Forum Software

[Peter van Es]

Dear all,

I am beginning to look into new forum software, to convert our existing board to. This is triggered by problems as related in posts

http://index.php?topic=7918
http://index.php?topic=549

I have the following list of requirements:
 

• must be open source and run with php and mySQL and host on Linux, not Windows
• it must be open source so that I can integrate the full members and forum members registers which I intend to do
• must have a conversion script or tools to convert from our Snitz based forums (otherwise we lose too much content)
• should have modern XHTML, CSS and templating system so I can create a common look and feel across the website

I am planning to use the TypoLight Content Management System (CMS) for the static pages (i.e. all the stuff that isn't the Wiki or the Forum). The main benefit is that non-technical people can maintain the system.

For our Technical Manual we use PmWiki, which I intend to keep. All technical, static info from the site will move to the Technical Manual.

Into the TypoLight CMS I will need to integrate the member database and registration process. Essentially the forum and the CMS should use the same database, so that one log in suffices. We just keep track of member status in that table. Additionally, if I can add a do-it-yourself (as in: each member can maintain it) car registry to that membership table, that would be very nice.

Some tools for cleaning, reminding, pruning etc need to be added, which is why it needs to be an Open Source forum and CMS: so I can adjust the code.

We have received recommendations for Forum software in the past:

 

• phpBB -- for which a conversion tool appears to have existed but I cannot download it
• vBulletin -- which is not free, nor open source (i.e. cannot be modified)

There are many more forum software packages available, that meet the general requirements listed above.

Actions:
 

• please identify packages which would have all the features that you would like to have
• let me know if you have in-depth expertise with these packages, and can potentially help (PM me please)
• list requirements without which you absolutely could not do on our forums

Peter


1970 280SL. Also known as 'admin@sl113.org' and organiser of the Technical Manual.

[Richard Madison]

Peter:

A few comments about the planned watershed migration of this website.

Your message addresses the main issues from a technical view. I'd like to mention some concerns from a User's view.

We originally moved from Yahoo because of very slow searches, searches  that had to be repeated for every few hundred messages; also Yahoo was about to delete all attachments; and the messages were displayed in an awkward sequence difficult to get to related postings.

We cured all that with this new website. Now we have grown and technology has advanced to where we need new clothes again.

One thing I don't like: a large photo imbedded in a msg causes all copy to go to the right until it reaches the right edge of the photo...making all of us move the bottom slider to the right to read a line of text that is sometimes much longer than my foot.

Good features: the Quick Reply is always on view to allow a fast addition to a topic; having the newest reply at the top avoids having to go down to the bottom or to go to other pages to see the latest addition; being able to click and send an email to the poster while reading a reply; able to conveniently click to see the poster's profile, very handy; nice to easily look up previous replies by that same poster; the photo upload, while not perfect, allows photos to be linked to a reply without great difficulty.

I could go on but maybe more important: before any cutover to a new format, can we have a Sandbox or Scratch version so we can see what we are getting into?

And when a tentative decision on the new software is made maybe we can look at a site already using that package so we get used to what our new home will be like?

Richard M, NYC

[Peter van Es]

Richard,

believe me, I'd rather not move... it would save me a lot of work. The problem is, we ran out of space and performance once (leading to error messages).

Then we ran out of database space again (leading to double monthly hosting charges).

There are a lot of packages out there. Click on the links of the packages above, and you can check them out, they typically have a forum for support. Additionally you'll be able to find many other sites that use them, maybe even some sites you already frequent.

Then, can everyone please verify if they have the functionality you look for yourself? I just don't have enough hours in the day to do so for everyone.

Peter

1970 280SL. Also known as 'admin@sl113.org' and organiser of the Technical Manual.

[Peter van Es]

As part of the future move, some of you may have noticed that content from the front page (such as the Technical Articles, and now the Databases) have been removed and readers are now referred to the Technical Manual.

No data has been lost, but it has all been moved to the Technical Manual/Wiki. Primarily in the Data Cards section, but a couple are separate entries, such as:

 

• Suppliers
• Model cars
• Paint Codes
• Option Codes
• Production Months
• Color code matrices

Not only is the Wiki format richer than the old tables (see the pictures) it is also easier to maintain... Klaus Drexl for instance has put in a lot of effort to create this section. Since the Wiki now also allows for sortable tables, I decided it was time we moved the old tables to the Technical Manual.

Peter


1970 280SL. Also known as 'admin@sl113.org' and organiser of the Technical Manual.

[Peter van Es]

Has anyone got experience with boards with Simple Machines Forum? Any experiences, good or bad ?

Peter

1970 280SL. Also known as 'admin@sl113.org' and organiser of the Technical Manual.