An SMF CMS?

[roxpace]

First of all "Bloc's TinyPortal" is not a CMS, it's just a portal script system (PSS)

Anyway, it is sure a good package for anyone who have no big demands like small organisations with little information to publish and small demands of flexible website. I recommend that package most for private use when money doesn't count so much.

[Leipe Po]

well i for one, find that verry insulting that i find a phpbb board on your site listed in your signature 

[roxpace]

I has been working with the most applications during all years, and I do not switch discussion forum application just because there are better alternatives, but to calm you down a bit   I do really think that SMF is much better than PHPBB in the present time, but sometimes it's not just possible to switch, atleast when you must respect other people also who may have other opinions

Now I do not wanna start a flaming thread here about what is best, I would not be in here if I did not prefare this software, that is for sure, but that site you was pointing at has been using PHPBB nearly since it was born and at that time there was absolutely no SMF born yet.

[Leipe Po]

well not to attack bloc or somthing, but all that can easly be made by ssi.php,
ssi has so mutch tricks, even more then the file reveals,
so i belive then its nothing more then a advanced ssi script that he has made and thought:
"if this works on my site, it works on all others"

and ther for, your first "portal" has born,
if you know somthing about php, and themes, just make your own,
if you make your own, you know where to search if somthing doesnt preform well, instead of seaking support,

but its a great thing for somebody that doesnt want to go to to mutch trouble to get ther site up and running

[Questin]

I'm of the idea of Leipe. It would be nice to have done a simple welcome page that is for login/news/welcome without need of modify the smf installation but that works with ssi.php. Like the portal page of INVISIONBOARD.
This is not against the tinyportal of bloc that is a different type more similar to a cms.
So Leipe if you want to work to this portal.php page (index.php for a person who puts there in the site root) i'm ready to help you

[Leipe Po]

well if you want to start a project, register @ my site, and we can team up to develop this,
the site is under construction, so you get a section of the forum,
ill assist you with your coding, but you would be lead, cause i have a site to develop,
the site is: http://www.phpscripters.net/
hope to see you there 

[bloc]

Quite right.

The portal I started was merely a extension of SSI.php. In fact it was more of an experiment to see how far I could take themes rather than just getting a frontpage... Now its not just using ssi anymore..but its not a CMS either. It can't exist without the forum "backend" , like a proper CMS should, so although very nice to get comments on it being "the CMS of SMF", its just a portal.

People that want a "SMF CMS" need to start from scratch, and rather developing with the goal of having the forum plug in seamlessy along the way. A much harder job, and also more of a php developer's project than a designer's.

[Leipe Po]

but smf 1.0.5 was fairly easy to make it do things i want, without ssi, but complete intergration,
but with the current licence that smf has, i would not be able to distribute it, so since i was working for nothing, i gave that up, and installed 1.1RC2 but the building blocks are there, and it would be quite easy, if it timewise a problem, i would like to donate some spare time 

[Daniel15]

If you want a portal system that integrates with SMF, you should take a look at MKPortal.

[Docc]

Take a look at the top of this (SMF) sites pages.  Home, Download, Support, Community, About.. I may be missing a really big boat here, but looks like what most people are looking for pretty much already exsists, A website that just happens to contain a forum. I am not a coder, so what I am suggesting may not be possible. It seems that most want to see how many blocks and boxes they can put on a screen at one time, but this site doesn't seem to follow that idea. The first word in your name spells out what I'm hoping for (Simple)!!!!!

[bloc]

Its not really a cms though.. , its a collection of html/php pages using SSI.php to collect some info from the forum.

A cms thats simple - or allowing to be simple - are out there I am sure, problem is integration with SMF. If you need it that is. If you don't , then your best bet is still a editor, html, and SMF by itself.

[Docc]

Thats basically what im doing, I am trying to figure out the ssi calls, I see all the functions I need in the example ssi page. But I dont know the syntax to make them work in my html. If I can ever figure that out, I can make the rest work. Smf is in the standard forum/ directory on my site.

Its not really a cms though.. , its a collection of html/php pages using SSI.php to collect some info from the forum.

A cms thats simple - or allowing to be simple - are out there I am sure, problem is integration with SMF. If you need it that is. If you don't , then your best bet is still a editor, html, and SMF by itself.

[Col]

We here at Simple Machines have created a forum. it has often been asked of us if one day we'd create a CMS to go with the forum and to date the answer has always been "We'll see".

The reason being that we are lacking on coders to get one done. Not talentwise but timewise - it's a large chunk of time investment.

As a result, I am in the hunt for portal developers out there to discuss possible future options...if you're a coder, or interested in coding a CMS I am asking you to PM me with your experience in coding PHP and what type of experience you have with SMF.

I've skimmed through most of the pages of this thread. Would I be right is saying that develpment stopped with the above post, and everything else has been "chat"? - Shame really.  I'm trying to find a decent CMS, that integrates nicely with SMF, and has all the features that I could wish for. - I going blind with all the reading I'm doing, and I don't feel greatly enlightened for it!

What is the best option? I note that there is a bridge for Joomla/mambo, and an alpha bridge for Drupal. I'm kinda swaying towards Joomla, as it appears to offer all that I'm looing for, but then upgrades (including vital patches) are less than straight forward. Maybe I've just read the wrong posts, after all, these things are usually just a few small edits. Big upgrades would still be a pain though.

