[Stagger Lee]

Forgot about this and that I did it without buddyPress. Took code from this plugin and adapted it to my needs. But I see you already found it and adapted it self. Added some additional thing, Non logged User doesnt see online/offline icons, logged in User see them. Good to force curious people to log in.

https://wordpress.org/support/topic/show-a-red-green-circle?replies=16
https://wordpress.org/plugins/bbp-user-online-status/screenshots/

[Stagger Lee]

Yes, busy is the right word for Kunena official forum site.

It is nice and elegant indeed. Doesnt need to be complex and overdesigned. Why not put something like this as default ?
Wont add any new miliseconds to page load, just do it.

[Stagger Lee]

Sorry wont allow more than 2 URL.

http://www.kunena.org/forum/k-4-0-general-questions

http://www.kunena.org/forum/k-4-0-general-questions/134189-err-too-many-redirects

[Stagger Lee]

Robby cannot speak about design because it is in the eye of the viewer. Dont want to give any suggestions, better to keep it to myself. Make it to look at least as Kunena forum and you are on fast horses.

http://www.kunena.org/forum/index

Colors and rounded corners are not my taste, but that is why I said better to keep suggestions to myself. Not important in this context either.

Kunena is so there with design, but good as start.

http://demo.roundtheme.com/?item=kascetic

————————————-

Almost all of those Github plugins have almost non discussions, issues, requests. It doesnt mean they are perfect, it means they will be abandoned very soon. As much you here would abandon bbPress if nobody used it and nobody come to this forum. As much Drupal core and other Drupal developers abandoned Drupal forum because nobody used it. So simple.

Tell me one thing sincerely. if you so much trust all those plugins why you dont install them here and use it as showcase for newcommers ?

You can start with Live preview, TinyMce plugin, Report content, etc..

[Stagger Lee]

I help others as much I can and know. I cannot code from scratch. I knew this argument would come soon or later.

Cannot be more specific. Move plugins from Github to WP repository and if possible maintain them by themselves. Good start.

Can tell you story of most advanced and most powerfull forum on the world.
Drupal forum, long time ago in the core, then as “featured plugin” (module) and now lost, not existing.
I worked few months very intense on it and can witness that it is most advanced and powerful on the world (was).

But for what use, what is the point. Nobody use it and now everyone forgot about it. Ugly as hell when installed, takes lot of time.

Learn from mistakes of other people. Not everything is in the code.

[Stagger Lee]

Thank you. Dont mind my writing. I know developers dont like topics like this. Despite everything, even if you dont do anything about it I stay on bbPress because it is so fun. Much more fun than SMF or phpbb.

Talk to your friends from bbPress core circle on your private channels. And see if they have time for some plugin. Report just back to us results. It they are bussy with private projects nobody will be mad about it. Just to know.

Or announce on the WordPress Slack that you are underpowered and ask for some help from other core, other strong plugins developers. There is no shame in it.

[Stagger Lee]

Robby, i told you already. I counted 13-14 plugins from here:

Feature Plugins Tracking

not in the WordPress repository. Translated nobody cares about update notifications, etc.
I have no clue what they do on Github, private websites, and why. Beginner User have less chance to know.

You can start with this list. Clean it and set a goal to make all possible to move all plugins to WP repository.

If not possible, well it is GPL. Take code and dont care what original developer thinks.

[Stagger Lee]

Thanks Robby.

Dont want to talk about design and style. It would ruin all from my title.
But yes, bbPress is ugly as hell when installed and takes lot of time to design. Better to keep written notes what you do and how, to be able to use it next time.

I have some ideas of making bbPress more acceptable to Pods or ACF. It would open many possibilities. Some of them could be, polls, attachments (very regulated and narrowed), SVG icons, reply title (it is just text input field), avatars, etc..

Dont know what to say about buddyPress serving as “Jetpack”. I like to install buddyPress along with bbPress and think they do better with design. Guess it is up to them, will they be standalone WP plugin or serve as filling gaps for bbPress.

