Topic: 1.3?

Sorry it's so early to be posting messages about 1.3, take a break Rickard and Paul, you deserve it, but I'm intreagued by your cryptic 1.3 message.  For me 1.2 has pretty much everything I could have hoped for in a forum software, nice looking, simple to code in and fast as hell.  So what else is there to go in?  I'm really struggling to think of anything, uless it's just optimization stuff, which I doubt there's much of the speed at which it's running at the moment.  Anyway, back to playing with v1.2, tis great fun!

Re: 1.3?

I don't have my todo list here at work, but there's not a lot on it. The big questions will be whether to add e.g. PM and polls. We'll see. I'm sure a lot of people would be happy if I added e.g. PM, but then again, I think I might also scare away some people with the addition of more features. Personally, I find PM's a nuisance (one more place to check for/read/post messages), but a lot of people seem to think they are absolutely vital for a community.

I'm also entertaining the possibility of switching to using MySQL's built-in search indexing which is much faster than anything I can cook up in PHP. There's the problem with PostgreSQL and SQLite though. I like the fact that PunBB works with more than one database, but the number of forums out there running on PostgreSQL or SQLite is very small.

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

Re: 1.3?

Presonally I think PM is allmost necessary in a forum today. At least there could be an option to enable or disable the PM-function. Polls is not that important I think, but it's a nice feature.

I think you could use (with permission of course) the modules Chacmool wrote för 1.1.5, or at least consider creating something compatible to those (at least the PM-module) ... smile

Re: 1.3?

I agree with Rickard. I do see a lot of people crying over PM, but the email is built for this kind of communication. Why remake the wheel is the one produced is inferior to the old one ?

And I'm not even talking about the fact that when you use 10 or 20 forums, that's 10 or 20 places to check for private messages... argh.

The one thing that might be good for 1.3 is a perfected read/not read threads system. I'm trying to figure out how the 1.2 system works, but he don't seems flawless.

5

Re: 1.3?

PM: I'm beginning to change my mind. Personally I don't like them or have any use for them. However, my impression is they are beginning to be regarded as a core feature of any bbs system rather than a high end luxury. Once a feature is regarded as standard then you have problems if you don't have it. Just so long as it can be turned off.

Polls: complete fluff.

Searching: This is quality versus quantity. If the aim is to make PunBB as good as it possibly can be then the question answers itself.

EDIT: Isn't it a bit soon to evaluate how popular sqlite proves to be?

6 (edited by Frank H 2005-01-11 12:58)

Re: 1.3?

wouldn't a thing that limits the timeframe searches can do help speed things up?
(I mean, often people are either searching for stuff since the last week, last month, or perhaps last ½/1 year ... or really old stuff... on all forums I'm on the content usually is fresh at most for about 1 year, after that the things I found I don't consider valid (too much can have happened inbetween)

so having a small extra WHERE time>'.time()+$timeframe.' I guess could speed up most searches ...

Edit: oops, might have posted this in kind of the wrong place... ah well there was something about mysql fulltext searches up there wink

7 (edited by Jacq 2005-01-11 13:04)

Re: 1.3?

PunBB is a forum software so in my opinion anything that is not a part of a forum or a bulletin board system shouldn't be included in the base package. Concurring the previous points and adding one that is not yet mentioned here.

Personal messages: As said before the e-mail field is there for purpose. I agree that some people think that pm's are a must, so a mod is in place for those who feel they need it. It's not a part of core functionality of a bulletin board system. Take a look at the following quote from a dictionary (emphasis is mine):

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bulletin+board

bulletin board
n.
2. Computer Science. A system that enables users to send or read electronic messages, files, and other data that are of general interest and addressed to no particular person.

<edit>
I have used punbb earlier with the pm mod that is availlable at punres. For my forums I need some pm system too and it might just be the mod (after it's updated naturally) which I will install myself if I need to. I'm not against pm's in general, but as a part of a lightweight forum system.
</edit>

Polls: My personal view is that they are not needed at all. At least not in base package. You can do polls without fancy tick boxes just by posting a regular thread asking for peoples opinion. The after effect is that people who vote have to think about what they are doing and usually these polls lead to something better than pre-set, click-through poll values. As a mod for who might need it, but not as a part of the base package.

User permissions: The group based authentication introduced in 1.2 makes maintaining what users can see a lot easier. I see it as a way to create different bulletin boards for different people. However, to make things even easier (or more complex some might think) adding the possibility to be in more than one group at once would be a nice addition making the forum more robust. User authentication is clearly a part of bulletin board functionality even if it violates the quote above. You can use magic ink on public boards too.

8

Re: 1.3?

One very good reason to avoid polls is that members might start voting on what features they want to see in the next release.

Re: 1.3?

Haha, true smile

Jacq: I generally agree with you regarding user groups, but, and that's a big but (hoho), a user group system that allows users to be members of more than one group is a lot more complex. As it is now, basically all permission checks are done in SQL. This is great because it keeps the script code nice and readable. I very much doubt that would be the case if several groups were involved. You'd have to somehow merge permissions from different groups to figure out what permission applies to the user in question. I'm talking about conflicting permissions. Members of group A are not allowed to use the search feature, but member of group B are. Which permission should apply to a user that is a member of both groups? The usual solution to this is to use three different permission settings instead of two (e.g. allow, disallow and deny). I'm just not sure I like that solution.

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

Re: 1.3?

You might just use one rule. For example, take the least permissive one.

Having a very fine granularity of user groups has another advantage, it's easier to integrate punBB in another software (like a CMS.. well a good one, because very few of them handle granularity privileges).

Re: 1.3?

