SpaceSimCentral Opinions

[Dramacius]

PHPBB is one of the best free software packages out there but everything you want besides the main forum has to be created and kept alive by members of the community. that means a lot of the "modules" used end up being abandoned and breaking forums. To go with something like Invision or vBulletin, they have many of the common modules in the standard packages and also develop many extra modules themselves so are less likely to be abandoned.I don't know what WCIC is but I think FS is FreeSpace

[Bullwinkle]

Darkone wrote:
I have been thinking about their new 4.0 ... Just it's almost $300
Isn't phpbb the one that advertises itself as "THE #1 FREE, OPEN SOURCE BULLETIN BOARD SOFTWARE"?But I still don't get it. Other forums do not work as well as yours. If phpbb is missing something important, then you do a terrific job of covering up the flaws. Are you wanting features or capabilities that phpbb does not offer?And what are "WCIC" and "FS Communities"?EDIT: @Dramacius, thanks for the clarification. I have seen Invision and vBulletin forums that look like toys compared to SSC, but that perhaps that is due to DarkOne's good eye and diligent grooming.

[sscadmin]

Bullwinkle wrote:
Isn't phpbb the one that advertises itself as "THE #1 FREE, OPEN SOURCE BULLETIN BOARD SOFTWARE"?
Yes, and for the most part it does a great job. I have been using it since day one. I have seen some mods on some other forums that I do like that phpbb doesn't have or the mods are broken. I am trying to teach myself some php/mysql in my spare time to create some functionality I would like but that is slow going. Somethings I am really looking for SSC:- A mysql backup system that can be scheduled but can run on shared hosting (ie: no access to cron jobs)- I wanted separate DB's for the forum, kb/wiki, download area, links, and gallery. But also have a bridge between them all so you only need one login to use them all. I wanted more DB's just because I hate knowing that if the master DB goes to crap I could lose months of work. I try to manually backup everyday since my host doesn't provide the service.- Would like more hook-ins to services like steam, facebook and twitter- A nice tagging system, I think there is mods for this. But SSC has a few already and upgrading the site is a real pain when you think about all the mods. I would love a solution that just has it all in it out of the box :)But overall I am satisfied with phpbb, and something would have to come along to WOW me away from it because it has been really stable for me so far. Right now my real need will probably be a new host provider soon because of the database size issue and I hate their email system.Oh WC CIC is the wing commander fan site and the FS is the freespace community (hardlight productions), I have been visiting them for years. And the links are in the link list (near the bottom).

[Bullwinkle]

Darkone wrote:
I would love a solution that just has it all in it out of the box
That makes sense. However, I have never seen a great integrated system. Most "integrated" systems are cobbled together from disconnected parts anyway... operators seem to face a lot of work with maintaining all of them, AFAIK.Regarding multiple databases, it is actually both easier and safer to use a single database. Take backups, of course. A stronger database (SQL Server or Oracle) uses transactions, so that almost any error can be repaired. Of course, there is a bit of learning curve with any of this, but you can do it.

[Dramacius]

I think the main thing Darkone is looking at is going from Free forum software which doesn't contain very much besides the base forum system ( which is excellent and the best FREE system around ) and switching to a Pay CMS Package such as vBulletin which because it is Pay will have more functionality to it.

[sscadmin]

Next year I will probably build up several different instances of sites like WP, Joomla and anything else and try to move SSC's site content into these and see what people think of them. I need to setup a test webserver at home to test database migration stuff anyway, because that is usually the biggest headache. I recently upg the portal (this summer) and overall went ok but lost some data because of the database changes the portal software made.I guess its the whole tight knit integration I am looking for. I know phpbb mods are mainly hacks of the code to give you functionality. But I would like to have some sort of plugin system where install/uninstall is easy. There is so much manual process to phpbb. But I have to admit I am at least comfortable with it and know the files.