Anything that is the same as Jetpack. Lots of modules all deactivated on default, to not force people use what they dont need and want. And without connection to wordpress.com.
If you make some better cooperation with Pods you get automatically mass of new developers and possibly mass of custom tweaks shared around. Same would be with bbPress “Jetpack” or buddyPress if they want it.

Back to your question. Cannot point exactly what is hard for begginers and users. It is all small bits and parts making it difficult. Even to me is hard and takes lot of time to have one bbPress forum ready for live server.
Guess it is huge amount of time spent searching on Google and forums howto. I made those mistakes on my first 2-3 instalaltions and noticed it is impossible to continue this way. Now I have searchable and filterable database with bbPress, buddyPress snippets. Just for bbPress circa 150 of them and some tutorials. But not many people will do this. When they spend half day searching on Google how to solve something they will simply go to phpbb, SMF forum and it is one user less.

Most of this time lost is fixing and tweaking third party plugins, using their adapted code in functions.php, etc. Design OK, but usually easy to find answer on Google.

In some way I try to imagine how would it be to charge a client for a bbPress installation and customization. I dont do it for money, i spend time on it because I think it is fun. But so many spent hours and days is impossible to charge. Hence, nobody will setup bbPress forum for living and earning. Web companies goes to other solutions.

In matter of fact price of one bbPress installation and customization goes easy to level of one very advanced web shop. Only know it is not sustainable and should not be this way.

Dont want to talk about money, just took it as example of how many hours and days bbPress takes to be finished and looks professional.

[Stagger Lee]

It cant work with shortcodes in a forum. Forget about it.

[Stagger Lee]

You see, I am not saying bbPress is bad or cannot do this and that.
Just that third party plugins community is a bit backward and not well. One can find plenty of explanation for this, I have mine. Dont necessary mean mine are right.

Some short explanations of mine opinions:

– I am not telling about design, despite this too is hard for Users beginners to tweak.

– Yes, you could “sell” bbPress better if you made an outstonishing design here on forum, and showed most of the functions. But it is OK for me, I dont have any problem with this forum. Telling this from “selling” bbPress standpoint. It is only CSS, page load is the same, no harm done if you make modern and elegant design.

– Github should never be primary source of plugins. Additional OK, but only and one never.
I know there is a plugin that makes updates from Github possible, but demands some lines added by author in plugin self.

– Something like Jetpack for bbPress would be a killer, perfect. But I do understand when you say there are not many developers of bbPress. Wish just you start discussion about it and report back to us how it went. Jetpack probably started with few developers, and with years come to number of 46. It doesnt have to start great, developers are attracted later to all good staff by itself.
Do you know what all those names behind Jetpack say to me ? Not in the first hand anything about code quality, but about security. I know it will flow huge amount of years before this plugin is abandoned. And with all new WP versions they adapt code before new version get out.

I dont say you should work hard as they do on Jetpack. It is here just for comparation, and for bbPress something like this would demand much less of time.

I dont know. I would go live with bbPress all the time before I go with some other forum platform.
Used and tweaked SMF forum for many years, phpbb for short time.

But first associations about bbPress as newcomer and beginner would be: hard to setup, bad design, third party plugins not so live community.

OK now, dont want to expand discussion to all possible. Let us stick to the plugins.

[Stagger Lee]

Just to not be missunderstood. I personally dont have any problem whatsoever with this list above. Implemented with help of code tweaking and those plugins all of this. And much, much more. All except proper Polls. For this I cannot find a solution.

Just chit-chating about bbPress from less average User perspective and how it lives in world compared to other popular forum platforms.

[Stagger Lee]

I dont ask anything of this be in the core. Just to find some other solution because this now doesnt work well.

Dont ask plugin developers. Is it GPL ? Yes. Use code as you wish and make completely new plugin if you need. Just some of your names stand as Author of plugin.

I see tendencies to become little Joomla community. They dont want to piss off developers of very popular extensions and they never add anything good in the core (dont let “core” confuse use, using it just as example here).

I personally have tweaked bbPress to unimaginable level. It is localhost, but still one Kunena import with many Users, topics and posts. Good for testing. spent huge amount of time on it. Not for the money, nobody would pay all those lost hours, impossible. Because I see potentioal and how WordPress self can make bbPress powerfull. Or buddyPress, I install it all the time together.

