HardwareZone Scraper – Singapore's Biggest Forum (No API, No Login)

Scrape HardwareZone (forums.hardwarezone.com.sg) — Singapore's biggest forum: latest threads per board, and full thread content with all replies — via public HTML endpoints, output as structured data.

Output Fields

Board Thread Listing (ListingRow, content is null)

Field	Type	Description
post_id	string	Thread ID
site	string	Always hardwarezone
board	string | null	Board ID (the forumId used in the query)
is_hidden	boolean	Whether this row itself is hidden behind the age-verification wall; only a thread's main post in full thread mode can be true, board listing rows are always false. A censored main post is still billed one product-detail (title, view/reply-count metadata still has value)
title	string | null	Title
author	string | null	Thread starter
reply_count	number | null	Reply count (the raw page may show abbreviations like "895" or "29K" — converted to an integer)
view_count	number | null	View count (same handling for "104K" / "4M" abbreviations)
created_at	string | null	Post time (ISO 8601, with a +0800 offset)
last_reply_at	string | null	Last reply time (ISO 8601, with a +0800 offset)
post_url	string | null	Thread URL
content	string | null	Body text (null in listing mode)
source_mode	string	Scrape mode
source_query	string	Query used (board ID)
scraped_at	string	Scrape timestamp (ISO 8601)

Thread Content (ThreadRow, same fields as above, plus content populated)

Field	Type	Description
content	string | null	Full thread body text (HTML tags stripped, whitespace collapsed)
own_text	string | null	Only what this post's author wrote (content minus all top-level quote blocks; "" for a quote-only post; null when content is null). Use this for sentiment analysis so the quoted person's tone isn't attributed to the replier
quoted_author	string | null	Author of the first quote block (null when the post quotes nobody)
quoted_text	string | null	Text of all top-level quote blocks (joined by a blank line, without the "X said:" title or "Click to expand..." text; null when there is no quote)

The thread row's board is always null (thread mode doesn't take a board ID as input, and board info isn't on the thread page); reply_count / view_count / last_reply_at are always null (these fields only exist on the board listing page).

content is the post's full text including quoted passages (script and quote-UI noise removed); own_text is the same post with the quotes taken out, so it is the field to feed into sentiment analysis. In board listing mode all three new fields are null.

Replies (ReplyRow, full thread mode only)

Field	Type	Description
reply_id	string	Reply ID (the floor post's element ID; falls back to {threadId}-{floor} when missing)
post_id	string	Parent thread ID
site	string	Always hardwarezone
floor	number | null	Floor number (1-based, numbered continuously across pages; null when the floor can't be read because the post sits behind the age-verification wall — see Notes below)
is_hidden	boolean	Whether the post is hidden behind the age-verification wall. true rows are kept as placeholders (content / created_at / floor are null) and are not charged; normal posts are false
author	string | null	Author
content	string | null	Reply content (HTML tags stripped, whitespace collapsed; null when hidden behind the age-verification wall)
own_text	string | null	Only what this post's author wrote (content minus all top-level quote blocks; "" for a quote-only post; null when content is null). Use this for sentiment analysis so the quoted person's tone isn't attributed to the replier
quoted_author	string | null	Author of the first quote block (null when the post quotes nobody)
quoted_text	string | null	Text of all top-level quote blocks (joined by a blank line, without the "X said:" title or "Click to expand..." text; null when there is no quote)
created_at	string | null	Reply time (ISO 8601, with a +0800 offset; null when hidden behind the wall)
scraped_at	string	Scrape timestamp (ISO 8601)

Modes

Mode	Input	Output	Billing
forum	forumIds (board IDs)	Thread listing	$0.002/row
thread	threadIds / threadUrls	Thread content ($0.008/thread) + all replies ($0.003/reply)	by volume

Input Fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
mode	enum	forum	Mode: forum / thread (required)
forumIds	array	["16"]	Board IDs, e.g. 16 (Eat-Drink-Man-Woman), 234 (Chill-out/Happenings), 9 (Mobile Communication Technology). Find more boards at forums.hardwarezone.com.sg
threadIds	array	—	Thread IDs
threadUrls	array	—	Thread URLs; the thread ID is extracted automatically
bulkInput	textarea	—	Bulk paste, one item per line, auto-merged into the matching field based on the current mode
keywords	array	—	Board thread mode: title keyword filter (leave empty for no filtering)
maxItems	integer	50	Board thread mode: max items per board; full thread mode: max threads to scrape (replies are all fetched by default; set maxReplies to cap replies per thread, by floor). Maximum 2000
maxReplies	integer	—	Thread mode: max replies to collect per thread (each reply is billed per row). Takes the first N reply floors per thread (deleted floors can make it slightly fewer than N). Empty = no limit (default: the whole thread). Unrelated to maxItems, which limits the number of threads
dateFrom	string	—	Applies to board thread mode, based on thread post time or last reply time (whichever is newer). Format 3d, 12h, 2w (relative) or MM/DD/YY (absolute date). When set, paging also stops early (pinned threads are exempt from this filter and early-stop check), keeping scheduled monitoring cheaper
proxyConfiguration	proxy	Apify datacenter proxy	On by default; without a proxy you share egress IPs with other runs and get rate-limited by the forum. Turn it off only for local testing or your own proxy

Input Examples

Board Thread Listing

{
  "mode": "forum",
  "forumIds": ["16", "234"],
  "maxItems": 50
}

Full Thread and Replies

{
  "mode": "thread",
  "threadUrls": [
    "https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/official-blood-donation-thread-give-blood-save-lives.7166857/"
  ]
}

Singapore Social Listening

HardwareZone — especially its casual-chat board EDMW — is Singapore's biggest forum, and the source most often bundled into local social-listening monitoring. Want a fuller picture of Asian forum sentiment? Pair it with the author's other Traditional-Chinese sentiment actors: LIHKG (lihkg-scraper, Hong Kong) and PTT (ptt-scraper, Taiwan). All three actors share the same output conventions (snake_case, null for missing values, ISO timestamps), making it easy to merge and analyze together.