I have done an extensive usergroup system (to another project of mine, non PunBB related) ... as I needed alot of control, but the php function to check permission gets quite large, instead of a couple of lines, one need alot more, to handle overrides, defaults etc. And if one would start doing many of these, performance will suffer... (for my thing I might do upwards to 200 separate checks for a single page, and even though I cache the results to speed things up, it use up quite alot of time figuring out what I can see and what's hidden)

Re: 1.3?

Personally i used to like PMs but now the PunBB email system is better... its like PMs but they all go to the same place whatever forum smile, although the biggest reason i can think for having PMs is that as so many people like them and they can be disabled very easily e.g PMs shouldn't negatively affect the rest of the forum

Polls i like but are definitely not essential

13 (edited by Madoor 2005-01-11 14:23)

Re: 1.3?

Couldn?t you release an official ad-on to the forum with PMs, or release two versions of the forum? Maybe it's too much work for you to change things in two versions... Then people have a choice.

Re: 1.3?

What's wrong with mods for additional features not considered crucial?

15

Re: 1.3?

Nothing. That's why I don't think pms and polls are needed in the base system as the mods are working great.

I think the permissions can be checked from multiple groups and still let the mysql engine do all the work. It's a KISS method, but I won't litter this thread with the specifics though.

16

Re: 1.3?

User groups: if you started with the principle that allowed always wins over disallowed in the case of conflict then wouldn't it be a case of just checking to see if a user is a member of a group with the relevant permission set to allowed and the fact that they are a member of any other group would be irrelevant.

Re: 1.3?

Frank,

I think the main reason people can be leery of mods is the fact that they are not done by the PunBB authors, and when a punbb update is released, they feel the need to wait until the mods they have installed are either tested & approved, or updated to work with the new version before they update their forum.  Maybe they way mods get installed can be handled differently to help ease the pain upgrading? I know when I worked with other packages in the past, handling mods after patches and upgrades was a daunting task.  You have to also remember that not everyone knows PHP & MySQL...  So the easier you make a system to install and work with the better.  How this is done, I don't know.  I like how the plugin feature works by dropping a file with the proper name in the folder and its added to the admin section "Brilliant".  maybe something like that could be done for mods except on a folder basis rather than file.  I am sure most mods encompass more than one file.  I believe this is how systems like post-nuke and such work.

I am relativly new to the punbb world, and I am not exactly sure how current mods are installed and handled, but I feel they should be handled as Add-Ons, and not Mods (Modifications). If a Mod has to change any of the core files or database tables to work, than IMO its not a mod in the sense of module, but rather a modification.  Modules/Add-ons could be made to install their own tables, have their own functions/classes/methods if needed, and use existing functions from the core files.  When looking for mods on other systems, as soon as I see that it will be modifing core files or database tables, I move on.  Just my opinion.  Like I said I have not had to chance to look at the MDK for mod dev guidlines so I may be all wrong in my thinking. 

If the mission statement of PunBB is the embody the K.I.S.S. method, then a PM system or Poll System should not be added to the core functionality of the app itself.  They can be handled as plugins - addons - modules, whatever you like to call them.  I think there will be a need in the future for offical and non-offical modules.  I'd feel safer installing a mod knowing that it has the blessing of Rickard.

Again, this is just my thoughts and opinions.

Re: 1.3?

Paul wrote:

User groups: if you started with the principle that allowed always wins over disallowed in the case of conflict then wouldn't it be a case of just checking to see if a user is a member of a group with the relevant permission set to allowed and the fact that they are a member of any other group would be irrelevant.

That was what I was thinking when I suggested it (before the beta of 1.2 I think).
It makes no sense (at least IMO) to have more restrictive settings be the ones followed. Especially since two groups can be completely unrelated in their purpose (ie: I have one group that I give access to one forum and another group with another forum. If I put someone in both those groups, they should have access to both, not no access to either).

Re: 1.3?

http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=4974 - this could make mods ALOT better

20

Re: 1.3?

The only addition to PunBB I would like to see in the future would be a way to host attachments. I know there is a mod or plugin floating around, I haven't tested it though.

By attachments, I really mean images (jpg, gif, png), but that would be up to the board's admin what he accepts.

I know we can just link to an image, but that image has to be hosted somewhere on the net. For some people that is not possible, it's easier to click a button an upload the image off of their machine.

With an attachment mod, Pun can be used to do classified ads forums.

21

Re: 1.3?

Personally I think PM is not essential because it can be replaced with emails. But polls are very important for a community. Right now the only thing keeps me from doing upgrade to 1.2 is the punpoll mod.

Re: 1.3?

why don't we just make use of the NEW plugin system 1.2 gave us? that way we can turn them on or off at will and only download/install the ones we want on our own boards. wink

~James
FluxBB - Less is more

Re: 1.3?

well the plugin system doesn't mean mods don't need to edit files it only allows extra admin pages

Re: 1.3?

buzzkill: You make good points. I would love for PunBB to support some kind of generic module/plugin structure, but it's something that will require a lot of thought and frankly, I have no idea how it would be implemented. What you want is for this system to be both extensible and fast. Doing the admin plugin thing for the user profile really isn't a problem. That's the easy part. The difficult part is how you get the plugin to operate on other parts of the forum. E.g. the PM mod needs to add a link in viewtopic so that you can send a PM to someone by just clicking the PM link under the users avatar. I have no idea how one would solve that. The same goes for e.g. the attachment mod. It needs to alter the posting form quite radically.

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

Re: 1.3?

the problem is forum mods can edit any part of the forum you can't make set places that they can insert code since it can be very different depending on the mod :S