Register forum user name Search FAQ

Gammon Forum

Notice: Any messages purporting to come from this site telling you that your password has expired, or that you need to verify your details, confirm your email, resolve issues, making threats, or asking for money, are spam. We do not email users with any such messages. If you have lost your password you can obtain a new one by using the password reset link.

Due to spam on this forum, all posts now need moderator approval.

 Entire forum ➜ Forum ➜ Suggestions ➜ New forum software - check it out ...

New forum software - check it out ...

It is now over 60 days since the last post. This thread is closed.     Refresh page


Pages: 1 2  3  4  

Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,133 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Mon 06 Dec 2004 08:47 PM (UTC)

Amended on Mon 06 Dec 2004 10:11 PM (UTC) by Nick Gammon

Message
I am toying with the idea of moving this forum over to different forum software, namely phpBB2, which is Open Source developed by a gang of enthusiastic developers at:


http://www.phpbb.com/


I have converted over the existing forum (ie. this one) from a backup about a week old. If you want to take a quick look, go here:


http://www.gammon.com.au/phpBB2/


Note that since we have not yet officially moved to the new software, almost every category is locked so you can only view, not post. However there is a test section set up so you can experiment with making posts. Any postings made here will not be saved when (if) the forum goes live.

You will be able (should be able) to log in with your existing forum name and password.




Reasons for changing

Why change? Ah yes, that is the question. If you are used to the current forum I would be interested to hear whether you think the new one is an improvement or not, and if not, for what reason.


  • More modern, "cleaner" look.

  • Support for different styles. The phpBB forums can be customised with different templates, so that the same basic information can appear in different ways. So far I have installed only two styles, the subSilver style (the default) and one called "myApple", which has a look and feel of the Macintosh. Try changing to that (click on your profile to do it) and see what you think.

  • Support for different languages. Although the bulk of the posts are in English, you can customise your profile to present the forum instructions (links etc.) in various languages. So far, I have installed:


    • English
    • Czech
    • Danish
    • Finnish
    • German
    • Greek
    • Hungarian
    • Indonesian
    • Hebrew
    • Italian
    • Spanish
    • Dutch
    • Norwegian
    • Polish
    • Portuguese
    • Romanian
    • Russian
    • Slovak
    • Slovenian
    • Swedish
    • Ukranian


    Other languages can be added on request, if they are on this page:


    http://www.phpbb.com/downloads.php


    I have attempted to auto-detect the language for each existing user based on their reported country of origin. If course, if you haven't listed a country you will default to English. You can change that with your profile. In cases where I wasn't sure (eg. countries with multiple languages) I have left it at English.

  • Improved searching. You can search for words, recent posts, posts by a certain author, and various other things.

  • Designed for large forums. As this forum gets larger some things, like the list of users, is getting a bit unwieldy.

  • Private messaging. Using the forum you can send each other private messages. This does not use email at all, so you can communicate with other forum members without having to disclose your email address (or even have one). The private messages are effectively hidden posts, that only the people concerned see.

  • Groups. We can set up groups of users (eg. MUSHclient users).

  • Closed sections. By using groups, we can set up parts of the forum that can only be posted to (or seen) by members of certain groups.

  • Improved forum codes. The phpBB system uses very similar forum codes to this existing forum (eg. bold, underline, code tags are all the same) however it extends them with things like font size, font colour, hyperlinks, and image links. Also, they seem to have a better algorithm for the [code] tag, where sub-tags (like [i] inside code) do not cause the code to appear in italics. Also, in the message composing window, by using Javascript, you can just highlight a block of text and click (say) the bold button to make it all bold, without having to type anything.

  • Improved presentation. Things like code blocks are more attractively presented, with a shaded background and box around them. Similarly for quoting things other people have said.

  • Emoticons. I'm not sure I like these, but you can use small graphic images to show smiling faces etc. inside your posts.

  • Previews. When making a complicated post you can preview how it will look before committing it to the forum.

  • Extendible - the phpBB site has hundreds of mods (modifications) that can be applied to improve the experience. So far I have applied virtually none of them, but things available are stuff like lists of recent posts, appearance changes, recent news, and so on. Visit their site to see some of the things that can be done.

  • Announcements and sticky topics. Topics that come up frequently can be made "sticky" so they always appear at the top of the list (eg. frequent MUSHclient questions), thus saving us answering the same questions all the time, hopefully.

  • Same basic structure. The phpBB forum has a very similar overall structure to this one:


    • Major sections (eg. MUSHclient)

    • Topics within a section (they call them forums) - eg. MUSHclient -> Suggestions

    • Threads - eg. MUSHclient -> General -> How do I do X?

    • Individual posts and replies.







Any problems?

