(2013-04-25, 05:33 PM)Maj Wrote: [ -> ]CMS like WP or Joomla have articles, categories, tags for articles. How to make this on Mybb?
I know that mybb as CMS may sound surprisingly, and i think its so unusual statement
that it may require little 'wall of text', but i promiss that if you read this,
you'll understand my point and see potential and flexibility of mybb engine - as i see it.
It is not much visible nor obvious for many everyday mybb users who watch at mybb as at forum software.
It is great forum, not only better and better with each release but also constantly keeping its flexibility i love,
and 'hidden independence' from forum software - which allow me to compare it to CMS.
I often saw topics where someone asked 'if X feature can be implemented' and he receive reply
that 'it rather should'nt be core feature but theres nothing against to make plugin which will accomplish it'.
Such reply would sound for some readers dissapointing,
but im telling you - mybb developers know what they do, and implementing some features
which would offer some exact functionality, would be killing main core flexibility.
becaue it would be good for exacly 'this' and nothing more.
So yes, plugin may do it perfectly if someone need it.
When i say that mybb engine is great CMS like system, many people watch closely at own forum,
then say 'what? Oo.. i cant see it.. its not... dont know what you smoke, but dont do it anymore'.
Yes they see forum, because mybb core is nicely wrapped into forum template which make it look like it,
and its shiped in this form by default, known as mybb forum.
The same as joomla core is wrapped into its own template which make it looks like it.
However if one develop enought for both systems, observing, discovering and learning them from inside,
he will see sooner or later that theyre very similar (if not same).
I used joomla for many years, and was always interested in some components
which would let me to build site i want. Joomla dont have such things (or have it but in very simple version),
So i needed good user accounts, private message systems, user avatars,
not mention it would be good to have nice forum build in as well.
There are many components like this, but they are from separate developers,
not always cooperate flawlesly with each other, add alot of weight to site when all together,
and still... it was not what i really imagined it to be.
One day some friend asked me for help with his mybb forum
which at this time was not yet much familiar to me (to not say it was simply new)
I thought to myself 'just one more PHP SQL something', np, can do it.
I helped him but it introduced mybb to me more closely, I found that it have all features
i always looked for my joomla site.
Great user accounts, groups, privilages, avatars, perfect private messages systems,
even additionally forum and things i didnt really needed at that time - all in one nice piece.
Wow! mybb was solution for my joomla site for which i was looking for years.
There was no bridge to interface mybb with joomla at this time (and probably still no one made it yet)
(excluding jFusion but i was unable to use it on my server) So i was forced to make one myself.
I began to look for some API which had to expose to me in simple way something that i could
call from joomla to 'create account', 'login', 'logout' and the rest (accounts, avatars, PM's)
i would just wrap into joomla template make them both one-system.
MyBBIntegrator seemed to be that API i was looking for, so i began developing bridge myself.
It took time, alot of learning, about MyBBIntegrator, mybb, its template and plugins system.
But i done it!
Yay i made nice plugins for both joomla and mybb which was made on top of MyBBIntegrator.
And you know what ? After i finished it and began to use i found one thing.
It worked kinda slow... What was slow? maybe i made it wrong or maybe two scripts
was too weighty when together ? I didnt know. I began testing it and reply was
- 'i got used to mybb which is fast and now i feel like something is slow, but its.. joomla is slow by itself Oo'
Whats more...
- 'Why and what exacly for i include MyBBIntegrator then not use IMyBB object but instead mybb object,
which is very intuitive and give the same outcomes that IMyBB object Oo'.
I stoped including MyBBIntegrator then, and began to include mybb files to use native mybb objects
and functions as API because it IS API which offer's everything same and much more than MyBBIntegrator.
Then next outcomes of these testing was even more suprising :
- 'why i have in my SQL everything twice. Twice user accounts, twice categories, twice titles,
twice articles, twice article authors, twice reply to article...
I must deal with double data, synchronisation of it and...wait. The other one are forums. Hmmmmm'.
This is seen from developer point of view, who strip skin from everything and see data-only.
Data is same and both engines same nicely manage it, store, edit, give accessibility to it, ect.
The only difference is at user front-end where data are presented to viewer in form of site or forum.
- joomla serve it as articles written by X author, and commented by Y user in Z category
- mybb serve (the same X,Y,Z) as thread written by X author, commented by Y user, within Z forum.
AND - this is called CMS where content is separated from presentation.
Front-end presentation is template in both joomla and mybb,
and mybb template system is THAT flexible,
that there is nothing which would say 'one cant remake forums to look like list of categories,
first post look like article and rest of posts look like comments to this article.
Also, put this button here other one, somewhere else and anything anywhere.
The only difference betwin joomla and mybb is that joomla ACP have build in user friendly interface,
which introduce so called template slots where administrator may place 'modules'
Mybb have it also, however its not presented to administrator in that friendly and easy to understand way,
Its mybb template system which can be compared to joomla template like,
So, 'mybb index template' have the same role as 'joomla's main template' - (whole page output),
'mybb bit templates' have role of 'joomla modules' - (managed content output)
The difference is only that joomla administrator will 'blindly' place modules in slots and become happy,
while mybb administrator need a lot of knowledge to know which bit is within which and whats {$whatever}
To conclude this 'story'.
What i have writted above, was reason for which i droped joomla and began setting up
everything on pure mybb-only which not only can replace joomla, but also have many features build in
that joomla dont have (complex user accounts, complex groups, great PM's, articles, and... forum
)
From my experience i can tell that it could be possible to do this with template-only modification,and no mods,
however there are fiew things which i found extremely helpful,
and all together, completes mybb as CMS like platform.
They are :
- knowledge (about mybb API (objects and functions), php, sql, html, css, mybb templating)
- Awesome XThreads plugin (allows shaping every forum/category into something different)
- PHPInTemplates plugin (allows to use conditionals and other tricks rite in template)
- Own plugin (to hook anywhere without need of core edits, and to create own 'outputs' if required)
Sorry for 'wall of text' but maybe someone will find it interesting (or maybe even will get own ideas)
Finally, it is very possible that one day i may get all this knowledge based on my works and researches,
and create some 'mybb-CMS' plugin, which will enable joomla-like features in mybb ACP,
because when you think about it, its very simple and dont require even one core edit.
Everything is hiding in presentation and while mybb core have all required 'content management' functions
it dont expose 'content presentation' in equal simple way as joomla CMS do (slots and modules),
instead it gives dozens of template bits and variables which require knowledge and many hand edits to change.
...Last sentence could best conclusion, what is difference (or not) betwin mybb and joomla.
Or..
Maybe someone will create such CMS plugin based on my idea before i'll do
Now imagine :
There is a blank page with defined slots in some places like
( <div>{$slot1}</div> <div>{$slot2}</div>)
and we call it our 'template'. (who know how joomla templates are made will understand it)
Then we have data (forums are categories (folders like) / posts are content (within them))
forum A -> forum -> option -> show as list of articles, put into slot1
forum A -> first post -> option -> show as article. put to slot2
forum A -> next posts -> option -> show as comments, put to slot3 (slot 3 could be under articles ect)
forum B -> forum -> option -> show as forum, put into slot5
forum B -> first post -> option -> show as post. put to slot6
forum B -> next posts -> option -> show as post, put to slot7 (slot 7 could be under slot6 ect)
even more
footer -> put in slot 'slot-footer' (exacly like in joomla huh)
menu -> option -> use template X (in joomla its CSS prefix) -> put in slot4
ect ect... (no template edits - joomla like CMS)
