Topic: Mambo integration

I'm a third party developer for the CMS Mambo and I've written integration for other forum systems for Mambo and was recently asked if I possibly could write something similar for PunBB.

Since I've never heard of PunBB before that might not be an easy task, but from what I've seen so far of the system I really like it. The philosophy behind it is great, and I certainly like using it more than phpbb and vb.

I'm about to look at the styleguide, mdk and code now to see what I can learn from them, but any help would be appreciated. Has someone tried integration with other packages and if so how did you go about it?

The main part of the integration would be user integration, so the two system would use the same login, possibly with the addition of commenting on articles using the forum.

I haven't yet decided if I'll do this, especially since Mambo already has two quite useful totally integrated forums, and if I do it won't be right away since I have other things to do at the moment. But it doesn't hurt to look into it, to be prepared.

You can find info about my other forum integrations for Mambo and other stuff I've created at my site http://mambo.theyard.org

Regards,
Olle

2

Re: Mambo integration

Gardener wrote:

Has someone tried integration with other packages and if so how did you go about it?

You've come to the same conclusions about punBB as we have.

See here what was done for Nucleus: http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=4121

I'd be very interested to see how you integrate punBB into Mambo.

Re: Mambo integration

i would switch to mambo if there was seamless integration between punbb and mambo. please keep us informed.

~James
FluxBB - Less is more

4

Re: Mambo integration

Great idea but I would certainly delay expending any time on it until the next version of PunBB (v1.2) is released.

BTW: love the random Kylie.

Re: Mambo integration

Paul wrote:

Great idea but I would certainly delay expending any time on it until the next version of PunBB (v1.2) is released.

BTW: love the random Kylie.

Is there any timeframe for the release? And will there be any changes to how the users and login procedure is handled?`

I won't be able to work on this for some time yet so it won't be a problem to wait for the next version really.

Also, I would try to keep the changes to PunBB to a minimum to make it as easy as possible to integrate.

I did have a quick look at the PunBB code yesterday and it wasn't very modular, so it will probably be a bit of work to get this to work.

I have a question for would-be users... Would you need the login and registration to work on both Mambo and PunBB, or would it be sufficient if I implemented it in Mambo? The latter is how it works with my UBB.threads integration, and it would mean a lot easier integration, and easier to keep it updated if I only need one script to work on.

6 (edited by Julius 2004-07-18 10:17)

Re: Mambo integration

Dr.Jeckyl wrote:

i would switch to mambo if there was seamless integration between punbb and mambo.

Me too.

7 (edited by Dr.Jeckyl 2004-07-12 20:12)

Re: Mambo integration

Gardener wrote:

Would you need the login and registration to work on both Mambo and PunBB, or would it be sufficient if I implemented it in Mambo? The latter is how it works with my UBB.threads integration, and it would mean a lot easier integration, and easier to keep it updated if I only need one script to work on.

which ever one makes it easier to add staff(someone who can admin or posts articles) for the mambo part that have moderator/admin status in the forums as well i would say.

Paul wrote:

Great idea but I would certainly delay expending any time on it until the next version of PunBB (v1.2) is released.

tease. big_smile

~James
FluxBB - Less is more

Re: Mambo integration

Gardener wrote:

Is there any timeframe for the release? And will there be any changes to how the users and login procedure is handled?

I'm aiming for a summer release. There probably won't be any changes to the registration/login procedure.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

9

Re: Mambo integration

Gardener wrote:

Would you need the login and registration to work on both Mambo and PunBB, or would it be sufficient if I implemented it in Mambo?

Great idea, and it would be VERY nice, if you make it! now i'm using mambo and punbb as external forum.. though i have not enough PHP knowledge to integrate them.. sad

Re: Mambo integration

Dr.Jeckyl wrote:

which ever one makes it easier to add staff(someone who can admin or posts articles) for the mambo part that have moderator/admin status in the forums as well i would say.

Either way, an admin in PunBB would be an admin in Mambo and vice versa, and all PunBB administration would still be done from the PunBB admin page and work as normal.

I've been thinking of the possibility to add a wrapper solution to make PunBB show up inside Mambo, but that might be hard, I will look into it though.

Rickard wrote:

I'm aiming for a summer release. There probably won't be any changes to the registration/login procedure.

Sounds great, I can start familiarizing myself with the system for the time being.

XuMiX wrote:

Great idea, and it would be VERY nice, if you make it! now i'm using mambo and punbb as external forum.. though i have not enough PHP knowledge to integrate them..

It wasn't my idea, someone asked me to do it on my site, that was the first time I ever heard about PunBB. But even though it was only a few days ago I've started to fall in love with the forum and I'd really like to make it happen. I've even recommended it to a friend who has set it up on a site.


Once I've had the time to have a look at the PunBB code and done some preliminary tests I'll write up a spec document for the component and post it here to see if it's what you guys want. Don't hold your breath though, I've got a bunch of other projects at the moment.

11

Re: Mambo integration

Gardener wrote:

I've been thinking of the possibility to add a wrapper solution to make PunBB show up inside Mambo, but that might be hard, I will look into it though.

I've been posting at opensourcecms.com using Simpleboard wrapped in Mambo. I suggested they try another forum because simpleboard seems clumsy.

Are you saying that punBB wouldn't be able to be embedded like simpleboard?

12

Re: Mambo integration

Gardener wrote:

It wasn't my idea, someone asked me to do it on my site, that was the first time I ever heard about PunBB. But even though it was only a few days ago I've started to fall in love with the forum and I'd really like to make it happen. I've even recommended it to a friend who has set it up on a site.

