citizenkeith
Member
This is what I want from future bbPress releases:
1. Open Source, always and forever
2. Less (code) is more
3. Simplicity is a feature
4. Speed and security are the foundation of any good user experience
5. Put the user first
This list can be found here:
http://bbpress.org/about/
Thanks to chrishajer for pointing it out earlier in the thread... I think it sums things up nicely.
Thanks Michael.
Just a precision : 'a canonical Wordpress plugin' means that it will be something like "akismet" ?
Could it be a standalone, then ?
Wordpress is a very heavy "small forum", no ?
for citizenkeith :
this is more a philosophy than a features list, but I agree ...
I think it also miss a point from which we are suffering now : a "viable future". Every software need to be sure that the support will be continued for a long time. Specially when it is meant to build a community, which is much than needed for bbPress (just thinking about plugins)
@yutt (or is it Skull Man?) & Dailytalker:
I agree 100% with your points. 'Simplicity is a feature' and 'less is more' are great slogans, but it's impractical to require someone to find/research/download/upload/configure zillions of plugins to do extremely basic forum tasks that are taken for granted with other programs. I want a stable forum program that contains basic features that aren't going to stop working if a plugin developer walks away or won't update them to work with future bbPress builds. I love bbPress but find it just too stripped-down and feature-less out of the box. Would be great to see more optional features you can use or turn off like Gravatars. The default text input interface in-particular leaves much to be desired.
Plugins like Topic Views should be incorporated into the base feature-set of BBpress as well as things like Widgets and the ability to edit themes or plugins from within the admin.
I am not a professional programmer and really admire and appreciate those who develop plugins, such as NightGunner5, Paul Hawke, Michael Adams etc. Going out on a limb here, I would guess it would not be too difficult to incorporate SOME of the more popular plugin features into the Core (especially focusing on _ck_'s best stuff as she will likely not be back). Again, I'm not talking about building in Nintendo emulators or Weatherbug displays but why the heck should someone need a plugin to display how many times a topic has been viewed?!?
@all:
Something I think base minimalists and more-base-feature advocates like yutt & Dailytalker would all agree on is that that bbPress's admin should display plugin update notifications like WordPress's admin does. This would be extremely helpful for everyone, especially when security risks are discovered in plugins one has running.
Haha, I bet even kevinjohngallagher would agree with me on this one!
Everyone defines basic in a different way. That's the problem with adding more things into the core by default. I agree that finding plugins that work has been a problem, but that's less of a problem with the fact that bbPress is minimal and more with a problem of the way the project has been run, and the amount of resources it's gotten.
I'm just really looking forward to the development and progression of bbPress, regardless of the direction it takes. I think one of the things I'm most keen to see is for the masses to take it under their wing in much the same way millions have with WordPress, so that we have a plethora of innovative developers providing additional functionality and solutions through these forums and their own personal websites.
thierryyyyyyy:
About the Canonical plugin story, you may want to read this: http://wordpress.org/development/2009/12/canonical-plugins/
Like I said, I don't think it will be a standalone package as, just like other Automattic products, it will need to be a part of WordPress. Look at BuddyPress, for example.
@dailytalk - thanks for posting your real world experiences. I would like to ask that you also include the version of bbpress that you are using?
@all -
I am under the impression that most of the plugins do not work properly with the current version, so a fresh install today is even MUCH further away from the basic functionality of smforums, phpbb, vbulletin, etc.
A serious problem that plagues wordpress, bbpress, and I should mention similar projects including phpfox, is companies that develop new releases often leave lots of broken plugins and themes - most users get so frustrated not knowing to upgrade and lose functionality - or stay downgraded and have possible security issues. This is a major problem that has me admiring the way vbulletin posts whether or not plugins / extensions will be supported by the core company.
The main thing that keeps me using bbpress in a few sites is the price, along with the glimmer of hope that since it is integrated into buddypress. Certainly at some point there will be functioning photo, attachment, moderation and other functions, that the WP / BP /BB community will have to have - even if new versions of one break the other. - Unfortunately it's tough to hold one's breath with these projects, and seeing the nightmares of bugs, lost functionality, and the time it takes to get back to square 2 after one of the other projects has been upgraded to square three - it's devastating.
I for one would love to see image and file attachments, along with something like tinymce incorporated into the core of BBpress - but even if they are not, I would like to see important plugins like these and moderation, etc, all be maintained and tested and upgraded along with any new releases by the bbpress developers.
