[chrishajer]

This fix is not applied, and when I apply it to your CSS, the background is white as expected. If you cannot wait for the new theme, I think I would just make this minor change.

I think you might have some things cached in your browser that is preventing you from seeing changes. Can you use a different browser, or a different computer, or clear your cache? I think once that’s done, you will see some problems fixed. Both this one and the JavaScript error appear fixed to me.

[chrishajer]

I was able to get it to display properly in IE6 by changing the CSS for the #frontpage #discussions.

Old

#front-page #discussions {

margin-left: 170px;

width: 590px;

}

 

New

#front-page #discussions {

float: right;

width: 590px;

}

 

Basically, that change makes the #discussions div float to the right inside the #main div, rather than relying on the 170px of left margin. Not sure why IE6 does that and I didn’t investigate, but that fixed it for me. There might be other places you need to do that: I’m not sure. That was just for the home page of the forum.

[chrishajer]

To make bbPress look like your WordPress theme, you are going to have to do some XHTML and CSS work with a new template for your bbPress forum. It doesn’t sound like you will need user integration, so you can skip that part of the installation/integration, but will will need to either include WordPress in bbPress to get access to your WordPress header and foot or manually add those items to your bbPress template.

If you search this forum for integration or view topics tagged integration, you will find lots of integration advice. Here’s a good thread (started a while ago so some of the advice may not apply):

There are also a couple WordPress forum plugins:

http://www.stuff.yellowswordfish.com/simple-forum/

http://www.xdweb.net/wordpress/xdforum2/

(might not work anymore with WordPress 2.5)

Never tried either of those but they might be options instead of creating your own theme to make bbPress look like your WordPress installation.

[pad]

Breadcrumb script: https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/breadcrumb-navxt/

I’ve integrated it so that bbPress calls WordPress functions, meaning I use get_header and get_footer. All the forum CSS is in my WordPress CSS.

In the WordPress header.php I use that breadcrumb plugin, but obviously on the forum pages I don’t want it to appear.

[chrishajer]

Find the elements in the page that you wish to apply new styles to, then add those styles to the style.css in your bbPress template folder.

I find the web developer toolbar by Chris Pederick invaluable for this sort of thing. You can hover over the item, find out the class or ID, then edit the CSS while still viewing the page. Then, once it does what you want, make the edit permanent in your style.css.

[crazlunatic]

So what I did was take my original WordPress template and put it in the templates folder and it gave me this:

http://vistarewired.com/test2/wp-content/bbpress/

This is what I want except I want to center it, add some grey boxes behind it and that is pretty much it. How do I do this? Because I’m using the same CSS I used for my original blog template which is at http://vistarewired.com

[crazlunatic]

Thank you for the help. So what I did was take my original WordPress template and put it in the templates folder and it gave me this:

http://vistarewired.com/test2/wp-content/bbpress/

This is what I want except I want to center it, add some grey boxes behind it and that is pretty much it. How do I do this? Because I’m using the same CSS I used for my original blog template which is at http://vistarewired.com

[chrishajer]

Which gaps are you talking about specifically? I see just one between the header and the forums, maybe. Then maybe between the top and those side images as well.

1. Don’t use tables for layout, use divs if you can.

2. Validate your layout CSS and HTML and fix those problems first.

http://validator.w3.org/ (XHTML needs some work)

http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ (CSS is OK)

3. Looks like there was some cutting and pasting going on. The main problem, I think, is that there are tags for two tables there, but the top table (with this image gregjamesforum_01.jpg) is not really marked up as a table. There are no row and table data tags. So, that’s invalid. Then, a new table is started below. That’s why there’s a gap.

I would fix the improper markup and then put everything in one table (if you are going to continue using tables) so there is no gap between the two tables. That’s why there’s a gap beneath that top image right now.

Also, there is nothing in your problem that is specific to bbPress, so you can seek support at any CSS/HTML forum as well if there’s not enough help forthcoming here.

[mikem1000]

Hi guys,

I am currently looking into deploying a site powered by WordPress. I have a phpBB3 forum (with no users) which I would like to keep. I have seen the wp-united plugin for phpBB3, but it isn’t currently being supported. The option of using bbPress seems good to me, but I would like a seamless and fully functional integration with both WordPress and WordPress MU.

If I have to ditch the phpBB3 for the functionality I desire I will do it. I know what my potential userbase will want (post count, ranks, avatars, signatures, embed pics/vids in post, search, PM, etc). For the view, I would like a topic and post count, last post, and a description of each forum. Also subforums would be nice too.

Right now I only have a rudimentary understanding of PHP, but I know HTML and CSS, so I could style the forum myself.

I am a big fan of open source software. I only feel that there isn’t enough cooperation in the open source world. It would be awesome to see some of the best open source projects come together to create a mega kickass platform. My ideal would be (Drupal – please don’t flame me for this one -,Wordpress, and phpBB3). Drupal for the management of pages and function, WordPress for the content publishing, and phpBB3 for the forum.

When I achieve proficiency with PHP I will try to develop a universal user/session platform where the login and session is unified with whatever software you decide to install on top of it. This would be an internal database, not an openly accessible one. I have heard of OpenID, but don’t know anything about it.

