New forum software

jstubbs · 2009-09-29 19:58:58

Not to jump the gun, but there has been some discussion in other threads re new forum software. I for one am all for new software, mainly because one has to use Google to find things here because there is no in-thread search support.

Can we discuss the pros and cons of the forum software here…

Gocom · 2009-09-29 20:33:27

Do ppl really use any site’s inbuild search? I never do.

els · 2009-09-29 20:48:58

First: please be aware that the forum software has our attention. You will understand that changes to the forum software should be well thought-out and not been done in a hurry. That’s one reason why so far no action has been taken (except giving it a reasonable amount of thought, and seeking expert advice); another one is that none of us has unlimited available time to spend on these issues. Sometimes things just have to be put aside for a while when life outside Txp gets in the way…

That being said, your input is welcome :) Especially – but not exclusively – from those of you with actual knowledge of forum software.

els · 2009-09-29 21:03:35

Gocom wrote:

Do ppl really use any site’s inbuild search? I never do.

Neither do I :) But for users who do we still should try and improve it. A possible solution (even a temporary one) could be to add the Google custom search. I quite like it when I come across it on other forums I use, especially because you can add other sites, like the FAQs on textpattern.com and Textbook.

Gocom · 2009-09-29 21:08:12

Els wrote:

A possible solution (even a temporary one) could be to add the Google custom search.

Target scored ;)

hcgtv · 2009-09-29 21:36:35

Els,

You bring up a good point, life outside of Textpattern gets in the way. Which is why a forum solution that allows you to come in and moderate effortlessly would actually afford you more time in the long run.

What I would like to hear are the concerns of moving to a new forum and see if we can address them in this thread. I know that external and internal links to topics is a big one, other than that, I really don’t see what else could be a show stopper.

Ditching Textile, which I brought up here, would make things easier in choosing another solution, or else we’re forced to make a plugin or mod to override BBCode.

As for what forum to head towards, I have my preferences after having evaluated many. But rather than name my choices, I’d like to hear the concerns, which will determine the direction we should take.

Keep in mind that Textpattern is a high visibility site, I would venture to say that developers of forum software would be most interested in seeing their product running here and would make the time to assist in the transition.

Bloke · 2009-09-29 22:32:39

hcgtv wrote:

Ditching Textile

I like Textile in the forum and find BBCode clumsy but I guess it’s just familiarity. One of the things I don’t like is when a system tries to be too clever for its own good; like trying to automatically turn stuff that looks like a URL into a URL, which I believe some forum software does. If it’s done well, that’s fine. But a bad example of such an implementation is the message system in Basecamp. This:

<pre>
<img src="http://site.com/" />
</pre>

becomes this when posted:

<pre>
<img src="<a href="http://site.com/">http://site.com/</a>" />
</pre>

which is just annoying to have to bypass.

I would guess one of the major things to consider is how to preserve the existing (Textiled) posts in the new environment. If they all need to be converted to some other markup system or processed into raw HTML first, the mechanism to do so should be relatively pain free or we won’t find many volunteers to do the grunt work :-)

As it stands, you and iblastoff appear to be the most vocal Forum Textile Haytahhz and you’ve been at this way longer than I have, so I’ll bow to whatever system you can vouch for. I’d not considered the profile of the TXP forum before: that’s a very good point.

els · 2009-09-29 23:03:25

hcgtv wrote:

You bring up a good point, life outside of Textpattern gets in the way. Which is why a forum solution that allows you to come in and moderate effortlessly would actually afford you more time in the long run.

Moderate effortlessly? I thought this was about using it ;) You didn’t hear me complain about how much the ‘forum moderation sucks’…
Sorry, but we don’t need to be convinced that change is needed, we need an inventory of

the features we need
the software that can provide them
practical consequences of a software change.

I know that external and internal links to topics is a big one,

Do you have any ideas about this? Does a way to handle this even exist?

Ditching Textile,

(^OMDB) Not a good idea. Have you seen many (if any) forum spammers using Textile links to their creepy websites? I can see other reasons as well for keeping Textile, but I’m not sure if this is the first issue we should be discussing.

Keep in mind that Textpattern is a high visibility site, I would venture to say that developers of forum software would be most interested in seeing their product running here and would make the time to assist in the transition.

Thanks, that’s useful input. To answer most of your questions we need Yiannis, because he has spent more time on the subject than I have. And of course Robert is the final decision maker.

nabrown78 · 2009-09-29 23:48:31

I think sticking with Textile is preferable for this forum. It’s what Textpattern uses, so going from working on a site to posting on the forum is seamless. However, if that limits our choice of forum software, it’s not essential.

Google search is a good temporary solution for improving the search, but (correct me if I’m wrong) won’t Google only return results that it has cached – perhaps missing the most recent posts?

hcgtv · 2009-09-30 01:01:12

Els wrote:

Moderate effortlessly? I thought this was about using it ;) You didn’t hear me complain about how much the ‘forum moderation sucks’…

Ok, I’m gonna start talking about my dog, this post has no bearing to this thread, how do you move it?

And of course Robert is the final decision maker.

Correct, that’s why it’s up to those in power to say, “OK, here are my concerns, address them to my satisfaction, and we’ll move forward with a new forum”. Or else, we’re just spinning our wheels here.

wet · 2009-09-30 05:41:00

We won’t need a decision unless we have a valid reason and definite (wo)manpower to migrate. If on-site search is the only relevant concern, I’ll add a Google search box and we are set.

I’ve invited a few members of the community to webmaster the forum in the past months and collected some Nothankyous in the process.

Consequently, the mandatory questions are “Why?” and “Who?”

uli · 2009-09-30 12:20:52

If on-site search is the only relevant concern, I’ll add a Google search box and we are set.

That and making the Tabula Rasa theme default (removing some of the aged brown, re-enabling distinguishable visited links in one go) would botox-away the crinkles.
Other trivia in the range of nested quotes or highlighting important parts of bc.. wouldn’t justify the efforts of a switch.

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#1 2009-09-29 19:58:58

New forum software

#2 2009-09-29 20:33:27

Re: New forum software

#3 2009-09-29 20:48:58

Re: New forum software

#4 2009-09-29 21:03:35

Re: New forum software

#5 2009-09-29 21:08:12

Re: New forum software

#6 2009-09-29 21:36:35

Re: New forum software

#7 2009-09-29 22:32:39

Re: New forum software

#8 2009-09-29 23:03:25

Re: New forum software

#9 2009-09-29 23:48:31

Re: New forum software

#10 2009-09-30 01:01:12

Re: New forum software

#11 2009-09-30 05:41:00

Re: New forum software

#12 2009-09-30 12:20:52

Re: New forum software

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