Please, if you are a regular user of this forum, check out the new version and see what you think. It will be slightly out-of-date, as it was done from a backup about a week ago.

There may be occasional problems with the conversion of forum codes, but the bulk should have gone across OK. Check out posts you have made, or refer to frequently, and see if there are problems with them.

If you find a problem please quote its URL, eg.


http://www.gammon.com.au/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4957


The topic numbers are exactly the same as in the current forum, so that topic above in the existing forum is at:


http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/bbshowpost.php?bbsubject_id=4957


- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
Top

Posted by David Haley   USA  (3,881 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #1 on Mon 06 Dec 2004 08:51 PM (UTC)

Amended on Mon 06 Dec 2004 08:53 PM (UTC) by David Haley

Message
I'm all for PHPBB - in fact it was one of the alternative forums I suggested for BMud a while back if you recall. :-) I've only had but good experiences with it. It has extremely rich access control, moderation, and is one of the most fully featured forums I've ever seen.

(edit)
It also has very powerful and convenient tracking of what you've read and what you haven't. Stores it per forum, which makes it easy to only pay attention to a handful of forums without resetting your recently-read counter every time.

David Haley aka Ksilyan
Head Programmer,
Legends of the Darkstone

http://david.the-haleys.org
Top

Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,133 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Reply #2 on Mon 06 Dec 2004 10:08 PM (UTC)
Message
Quote:

- in fact it was one of the alternative forums I suggested for BMud a while back if you recall. :-)


Yes, I remember, and a good idea it was too. :)

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
Top

Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,133 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Reply #3 on Mon 06 Dec 2004 10:12 PM (UTC)
Message
So far there is one known bug. Due to a misstyping, ordered lists (ie. the [ol] tag) have not converted properly. This will be fixed for the full release.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
Top

Posted by Zeno   USA  (2,871 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #4 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 02:44 AM (UTC)
Message
Yeah, I'm all for it. I use phpBB myself. I like how you were able to convert these forums/posts to phpBB.

Zeno McDohl,
Owner of Bleached InuYasha Galaxy
http://www.biyg.org
Top

Posted by Zeno   USA  (2,871 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #5 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 03:01 AM (UTC)
Message
This may be a bug.


Topic was started by someone who didn't post. Maybe they deleted their first post?

Zeno McDohl,
Owner of Bleached InuYasha Galaxy
http://www.biyg.org
Top

Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,133 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Reply #6 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 03:39 AM (UTC)
Message
I think so. Some people do this:


  • Post a question

  • We all spend time making lengthy replies, to explain how to do something

  • They then delete the question, so the reply looks silly


I think that person did that a couple of times. In fact I am configuring phpBB to not allow people to delete their own posts, to stop that happening.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
Top

Posted by Zeno   USA  (2,871 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #7 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 03:41 AM (UTC)
Message
Sounds good. I'm all for phpBB. Feels odd with phpBB though, heh. I'm used to your forums.

Zeno McDohl,
Owner of Bleached InuYasha Galaxy
http://www.biyg.org
Top

Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,133 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Reply #8 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 03:46 AM (UTC)
Message
I'm not really fixated on making the change. It took a couple of days to write the forum conversion, but if most people prefer the way this one works, we can leave well enough alone. I had to make the conversion so you could see how the existing posts would look, otherwise it is kind-of hard to visualise.

On the plus side for the existing forum, is it is pretty uncluttered, and easy enough to use.

The phpBB forums look cute, I'll say that. And the customisation of colours, languages etc. is also cute. However at the end of the day, what people are really visiting for is content, not style (I would say).

Still, since the existing posts will be copied across the content will still be there.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
Top

Posted by Zeno   USA  (2,871 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #9 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 03:51 AM (UTC)
Message
I've gone through a forum change like this once. 'bout 5 years ago a forum I had been on (theme was FFT) went from some old forum system (http://on.starblvd.net/meet) to a highly updated phpBB system with a battle arena and a lot more. There have been so many issues (bugs, spammers, etc) with the new forums, that I would take the old forums back in an instant. I think back to them as the 'good old days'. If we do change forums, I hope this never happens.

Zeno McDohl,
Owner of Bleached InuYasha Galaxy
http://www.biyg.org
Top

Posted by Nick Gammon   Australia  (23,133 posts)  Bio   Forum Administrator
Date Reply #10 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 04:24 AM (UTC)

Amended on Tue 07 Dec 2004 04:25 AM (UTC) by Nick Gammon

Message
Well, I'll tell you a funny thing ...

One of my motivations for change was the belief that my existing forum was using "out of date" techniques, namely hard-coding colours and styles into the pages, whereas everyone knows that these days using cascading style sheets (CSS) is the way to go.

Indeed, phpBB uses those, and templates and a heap more, to separate style from content.