OK, maybe the wrong forum, and the wrong thread, but what is the best option for integration with SMF? I am wanting blogging (for all members), and a shopping cart (with downloads). Seems like SMF would be the best place to ask "which CMS".

Comments.

Thanks.

[Daniel15]

Col, as I said above, MKPortal would be your best bet. It comes with blogging for all members (your members can create their own blog). Take a look at http://www.mkportal.it/ . Note that the version of MKPortal you use will depend on what version of SMF you're using:
SMF 1.0.6: MKPortal M 1.0
SMF 1.1 RC2: MKPortal M 1.1RC1 (heh, MKPortal is only a release candidate as well )

[Col]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not keen on portals. Maybe I've the wrong idea of MKPortal, but "Portal" is rather suggestive of what it does.

I understand that this is often how CMS software is used, but I'm not interested in pushing loads of information into small boxes on a home page. As I said, I could be unfair in my assessment, as it's not software I have any experience of, and when I come across a Portal site, I move on (they just irritate me). Don't take that personally, as there must be plenty of people who like such sites, otherwise there wouldn't be so many of them.

I am looking for something that will manage news too, and allow for several authors to manage the same content. I don't just need a blog space for each member. I've gotta say though, Joomla and Mambo seem to be lacking on the support side. Many posts go unanswered, and I wonder if it's because they are so caught up in an arms race, they forget about the people using their software now, or like me, shopping for software.

Another thing I need is a shopping cart. I will have a closer look MKPortal, but I doubt it will offer everything I'm looking for. One bridge is all that I'd like to have to cope with, so all in one solution would be ideal.

Thanks.

P.S. A heads up. Your site displays a horzontal crossbar for some reason. Res 1024x768. IE6.

[Miraenda]

I have to recommend Mambo/Joomla, and although you might not get all the support you need on their site, you could certainly find a lot of other sites that handle Joomla or Mambo-related issues.

I have a bunch of sites in varying stages of construction (mainly because I have too many sites and have difficulty getting them all done lol):

http://endar.org/ (Mambo) + SMF forum at http://endar.org/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,44
http://ratingbar.com/ (Mambo) + SMF forum at http://ratingbar.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,26/
http://fatlikeme.org/ (Joomla) + vB forum (I had the license for vB so decided to not let it go to waste, I do not like vB at all though)
http://bestcat.net/ (Joomla, this will replace my http://bestgarden.net site) + SMF forum at http://postaplant.com/

The reason I point out these sites isn't b/c they are terribly active or the greatest in the world.  I point them out because a) each one looks totally different than the other and b) I can't design worth a darn and didn't have to know how to very much b/c making minor changes to great Mambo/Joomla templates makes it look like I can.

Just my input, take it for what you will.

Thanks.

[Wolfenrook]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for the reply, but I'm not keen on portals. Maybe I've the wrong idea of MKPortal, but "Portal" is rather suggestive of what it does.

I understand that this is often how CMS software is used, but I'm not interested in pushing loads of information into small boxes on a home page. As I said, I could be unfair in my assessment, as it's not software I have any experience of, and when I come across a Portal site, I move on (they just irritate me). Don't take that personally, as there must be plenty of people who like such sites, otherwise there wouldn't be so many of them.

I am looking for something that will manage news too, and allow for several authors to manage the same content. I don't just need a blog space for each member. I've gotta say though, Joomla and Mambo seem to be lacking on the support side. Many posts go unanswered, and I wonder if it's because they are so caught up in an arms race, they forget about the people using their software now, or like me, shopping for software.

Another thing I need is a shopping cart. I will have a closer look MKPortal, but I doubt it will offer everything I'm looking for. One bridge is all that I'd like to have to cope with, so all in one solution would be ideal.

Actually Col, MKPortal starts out as a simple portal, but it has a lot more functionality than a normal portal (such as TinyPortal) has.  For example, I have it installed with a module for osCommerce (shopping cart) and another module for Menalto Gallery 2 installed.  If you don't want a front page made up of blocks then just de-activate the side blocks and just use center blocks, there is also a hack available that allows you to put any page on the frontpage.  Sure it's not as powerful as Joomla, or as simple to use as TinyPortal (both of which are great at what they do!), but reading what you are looking for I still think it is the best option for you.

Wolfenrook.

[Daniel15]

<offtopic>

P.S. A heads up. Your site displays a horzontal crossbar for some reason. Res 1024x768. IE6.

Which site?

[Col]

<offtopic>

P.S. A heads up. Your site displays a horzontal crossbar for some reason. Res 1024x768. IE6.

Which site?

http://danstuff.run.to/

It's fine in FF. It's not the intermittant scrollbar problem that you sometimes get with IE, it happens at any width, up 1024, at least.

[Daniel15]

<offtopic>

P.S. A heads up. Your site displays a horzontal crossbar for some reason. Res 1024x768. IE6.

Which site?

http://danstuff.run.to/

It's fine in FF. It's not the intermittant scrollbar problem that you sometimes get with IE, it happens at any width, up 1024, at least.

It should appear fine if you go to the direct URL at http://www.daniel15.be/ . The link in my signature was an old link, it should be fixed now.