Notes

• Only public content is scraped — no account or token required
• Uses public HTML endpoints (XenForo forum engine) — no browser required, so it's fast and low-cost
• Body text has HTML tags automatically stripped, with whitespace collapsed to single spaces
• Board IDs / thread IDs can be plain numbers (e.g. forumIds: ["16"]) — the actor builds the URL automatically; HardwareZone redirects a plain-number URL to the full URL with the board/thread name, so the result is the same
• Some posts sit behind an age-verification wall: HardwareZone requires login and age verification to view certain content in full (not limited to adult boards). When scraped without login, these posts only yield author (still populated); content / created_at / floor are honestly reported as null rather than faked. The thread's first post (the main body) has not been observed to be affected by this restriction
• reply_count / view_count are often shown as abbreviations like "104K" / "4M" on the raw page (not just for very large numbers — mid-sized ones can be abbreviated too), and are uniformly converted to integers
• Auto-stops after 5 consecutive pages with no new data — no idle burn. When dateFrom is set, paging stops immediately once every non-pinned thread on a page is older than dateFrom (cheaper still; applies to forum mode only — pinned threads are always kept and are not subject to this filter)
• If HardwareZone (XenForo) redesigns its site or adds anti-scraping measures in the future, this is judged by Apify Cloud smoke test results (go/no-go); if blocked, the fallback is to switch to Apify residential proxy — not over-engineered in advance

FAQ

Q: Do I need to log in to view this data?

A: No. This actor only scrapes public thread listings and posts — nothing that requires login. A small number of posts sit behind an age-verification wall (see Notes above); their content simply isn't retrievable without login in the first place, so it's out of scope.

Q: Why is content / created_at / floor null for some replies?

A: These replies are hidden behind HardwareZone's age-verification wall — content and time can't be read without login. We honestly report null instead of fabricating data; author is still available, and reply_id is always populated.

Q: Am I charged for hidden posts?

A: No. Posts hidden behind the age-verification wall stay in the results flagged is_hidden: true (content is null, so you can see the floor exists but is unreadable), but these rows are not billed as review-item (hidden rows are pushed but not charged); only visible replies (is_hidden: false) are charged. If the main post (OP) is censored it also gets is_hidden: true, but one product-detail is still billed. The run-end log reports the hidden row count as hidden=N (skipped means failed requests, a different thing). With maxReplies, hidden posts still occupy their floor position (but cost nothing).

Q: Can I scrape multiple boards at once?

A: Yes. Add multiple IDs to forumIds, or paste them one per line via bulkInput.

Q: What's the difference between threadIds and threadUrls?

A: Same effect — threadUrls automatically extracts the numeric ID. Both support the plain-number URL (/threads/{id}/) and the full URL (/threads/{title-slug}.{id}/).

Q: Why is the board field null in full thread mode?

A: The thread page itself doesn't carry board info (the board ID only appears in the board listing page's URL), and full thread mode's input is just a threadId — there's no way to know which board it belongs to, so we honestly return null.

Q: Can a long thread get expensive? A: Yes. Thread mode fetches the whole thread by default and bills every reply as one review-item ($0.003 each), and a popular thread can have thousands of replies. To cap the cost per thread, set the optional maxReplies (for example 100): each thread stops paging and billing once that many replies have been collected; the thread's own post is billed separately as one product-detail. Leave it empty for no limit, exactly as before. maxItems limits the number of threads, not replies.

Disclaimer

This tool is for academic research and lawful business analysis only. Users must comply with HardwareZone's Terms of Service and applicable laws. Do not use this tool to invade others' privacy, spread false information, or engage in any other unlawful activity. The author accepts no responsibility for any misuse.

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HardwareZone scraper, Singapore forum, HWZ, EDMW, SG social listening, brand monitoring Singapore, forum sentiment

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📚 Related tutorials & tools

Hands-on guides and free tools built on this actor, at AI Social API:

• 📖 Guide: HardwareZone API: Getting Singapore Forum Data From EDMW and Other HWZ Boards
• 📖 Tutorial: Build a no-code forum sentiment pipeline with Apify + n8n + GPT
• 📊 Data: Asian forum scrapability × cost table — measured on live runs: which forums need only a plain request, which need a residential IP, and what one item costs
• 🛠 Free tools: Forum sentiment quick-check · Apify cost calculator
• 🤝 Rather not run it yourself? I run it for you — scheduled daily, delivered to your Google Sheet or Slack, from US$299/mo.

Maintained by an operator running 30+ live Apify actors.