Now, as the more bandwidth I use (or my forum users use to be precise) the more I pay, I thought that switching to a CSS-based forum would make individual posts smaller and thus save bandwith. Using topic 4957 (mentioned earlier here) as an example, on the old forum the page source was 25,083 bytes, but with the new forum it is 46,166 bytes, almost twice as large!

One problem is that the CSS styles themselves take up quite a bit of room, although it might be possible to hive that off to an include file (however I note that the phpBB software doesn't do that, so they must have their reasons).

Still, even then, the source still seems to be filled with fiddly things like:


<td width="150" align="left" valign="top" class="row1"><span class="name">


I thought CSS was supposed to eliminate most of that?

According to the web site stats, the main forum page shower (bbshowpost.php) is currently consuming around 2 Gb of bandwith a month. Doubling that is pretty significant.

- Nick Gammon

www.gammon.com.au, www.mushclient.com
Top

Posted by Greven   Canada  (835 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #11 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 04:25 AM (UTC)
Message
Personally I really like the way that the current system works. I have tried running a couple of forums for personal uses, and I like the administration abilities of this one almost as much as ikonboard, but I rather disliked phpbb myself.

I vote for staying with this one.

Nobody ever expects the spanish inquisition!

darkwarriors.net:4848
http://darkwarriors.net
Top

Posted by Flannel   USA  (1,230 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #12 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 04:43 AM (UTC)

Amended on Tue 07 Dec 2004 04:49 AM (UTC) by Flannel

Message
I too would prefer staying with this (read the last half though).

If for no other reason than everybody else uses phpBB, and Im honestly not too fond of the way its interface is.

When I see a site that uses it, the first thing that comes to my mind is 'oh, another one of these...'
Everyone and their mother (and their 5kr1p7 k1dd13 little brother) uses it.

Apart from that purely opinionated comment...

It would require more clicks to peruse through the new posts.
I cant have one single list with the new threads, instead I have to click the topic, then the thread. And then go back to the beginning and do it again.

If there is a plugin for that bit (Ive seen it on some things a 'posts since your last visit' sort of thing, whether thats phpbb or not, I dont know) then while not thrilled about it, I wouldnt mind it at all.
There are some definate functional improvements (sticky topics would be nice, for instance, as would private messages).
Just turn off the smileys! Im sure you can disable them nick... pleeaaseee. Or else every new user will include eight hundred smileys at the end of their posts (and not having them will indeed save bandwidth).

Edit (now that I reread your post and see the bandwidth thing):
Bandwidth is also a concern (especially if youre sacrificing bandwidth to 'look pretty', since personally I dont think it does). Im sure you could get rid of some of the bloat though. Take out all the fancy shadow stuff, its not functional (well, assuming that would help much), we're used to this forum, so obviously we dont mind things cut and dry, can you add a new skin or whatever that is a light version? (and then not have more graphical versions) Or are they just basically color schemes?

~Flannel

Messiah of Rose
Eternity's Trials.

Clones are people two.
Top

Posted by Greven   Canada  (835 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #13 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 06:30 AM (UTC)
Message
You could also look into ikonboard as another option. It has a "new posts" option, skins, private messages, avatars(whether this is a good thing or not is up for debate), sticky topics, frozen topics, and in my opinion, has the best administrative options as well. Basically everything that phpbb has, but in my opinion, works better.

As to bandwidth, no idea what it uses, might be something to look into though. http://www.ikonboard.com/ . Again, just my personal preference.

Nobody ever expects the spanish inquisition!

darkwarriors.net:4848
http://darkwarriors.net
Top

Posted by Gore   (207 posts)  Bio
Date Reply #14 on Tue 07 Dec 2004 07:32 AM (UTC)

Amended on Tue 07 Dec 2004 07:33 AM (UTC) by Gore

Message
my 2 cents..

I honestly like this board a lot more because it has the various topics nicely compact at the top, so when I go to the forum I can click on mushclient, then vbscript easily.. call me lazy =p but I'd have to scroll down for the other one..

But, the way phpBB2 handles [quote] and [code] is really nice and easy to read.

Also, I only skimmed over the test board, but I didn't see any "new posts" feature, which is very nice about this forum.

Is there anyway to combine the benefits of both into one?
Top

The dates and times for posts above are shown in Universal Co-ordinated Time (UTC).

To show them in your local time you can join the forum, and then set the 'time correction' field in your profile to the number of hours difference between your location and UTC time.


166,685 views.

This is page 1, subject is 4 pages long: 1 2  3  4  [Next page]

It is now over 60 days since the last post. This thread is closed.     Refresh page

Go to topic:           Search the forum


[Go to top] top

Information and images on this site are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License unless stated otherwise.