New Mars Forums

John Creighton

Member

From: Nova Scotia, Canada

Registered: 2001-09-04

Posts: 2,401

Website

Re: New Message Board Software

Because of threads collapsing, PM’s not working and a lack of counter measures for spam bots, this board may change it’s software in the near future. The currerrent software is:
http://www.ikonboard.com/]http://www.ikonboard.com/
John Cryer suggested:
http://www.phpBB.com]http://www.phpBB.com
which has the advantage of being open source. I looked at the administration side of phpBB.com and it doesn’t seem to have the flexibility of
http://www.invisionboard.com/]http://ww … board.com/
a good place to find mods for invisionboard is at:
http://www.invisionize.com/]http://www.invisionize.com/
of course it does require 69$ license fee for a one year license and $185 dollar fee for a perpetual license. I’m not sure which license I would go with. .Iit would depend on how often I had to upgrade. If I wasn’t a student I would buy the license for this site myself. I have experience with the administration side of invision powered boards and I like it. You can do custom skins, custom database queries, custom bbcodes and much more. My experience with the software comes from modifying a multi user role playing game similar to kings of Chaos that is driven by that board software. The message board I have spent most of my internet time on lately uses that software. http://www.ipbgaming.com/]http://www.ipbgaming.com/

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Dig into the [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/2006/12/political-grab-bag.html]political grab bag[/url] at [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/]Child Civilization[/url]

BWhite

Member

From: Chicago, Illinois

Registered: 2004-06-16

Posts: 2,635

Re: New Message Board Software

My technical knowledge is minimal.

New Mars is affiliated with the Mars Society in some fashion I do not understand. Therefore, an e-mail to Adrian Hon would seem in order as for money issues.

That said, I'd kick in a few dollars to upgrade if the technical consensus is there.

= = =

As a visitor to various blogs (not as administrator) I have always enjoyed using scoop but I have no clue if that would work for our purposes.

Here's da' http://scoop.kuro5hin.org/]Scoop

Edited By BWhite on 1120681534

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Give someone a sufficient [b][i]why[/i][/b] and they can endure just about any [b][i]how[/i][/b]

John Creighton

Member

From: Nova Scotia, Canada

Registered: 2001-09-04

Posts: 2,401

Website

Re: New Message Board Software

Well I asked some one about bbphp and here is my conversation:

Klass says:
phpbb is free and it can compete with invision and vbulletin if I didn't have money I would get that
John Creighton says:
so you think it is competative with it. It doesn't seem to have close the admin options
John Creighton says:
for instance I don't see custon skins or an sql toolbox
John Creighton says:
but perhaps these arn't that inportant
Klass says:
yea some features might be moved around or renamed....
Klass says:
i will hafta install to get familiar with it again
John Creighton says:
Oh yeah thanx. Don't want you to spread your self to thing though
John Creighton says:
Do you mind if post the last few lines of this conversation on that board.
Klass says:
sure

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Dig into the [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/2006/12/political-grab-bag.html]political grab bag[/url] at [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/]Child Civilization[/url]

Josh Cryer

Moderator

Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: New Message Board Software

Adrian is pretty much MIA these days, and anything other then an absolutely free solution couldn't be used until after the Mars Society confirmed it (unless we paid for it out of pocket, of course). And I'm still not sure the host has PHP, so we have to let me make sure we meet the prerequisites for whatever software is suggested. I was thinking of installing a trial run of phpBB which we could play with and decide if it meets our requirements.

John, most enterprise level forum software allows all the things you mentioned, including phpBB, you might want to check out their Admin demo here: http://www.phpbb.com/demo.php]http://ww … m/demo.php if you click on "General Admin -> Configuration" you'll see a place where installable "styles" (skins) exist.You can create custom styles with the Styles Admin section, but it would require some level of HTML/CSS knowledge to get something looking nice.

Perferrable a no-money solution would be best, though.

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: New Message Board Software

*I'd like to mention that Free Chat often behaves as though it's trying to cough up a hairball.  I'll click onto a current/active thread and suddenly I'm whisked to page #44 of the folder.  :-\ 

Maybe it needs to be archived or whatever.  Not sure it's possible that an entire folder could collapse...but why take the chance?

Just thought I'd mention it.

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: New Message Board Software

Maybe there's just too much free chat going on?    :;):

BTW about customization (sp?) of php, have a look at
http://www.everything-science.com/index … ...emid=82

admittedly, the sysop did a lot of work on it, changing stuff, but it's a heck of a board!

John Creighton

Member

From: Nova Scotia, Canada

Registered: 2001-09-04

Posts: 2,401

Website

Re: New Message Board Software

One mod available for invision boards that I like is a shout box. I  basically is a little chat box on top of the message boards, the users can set the refresh rate and it loads though cgi. In the case of invision boards the processing is done using php.

As for other features I did notice that you could do your in skins in bbphp. I couldn’t find any sql toolbox. The sql tool box is part of the admin cp that lets you do database queries and it will print off the tables for you. Many of the queries are predefined and can be executed using links. It also lets you import and export the database tables individualy. These kind of features come in real handy if you are developing board software because you can run queries to see exactly how the information is stored and organized. Perhaps though for our purposes this feature is not necessary or we can find a free program that offers similar features.

Speaking of our hosting where are we hosting, who are we hosted with and how much bandwidth do we use?

P.S. I agree with you Rxke. That is a nice looking board.

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Dig into the [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/2006/12/political-grab-bag.html]political grab bag[/url] at [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/]Child Civilization[/url]

Josh Cryer

Moderator

Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: New Message Board Software

pair.com and about 5 gigs a month, our host is more than adequate. We get about 20k hits a day, not too shabby.

