Howdy all,
I'm considering writing an analysis on a few forum systems, with the aim of identifying what features "make a difference" when using the environment. Not so much as a feature list, but more a conceptual list. I intend this to be focused towards a document that can be reviewed by all and sundry when it comes to establishing the technologies we use to build core/modules.
Or something like that ;)
So, this weekend .. I'm going to install a few of them on various subdomains and start making notes and try to get a better overall picture of how content is interacted with, and how (right now, or in the future) Drupal could do the same. Some things will be obvious (like the level of granular control on access) but some may not be (the different methods used to obtain updates to data users are interested in rather than just what's new).
Whilst I'm doing this, I'd love some feedback ... I'm looking for the usual "I wish Drupal did ..." comments but more so, I'd love additional thoughts on what could expand and refine the document.
I'll probably throw all this up here somewhere when I'm finished, but I'll keep my working notes up on my (just being established) site. I'll post a URL once it doesn't look like a dogs breakfast ;)
I come from a forum heavy background, having coded (too) many phpBB/SMF/vB/Invision systems and have quite the vested interest in this. I would love to replace the various forums I help manage with Drupal, but quite simply, it's just not there yet.
So please, any pointers, advice, etc ... post it up :)
Comments
There's a comparison of
There's a comparison of forum software wiki already in this group. You might want to just edit that, it could do with updating and some expansion in places.
Am not sure how much help this sort of thing is though, we're all pretty aware of the software's shortcomings. :)
Forum admin
The biggest thing I could use is informationon forum administration. I've used plenty of forums from a user end but haven't spent any time on the backside of any outside of Drupal. I'm aware that this is an area that Drupal doesn't do well but am lacking specifics. If you could focus on that, that would help a lot. As far as the general user experience goes, I've got a pretty good handle on what's still needed there.
Michelle
See my Drupal articles and tutorials or come check out the Coulee Region
Michelle's right
You can do plenty with Drupal's forum for end users, administration is a lot harder to deal with. I used to use phpbb for a while but that was 18 months go now, so an update on that (and other systems) would be great. Things like moderation roles, user banning, 'ignore' functions, thread splitting and merging etc. etc.
Forum Admin Experience...
I've had about 4 years experience in administrating forums, begining first with phBB, then SMF, and now the one included within DotNetNuke (DNN). Working on getting an install of Drupal here within XAMPP for extended testing. (Using Drupal on my own site, and will on several others!) Which environment is the Advanced Forum going to be made for? v5x or v6x? Little confused on that point...
My experience, other than the admin background, is more in the design field in using CSS and theming...
Irene M. Kraus a.k.a. The Computer Lady!
Design COMP (http://www.design-comp.com/) - Web Development/Multimedia Productions
CEBUG (http://www.cebug.org) - President/Webmaster
Irene M. Kraus a.k.a. The Computer Lady!
Design Works Internet (http://designworksinternet.com/) - Web Development/Multimedia Productions
CEBUG (http://cebug.org) - President/Webmaster
advforum
"Which environment is the Advanced Forum going to be made for? "
D5 is in a pretty usable alpha. D6 still has some things to fix before I make an alpha, though some people are using it anyway.
I'm very interested in your forum administration experience as that is something I have pretty much 0 experience with outside of Drupal's forums so it's really hard for me to know what a forum admin would like. I've got a few ideas to make things easier just based on things that aggravate me in Drupal but my forum is not terribly active so I'm sure there's a lot I don't know.
Michelle
See my Drupal articles and tutorials or come check out the Coulee Region
I guess every forum is
I guess every forum is different depending o the kind of people being active in it. A few things that have me a huge difference in the forum that I once belonged to (10.000 Members) were
A lively forum is a social entity like any real existing one, sadly but true, someone has to guide it.
For Adiminstrators defining the various rights for different users was a key-issue. Drupal is fairly good at that.
Still a redundant second interface just for forum administration is something to consider.
My 2 Cents.
Jan
The Report Post idea could
The Report Post idea could be done with the Flag module. I am not exactly sure, but Flag might be able to "tie in" with the D6 actions module to make issuing Warnings easier.
The banning of users is kind of an all or nothing deal, your either banned or your not. There really isn't any "3 strikes and your out" Maybe with Flag/Actions you can create something like it.
Depending on the options of Actions/Triggers and Views provide, you could build a moderator page to help moderators screen nodes and comments.
My one major issue is that there really isn't any advanced methods of handling nodes. It's hard to merge, split, copy, forward, etc... nodes around.
I would like to see a more laid out "default" forum.tpl.php file shipped with the shipped themes that would make the forums look more similar to phpBB, SMF or vB. The default look of most forums using Drupal is mediocre at best and ugly at worst. You don't really see any Drupal sites that are used mainly for a forum. So any theming enhancements would be great.
.
You mean something kinda like http://shellsn.com/forum ? :P
Michelle
See my Drupal articles and tutorials or come check out the Coulee Region
Exactly Michelle! The bigger
Exactly Michelle!
The bigger question is were you able to create that with nothing but Drupal or are you relying on your Advanced Forum module to do this?
I think it would be a better idea if Drupal could allow this kind of theming of forums without adding more modules to the mix. Don't get me wrong, your modules are great, I just would like to see this be done without adding to "module bloat".
Personally, I would like to see the side modules (forum, blog, profile, etc...) in Drupal 8 get a big overhaul. Even more so if some level of Views gets into "core" in D8.
.
My module is Drupal. If you mean nothing but Drupal core, no, you don't get much with core. But that's by design. Adding modules to Drupal isn't bloat. It's how sites are built. Vary rare for a site to be built with just core.
FWIW, you can get quite a bit of what I have there with just theming. AF was originally flatforum based theme code on my site that I pulled into a module to make it simpler for others. It's 90% template preprocesses which can be done in your theme. Have a look at the Sky theme to see what she's done with forums with no module dependency.
We're already working on getting an overhaul of forum into D7 though how much depends on when freeze is. Blog I have no interest in and profile is going to get fairly decimated by fields in core.
Michelle
See my Drupal articles and tutorials or come check out the Coulee Region
I agree that most sites (if
I agree that most sites (if any) can't be built successfully with just "core". Although I do see a huge difference between having a few important modules (CCK/Views/OG) and installing 100+ modules. Sooner or later module bloat will happen. Even if you are using every single one of the modules, I, personally, would be uneasy with that amount of installed modules. But that is just me!
No
It's not just you. There are others that have issues with installing a lot of modules. And there are some valid concerns there. The more modules you have, the more chance there is that one won't be maintained well. But the alternate is to have huge modules that include tons of functionality that you may or may not need. There is actually more danger of "bloat" with this method because it's an all or nothing deal.
The "Drupal way" is to break modules up into discrete bits of functionality. Advanced Forum handles theming, little bits of functionality not handled by other modules, and generally organizes the output of all the helper modules. Then you install just the modules you want in your forum. Want user points but have no need for titles? You install user points and not user titles. Rather than having one monolithic forum module, you assemble the bits you need. It's a bit more work at the start but gives a lot of flexibility and allows maintainers to focus on smaller bits of functionality.
Michelle
See my Drupal articles and tutorials or come check out the Coulee Region