why not host forum on phpBB?

  • I’m not sure if this has been asked before [probably has], but why not host the WP Support Forum on something like phpBB or whatnot? WP has a good community here but I can’t help but think how much more robust the community would be with something, well, more robust ??

Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

  • Honestly it probably would be if they used vBulletin or another heavy duty forum with all the bells and whistles. But I think they’re using these forums because the people behind WordPress also built the forums.

    Thread Starter lone007

    (@lone007)

    Oh right, I forbot about vBulletin too. It would be nice to have avatars and be able to subscribe to a thread or a forum via email as well as a general chat. It’s all the other little things that could help build a community. Not to say that WP isn’t a community but there can always be more.

    Search, it’s been discussed before.

    And for the record, I too wish Matt & co. would switch to something better, but this forum generates little load and is written by them, so I doubt it’ll happen.

    “I think they’re using these forums because the people behind WordPress also built the forums.”
    Yes.

    “It would be nice to have avatars”
    No.

    It isn’t changing.
    Here you have a page with clear information and no clutter, garbage, competitions to see who can have the biggest flashiest gaudiest signature, no animated gifs, no “OMG LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” which takes 300K of data to render, no “****** Super Brilliant Member” or “* NEWBIE!!”

    Like I said, it is not changing.

    I actually like what it is now, simple, elegant. That search box is something that needs heavy work, though. I always end up using Google to search for posts on this forum.

    In fact, I’m eagerly awating bbPress to come out of alpha to implement one on my site.

    On a side note, I’m running into “www.ads-software.com is taking a lunch break” messages much more often these days, what’s up with that?

    Yeah, I don’t mind these forums that much, it’s just that I wish it had some more features (like a much better search and perhaps a subscribe feature).

    alrescha: have you tried PunBB? It’s by far the best lite forum software out there if you ask me. ??

    alrescha – https://www.ads-software.com/support/topic/72019?replies=6

    I too would like to voice my support for the forums staying as they are now. I think they’re excellent for the purpose, and I think it would be a terrible mistake to switch to phpBB, since that would encourage chat and would clog up the system.

    This allows you to make quick, simple enquiries, and get a speedy response. It’s absoutely perfect.

    Also, though I often lambast it, the search function here is better than on phpBB!

    Viper: thanks for the suggestion. I did indeed try PunBB, back when he still used tables to lay it out. Sort of droped it afterwards. I did grab myself one of those special PunBB mouse pads, though, been using it ever since.

    I’ve been waiting for bbPress mostly because I know it will undoubtfully integrate perfectly with WordPress. And I like the look here better. PunBB is—simply a matter of personal preference—a little too cliche for my like.

    podz: Thanks for the link! It wasn’t causing too much trouble for me so I never bothered to search for it.

    Back to topic.

    I think bbPress (i.e. this forum) has indeed succeeded in what it’s aiming to do: support. It’s perhaps in a way “minimalist”. The layout is clean, straight-forward with no distracting factors; and the typography is easy to read, no fancy displays and no useless graphics.

    Things like avatars, user ranking, or even karma settings have no place in a technical support forum as www.ads-software.com, I think. This is a community built around support, not built for the sake of having a community. (I do welcome a good, warm WordPress community, though, mistake me not.)

    For the sake of argument, though, if we have to move away from bbPress, I’d say PunBB, and I’d be strongly against using monsters like phpBB.

    I did indeed try PunBB, back when he still used tables to lay it out.

    Wow! Well, then a lot has changed since then as it’s all CSS now. ??

    bbPress is pretty decently rocking already, but being able to subscribe to a thread would be a nice addition.

    RustIndy – bottom of every thread is “RSS Feed for this thread” link. Think of it as “subscribe”.

    Also, if you’re not used to RSS readers, going into your own profile page will list, in two columns, the threads you replied to (left column) and threads you started (right column). These will show if there’s any replies since you last visit (last reply? I’m not sure).

    I’ve found this list in the profiles page quite enough for me, since I visit here every now and then.

    (Hm, I may try out PunBB again, but work is piling up on me, and I don’t have that much time to play around with different systems like I used to. We’ll see.)

Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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