[s2odan]

Geraldine wrote:
Oh, I dont know about that S20dan, perhaps you would feel better with this as your avatar.
Thanks for the idea

[Dramacius]

is it just me or is there a problem with the chat box scrolling the wrong way, all the new posts are at the bottom and I have to scroll down to get to them every time it refreshes....

[s2odan]

Its not just you. I noticed that yesterday. weird huh?

[sscadmin]

This is as designed and I will look into the code to see if it can be changed. The update to the latest version changed this and its not too much of an issue since it auto-scrolls to the last comment

[Dramacius]

it has been auto scrolling to the middle of the comments and Ihave to scroll down to read it.

[Dramacius]

it has been auto scrolling to the middle of the comments and Ihave to scroll down to read it.edit: I just tried typing in it and I cant even see my post with scrolling, the last post I see isTop
Quote:
Like what is the fleet button for
Bottom
Quote:
Anyway, Merry Christmas all for tomorrow.
and the top comment keeps changing and getting older and older.

[Geraldine]

s20dan wrote:
Thanks for the idea
Your Welcome S20dan, LooOOk AaaTtt YoOOur AaaAvaAataRrrr

[Pinback]

Just noticed that general news bit at the bottom of the portal, I think you should move it up either replacing the space game video or exciting news panels as it a bit out of the way stuck down there.

[sscadmin]

PINBACK wrote:
Just noticed that general news bit at the bottom of the portal, I think you should move it up either replacing the space game video or exciting news panels as it a bit out of the way stuck down there.
I was planning on moving it once I figure out really what should go in the news bit. I have been thinking about this criteria to be considered news?- New games/development found- Patch and game releasesI will position it and move it probably today or tomorrow. I was debating to get rid of the newest thread block to save space. If I put the news block on auto-scroll it takes up less space but if I put fixed then it will take up more space and show all the threads I select (right now up to 10 threads). Only pain about the implementation (of the portal block) is that there is no end date that I can say drop it from the list. I have to manually edit this list all the time which isn't a real big deal but another thing to do ;)I didn't post anything on it yet but for those people that have mobile devices I recently installed the tapatalk integration on SSC so if you get their app you should be able to surf the forums a lot better now. I cannot test this currently because I don't have a mobile device that uses apps.

[Pinback]

Darkone wrote:


PINBACK wrote:
Just noticed that general news bit at the bottom of the portal, I think you should move it up either replacing the space game video or exciting news panels as it a bit out of the way stuck down there.
I was planning on moving it once I figure out really what should go in the news bit. I have been thinking about this criteria to be considered news?- New games/development found- Patch and game releases
Sound good for the news categories.I think you should keep it just to the basic items like date, name, website or forum section. As an example I noticed to day that there is a new boxed edition of Eve although according to the Eve site it came out a few months ago so.26/1/11 Eve Online: Commissioned Officer Edition released todayhttp://www.eveonline.com/pressreleases/default.asp?pressReleaseID=67

[sscadmin]

I'll see what I can do. I am limited on what the code does. Currently when you make a post if your an admin you get several options like normal, sticky, announcement, global. With the portal I have two more options news announcement and news global. All it does is flag the post and displays it. There is currently there is very little in customization for this area. I will look at the code block and see if I can just edit the code to display only the title and date posted. Another downfall to this block is the fact I cannot just specify a 'news' forum area and just have it auto-populate from there. Instead I have to flag every post which is a pain.Another reason that phpbb really limits me.

[Pinback]

That’s a shame theirs no way of having a sticky that people could post news in then have it shown on the news portal.

[sscadmin]

Yeah I think I need a different web solution for that instead of phpbb. Only critical issue with that is data migration into the new system That I think would be the biggest hurdle and when/if I attempt that I will switch providers at the same time since GoDaddy offers more for the price over 1and1 my current host. I have been really looking at vBulletin Publisher Suite as the solution for SSC's problems. Sure wish they had some trial software I could use to test all the features and see if it meets my needs.

[Pinback]

What do think about splitting the commercial indie games into there own forum away from the free Game as it easier to tell which is which.