But, one thing is very specific for bbPress. I would not dare to touch it as average User, who installs and setup phpbb or SMF forum without big problems. It is extremely hard for beginners, and all those important plugins depending of how will it go in private life of (one) developer, make it much more difficult to touch and maintain.

At least take those 10-12 plugins from Github and put them in WP repository. Dont ask developer, it is GPL. Developer had 2-3 years or more to decide to do it byself, and he did not wanted it.
Problem there is notification about updates.
Just one example, lost many hours to see why Live preview stoped to word and by chance checked on Github versions. If it was in WP repository I would be notificated directly there is an update for it.

[Stagger Lee]

Ah OK. You can find hundred of excuses. Bit you know as good as I know bbPress is lacking huge behind other forum scripts.
At the end it is your time, you code for nothing if people dont use bbPress.

All those names of developers are very active in core community. Developers of bbPress plugins are not.
Either they abandon plugin and lose lust, dissapear.

Please no excuses. Nobody force you do one way or other. It is up to you. But I have seen infinite number of times Users asked you to implement those plugins in core and you ignored it. Why it has to be plugin Author making such wish ? Despite “or” in sentence.

OK, you personally dont have time and it is to be respected. Make some internal discussion and ask other bbPress developers if they have time to adopt some plugin(s).

Give us later a raport how it all goes and stands.

[Stagger Lee]

You noticed I am not asking all this will be in the core and force people parse all those lines of code if they dont want it or dont need it. Just as it is a GPL take ownership from todays developers, or cooperate with them as co-maintainer Author.

Fast few of them should be in the core definitelly.

[Stagger Lee]

Here is a list in my opinion should have under Author names at least one nam of bbPress core developers. Not of things on list has anything to do with me personally, just using other popular forum scripts as reference.

– Live preview (live or button for another window/popup)
– Report content (reply)
– Ignore User
– bbPress moderation panel separate from backend
– Notifications
– Make topics/forums read, unread (dont know if it is already in the core)
– bbPress TinyMce plugin
– Reply titles
– View counts
– Topics for posts (very important even if not used on all installations)
– Online / Offline status
– bbPress Polls (not shortcode based)
– Attachments
– Move topics / replies between subforums
– Avatar management
– Like / Vote topics, replies (I personally would never use this one, but..)
– New plugin that makes it easy to add custom fields and add them where you need (this one is not referenced by other forum scripts).

And some more, other people can have other lists. Most important is that at least one bbPress core developer stand on Author list and guarantee plugin will work with latest bbPress version. Not in same minut maybe, nobody is a Superman, but few days after new bbPress version got out.

[Stagger Lee]

Thanks Rob.

I have seen this list but it is not the same as Feature plugins are for WordPress core. Those plugins in WP are maintained and developed by same WP core guys. (Jetpack, Advanced TinyMce, Pods, Shortcake, etc….etc…)

In an way you behind bbPress are one of them. But I im asking to twist a logic a bit. Be a “WordPress”, not “feature plugin”.

Take some of those plugis from your list and give them to bbPress core developers. Or ask original developers to sign some of you on list of plugin Authors. For those developers who dont have much free time you have some plugins literally made from one-two PHP files.

People should never be afraid to update bbPress because of few files in one plugin.
I am never afraid Pods, Jetpack will stop working with new WordPress version. Never.

My point is, for everything in WordPress self there is a replacement. Something doesnt work, go ahead and install another similar plugin and style it. If it doesnt work for bbPress, well, cannot explain what it means.

[Stagger Lee]

It is not problem to hardcode WP-Polls function inside specific bbPress custom template, to bypass activating shortcodes in topics and replies.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-polls/installation/

But main problem is User interaction. Shame, WP-Polls is very nice Polls plugin.
It would be needed one modal popup where User opening topic can add new poll. believe Roles and permissions are not problem to fix with plugin filters, but other doesnt exist.

It is not acceptable to send Users to separate page (backend) just to make poll for topic they opening.

[Stagger Lee]

This one is closest I could find. Still has to be guessed to hit 24-48 hours, or exact week time ban for instance. But there is no better out there.
Strange, considering WP has plenty plugins for everything.

