Since i noticed the new bbpress wasnt going to be “theme integration friendly” just like the previous versions, i started to look for other forum plugins, simple:press was the next step but i find it quite slow loading.

Today while browsing an “drupal7 vs joomla 1.6” article i found a forum plugin for wordpress:

The Mingle Forum Plugin

http://cartpauj.com/projects/mingle-forum-plugin/

no need to ftp files, you can install it from within wordpress plugin page, no need for extra themes, it can use whatever theme wordpress uses, international localization/languages etc etc

@bbpress devs: in my opinion you’re overcomplicating something that should be “easy as 1,2,3” in bbpress (theme integration), you’re “integrating” not the opposite, lots and lots of people voiced their problems with complicated integrations or deep integration, why insist on having separate thmes for something that “uses” wordpress that itself already uses a theme. Make it simple.

REQUIREMENTS:

PHP 5.x

WordPress 3.0 or newer

FEATURES:

* NEW! SEO Friendly URLs

* NEW! Forum sitemap (../wp-content/plugins/mingle-forum/sitemap.php)

* NEW! Adsense areas

* Media embedding into forum posts (like Youtube, Flickr, Photobucket…)

* WordPress 3.0 ready!

* Categories with sub-forums

* User Groups

* User Levels (EX: Newbie, Beginner, Pro…)

* Private Messages – Forum integrates seamlessly with my Cartpauj PM Plugin (Requires Cartpauj PM vs. 1.0.09 or greater)

* Moderators

* Skins

* Captcha

* BB Code

* Smilies

* Custom Forum Search

* Guest posts (See Mingle Forum Guest Info add-on by wpweaver)

* Hot/Very Hot topics

* Sticky (Pinned) Topics

* Move, Edit, Remove and Close topics

* Forum RSS Feeds

* Email notifications on replies to topics

* Recent posts widget (or PHP shortcode for your theme)

* Integrates nicely with most themes (It’s tough to make it work for all themes so some skin modifications may be required for your site)

* Allow/Dis-allow other users to view your profile from the Forum

* Supports different languages

* Integrates with the Mingle Plugin (by Blair Williams) NOTE: The “Mingle” plugin is NOT required for forum to work

o Avatars

o Profile’s (Works with/without Pretty Profile URLs enabled in Mingle settings)

o Activity in the forum shows up as activity in mingle (Helps increase discussion in both your forums and your SN)

o Deleted forum topics will also delete the corresponding Mingle board post

Screenshots

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricardouk/sets/72157625882755704/

[@intimez Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

I’ve been playing with this and it’s promising while we wait for bbpress plugin to mature

http://vanillaforums.com/blog/news/vanilla-wordpress-plugins-and-widgets/

[@intimez Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

I’ve been playing with this and it’s promising while we wait for bbpress plugin to mature

http://vanillaforums.com/blog/news/vanilla-wordpress-plugins-and-widgets/

[@blago Member 13 years, 11 months ago]

Well, I liked it as well, until I came across this notice today: “Multiple Vulnerabilities in Mingle Forum” – http://www.charleshooper.net/blog/multiple-vulnerabilities-in-mingle-forum-wordpress-plugin/

He posts his findings because the “Maintainer of plugin is unreachable”. Not sure if I still like this plugin so much.

[@blago Member 13 years, 11 months ago]

Well, I liked it as well, until I came across this notice today: “Multiple Vulnerabilities in Mingle Forum” – http://www.charleshooper.net/blog/multiple-vulnerabilities-in-mingle-forum-wordpress-plugin/

He posts his findings because the “Maintainer of plugin is unreachable”. Not sure if I still like this plugin so much.

[@ricardouk Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

the vulnerabilities were on previos versions

Packages/Versions Affected: Confirmed on 1.0.24 and 1.0.26

the plugin is at version 1.0.28 see changelog here

https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mingle-forum/changelog/

why did you give a link saying the vulnerabilities were fixed when you were implying the opposite?

01/07/2011 Plugin maintainer releases update that addresses these

vulnerabilities.

whoever uses older bbpress versions also have that problem

[@ricardouk Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

the vulnerabilities were on previos versions

Packages/Versions Affected: Confirmed on 1.0.24 and 1.0.26

the plugin is at version 1.0.28 see changelog here

https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mingle-forum/changelog/

why did you give a link saying the vulnerabilities were fixed when you were implying the opposite?

01/07/2011 Plugin maintainer releases update that addresses these

vulnerabilities.

whoever uses older bbpress versions also have that problem

[@gswaim Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

@ricardouk

I share many of your concerns. I too have stumbled onto the Mingle Forum plug-in.

