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RT phpBB Questions

    • SteveB's Avatar
    • SteveB
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    RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • Hi all,

      I was adamant that I was going to use Kunena, and have been getting it set up over the past few days, I've managed to make it blend perfectly with my Terran template, looking exactly like the phpBB version on the RT demo. :)

      While the front page looks perfect, the rest of the views / pages still look second rate :| I've changed buttons, headings, everything... but just can't get rid of that tacky look, and Kunena say themselves that frontend restructuring is their last priority after fixing the entire code that runs the component.

      Even on free templates, the professional look and feel of phpBB is just miles ahead, and I believe would be more welcoming and encourage more people to post than if a forum just didn't look right.

      So I'm strongly considering using a companion RT phpBB template instead!


      So just a couple of questions before I decide to go this route...
        I see modules on the demos, are they configured via J! or phpBB?
        Are they Joomla or phpBB modules?
        Can the Joomla modules from a site be also published to module positions on the forum?
        I don't see "ad demos" on the phpBB demo site,
      (eg. between post 1 and 2) do these templates have ad positions built in, or should these things be configured via normal phpBB methods?
        Can any left / right positions be abandoned and the forum boards resize to a default to match the Joomla site, eg. 960?

      Any advice appreciated...
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  • Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • Hi,

      Would happen to know where I can find information on phpBB forum not taking new topics or post replies?? All of a sudden, the forums aren't working on my site. There were doing fine since January...now nothing...looks like it tries, but then nothing. You'll have to register and login at my site...thanks for any info!

      Brandon

      http://vmwusa.org/index.php/forum
    • Best Regards,

      Tommy Jordan
      Twisted Networx
      twistednetworx.com
  • Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • Hi,

      First thing that appeared to me is that you are using some sort of SEF tool (I assume sh404). Try to do some testing with sh404 off and also turn off SEF in the Global configuration of Joomla itself.

      Personally when I encounter weird problems, I try to test and troubleshoot while having SEF off. Often you "see" more with SEF off.
    • Best regards,

      Piet Nutbey

      Joomla Video Tutorials: www.joomtorial.com
    • Roeland_A!'s Avatar
    • Roeland_A!
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    Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • The biggest problem on your forum is that it is completely wrapped in joomla. Maybe you are using jfusion, then it would be wise to ask in the jfusion forum. If you look at the pagesource of your forum, you will see that there is huge amount of javascripts being loaded, to provide a clearer picture:
      <script type="text/javascript" src="js/jquery-123.js"></script>
        <script type="text/javascript" src="js/jceutilities-160.js"></script>
        <script type="text/javascript" src="js/embed.js"></script>
        <script type="text/javascript" src="js/mootools.js"></script>
        <script type="text/javascript">
           var jcexhtmlembed=1;jQuery(document).ready(function(){jceutilities({'lightbox':{'legacy':0,'convert':0,'resize':1,'icons':1,'overlay':1,'overlayopacity':0.8,'overlaycolor':"#000000",'fadespeed':500,'scalespeed':500},'tootlip':{'classname':"tooltip",'opacity':1,'speed':150,'position':"br",'offsets':"{'x': 16, 'y': 16}"},'imgpath':"plugins/system/jceutilities/img/",'pngfix':1});});
        </script> 
      <script type="js/rokutils.js"></script>
      <script type="js/rokmoomenu.js"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="js/mootools.bgiframe.js"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript">window.addEvent('domready', function() {
           new Rokmoomenu($E('ul.menutop '), {
                bgiframe: false,
                delay: 300,
                animate: {
                     props: ['width', 'opacity'],
                     opts: {
                          duration:700,
                          fps: 200,
                          transition: Fx.Transitions.Sine.easeOut           }
                }
           });
      });
      </script>
      <script type="rokbox.js"></script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="/rokbox-config.js"></script>
      </head>
      Are all these js necessary to run your forum? If not disable them on your forum pages.
      Remember, with these settings, every time you install something into joomla, something may go wrong in your wrapped forum.
    • *Karma comes in many forms, my personal favourite is the random saucepan from the sky* J.Spencer 17-02-2009
    • Roeland_A!'s Avatar
    • Roeland_A!
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    Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • Hi Steve, here you go:SteveB wrote:
        I see modules on the demos, are they configured via J! or phpBB?
      Through phpBB3
        Are they Joomla or phpBB modules?
      phpBB3 Modules
        Can the Joomla modules from a site be also published to module positions on the forum?
      At present no, through copying code, yes some.
        I don't see "ad demos" on the phpBB demo site,
      (eg. between post 1 and 2) do these templates have ad positions built in, or should these things be configured via normal phpBB methods?
      You can alter the code of the template itself to make it look like joomla and create ad positions
        Can any left / right positions be abandoned and the forum boards resize to a default to match the Joomla site, eg. 960?
      Yes, most of the themes have options of full width.
      Hope that helps. If you have any more questions, let me know!
    • *Karma comes in many forms, my personal favourite is the random saucepan from the sky* J.Spencer 17-02-2009
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    Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • Thanks for your reply Roeland.