WordPress appears to be the best content publishing engine out there, hopefully they become the best forum out there too.

I too am jazzed about the prospects of a WordPress powered forum.

Any opinions, best way to learn PHP, etc?

BTW, this thread is starting to sound like the beginnings of a development group. Mods, plugins, and software to follow soon.

I have found this discussion very stimulating, and would like to participate in future developments. I could deploy a site to use as a testbed.

[chrishajer]

It looks bad because the path to your style.css is wrong. The stylesheet should be here, but it’s not:

http://vistarewired.com/test2/forums/bb-templates/kakumei/style.css

So, where is it really? I suspect the path in the config.php and the URL you are using to access the forum are not the same, and that’s why you see the forum without any styling.

Wait – it’s actually here:

http://vistarewired.com/test2/bbpress/bb-templates/kakumei/style.css

So, in your config you called the directory forums but you actually installed it in the directory bbpress. You need to fix your config.php.

You have this:

$bb->uri = ‘http://vistarewired.com/test2/forums/’;

It needs to be this:

$bb->uri = ‘http://vistarewired.com/test2/bbpress/’;

(or, you can leave the config alone and change the name of the bbpress directory to forums.)

Fix that and everything will look as it should. You may need to do a hard refresh or clear the cache in your browser to see the effect of the changes. CTRL SHIFT R in Firefox.

[keldon64]

Your advice please.

I have no knowledge of php, but some html and css. I managed to set up the forum and it works fine, but when it comes to Akismet I have a problem.

I have placed it in the plugin folder. When I go to Site Management to activate it, I have the warning “Plugin could not be activated; it produced a Fatal Error.”

I have three other plugins which I have deactivated and still the same message.

The API number has been placed on the config file as required.

It is not integrated with WP.

Any suggestions?

[chrishajer]

Sounds like it wasn’t working at some point, and that information is cached. CTRL-SHIFT-R in Firefox will do a hard refresh. The source to the stylesheet is fine in both IE and Firefox, so it it probably something in your browser.

Here’s the path to the stylesheet from the HTML source:

http://thelifelesstraveled.com/forums/bb-templates/kakumei/style.css

[zacharyrs]

Funny you say this, because I installed it and now every link that is on the login page (even the submit link for the login process) takes me not to my domain, but to this:

http://my-cool-site.com/forums/bb-login.php

[chrishajer]

It looks like all the files were not uploaded properly. For example, the stylesheet is missing:

http://www.redsunday.net/forums/bb-templates/kakumei/style.css

Or possibly, you have pretty permalinks or slugs turned on, and they’re not supported by your host (very common with GoDaddy and Dreamhost, I think.) Modify this line in your config.php from 'slugs' or true to false like this:

$bb->mod_rewrite = false;

If all the files were uploaded properly, I would guess this is your problem.

[deesdogcare]

I have admin rights for ONE of my own three profiles, but that ‘fix’ didn’t change the other two and I can’t get them open to do anything to them. If I could get anypages to open, I would have a betterchance there, so I’m NOT worried about that.

I’m worried about the 404 pages. I stated earlier all the steps I had taken and one of those steps WAS to set my mods to false. When I originally uploaded,I did have them set to ‘slugs’ ~ but they’ve been set tofalse since just an hour or so after I originally uploaded because I had found that info in the thread that I mentioned earlier.

I just copied that line from my config.php file:

// Set to true if you want pretty permalinks, set to ‘slugs’ if you want to use slug based pretty permalinks.

$bb->mod_rewrite = ‘false’;

I have just finished customizing my blog and and ready to move on to my forums, but I’m really scared to start putting that work in ~~~ and yes, it’s work for me, I don’t know css, so everything I do is a ‘trial and error’ process, as is my work in php, asp.net, C+ (you get the picture) ~~~ for fear that I’ll do it all and never be able to get pages in the forums to open.

Thanks!

D

[chrishajer]

Yes, the URL is wrong in the config. The URL should be http://www.jompen8.byethost13.com/wordpress/bbpress/ for the location of your bbPress installation, and http://www.jompen8.byethost13.com/wordpress for the location of your WordPress installation (if you are planning on integrating user logins.)

The link or button you put in your WordPress installation should point here: http://www.jompen8.byethost13.com/wordpress/bbpress/. You can delete page 24 in WordPress (unless you want to use a WordPress redirect plugin to have an actual WordPress page, so the link appears easily in your navigation – just redirect it to http://www.jompen8.byethost13.com/wordpress/bbpress/).

Once that is all sorted, you will have a forum installation accessible from WordPress, but it will look nothing like your blog theme. There’s more work involved in making that happen, copying over the header and footer and sidebar and making the forum look like the blog. It’s all doable, it just takes time and energy and some CSS and HTML skills (maybe some PHP too.)

First get it in the proper location, accessible at the proper URL, then worry about getting it to look like you want. Because bbPress is not a plugin for WordPress, it is not going to look like your blog pages at all without some work.

[_ck_]

Nice work.

