Author Topic: possible new zug forum (Read 21696 times)

offroadgeek · « **on:** June 10, 2004, 12:33:28 am »

ok people... i\'ve researched the various bugs that these forums have, especially the two major ones - latest posts being marked as \"read\", and the search function not showing multiple pages. Essentially the latest posts being marked as \"read\" bug is a confirmed bug with pnphpbb2 (the forum software I currently use), and what\'s worse is that it probably won\'t be fixed until the next release... which is a long way out.

i\'ve also been reading a few posts here that have said \"I like this or that feature of the old devnet board\"... so I thought... why don\'t I just see if we can successfully migrate to the Invision Power Board... and voila!

http://dev.zaurususergroup.com/board/

I downloaded the free version and tested the conversion module... and it all worked much better than I thought! Everything converted just fine.

So, I\'d like everyone to take a peek at the test forum, make some posts, maybe even register a new account. Do whatever... I don\'t care about bum posts, it\'ll all be wiped clean anyway. Give the tires a good kick....

We need to then make a decision... stay with what we have or move to the Invision Power Board.... here are some pros and cons:

pros
1. IPB (Invision Power Board) is reported to be much more stable and reliable than phpbb (or it\'s dirivative pnphpbb)
2. most people are already comfortable with IPBs features and layout
3. the next release (due to be released in a month as a RC) has this great addition - \"Lo-Fi Version\" - possibly perfect for reading the forum on the Z.
4. We begin the break away from the integrated post nuke site (lends to the upcoming site re-design)
5. we would have one PM (private message) system... the new boards\'
5. I can hear you all bitch about bugs in this forum software instead!

cons
1. because the new board won\'t be \"integrated\" into the postnuke site, we would loose the \"Who\'s Online\" block on the main page that has the instant messenger features (ie. pops up a window with the new message when you hit the page)
2. you might need to re-upload your avatar... I\'m not sure that that will transfer
3. new members would register with the new board, not the site (ok, this isn\'t really a con, but I\'m grasping for cons here!)

as usual, please let me know your thoughts...

Foxdie · « **Reply #1 on:** June 10, 2004, 01:01:07 am »

I\'m surprised you could migrate across the old posts, that was my main concern, perhaps we could get away with changing to Invisions bulletin board software.

dz · « **Reply #2 on:** June 10, 2004, 01:35:38 am »

as far as cons #1, that\'s nothing that can\'t be programmed in

the \'who\'s online\' thing is a simple concept.. we can integrate it into the new layout no problem

i say change is good (although personally, i\'d have written my own forum script )

offroadgeek · « **Reply #3 on:** June 10, 2004, 01:58:44 am »

Quote

as far as cons #1, that\'s nothing that can\'t be programmed in

the \'who\'s online\' thing is a simple concept.. we can integrate it into the new layout no problem.

i say change is good (although personally, i\'d have written my own forum script )

I probably shouldn\'t have labeled them as \"cons\"... they are really pieces of functionality that\'d we\'d lose with the new forum. I personally don\'t care if we lose it either, as I always have pop ups blocked in my browsers... so it kind of defeats the purpose.

overall, I would rather migrate to the better forums, and spend the time and effort on the new project!

VeeDubb · « **Reply #4 on:** June 10, 2004, 02:24:17 am »

I\'ve always liked IPB. it\'s clean, powerfull, highly functional and there\'s lot\'s of goodies you can get for it.

zenyatta · « **Reply #5 on:** June 10, 2004, 02:51:59 am »

Is anyone concerned about licensing? It seems to be a closed-source product, is that a problem?

As far as I\'m concerned it makes me just a tiny bit wary. I would like to know whether the reverse conversion (from IPB to php-whatever) is equally smooth. It could come in handy if the company goes down or proves unresponsive in case of a major bug/vulnerability.

If this is indeed closed source, its adoption would make ZUG (somewhat) dependent on a corporate entity - and just look at all the posts regarding Sharp...

Just my $0.02.

z.

zenyatta · « **Reply #6 on:** June 10, 2004, 03:00:20 am »

It seems my comment was a bit hasty. As it\'s written in PHP it is by definition \"open source\" :oops: . Also, the license seems to be liberal enough to allow for any necessary modifications. I\'m still not sure, however, whether those license terms also apply to the trial version.

offroadgeek, are you planning to actually purchase this software or go with the trial version?

z.

jason123 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 10, 2004, 03:21:02 am »

It looks good, but doesn\'t quite feel like home yet ... I kinda liked not looking like the old devnet site.

zmiq2 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 10, 2004, 03:24:49 am »

Do the new boards solve the issue of threads not displaying properly with zaurus/netfront, and having to press reload on each one? If so, definitelly let\'s go with the change !!

Stubear · « **Reply #9 on:** June 10, 2004, 04:00:58 am »

Search doesn\'t work at all on Mozilla Firefox 0.8 for windows, I get a screen full of what looks to be CSS style sheet stuff.

Get the same screen using \"View New Posts\", or using the search page.

IE works but I hate using IE and I do most of my surfing with Firefox on linux. when I get home I\'ll test Firefox and Mozilla on linux and report back.

Stu

dz · « **Reply #10 on:** June 10, 2004, 04:08:19 am »

i have firefox running it fine in linux right now

omega · « **Reply #11 on:** June 10, 2004, 04:45:01 am »

It looks alright, i like this board very much though. The colour\'s could perhaps need to be changed (ideally to suit these?). At least though the read messages problems seems to be better.

offroadgeek · « **Reply #12 on:** June 10, 2004, 09:23:20 am »

zenyatta - I would purchase the lifetime license at a one time cost of $200 (I don\'t have to remember to renew it!)

jdralphs - there are \"skins\" for the forum, much like the themes for this forum. we would definitely change the look... I\'ve already seen a couple \"skins\" that are simple and light (ie. not many graphics for dial up people or handhelds)

zmiq2 - I forgot about that annoying bug with this forum. I haven\'t tried the new forum with my 760 and or 5500 yet... I\'ll do so and report back. Can others try the new forum with their Z and report back as well?

thanks for the feedback all... keep it coming

doc · « **Reply #13 on:** June 10, 2004, 10:29:24 am »

You are da boss...I have enjoyed PNphpBB. Keep up the great work!
I\'m too new around here to give any better input than that.

sriley · « **Reply #14 on:** June 10, 2004, 10:34:20 am »

The new forum displays correctly in Netfront on my 760 without hitting reload.

Nice looking forum, too. I like it.

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Author Topic: possible new zug forum (Read 21696 times)