Topic: Request: Integrate RSS feeds | Send Digests | Preview Entries
Hi Rickard, all ...
As a newcomer to PunBB, I have to say I like it a lot. I recognize it may not be as wide spread, or known as say, phpbb, vBulletin and the others, but regardless IMHO it's very clean, implemented well and fast. Fast being a key word here. :>) Kudos!!!
Ok, here are my immediate requests. - I apologize if these have already been asked for in another post. Also, please forgive my ignorance here, as I am new to PunBB. On the other hand, please regard my pleas seriously, as they are geared towards what would be considered most modern, or commercial forums that exist today.
1) Please integrate RSS feeds, as most board operators depend on this a lot. Not only would it increase PunBB's perceived value, nowadays, it's just a must in any 'modern' BBS.
2) When considering the above, please include a 'feeder' script [ie: feeder.php], so that board admins will be able to readily incorporate their feeds into other pages of their website without a another hack they have to find elsewhere. In my case for example, I have a rss feed on our cover, that lists the last 10 posts on our forum.
3) Please consider implementing a broadcast digest. Some time ago, I used webBBS, and it had a Admin feature to send out digests, say, every Monday, or X day of all the posts up until that time. This was a very popular feature, and my current Forum [phpbb] does not have this. It is sorely missed.
4) I recognize from an earlier post about providing the templates in the Admin directly, however in the case of users 'not getting it' when they install, they're not going to get it anyway. To me, providing the ability to edit the template files directly outweighs the fact people can't read. The needs of many outweigh the few in this case. :>)
Perhaps you could chown at install, however I have no idea how hard that would be to implement in the installer.
5) Is there no means to 'preview' a entry prior to posting it? I thought this was almost strange, so maybe I missed it. I run a very popular BBS called bbs.applescript.net. There are a ton of people who post applescript code in their entries, so being able to preview would be hard to live without. I'd be burned at the stake if I used a board without that feature alone. :>)
6) Provide a mechanism in the Admin form, to make 'code' look pretty. This would be similar to php color coded code function, however I'm sure it would work well with just about any flavor.
Another way to look at this from a programetical point of view, would be to allow iframes in post entries, so that users could post their code, and it would show up in the threads as a iframe. Obviously, browser bugs would have to be considered in that endeavour, but it might be worth exploring too.
7) Provide a way for users to email a particular post when viewing it. This would be akin to "mail this entry to a friend" feature. And, seems like it could be placed easy enough in the layout without interfering with your current design, from a strict GUI point of view.
8) Data management is a BIG thing. The very reason I am playing with PunBB now, is the fact I just had a nightmare happen on my forum. Not enough time to go through this now, but you can bet that I'll never go through that crap again.
Anyway, a way to; a) backup the DB, b) synchronize the bbs, c) repair DB, etc, would be a very welcome thing here. Even if you set it up as a separate and distinct script, it would be worth having. That way, you could concentrate on keeping the Admin section clean, until you decided to implement it into your app at a later time [ie: sorta like utilities].
In summation, I suspect that some of the stuff I've mentioned could be implemented as Mods. However, if you could manage to integrate them into PunBB directly, that would be very kewl. :>)
Thanks for Your Consideration, and keep up the great work!
