1.2 Requests: using PunBB as mini-CMS (Page 1 of 2)

Continue to the madness !!! We could create too a blog ! PunBB would be so a complete interactive web interface

Well I have done the Attachment mod for pre 1.2 versions, and as soon as 1.2 is ready I'll start rewriting it (and adding some features, like saving on disk instead of database), those 2 first points are covered in my mod (and at least earlier Rickard said he didn't want attachments in the forum base, so the mod will likely be needed to get attachments)

What I won't make in the attachment mod is resizing of images, it can bring down a server to a standstill, and the image quality is often much better if the person who made the image will make it in correct size first.

So, as soon as 1.2 is released, I'll start working on convertin my mod (but looks like a complete rewrite due to usergroups and other features ... and I'll try to make the mod easier to install )

Yes we could!  Simple, and little code bloat.

Good question, not being any sort of expert programmer, I hadn't thought of that.  I consider colored/highlighted BBCode to be a minor feature, but it would make it easier to write long articles with lots of formatting.  (Or to edit articles with much formatting).    I don't know what the alternatives to a Text Area are; again I would not want code bloat or performance loss. 

I guess my ideal desired behavior would be to write text in the editing field (TextArea), then select text that you want formatted (e.g. Bold) and click a link or button to Bold the text.  At this point, PunBB could rewrite to the editing field encapsulating the formatting information.  I understand that a link or button could already add the formatting text to the TextArea (Please add this as an option to 1.2), but it would still be nice to have that formatting text in a different color. Even better would be an editing field that allowed the BBCode to be hidden, and the results of that code displayed.  Are there any simple text editing fields that allow that kind of hidden formatting?

Another idea would be to keep a Preview Pane active as you entered text in the TextArea.  When a user highlights some text (in TextArea) and clicks a formatting link (Bold), the BBCode gets added to the TextArea and the results are updated immediately in the Preview Pane.

This I don?t understand.  Rickard must have a reason for this, but I couldn?t find it.  Personally, I think it is incredibly useful for web forum software to have the ability to attach (upload) files based on user permissions (e.g. registered users only).  Since PunBB is managing user permission already, the file uploading should be somehow integrated.

I don?t necessarily think a file needs to be attached to a post to be useful, because attaching it through some mechanism to a particular directory (or database table) would allow it to be referenced in a post (e.g. attach an image through a simple upload, then reference it using the image tags).

FEATURE REQUEST :
It would be wonderful to have FILE UPLOADS managed similar to Forums, and to my requests for Articles, Wikis, etc.  IOW, one could create a File Upload ?Forum? that could be named, or attached to a category.  A user entering that would see a list of files, similar to the list of topics (and the owner/uploader of the file, date of upload, etc.).  In this way, you could create ?Galleries? of images, or ?Directories? of music files, etc. 

All of these CMS services could be based on the same code base as the forum, but would really enhance PunBB as an interactive community tool.

James

Agreed.  Keep it simple, light, and fast.  But if you do find a short and neat solution, even one that is relatively simplistic on file management (but still safe!), please implement it.  Thanks!

James

I would be completely happy with that, as long as it used the same user database tables and permissions from PunBB.  I don't even think a completely "PunBB-copied" interface is necessary, just another PHP page with file upload options.

I personally think that the PunBB-mini-CMS that I described would do CMS rather well.  Fast, efficient, user-friendly.  The parsing efficiency of PunBB would still remain high if the CMS features were not turned on.  And even turned on, the reuse of the forum code would be (?) far more efficient than standalone code for each CMS feature.  From a Human-Factors point of view (the company I work for does Human Factors Engineering), the ease of learning and simplicity of use of a CMS that mirrors the common forum behavior is highly attractive. 

James

Totally agree, the right tool for the job.

Pun is an excellent discussion forum, it does it's job rather well.

I tend to pick best of breed apps and help them work together, that's why LAMP is such a big hit and the Microsoft way is on it's way out..

The current stable version (1.1) already is:

http://www.opensourcecms.com/index.php? … amp;id=361

I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean. Is PunBB's compability, visual consistency and speed affected by the use of an anonymous proxy?

I don't get what you said about how secure or anonymous PunBB could be maintained either. Please explain.

Thanks for taking the time to think about and answer my questions.  I think for my personal needs (and maybe other people too), a very minor code/feature addition would suffice.  All I need to make the Forums more useful are two additions that I hope would not bloat the code:

1)  Ability to set a forum so that only Topics are posted (no replies possible)
2)  Ability to pre-assign Topic ownership rights inside that forum

An example of feature 2), one Forum would allow edit ownership only to the original poster (this is the current behavior, plus moderator/admin edit?), while another forum would allow (be pre-assigned) edit ownership to all registered users, regardless of who created the post.

I can live without PunBB containing file uploads, but the two features above would really help.  Thanks again for both the forum and for reading this.

James

Something like Scoop might be what he's looking for.  I don't know.  (Hope you don't mind my linking to it.)

JMelhuish: But what you asking for is hardly functionality that one would expect to find in a discussion forum. PunBB 1.2 will make it possible to assign permissions to a specific forum so that users are only able to e.g. post new topics (and not replies). The opposite will also be possible, e.g. users can post replies, but not new topics (suitable for news and other articles).

I think that PunBB's no-bloat philosophy applies not only to the feature-set but also to the execution time. Adding an immediate PunXML tier, would definately increase execution time, and while this trade-off for modularity and code reusability might very well be worthwhile, the question is; does it fit Rickard's philosophy?
By the way Rickard, when is 2.0 going to be released :-)

The problem with Scoop is that it isn't a good format for carrying on conversations - it doesn't work well as a forum.  I don't think you'll be happy using Scoop as a forum.

That sounds perfect.  (I like it, anyway.)  Doesn't that do what you're asking for?