I have it installed along with the Mingle plug-in. This turns a WordPress site into a BuddyPress-like site with an extremely short learning curve. I had both installed, tweaked on the code to remove a couple of links that I didn’t want, modified the CSS to make a near perfect style match to my theme, and understood how to configure administrate the forum in about 3 hours.

I am not a code monkey and cannot compare the pros and cons of how Mingle Forums stacks up against the bbPress plug-in or any other solutions. The security vulnerability has also been resoled to my satisfaction.

Before I implement a solution I am more concerned with its support and sustainability. Both plug-ins have have over 50,000 downloads and the Mingle Forum plug-in was last updated 20 days ago. I had one problem/question with the installation and it was answered by the plug-in’s author within hours. Within the last 5 days the Mingle Forum’s author has posted 5 videos instructional videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/cartpauj). All indications are that this project is alive and well.

I am going to go live with it this week and plan to use it until another plug-in solution, which is better, becomes available.

[@gswaim Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

@ricardouk

I share many of your concerns. I too have stumbled onto the Mingle Forum plug-in.

I have it installed along with the Mingle plug-in. This turns a WordPress site into a BuddyPress-like site with an extremely short learning curve. I had both installed, tweaked on the code to remove a couple of links that I didn’t want, modified the CSS to make a near perfect style match to my theme, and understood how to configure administrate the forum in about 3 hours.

I am not a code monkey and cannot compare the pros and cons of how Mingle Forums stacks up against the bbPress plug-in or any other solutions. The security vulnerability has also been resoled to my satisfaction.

Before I implement a solution I am more concerned with its support and sustainability. Both plug-ins have have over 50,000 downloads and the Mingle Forum plug-in was last updated 20 days ago. I had one problem/question with the installation and it was answered by the plug-in’s author within hours. Within the last 5 days the Mingle Forum’s author has posted 5 videos instructional videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/cartpauj). All indications are that this project is alive and well.

I am going to go live with it this week and plan to use it until another plug-in solution, which is better, becomes available.

[@wilcosky Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

Hey what do you mean by the new bbpress won’t be “theme integration friendly”? I’m looking for a forum that will easily integrate with my wordpress site. I was going to hold out for this new bbpress plugin, but I’m curious to know what you’re talking about. Does that mean it’s going to be difficult to make the new bbpress theme match your existing theme’s look?

[@wilcosky Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

Hey what do you mean by the new bbpress won’t be “theme integration friendly”? I’m looking for a forum that will easily integrate with my wordpress site. I was going to hold out for this new bbpress plugin, but I’m curious to know what you’re talking about. Does that mean it’s going to be difficult to make the new bbpress theme match your existing theme’s look?

[@ricardouk Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

i’ve been following the chat on the bbpress plugin thread and altough JJJ said somewhere that it will be possible it reallly doesnt seem (to me) that the plugin is going that way.

wordpress will use one theme and bbpress as a plugin will need its own theme.

@devs

dont read my comments as destructive but i feel as a user the need to voice my opinion, as a user i dont have the “god like” ability to master css/php or port my wordpress theme to a bbpress theme, its like you’re creating a forum plugin and making it difficult to use or integrate visually with wordpress…a forum plugin only for the “code masters”. try and go the simple:press or mingle forum way or have that possibility.

[@ricardouk Participant 13 years, 11 months ago]

i’ve been following the chat on the bbpress plugin thread and altough JJJ said somewhere that it will be possible it reallly doesnt seem (to me) that the plugin is going that way.

wordpress will use one theme and bbpress as a plugin will need its own theme.

@devs

dont read my comments as destructive but i feel as a user the need to voice my opinion, as a user i dont have the “god like” ability to master css/php or port my wordpress theme to a bbpress theme, its like you’re creating a forum plugin and making it difficult to use or integrate visually with wordpress…a forum plugin only for the “code masters”. try and go the simple:press or mingle forum way or have that possibility.

[@willabee Member 13 years, 11 months ago]

@ ricardouk

Uhm, not that I don’t understand you, but you do need to understand that we as developers need to eat too, so I don’t mind that extra’s on a cms/platform are only optional for developers.

And the greatest things in life just aren’t free.

That said, I do believe the bbPress WordPress plugin will get an easy intergration eventually.

[@willabee Member 13 years, 11 months ago]

@ ricardouk

Uhm, not that I don’t understand you, but you do need to understand that we as developers need to eat too, so I don’t mind that extra’s on a cms/platform are only optional for developers.

And the greatest things in life just aren’t free.

That said, I do believe the bbPress WordPress plugin will get an easy intergration eventually.

[@xtreme164 Member 13 years, 10 months ago]

thanks to share this great help…!

[@xtreme164 Member 13 years, 10 months ago]

thanks to share this great help…!