It was my request to Gardener. I was seeking an CMS for my future website some time ago and during this process I have opened and a new forum for myself. It was PunBB. Mambo turned out a most suitable CMS for me. But I found existing Mambos' forums not comparable with PunBB. I am a novice in PHP and can't do integration work for CMS and forum. I discovered very creative person who made to recent moment two forums for Mambo and deside to ask him to set up a third one.

Re: Mambo integration

hcgtv wrote:
Gardener wrote:

I've been thinking of the possibility to add a wrapper solution to make PunBB show up inside Mambo, but that might be hard, I will look into it though.

I've been posting at opensourcecms.com using Simpleboard wrapped in Mambo. I suggested they try another forum because simpleboard seems clumsy.

Are you saying that punBB wouldn't be able to be embedded like simpleboard?

Well, it might be, I don't know. Haven't checked it yet. Embedding another script causes problems, mainly with database connections and get/post variables, but also links will be a bit cumbersome.

Simpleboard was once a stand-alone script, but Jan de Graaf made it into a Mambo component by changing all database calls to use Mambos internal database system and totally integrating the admin pages into the Mambo administrator pages. Since then he's made many additions to the code so I would think there isn't much left of the original code.

The problem with doing something like that is that it would be a fork of the current punBB script, and keeping it updated with the changes from punBB would be very time consuming.

Another option is changing the links on the fly in the output from punBB and also making sure database calls and variables work correctly. How hard this would be I have no idea of yet.

The last option would be to open punBB in an Iframe, which isn't too bad in most cases, but I've seen Opera having problems with it.

14

Re: Mambo integration

Gardener wrote:
hcgtv wrote:

Are you saying that punBB wouldn't be able to be embedded like simpleboard?

The last option would be to open punBB in an Iframe, which isn't too bad in most cases, but I've seen Opera having problems with it.

Excuse my ignorance, I didn't know the implications. Thanks for enlightening me.

I've looked into Iframe and that might be the way to go. If it's only Opera issues that would keep it from happening then we can write an email to Oslo :)

Whenever you do integrate, I know that opensourcecms.com would be very interested in using it, as long as there is some kind of conversion script to go from simpleboard to punBB.

Re: Mambo integration

hcgtv wrote:

Excuse my ignorance, I didn't know the implications. Thanks for enlightening me.

I've looked into Iframe and that might be the way to go. If it's only Opera issues that would keep it from happening then we can write an email to Oslo smile

Whenever you do integrate, I know that opensourcecms.com would be very interested in using it, as long as there is some kind of conversion script to go from simpleboard to punBB.

It might not be a problem at all, but I tried a similar thing with another script quite recently and that was a horrible experience, I ended up just doing an iframe solution. It was good enough, especially since it's only a silly game anyway so I didn't want to put too much effort into it. =] That script was horrible to begin with though, so it will hopefully be a lot easier with punBB.

Never had a user complaining about the iframe solution I have on a very active site though, and I know I have some Opera users, so it might be something wrong with the code I used and not Operas fault, but I don't know. But the code seems OK, and it's some weird caching problem which seems very much to be a bug. Haven't investigated further though.

I have a lot of projects going on know, so this is definately put on hold for some time. But I am planning on doing it if I get the time.

16

Re: Mambo integration

Gardener wrote:

I have a lot of projects going on know, so this is definately put on hold for some time. But I am planning on doing it if I get the time.

I'm going to try the Iframe route this week. I'll post here my findings.

I don't plan on embedding the whole forum in my blog just the replies to the article but it will still serve as a test of sorts.

17

Re: Mambo integration

hcgtv wrote:

I've looked into Iframe and that might be the way to go. If it's only Opera issues that would keep it from happening then we can write an email to Oslo smile

Opera supports CSS better than latest Firefox 0.9.2, you don't need to worry about this wink (I use latest Opera 7.52 on a daily basis, purchased for $39)

Re: Mambo integration

rADo wrote:

Opera supports CSS better than latest Firefox 0.9.2, you don't need to worry about this wink (I use latest Opera 7.52 on a daily basis, purchased for $39)

I don't want to start a browser war, but Opera users tend to say that but I still have to create special code for Opera in otherwise xhtml/css compliant code from time to time. The Iframe problem was reported by an Opera user, I don't know what version but it was fairly recent. Besides, iframe has nothing to do with css...

19

Re: Mambo integration

Olle,

Since PunBB 1.2dev can be downloaded and played with, what's the schedule for Mambo -> PunBB integration?

From a simpleboard is driving me crazy user :)

20

Re: Mambo integration

At the Gardener's website you can read: "I've been asked to integrate the forum system PunBB and after having taken a look at this I've decided to probably give it a try. It will have to wait until the release of Mambo 4.6 and PunBB 1.2 though, since both systems will be heavily updated soon, and the integration will be simpler to accomplish as well".
PunBB 1.2 is ready, but Mambo 4.6 isn't yet. We need to wait.

21 (edited by Joey 2004-09-13 13:07)

Re: Mambo integration

gryff wrote:

PunBB 1.2 is ready.

Since when?

22

Re: Mambo integration

Sorry, I said about 1.2dev like hcgtv have wrote. Of course it isn't a release.

23

Re: Mambo integration

When I dabbled in Mambo a while back I didn't find it overly fast, but was more concerned about making sure all the features people wanted were there.

Isn't this in contrast to the philosophy of Pun?

24

Re: Mambo integration

Joey wrote:

Isn't this in contrast to the philosophy of Pun?

I answer forum questions over at opensourcecms.com. They have settled on Mambo and are using simpleboard for the forums.

It's not my choice of front end, but I'm tired of using a forum wanna-be.

25

Re: Mambo integration

Joey wrote:

Isn't this in contrast to the philosophy of Pun?

Yeah, I think Little Mambo (LIMBO) is more agree with PunBB's philosophy.