Chops,

I know you've worked a great deal on the forums. As much as I have tried to get used to them, though, I still prefer the php-bb style forums.

Is it possible to run php forums though my dkpsystem.com file space, or would it be possible for you to offer php forums integrated into this site?

That would really be great!

Thanks,

Brian

Unfortunately not. The entire structure of phpbb forums is completely different, in such a way that it would require multiple logins, and a codebase that isn't 100% mine (I have no intentions on downloading phpBB and trying to audit it to fix any bugs it might have). Additionally, the whole mechanism of the styles wouldn't apply at all, and in the end, it would look like a completely different website - something I strive to avoid by providing a 100% integrated solution.

So, the short answer is that there are no intentions on providing phpBB/multi-forum support beyond an "import from phpBB" function to encourage "converts."

Sorry

Okay, thanks!

I'll get my guys to decide if they really want them bad enough to deal with multiple logins, etc.

Brain

Bump

My guild just got setup with your site/service and the most annoying thing is your forums. PHPBB did not become one of the most popular free forums systems for web sites because they have horrible layout or because it wasn't user friedly.

I have designed a large number of website some including CMS systems for administration and without contest PHPBB is one of the BEST forums designs out there.

Now it is very difficult to intergrate there signup and forums login but it can be done. But I am not recommending you do that. What I would recomend as you seem to have a working forum system is to just make some changes to make it look and function like the PHPBB forum and as you seem to have a templates system you can make it so those that want the current system can keep it or for the majority of new guilds that are signing up they will be able to use the PHPBB style forums that they are more accustomed to using.

I appreciate the feedback, and yes, I've used phpBB. I understand that it is a very robust, tried and true forum system. Indeed it's popularity is deserved, but I contend the following: That the entire philosophy of the "multi-forum" approach is inferior for almost all implementations of a forum approach.

Could I integrate phpBB into the system? Of course. It'd be a pain, but I could.

Will I? No. I guess you could say that I'm being hard-headed about it, but I'm sticking to my guns.

However, I understand that you might be upset with my unwillingness to budge in this regard, but indeed, you (and all of us) have been "Trained" to like the Multi-Forum approach. The reason we have is because we've never been exposed to anything different. Indeed, we can't know if it's the best if we haven't tried other approaches. It's common around here that members initially reel in terror at the new forum concept, yet, ultimately, they end up getting attached to it.

Give About Thread Tags a read to at least get an initial "feel" for where I'm coming from, and then give the system a week or two to really sink in. If you don't like it, I'll happily refund the forum portion aspect of your signup, and you can always utilize an external forum.

I'm sorry I can't be more flexible with this, and I do realize that the forums are a turn-off for some who haven't yet realized that they are looking at the future. They are radically different, but time will tell. As a positive, however, I am much more flexible for taking suggestions for every other aspect of the site, however my opposition to the multi-forum approach is a philosophical one.

I was never a huge forums user so adjust for me was easy. A lot of users on my site as well complained about the forums. Well where do I post something about xyz. Look at the drop down and select xyz from the tag list. Well what if I only want to display xyz. Then uncheck all the other filters and only check xyz.

To compare Multi Forums to Tags in my opinion is simple. Tags are mutli forums you just don't have to keep navigating back to the Index page to go to another category. They are all right there in front of you. If you don't want to see something you can filter it out and back in on the same page. it saves on some navigation time from my perspective. I actually hate trying to find things on Blizzards forums as an example. You never know where someone is going to post it. Same thing with Tags to an extent. Someone might post something in the wrong tag but with them all on the same page it is much easier to find it.

Over time your users will understand how to work the system. I found it best to abbreviate Chops all about tags howto and post sticky on the forums. Once I did it caught on quickly and no one complained. Now some even agree that they flow better and are easier to use.

Never let your concerns die. Chops has also done an outstanding job over the last year in revising and adding more useful features to the forums for filtering and editing.

I just finished reworking the "About Thread Tags" link and renamed it to "About Our Forums." If you read it prior to 15 minutes ago, try reading it again, and it covers most of the important aspects of the forum system (fully laced with propaganda).

I just think the forums are a clutered mess there is no organization to the posts and they are extremely frustrating to use. All the posts are just displayed, it's kind of like a new web designers that just puts all of their sites content on one page instead of breaking it up and using links.

My argument is for a user freindly environment with a nice clean appearance. To the best of my knowledge there isn't one serious forum site out there that doesn't use something similar to that of the PHPBB forum system (not PHPBB but something similar).

Maybe the solution is to let the guilds make their own templates that they can upload. I know that it would only take me a couple days to design a template that would just display the forums in a differnet way.

I can understand the "clutter" argument, but for the "frustrating to use" argument, because it's still a little new, it'll undoubtedly be a little frustrating at first. Give it a little bit of time to play with it. I've actually got an idea I've been letting fester a bit about rapid thread tag selection and deselection. It's hard to describe (just as the concept of thread tags is hard to describe without using them), but it'll be just another innovation.

Remember, though, to reduce the clutter, simply deselect the thread tags you have no interest in, and you won't need to see them.

It sounds like you have a long history of forum usage, and an intricate knowledge of phpBB and other such forums. After you've used these forums for a bit, and you've gotten the full "feel" of the system, perhaps you'll start to see things from a similar angle, and then be able to help to make the system more efficient. Ultimately, what I'm asking is for you to potentially help me to make Thread Tags better, so that you like them better. The fundamental concept (tagging rather than "foruming") is not going to change, but the implementations can indeed be modified and improved, as many have witnessed over the past months.

As for the statement that no one else uses a non-multi-forum approach, that's simply because there haven't been any serious proposals for reworks - Multi-forums "just work" and so everyone copied the methodology. Thread Tags are generally a revolutionary way of organizing forums, a methodology that I'm positive will go mainstream. I'm not being different for the sake of being different, but because my entire life is focused around efficiency and effectiveness. I've used them all, but on every forum I frequent, I crave thread tags rather than having to jump from forum to forum just to read the latest posts. I want to see everything. When I have to click 50 times to get somewhere, it frustrates me, and that's what thread tags ultimately eliminate: excessive "drilling."

As for your template idea, that's something that's been proposed and is one of the major features coming hopefully this month - the ability to "redesign" the layout of the forums, however, within the framework of the system. The redesigning capabilities won't allow essential multi-foruming, but they will allow the ability to make the forum look perhaps better.

I was opposed to the new forums at first, wanting to see what I was used to seeing. I have found that in time though, these are much easier to find exaclty what you are looking for and have come to love them.

Trust me, give them a chance. You will grow very fond of them in time.

It is good to hear you are planning to make some improvements.

As for the "multi-forums" I can understand that your system, as it is designed, it couldn't be a true "multi-forum" system but I could look like it. Each post has a Category tag, wether it is a field in each post in the database or it is in a seperate table and dynamicaly linked you could setup a template that starts out by just listing the categories and when you click the category it shows all the post under that category. I know designing it is would be simple.

Have you every concidered a template system for the entire setup that allows the more experienced designers to take and totally change how the information can be displayed. An all they would have to do, once they have it designed is upload their template.

That functionality is pretty much available already. Check out the Advanced Layout Options.

The Forums are like this already. You have filter options on the tags at the top now. All you have to do is set your filter options and change them as you want to view each Tag/Category. It's just that by default they will show you the last filter.

Also check the dropdown list at the top of the forums. Here you can select to show only Unread Posts.