Thanks