Recommend me a Forum Module..

[leerraum]

Hi,

I was looking into the forge and found that there were no files available for this forum module:
http://dev.cmsmadesimple.org/projects/forum

So now I'm asking myself which one to use instead. My client demands a simple solution covering "open thread", "close thread", and a moderation function.

Any recommendation?

Thanks!

Leerraum

[replytomk3]

SMF. Don't go with bare-bones solution. You will regret it down the line when you run across limitations.

[kank]

This thread might help.

[leerraum]

@replytomk3: whats SMF? there are no files in the forge...

@krank: which thread?

[Ricko97]

@replytomk3: whats SMF? there are no files in the forge...

This forum (as in the one you're posting on) is SMF (Simple Machines Forum). You can download it here: http://www.simplemachines.org/

I think there used to be a few CMSMS modules that allowed integration of SMF with CMSMS+FrontEndUsers, but it looks like they're not even in the forge anymore, but unless integration is absolutely vital to you, it's a nice solution. Personally I would go for phpBB3 instead, but that's just me.

@krank: which thread?

Click "this thread". He linked to it:

This thread might help.

(The URL is http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/index.ph ... .msg110015)

Also, I'd like to add that ForumMadeSimple (http://dev.cmsmadesimple.org/projects/forummadesimple) is actually quite a neat module that will integrate with FrontEndUsers "out of the box". By default, it only provides basic forum features like categories ("sections"), forums, basic read and write permissions, assigning moderation rights to an FEU group, etc. It does have a number of flaws/bugs, but with some changes it can almost compete with other full-fledged forum solutions out there.

I use it for a community site that I'm working on at the moment, and among the changes/additions I've made to it are:

• - Replacement of the BBCode function that allows nested quotes as well as extra BBCodes like ordered and unordered lists, hyperlink and image insertion with JS dialogues for entering URLs
• - Integration of Fancybox for opening posted images to full-size
• - Integration of the Smileys module (http://dev.cmsmadesimple.org/projects/smileys)
• - A new "preview post" feature when creating a new topic, replying to a topic or editing a post
• - A fix to permission checking so that users can't reply to locked topics if they know or can guess the relevant URL (which wouldn't be difficult with Pretty URLs enabled)
• - Some alternative moderation tools for topics that allow closing/opening and stickying/unstickying topics individually (by default it only lets you do one or the other)
• - Status prefixes for stickied topics, closed topics and topics that are both closed and stickied

I would give you a copy of it, but I'm not sure the module author(s) would appreciate me dishing out modified versions of the module. Perhaps if Alby sees this he can confirm either way.

To be totally honest, though, for what you're after, it sounds like the original module (as I linked to above - you can also find it via the Module Manager in the CMSMS admin console) is perfectly suitable. I'd suggest installing it and playing around with it (just don't forget to attach the ForumMadeSimple stylesheet after installing the module!)

[leerraum]

ok, thx a lot. I'll try the forum made simple module and the phpbb3 solution. It seems like the SMF modules are all discontinued.

@Ricko97: is there a tag or a module for the integration of phpbb3? all I found was phpBBx which seems to work only with phpBB2... ?

[Ricko97]

No, unfortunately it seems like there are no up to date/working modules for integrating or bridging any of the major forum solutions.

Using a forum like phpBB3 is still an option though, unless you really want a forum integrated with FrontEndUsers. The ForumMadeSimple module is the one to go for in that case.

[replytomk3]

I don't think you need any modules at all. Nor do you need embedding and skinning. Are you trying to make the forum visually look a part of your website? Because I never had a problem with clicking on "Forum" link of a website, and switch to the usual blue skin of SMF/BB. The looks of forums as so well known I do not see a point in trying to skin them to the look of your site.

[leerraum]

well, the client want to build up a user group for a software they are producing. I think there wont be many users in this usergroup at the beginning. but finally they need a scaleable solution for the case of success.

So the thing will look like this:

FEU and Selfregistration
CustomContent
Forum made simple
CG Feedback
... aaaaand many others.

[replytomk3]

Forum made simple is not scaleable. I always hate it when I see intentionally stripped down forums on large websites. Go with a third party forum like mentioned before.

[Ricko97]

Forum made simple is not scaleable. I always hate it when I see intentionally stripped down forums on large websites. Go with a third party forum like mentioned before.

How is it not scalable? Admittedly it has some issues and I'm sure its authors never intended it to be a fitting solution for large, community-oriented sites, but it has 90% of the tools/features users (and admins for that matter) would probably expect: posting, replying to threads, editing posts, avatars (and even signatures/other FEU properties), user profiles, the necessary moderation tools (including banning), forum permissions (albeit basic), and of course the ability to organize forums by creating Sections and Forums. Not to mention it's far easier to integrate with your site (both design-wise and backend-wise).

I've probably missed a few things out there, but honestly it's not terribly far behind some of the popular third party forum scripts considering most of them include features/"fluff" that most people actually aren't interested in using. As long as a forum has basic features, profiles, avatars and sigs, and looks relatively pleasing to the eye, I find the majority of users are content to use it.

There are only two things FMS lacks that are quite important in my eyes, and those are Polls and Private Messaging. But those are both easily solved using CMSMS modules (who says polls have to be forum topics?)

I could go on about the templating (I'd take Smarty over most of the template engines used by other forum systems), but I don't want to waffle on about it too much  ultimately, CMSMS+FMS isn't all that bad a solution, especially if you invest a little bit of time and effort into patching up its minor flaws, or if you have some patience to wait for a new version.

Anyway, I'm not trying to say FMS is a perfect solution, because it certainly isn't. For the site I'm currently working on, it didn't quite cut the mustard and I had to go in and make some changes before I was happy with it, but now I have a near-finished site with Private Messaging, User Profiles (with commenting and BBCode), polls (using the Ballots module), and a reasonably well-featured forum (among other things). It just depends on how much time and effort you're willing to put into it I suppose.

Having said that, I do agree that if you're only looking to create a site that has users, profiles, forums and private messaging, then CMSMS probably isn't the best solution altogether - it only becomes very useful when you want to tie together a whole bunch of features while keeping the design consistent. So, leerraum, if all you're after is a set of standard community features, you might want to look at something like phpBB3 and board3portal (a portal/homepage mod for phpBB3). If you ever need features that phpBB3 can't provide out of the box, like a gallery or downloads page, you can usually find a mod or two to suit your needs.

...ahem, sorry for the wall of text. By the way, leerraum - if you deem your question/problem to be answered/solved, please add [SOLVED] to the subject line

[Dr.CSS]

Ricko97

If you want you can fork the forum made simple module and start you own module in forge, it would be nice to leave the credits of original author in it...

[Ricko97]

Hmm, I hadn't thought of doing that. I'll see - at the moment, it's adapted to my site, so I would have to go through the original template files and update them to support the new features.

I also need to learn a bit more about the Module API before I put anything up, I think - particularly in terms of installation and upgrades. I better get practicing in that case 

Thanks for the tip.

[replytomk3]

Ricko97, does it have notification of new posts? If it does then I'm sold.

[Ricko97]

Depends what you mean by notification. There's no distinction between read and unread posts, which is a bit of a pain, but there is a module action that displays a specified number of recent posts (I put mine into a sortable table with date, author, etc). In my case, I also used CGFeedmaker to create an RSS feed based on it.

As a sidenote, I'm likely to continue maintaining/developing my modified version of the module rather than upgrade it due to the amount of changes I've made in the code. I might fork it and throw it into the forge one day as Dr.CSS suggested, and you never know, I might add a "view unread posts" kind of feature