      Don't mind my ignorance, I've never touched phpBB before so I didn't know if the backend had similar functionality to Joomla, where you could create and move your own modules, positions, ads etc. It seemed odd that many features seen on Joomla demos were missing on the phpBB demo.

      My biggest concern with what I saw on the demo site, was the forums only looked 700 px wide, IMHO this is far too narrow to be user friendly, so I wanted to know if the menus and stats etc could be moved to a bottom page position, some ads put in, and widen boards to 960 px, all with the click of a few buttons. I knew the few changes I wanted to make, I just didn't want to be forced into getting bogged down having to learn another new system after Joomla, I just wanted "plug and play" to make these few changes.

      Since then I have downloaded and installed phpBB on localhost to test, got the bridge working, found a free template with rounded box edges like mini news boxes and 960px wide forums, and after about 4 hours of tinkering with stylesheet.css, overall header, and overall footer html, it now looks like any other page on my site, it fits perfectly, not as slick as an RT theme but pretty good, minus any Joomla menus of course, but I'm sure I will figure that out.

      Of course I would still prefer the RT theme, but being a bit more educated, I can see that modules, menus etc, can't be shifted around like Joomla can. So I would still assume that moving these items, re-sizing boards etc, with the RT templates would still require hacking more complex codes???
      Which means learning another new system???
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    • SteveB
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    Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • I just had another look at the demo site, if I could get the Terran template to the same layout as the Populous forum I'd be very happy.

      Still playing around with the easy stuff on the free template for now, just because most of it's modules are in a preferred layout for me. I've managed to get it pretty well blended in, and got a Joomla menu written and installed to navigate throughout the rest of the site :)


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    • SteveB's Avatar
    • SteveB
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    Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • Well I must admit, I started this thread out of ignorance about phpBB and the worry about having to learn a new system, I just wanted to buy a template and be done with it.

      But I have to say also, that just playing around I managed to easily modify Kunena, SMF2 as well as phpBB3 to fit into my site perfectly. I grabbed a free template and mutilated it to how I wanted it, shuffled around all the bits and pieces, added menus and all sorts, with no worries at all. I'm shocked at how much I've learnt since I started my Joomla site.

      I've already launched Kunena on my site, but I also have a bridged phpBB3 all ready to go too, but as a hidden menu item. I realise it might not make RT happy... but it really was an accident... oops...

      Anyways... it's not too late to replace Kunena with phpBB, and I really would appreciate any advice, thoughts, opinions about the right road to take? phpBB or Kunena?

      Here's Kunena - link removed

      Here's phpBB (Link removed... &$%#@ IE6 breaks the forum :evil: )
    • Last Edit: 15 years 6 months ago by SteveB.
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    • Roeland_A!'s Avatar
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    Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • Looks nice, best thing is to look at sql queries performed by the two and then decide.
    • *Karma comes in many forms, my personal favourite is the random saucepan from the sky* J.Spencer 17-02-2009
  • Re: RT phpBB Questions

    Posted 15 years 8 months ago
    • Hi, There is lots to say about it.

      If it were my choice to make, I would look at for instance:

      1. Kunena support? They have picked up a dying FireBoard Joomla 1.5 project. Surely the guys are eager to do a good job, but so were the FireBoard guys in the beginning.

      2. PHPBB support. PHPBB has been up and running for years and years. Their support forum is massive. No worries that will soon end.

      3. Joomla integration (Kunena) or stand alone forum(PHPBB). I personally like the fact PHPBB (especially with the non-hacking bridge RokBridge) is 100% stand alone. Never any worries about a full bloated forum conflicting with the Joomla side. A separate database for Joomla and The forum to me is perfect. User integration/sync with RokBridge is very much up to par.

      4. A little FireBug network test showed that your Kunena forum is a lot heavier on network traffic. See attached pictures.

      Kunena Network Specs:

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      PHPBB Network Specs:

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      As for look & feel, I think PHPBB3 offers more than Kunena. As for mods in your forum. I think with PHPBB you can get anything inthere you would like. A good example are the mods RT used in their PHPBB. Numerous mods available for PHPBB and their system of testing and approving (and installing) mods has proven itself. An indecent written mod will not be approved by PHPBB and therefor you will know if your mod will work properly or not. What about Kunena? You will be so dependent on the small Kunena (compared to PHPBB) userbase, that it is likely that if you want something that Kunena does not offer, you will not get it.

      Again, this is how I would look at it, at the end, it is your choice.
    • Best regards,

      Piet Nutbey

      Joomla Video Tutorials: www.joomtorial.com

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