• Registered: 2006-01-12
  • Posts: 10

Topic: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

Hi - new to these forums although I've been a fan of punBB for some time. Now I'm getting ready to add punBB to our site and have some questions I haven't found answered on this site/forums.

1. Is there a way to move between topics via a "Previous Topic"/"Next Topic" type of link? I don't see a way to quickly move to the next topic without first returning to a list of topics and then clicking on the previous/next topic.

2. Is there a way to subscribe to RSS feeds for a specific forum or post?

3. Are there PHP modules I can use to extract info from my punBB forums for placement on my main site? I'm thinking of stats such as 10 most recent topics, 10 most recent posts, number of subscribers, number of posts, number of forums, etc. Ideally I would like to display my 10 most recent topics and posts as URLs so that a visitor could click on a link and go directly to a topic or post?

Thank you,
Malcolm

2 Reply by Dr.Jeckyl (edited by Dr.Jeckyl 2006-01-12 08:57)

  • From: -8 GMT
  • Registered: 2004-05-04
  • Posts: 1,396

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

don't think there is an option for #1 but there is a "Jump to forum name" rollout at the bottom of the page. for #2 and #3 have a look at extern.php in the root of the download package, it should help you out.

~James
FluxBB - Less is more
  • Registered: 2006-01-12
  • Posts: 10

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

James,

Thanks for the response. I took a peek at extern.php and you are right, this should get me started with integrating punBB info into the rest of my site.

As for #1 (previous/next topic navigation), I'm surprised that no one appears to be looking for this type of functionality.

Malcolm

4 Reply by Paul

  • Paul
  • Senior Member
  • Offline
  • From: Wales, UK.
  • Registered: 2003-08-13
  • Posts: 3,089

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

bdurham wrote:

James,
As for #1 (previous/next topic navigation), I'm surprised that no one appears to be looking for this type of functionality.

Malcolm

One reason could be that these quick navigation aids are less important on a board like PunBB where pages load quickly so its not much of a chore to click back and forth between pages. It could also be that people prefer just to read the topics that interest them rather than going through all topics in sequence which is certainly how I normally behave (unless I'm a mod when I have to read everything).

  • Registered: 2006-01-12
  • Posts: 10

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the reply. I'm sure my community will want to read topic by topic in specific forums. And, like you said, from a moderator's standpoint (my moderators will be unpaid volunteers), going back and forth between the list of topics and the previous/next topic can be tedious.

Is "previous/next topic" navigation a feature I might find in the mods (plugins/extensions)? I took a quick peek and nothing jumped out at me.

Malcolm

  • From: -8 GMT
  • Registered: 2004-05-04
  • Posts: 1,396

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

maybe with the new hook system Rickard has implemented into 1.3 we might see something but as far as i've seen sofar there hasn't been one made. you might want to search over at punres.org also.

~James
FluxBB - Less is more
  • Registered: 2006-01-12
  • Posts: 10

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

James,

Thanks - I'm off to see what's available in punres.org.

Malcolm

8 Reply by Webby

  • Registered: 2005-08-23
  • Posts: 21

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

bdurham wrote:

James,

Thanks for the response. I took a peek at extern.php and you are right, this should get me started with integrating punBB info into the rest of my site.

As for #1 (previous/next topic navigation), I'm surprised that no one appears to be looking for this type of functionality.

Malcolm

I added it to my own site; it was actually a pretty easy fix.

Webby's Website

9 Reply by Webby

  • Registered: 2005-08-23
  • Posts: 21

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

bdurham wrote:

James,

Thanks for the response. I took a peek at extern.php and you are right, this should get me started with integrating punBB info into the rest of my site.

As for #1 (previous/next topic navigation), I'm surprised that no one appears to be looking for this type of functionality.

Malcolm

I added it to my own site; it was actually a pretty easy fix.

ETA: Sorry, I was mistaken...I was thinking of paging through, not actually going to the next topic. Sorry sad

Webby's Website

  • Registered: 2006-01-12
  • Posts: 10

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

I narrowed my original search for a forum down to SMF, Vanilla, and punBB. I really like punBB (small and fast) and so far the lack of a previous/next topic type link is the only shortcoming I see when comparing punBB to these other alternatives. I'm going to keep looking for a solution and will open up the punBB code sometime this weekend.

(Wondering to myself ... having not looked at the punBB source) is there something in the punBB design/caching system or database schema that may make generating previous topic/next topic link difficult or extremely inefficient ... any takers???

Malcolm

  • From: -8 GMT
  • Registered: 2004-05-04
  • Posts: 1,396

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

well, coming from a cut-n-paste coder and in no way proficient in anything, i have to say PunBB is the cleanest and easiest code to read with a bunch of comments throughout. modding a hack to do what you want wouln't be hard at all i'm sure. BUT if you're patient i would wait for PunBB 1.3(soon) to do any major mods. it will have a hook system so you don't have to touch any pun code to add functionality. any how, i hope you choose PunBB, i haven't regretted a  minute of my experiance.

~James
FluxBB - Less is more
  • Registered: 2006-01-12
  • Posts: 10

Re: Evaluating punBB and have some questions

James,

Thanks for your welcome to the community and for your suggestions. I've decided to go ahead and install punBB as our site's forum service.

I'll keep my eyes open for punBB 1.3 ... smile

Malcolm