Switch from SMF to Joomlaboard
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- David York
- Hero Rocketeer
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Has anyone made the switch from SMF to Joomlaboard on a production site recently? I've been running SMF on my community gaming site (link in sig) for a couple years. Initially it was a standalone SMF with the last year being bridged with Joomla. SMF is awesome and powerful but bridging it with Joomla and maintaining it so that it looks right and functions without errors can be a pain in the you-know-what.
I'm testing Joomlaboard on another production site I'm developing which will have only low-moderate forum usage. I'm using the latest version (1.1.5) I must say that I am very impressed with the ease of installment and configuration. AND, it uses the the Joomla theme so it looks like just another component of the site. It has certainly come a long way thus far in its development and it appears like it will be a component that is and will be well supported.
I'm looking for possible reasons that I shouldn't switch from SMF to Joomlaboard on my community gaming site. The only thing I can see thus far that might be missed is the lack of a poll in Joomlaboard. Although, Joomla has a poll option albeit a not very good one that is only accessible by the site admin.
The only other thing I can think of would be the ease with which you can create groups in SMF. Joomlaboard uses the group management setup in Joomla which we all know is very limited by default. What options are available to add groups in Joomla? I know of, and have tested, Jaclplus which seemed functional - if not clunky. Any other options for group management?
I have been testing and reading elsewhere but would appreciate unbiased opinions you might have on this.
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- Cubfan
- Sr. Rocketeer
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I'm a HUGE fan of Joomlaboard. There are several reasons I like it, but the main reason is that it is so easy to implement and integrates so well with Community Builder and the various PMS solutions out there. You can easily secure the board to registered users which was important to me.
You've hit upon the major drawbacks, the lack of polls and groups. There have been times when I've wanted to make a board or discussion private and couldn't do it without upgrading the users to "author" status in Joomla (not the most elegant solution). So I'd sure like to know a better way.
There is also no way to move a single post (that is misplaced) into an active thread. You can move an entire thread between boards, however.
Among the other plusses, it's also BLAZING fast. I just upgraded to the latest version and it's now even faster than before.
Another great feature is that it allows the use of avatars/pictures from Community Builder, which it displays next to each post if you enable it. Looks really great, and the users love it.
It's probably not the best to use for a powerhouse forum need. But for small communities, it's just perfect... and SMF for me is like hitting a nail with a sledgehammer.
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- SureLurksalot
- Elite Rocketeer
- Posts: 512
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extensions.joomla.org/component/option,c...k_id,1891/Itemid,35/
Heres another alternative to keep an eye on. It's still in Alpha/Beta stages but could become a little more complete than joomlaboard...
(but I also seem to remember a hosting component that this same developer seems to have abandoned) - Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
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- David York
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 326
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SureLurksalot wrote:
extensions.joomla.org/component/option,c...k_id,1891/Itemid,35/
Heres another alternative to keep an eye on. It's still in Alpha/Beta stages but could become a little more complete than joomlaboard...
(but I also seem to remember a hosting component that this same developer seems to have abandoned)
I saw this one but I am not willing to switch to a (as of yet) unproven board. Joomlaboard's developers are proving that they are dedicated to continued updating of Joomlaboard. Who knows, Joomlaboard may already be planning to implement more features that we don't yet know about.
Cubfan wrote:I'm a HUGE fan of Joomlaboard. There are several reasons I like it, but the main reason is that it is so easy to implement and integrates so well with Community Builder and the various PMS solutions out there. You can easily secure the board to registered users which was important to me.
You've hit upon the major drawbacks, the lack of polls and groups. There have been times when I've wanted to make a board or discussion private and couldn't do it without upgrading the users to "author" status in Joomla (not the most elegant solution). So I'd sure like to know a better way.
There is also no way to move a single post (that is misplaced) into an active thread. You can move an entire thread between boards, however.
Among the other plusses, it's also BLAZING fast. I just upgraded to the latest version and it's now even faster than before.
Another great feature is that it allows the use of avatars/pictures from Community Builder, which it displays next to each post if you enable it. Looks really great, and the users love it.
It's probably not the best to use for a powerhouse forum need. But for small communities, it's just perfect... and SMF for me is like hitting a nail with a sledgehammer.
If I make the switch, my biggest problem will be migrating the SMF forum to Joomlaboard. I have no experience with a migration like this and dread the thought of it. Also, my user's login info is stored in SMF because that's what we were using before we went to Joomla!
The ultimate idea I am toying with is a Joomla! + CB + Joomlaboard + Gallery community . . . CB is the only variable left in this equation since I have no experience with it. But, I welcome anything that will make our gaming community feel more like that - a community. - Last Edit: 17 years 8 months ago by David York.
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- David York
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 326
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- Anyone else had luck, good or bad, with recent versions of Joomlaboard?
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- Ian Beer
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 119
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I have run several versions of it on a private club site, not busy enough to warrant a heavyweight component. There were a couple of problems running v1.1.2 with Globals=off, but 1.1.3 runs without problems, I am about to upgrade the site to the latest 1.1.4, as the change from .2 to .3 didn't cause any problems I don't anticipate that this will either. (Actually 1.1.5 is now out).
It's a new little board that styles to match the rest of the site, agreed there are a few facilities "missing", you can't move an individual posting for example, but I like it fine, and it has not given me any problems.
I am trying to get hold of the Latest Subjects Module, and the Discussbot, but Forge is away in the land of nod again these days.
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- David York
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 326
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- So, has anyone converted their active SMF forum over to Joomlaboard so as to keep all forums, posts, post count, etc.? What's might be involved in that? Trying to decide whether to start the forum new with Joomlaboard or try to convert our existing SMF one is probably the last thing that is holding me up.
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- Cubfan
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 192
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David York wrote:
So, has anyone converted their active SMF forum over to Joomlaboard so as to keep all forums, posts, post count, etc.? What's might be involved in that? Trying to decide whether to start the forum new with Joomlaboard or try to convert our existing SMF one is probably the last thing that is holding me up.
I don't know if that's even possible. If anybody has written a migration application or script, it would probably be to go to SMF from Joomlaboard, not the other way around.
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- Cubfan
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 192
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Ian Beer wrote:
I am trying to get hold of the Latest Subjects Module, and the Discussbot, but Forge is away in the land of nod again these days.
I have both of those components. The discussbot is simply great. I use it for an online class we have going, and it's good for the youth to discuss news and various articles. The latest subjects is less useful, but might be worth having.
PM me your email address and I'll send them to you.
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- Peter Mee
- Sr. Rocketeer
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Cubfan wrote:
I'm a HUGE fan of Joomlaboard. There are several reasons I like it, but the main reason is that it is so easy to implement
You've hit upon the major drawbacks, the lack of polls and groups. There have been times when I've wanted to make a board or discussion private and couldn't do it without upgrading the users to "author" status in Joomla (not the most elegant solution). So I'd sure like to know a better way.
In the past, I have used JACLPlus to run JoomlaBoard with private sections. It worked very well.
Peter
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