Research on site development software for nflug.org

[John Seth]

Brian,

   I like your suggestions.  I'm not sure who is familiar with packages
such as ones I've mentioned, or CMS (Content Management Systems)
packages in general.  Ones such as PHPnuke and PostNuke are capable
of all of your suggestions, one or two, with some tweaking.

   As per your statement about XMB Forum software. It is free, however,
non-members don't get some of the perks members do. Myself, I am a
paid member, cost is $40/year.  I have the forums running
successfully on about 4 websites. They used to have a project (now
dormant) on SF: http://sourceforge.net/projects/xmbforum/

   Currently XMB Partagium 1.8 is the latest "semi-stable" release.  It
is in Final Beta stages.  My own experience with posting bugs in
their forums, is that bug submissions aren't taken lightly and are
seriously considered.  I'd estimate 70%-90% of bugs make it into the
next beta release. I've also been noting they've been releasing Final
Beta releases about once a week.

   In my own opinion, phpBB is a bit buggy, and slow to release fixes.
especially when some are security related. I'm sure I've voiced enuff
opinions on other things, so I won't bore anyone any longer ;) If
anyone would like more of my opinionions, feel free to email me
directly.

  - Tony


> I did some research into the software packages that are available for
> us to make use of in providing a richer web site.
>
> There have already been several suggestions for adopting products just
> like these, from several individuals. I kinda built this list before
> those emails originated, so we will have to include those ideas into
> our list of choices as well. Credit to all of you who are
> participating (as I haven't yet updated notes below).
>
> My recommendations for features we should strive to implement are at
> the bottom of this email.
>
> I _hope_ to demo geeklog and drupal at the meeting, as I have finally
> installed them. For the other products, we will have to rely upon
> other's experiences or the URLs mentioned below.
>
> - Brian
>
> -------
> John Seth <johnseth at phoenixwing.com> (Tony) suggested:
> PHP-Nuke        http://www.phpnuke.org
> PostNuke        http://www.postnuke.com   (see below)
> myPhpNuke       (see below)
> phpBB           (see below)
> XMBforum        (see below)
>
> (Then I went crazy and started researching these and other products)
>
> GeekLog http://geeklog.sourceforge.net/index.php
>         This is a solid looking tool
>         Well documented and actively being enhanced
>         Discussion topics, calendars, polls, links, stats
>         This product was paired with phpBB on linuxlinks.com
>         a good example is http://www.linuxlinks.com
>         also http://www.goddammit.co.uk/
>         themes
>
> drupal  http://www.drupal.org/
>         It is a weblogging tool, primarily.
>         for news collection and presentation
>         good for user initiated blogs
>         has polls
>         some customization capability
>         clean design and usability
>         well documented
>         see: http://www.drupal.org/node.php?id=1
>         see: http://www.drupal.org/node.php?id=381
>
> phpBB   http://www.phpbb.com/
>         strong product for discussion forums
>         has its own user enrollment system
>         a good example is http://www.linuxlinks.com
>         attractive and intuitive
>
> zorum   http://zorum.phpoutsourcing.com/
>         A really nice looking web discussion tool
>         attractive design and apparent functionality
>         Has its own user management functionality
>         This can probably be integrated with other CMS software
>
> XMB Forum       http://www.xmbforum.com
>         Nice looking forum tool
>         need to investigate cost and licensing terms further...
>
> ampoliros with Magellan
>         http://www.ampoliros.com
>         http://www.ampoliros.com/projects/web/magellan/
>         Very slick, excellent content can be generated.
>         Very modern (xhtml, xml, soap, etc)
>         Attractive development site and content
>
> myPHPNuke       http://www.myphpnuke.com/
>         user management
>         topics, forums, links, downloads, survey, chat?
>         heavy graphics use
>         interface seems to be fairly unmutable
>
> phpWebSite      http://phpwebsite.appstate.edu/
>         Has most features we desire in one package
>         Written in PHP and will probably require customization
>         fairly stable, clean output
>         fairly easy to use and understand
>         has themes (good as examples)
>
> scoop   http://scoop.kuro5hin.org
>         http://www.kuro5hin.org
>         Clean and simple.
>         Features capability to host links, polls, many articles, other
> static pages. Not written in PHP (for better or worse)
>         Fairly popular, well debugged.
>
> Typo3   http://www.typo3.com/
>         REALLY NICE open source PHP4 and MySQL tool.
>         Web based content management.
>         Very rich client. (Do not use dynamic image generation if
> possible) May be too complex, maybe not.
>
> Tiki    http://tikiwiki.sourceforge.net/
>         Has a demo
>         Kinda confusing to use
>         What does it do?
>
> phorum  http://phorum.org
>         A simple web discussion tool
>         This can probably be integrated with other CMS software
>
> www forum       http://shiflett.org/projects/www_forum/
>         A simple web discussion tool
>         This can probably be integrated with other CMS software
>
> PHPGroupWare    http://www.phpgroupware.org/
>         Nice tool for group collaboration, but only for trusted users
> Does not have a public interface as well (such as a portal or
> CMS would
> provide)
>
> PostNuke        http://www.postnuke.com/
>         Somewhat busy user interface
>         Difficult to get an overview (features, documentation, etc)
> Looks difficult to customize to be anything other than what is
> is.
>
> Envolution      http://www.envolution.com/
>         non-intuitive user interface
>         has many buggy qualities
>         no apparent documentation
>         no central statement of purpose
>
> My recommendations:
>         Lists of links (user contributed too)
>                 other related events (CISSP classes, Flash group, etc)
> lists of employers
>         List of Members
>         User originated discussions
>         Script hosting, possibly for download or small file exchange
> Polls (like what we will discuss next week)
>         News pages (slow to update and chronological)
>         Site Admin distinction (including back-end stuff)
>         Discussion Forums (possibly replacing Majordomo)
>         Attractive interface / usability
>         Calendar of events
>         Meeting location page
>         Admin contacts page
>         Organization charter
>         Projects page