Looks like there is “only” a 6k penalty on the browser side for the extra javascript and under 1k for the extra css. Bit of work on the server side but it may be worth it for a forum that deal with a lot of code being posted.

Be sure to submit it to the bbpress plugin browser

https://bbpress.org/plugins/add/

so it gets much more exposure.

[chrishajer]

This stylesheet is referenced in your html, but it’s not actually there:

http://www.wp-portal.de/my-templates/bbpress-forum/style2.css?v=8

404 Not Found

Not Found



The requested URL /my-templates/bbpress-forum/style2.css was not found on this server.

[chrishajer]

edwinfoo: it looks like there’s a problem with the CSS on your site. The #thread li referenced above by fel64 won’t work for you because it looks like you have renamed it to #thread1 (maybe just a typo in your theme.) So, the CSS for #thread won’t apply to #thread1. If you add CSS for #thread1 or remove the 1 from the end of the <ol id=”#thread” in your theme, it works fine (I just tried it.)

This <ol id="thread1" start="1"> needs to look more like <ol id="thread" start="1">.

If you need numbers there for each unique thread, you’re going to have to do it differently, not appending a thread number to the end of the id “thread”: that changes the id from #thread to #thread-(whatever number).

[edwinfoo]

http://www.glamrock.com/blog/forum/index.php

fel64, I can’t see a good reason why I should spend money to upgrade because it’s not something that I can do. Plus I’m worried if all the plugins I’m using work after the transition. Plus I’m not sure if I’ll be going to a different software solution which supports social networking better.

With regards to pics<600px breaking the site, I’ve tried these additions in the style.css file like you said :

#thread li {

min-height: 200px; /* <– add this line */

padding: 1.5em 1.0em;

line-height: 1.5em;

}

overflow: auto;

#thread li ol, #thread li ul { margin-left: 40px; }

#thread li ol li, #thread li ul li { padding: 0; }

and I’ve tried :

#thread li {

min-height: 200px; /* <– add this line */

padding: 1.5em 1.0em;

line-height: 1.5em;

}

#thread li img {

max-width: 600px;

#thread li ol, #thread li ul { margin-left: 40px; }

#thread li ol li, #thread li ul li { padding: 0; }

Please forgive my poor development skills. Marketing is my thing.

[chrishajer]

There is a difference between id and class. Maybe you’re using one or the other.

This is a class:

.forumlist {

font: whatever;

}

This is an id:

#forumlist {

font: whatever;

}

You’re using <table id="forumlist-1"> but your css doesn’t contain markup for that (it has forumlist, not forumlist-anything. There is markup for #forumlist, but without numbers. Maybe you could do something like <table id="1" class="forumlist"> or something? That way, the forumlist class doesn’t need to be unique, since each city will sort of look the same, and the id is unique to each city. You still need to add the proper tags in your CSS, #1, #2, #3 for the ids and .forumlist (which is already there I believe.)

Hope this advice is accurate. Let us know if it works.

[chgogrrl99]

Hey Chris…still around?

I’m continuing this thread because so much on the info is here.

I’ve been trying to validate my html and css by trying the various methods listed above.

This didn’t validate <table class=”forumlist” id=”forumlist-<?php forum_id(); ?>”>

But, this did <table id=”forumlist-<?php forum_id(); ?>”>

Both the html and the css are perfect with the last one, but I lost some of my styling, namely the colors. Any ideas?

[lookfab]

Thanks very much for the kind words.

WordPressl, I mock up a few different design options in PhotoShop and when I’m happy there I move to the code. Since this was my first exposure to bbpress I ended up iterating between PS and the code a lot as I got to understand bbpress better. The challenge was to keep the flavor of the blog, but still make it clear to the user that they are somewhere different.

The mechanics of the template are similar to the default theme. The different look is achieved mostly through the CSS stylesheet. One major change to the layout is to add a floating div for the sidebar on the left. All the rollovers are CSS. I do the tabs simply in php by checking which forum the user is in and displaying the tab bar appropriately. Most of the other changes are actually about hiding some of the power of bbpress.

I’m glad the “tabs” resonate. I had a full working site in beta without them, but just wasn’t happy. The breadcrumb is a little subtle (particularly for folks who are new to a forum), and with only 4 forums and no sub-forums seems like overkill. But without the breadcrumb the user is lost once they’re in one of the forums or topics. The tab solves that and makes it easy to get to any forum from almost everywhere.

[_ck_]

I really like that idea of colored tabs at the top as “forums”. Very pretty and skips all the jargon that newbies won’t know.

(You did it with graphics instead of css, but still very clever.)

[fel64]

You do need a localisation file, but if one doesn’t come with the topic it’s typically the sort of thing you can do for yourself.

Some wp themes let you set the colour scheme in the admin panel (Mandigo for one), but it’s a fairly simple task to open the style.css file and change the hex colour-codes (once you understand what they are).

Having bb as a subdirectory of wp is a good start but it’s not necessary as far as I know. My wp install is in a folder /wordpress/, while bb is in the forums subdomain. This should be everything you need to know on integration: https://bbpress.org/documentation/integration-with-wordpress/