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: New Message Board Software

D'oh! Everything Science runs on http://www.simplemachines.org/]Simple Machines also free

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: New Message Board Software

Maybe there's just too much free chat going on?    :;):

*Seems most of my time is spent in Science & Technology and Unmanned Probes folders, but I do have the Celestial Cartography and Critters threads in Free Chat...hence, a bit of concern.  Probably could move the former to S & T, but the latter...  :hm:

We get about 20k hits a day,

Really?  Wow. 

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Cobra Commander

Member

From: The outskirts of Detroit.

Registered: 2002-04-09

Posts: 3,039

Re: New Message Board Software

For what it's worth, at this point in time I concur with Josh's recommendation, phpBB looks good.

Open-source is a benefit all its own.

Might as well give it a trial run, see how it goes.

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: New Message Board Software

One mod available for invision boards that I like is a shout box. I  basically is a little chat box on top of the message boards

*Um...never heard of that before.  Is it like AOL's Instant Messenger, and if so is there a way to either turn it on or off, block, etc.? 

Also, would an "ignore user" feature be possible as posts within threads go?

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Cobra Commander

Member

From: The outskirts of Detroit.

Registered: 2002-04-09

Posts: 3,039

Re: New Message Board Software

Also, would an "ignore user" feature be possible as posts within threads go?

:laugh:

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Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: New Message Board Software

Hey, that Simple Machines has a shoutbox, too (and is free)
it's php based, but maybe not open-source, afaik.

John Creighton

Member

From: Nova Scotia, Canada

Registered: 2001-09-04

Posts: 2,401

Website

Re: New Message Board Software

Hey, that Simple Machines has a shoutbox, too (and is free)
it's php based, but maybe not open-source, afaik.

hmmmm.....simple machines sounds pretty good. I should take a look at it.

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Dig into the [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/2006/12/political-grab-bag.html]political grab bag[/url] at [url=http://child-civilization.blogspot.com/]Child Civilization[/url]

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: New Message Board Software

It's a bit strange, though. It's a free softwarepackage, offered by a company that does webdesign... AFAICS no strings attached, though.
(Maybe ask Orstio from Everythng Science about it, he actively works together with them to add functionality to the package)

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: New Message Board Software

Another interesting package: Drupal...
Wiki link, because currently experiencing heavy Slashdotting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drupal]htt … iki/Drupal

Slashdot article: http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0 … ...9&tid=8

Edit: Slashdottins seems over, so official link: http://drupal.org/]http://drupal.org/

Adrian

Moderator

From: London, United Kingdom

Registered: 2001-09-04

Posts: 642

Website

Re: New Message Board Software

Hi guys,

We have plenty of spare space and bandwidth on the current Pair setup to try a new board in parallel, be it Drupal or PhpBB. No need to spend extra money. I can give Josh the necessary login details to try other options out (if he doesn't have them already) - it's fine by me.

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Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]

Josh Cryer

Moderator

Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: New Message Board Software

Hi Adrian, nice to see you around. I had already uploaded the phpBB files, but last weekend I got busy kind of, and never had the chance to unzip them. I have all the details I need for that, btw, have had them since you went to do your PHd or whatever freakin' collegy stuff you were doing then. My only misgiving is transferring IkonBoard to MySQL (you can create unlimited databases as far as I can tell) and hoping the posts get translated right. I would think that would be even more difficult for Drupal (which is why I was looking at phpBB).

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

Josh Cryer

Moderator

Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: New Message Board Software

http://www.newmars.com/forums/index.php

Okay, that was just SICKINGLY EASY to install. I should've done it last weekend. I have to go right now, though, I haven't looked into transferring the forums/posts yet. And anyway, peak time is coming back again soon (our evening posters), so I don't want to interfere with anything (what I'll do later tonight is create a MySQL database for IkonBoard, convert all the posts, then transfer them to phpBB).

Once the transfer is complete, I'll email Maggie/the admins of the MarsSociety.org page to change the link.

I'll look in to making us a skin, too, later tonight.

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

Josh Cryer

Moderator

Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: New Message Board Software

Been playing with it, I want it to mimick IkonBoard functionality very well, but it's going to take adding some modifications for that to be the case. I can think of at least three that I want to add, but I'm going to be careful. And I still haven't managed to get the posts converted. Tomorrow I'll try.

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: New Message Board Software

Was tempting to do a 'first post' there, heehee!

But it'll probably be temporarily, so that would be double childish.

Josh Cryer

Moderator

Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: New Message Board Software

By all means, Rxke, play around. I'll need some testers as I add the mods today.

Calender, Topic Descriptions, and Stats SSI. Shoutbox is a possiblity later on, but I would think it would attract a ton of off topic banter. Not sure we want to waste bandwidth like that.

I looked in to Drupal, btw, I would chose it (as it looks to be a universial replacement for everything) but its theme management is really poor (just look at example sites that use it).

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.

Rxke

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2003-11-03

Posts: 3,669

Re: New Message Board Software

I'm merrily playing in the sandbox! 

Oooh, a forum all on my own, heehee!

Josh Cryer

Moderator

Registered: 2001-09-29

Posts: 3,830

Re: New Message Board Software

Hmm, I suppose I should add a "message popup" when you get new messages. But I dunno about that. I always found that annoying on IkonBoard, but many of you may find it useful.

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Some useful links while MER are active. [url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html]Offical site[/url] [url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html]NASA TV[/url] [url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/]JPL MER2004[/url] [url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/statustextonly.html]Text feed[/url]
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The amount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth totals some 3.9 million exajoules a year.