I think first and foremost, bbPress needs to do what ever it's going to do with WordPress, and move on from that. Whether it remains as a standalone solution and has a solid integration facility, or becomes integrated with WordPress. I don't really care which, as either way bbPress will be working side-by-side with WordPress, which is all that I require right now.
We've been doing them every week at the same time, PeteMall was going to post the logs from the latest one.
I just wanted to chime in and say that I choose bbpress as a stand alone forum system because I don't like the bloat of phpbb or vbulletin or any of the other bb softwares out there. Its light, simple setup, and anybody can jump into the discussion without having to learn a lot of new things.
I support where ever this all goes, but I hope it stays standalone.
When is the next meet up??
@MrTrip:
I'm with you re: keeping bbPress standalone.
I do not want to have to install WordPress every single time I install bbPress.
Null, the log from the December 30 and January 6 logs are up now:
http://bbpress.org/blog/2010/01/2010-01-06-meetup/
http://bbpress.org/blog/2010/01/2009-12-30-meetup/
You can always check all the logs here before they're posted on the blog:
https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=bbpress
Maurice
Member
You can always check all the logs here before they're posted on the blog:
https://irclogs.wordpress.org/chanlog.php?channel=bbpress
Cool I din't know that. It seems bbPress will NOT stay standalone and will be a plugin after 1.2, shame.
@Maurice: I'm with you. Very disappointed to hear bbPress will become a WordPress plugin. Grrr, I do not want to have to install WordPress every single time I want to install bbPress!
Well this is interesting. From the perspective of someone with one blog, I guess I'm not too bothered by the idea of this becoming a plugin, but it sounds like a potential nightmare for someone who's already put some effort into customizing a theme and a lot of features of the bbpress.
michayu
Member
"It's time for Drupal to take on vB4"
(Some interesting thoughts from Drupal community)
"vbulletin 4 was released late last year and there seems to be a consensus that it's a disappointment. Jelsoft (the company that brought us the original software) was bought out and the current developers are, imo, more concerned with quick turnover than delivering a solid project. This thread is not to bash the current programmers, as I'm sure they work very hard. But since vb4 comes with a CMS (a buggy, feature-anemic one at that), now seems like the perfect time for Drupal to take the charge.
There has never been a fully functional integration between vbulletin and a robust CMS. If a webmaster wants a great CMS and a great forum, we have to settle for a buggy bridge/plugin/module (Drupal/Wordpress to vbulletin). If a webmaster wants true user and content integration with no bugs, we have to settle for the inferior forum (Drupal). A complete solution has been in high demand for years, but I suspect it's never come to fruition because it would require months of hardcore coding to duplicate the functionality of vbulletin. Maybe programmers feel their time is better spent developing paid services, or contributing to an open source forum like phpBB."
Full post:
http://drupal.org/node/682094
@michayu & nerieru:
bbPress can top vBulletin but downgrading it from a standalone product to a more-complicated-to-install WordPress plugin is not the way to go.
What about bbpress 2.0?
http://bbpress.wordpress.com/files/2009/07/forum-front-page.png
I think that most of the common problems could be handled in 1 week.
Most recent problems I have with bbpress:
1st I need seo-optimized permalinks. (without "forums" and "topic")
2nd I need a facebook connect option
3rd Ineed a cool template simliar to sam bauers bbpress 2.0 template.
Whit this I would be happy.
There where only some attemps to solve the problem with the permalinks. There is also a plugin for this but there are some small problems which an expert could solve within minutes. The same for fb-connect. An expert could solve the problem within minutes.
Regarding the bbpress 2.0 template I don't now how long it could take to get it work. But with that bbpress would be excellent.
For most other things there are already some plugins...some just need to be updated to the current bbpress version. Thats all. (in my view.)
The same for fb-connect. An expert could solve the problem within minutes.
What you using as a basis for this statement mate?
There are already some discussions in this forum about fb-connect. Some people say that there are already some wordpress-plugins which could easily be adapted for bbpress. Some other say that if bbpress is integrated in wordpress the wp-plugin could also work for bbpress...I tried some wp-fp-connect plugins out...but had some problem. But I am not a coder so I have often problems with such things.
On the other hand a coder could just have a look at the wp-plugin look how it works and than customize it for bbpress.
tonicarr
Member
Being the tiny web developer I am, this is all very confusing and I am having a difficult time trying to figure out if bbpress is worth my time to try and configure and sell to my clients. This is getting very frustrating, I wish someone that is in the know, (instead of all this hear say) would just come out and say what is going on with the product so that we can move on.
I agree with tonicarr. I think the project is worth to be continued and if the decision is done developers like toni can move their projects forward. This will also help bbpress.
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