It is permanent ban logics fault. Sometimes it is enough to cool down User by time ban of 1 day, one week or one month.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/user-blocker/

Maybe you can borrow code and make something for bbPress core.

[Stagger Lee]

Forgot this, very important. Cannot test it now, dont have so huge forum. And dont want to touch database just to test.

For Users with over 50.000 posts and up to infinite:

elseif($post_count >= 50001) {
echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon nine-star"></i></div>';
}

[Stagger Lee]

I accidentally wrote class six as one censored word here.
Common people, can you not write word seeeeeeeeex here. 🙂

Put censored list online for view, bots dont read it.

[Stagger Lee]

I did not ooked for User ranking/Voting system. I needed simple star systems for posts count. If User has so many posts/comments give him/her one additional star (under avatar).

So here is my code. Maybe it could be reduced in lines, made better. I have brain blocade right now.

// bbPress User post count
function display_counts () 
{
		
		$user_id=bbp_get_reply_author_id( $reply_id ) ;
		$topics  = bbp_get_user_topic_count_raw( $user_id);
		$replies = bbp_get_user_reply_count_raw( $user_id);
		$post_count   = (int) $topics + $replies;
		echo "<div class=\"user-comments-count\">" ;
		echo "<strong>" . "Comments: " . "</strong>" ;
		echo $post_count ;
		echo "</div>" ;
		// echo "</br>" ;
		//if ($post_count > 1) {
//	    echo '<i class="svg-icon all-stars"></i>'; 
//	    }
		
		if ($post_count >= 1 && $post_count <= 20) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon one-star"></i></div>'; 
		}
		elseif($post_count >= 21 && $post_count <= 50) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon two-star"></i></div>';
		}
		elseif($post_count >= 51 && $post_count <= 100) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon three-star"></i></div>';
		}
		elseif($post_count >= 101 && $post_count <= 500) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon four-star"></i></div>';
		}
		elseif($post_count >= 501 && $post_count <= 1000) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon five-star"></i></div>'; 
		}
		elseif($post_count >= 1001 && $post_count <= 2000) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon six-star"></i></div>';
		}
		elseif($post_count >= 2001 && $post_count <= 5000) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon seven-star"></i></div>';
		}
		elseif($post_count >= 5001 && $post_count <= 10000) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon eight-star"></i></div>';
		}
		elseif($post_count >= 10001 && $post_count <= 50000) {
		echo '<div class="all-stars"><i class="svg-icon nine-star"></i></div>';
		}
		echo "</br>" ;
		}
add_action ('bbp_theme_after_reply_author_details', 'display_counts');

CSS, needed for this snippet:

.svg-icon,
.all-stars {
  font-family: 'Your SVG Web Font';
  font-style: normal;
  font-weight: normal;
  text-decoration: inherit;
  text-align: center;
  text-transform: none;
  width: 1em;
  }
  
.one-star:before,
.two-star:before,
.three-star:before,
.four-star:before,
.five-star:before,
.six-star:before,
.seven-star:before,
.eight-star:before,
.nine-star:before,
.all-stars:before {
  left: 12px;
  position: absolute;
}

.one-star:before {
  content: '\28b';
}
.two-star:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b';
}
.three-star:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b''\28b';
}
.four-star:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b';
}
.five-star:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b';
}
.six-star:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b';
}
.seven-star:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b';
}
.eight-star:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b';
}
.nine-star:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b';
}

.all-stars:before {
  content: '\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b''\28b';
  color:#ddd;
}

[Stagger Lee]

I meant here on this forum.
– I see email notification from this forum.
– Click on it.
– Logged
– Create reply.
– It is rejected.

Common, why ?

[Stagger Lee]

I have this problem very often, plus some others. Very, very annoying. Specially when you prepare code to help other Users here.

[Stagger Lee]

Thanks. Got it to work, seems I missed one symbol.

[Stagger Lee]

@Robin, can you give some example for this, inside this code above:

//add some if statements here eg if $post_count>100 echo ‘hero’ or a link to a picture

No matter what I tried it doesnt work.