Hi!
This is like a little compilation of suggestions, some MODs that I think that should be as default feature and they aren't (neither in SMF 2.0).
- Ad Management mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=255) because this is just the top downloaded and popular MOD, all communities need support to continue, I know that Paypal feature is in SMF 2.0, but Ads is the easiest way to get money, and without any "problem" with users. I really don't understand why this mod isn't feature already...
- Global Announcements (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=419), besides I don't use this, I think that this is something that is very usefull and a lot of BB-boards already have this as default, why SMF don't want this as feature?
- Staff Page Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=348), I am creating one for my own necessities, I don't like the visual of this MOD but is something so easy to implement and cool curiosity for the members..., and..., a log of BB-boards already have this as default as well.
- Reason For Editing Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=349), this is very usefull for moderators to see what members changed and for members see what was changes by moderators
- Profile User Action (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=540), I use this mod since was created, this is very usefull for example to moderators to see what a particular user is doing without going to a big list with all users online and bots...
And I think that is all for now :P I have more suggestions but I think that isn't any mod yet...
I think the Global Announcements, Reason for Editing and maybe the Profile User action one would be a great default feature :)
The Staff Page Mod would be of no use to quite a few, and eh on the Ad Management Mod ;)
I would have to agree with the Global Announcements, Reason for Editing and Profile User action being useful inbuilt features for SMF, however for the rest of the suggestions I would like to point out that its actually probably better to have them as mods because it means that they will get updated more often, as it can take a while for an official update to be made, while a mod update only relies on the modder, meaning that they can update it with new features or bug fixes whenever its necessary.
Basically the idea of the package system is to add new features or edit features, to customize your forum, I think that having too many features which people may not use, such as add management or a staff page mod, will make it harder for people that don't want those features.
About staff page I agree, that is not usefull is only something that all the BB-boards have and SMF not, but about add management, I think that is like Paypal Mod, is a feature that is usefull but not for everyone. The reason for my suggestion is just that is the easiest and honest way to get founds to the community, and I think that is too mucht important to be only a MOD, if jerm for some reason can not upgrade his MOD a lot of communities will be without ads for a while, and is only the most downloaded MOD...
ULTIMATE PROFILE!!!!!!
with a tighter working relationship to a gallery ( Image , video and Audio) that is not just private profile specific but can also be public viewable ( with member being able to choose which file is public or private or for buddy only)
Also a Content creation listing ( again public or private or buddy) that can be browsed.. if this is a blogging content creation tool then it needs to blend with the above mentioned Gallery for image and video embedding into content.
Clickable Avatars that just not take you to the ultimate profile but give you a drop down on click that allows a person to request buddy listing,, send PM,, send e mail,, view gallery,,view profile,, read blog...read last posting..
expanding customizable fields for the profile,,, not just "about me"
adding css customization..
Quote from: CG Icon on June 10, 2008, 03:49:20 PM
ULTIMATE PROFILE!!!!!!
Ugh no. While the profile page could use some freshening, SMF is not a social networking site like MySpace/Facebook/Orkut/Bebo.
Adding such features for galleries, etc is a lot of code. It is much much better it stay a mod.
This isn't an official position, just my personal opinion.
Social is the future !!! 8) does not matter if it is a forum, a blog, a news portal, or an e mail and file sharing,,,, while the big names you mention maybe the names of now,, how much longer till people begin to migrate to more niche communities?.... the scripts that serve that demand will be welcomed more warmly than those that maintain on the aging web 1.0 philosophy .. people will not want to "go" to a website anymore,, they will expect a website to come to them via a common profile and personalized "my" pages,,, while a Forums type website may have been centric in the past and people migrated towards them,, it is quickly moving the other way,,, people are becoming centric,, the future is in "Groups" Public and Private ,, not JUST "Forums"
That "other" forum script sees this coming and has an amazing social component / media gallery / groups feature added in its new gold release of 3.7
SMF is on that same path with its new GROUPS features.... all I suggest is going the rest of the way with profiles, media galleries etc etc,,,, it will be the most requested features in the near future.
Oh,, and all that is just my opinion.... :D
I wouldn't mind what new features smf implements EXCEPT ones which turn SMF into a social networking type myspace clone.
I personally think vBulletin has made a mistake with all the bloat they've included in new versions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of vB. I just thing they've jumped down the wrong path.
I'd prefer SMF to stay as a 'content-medium' rather than a 'social-medium'.
I agree totally with karlbenson, I think that too complex is a BIG mistake! Good and USEFUL features, yes! Just because others do, no tnks!
As I said on my opinion before:
Quote from: Motoko-chan on June 11, 2008, 10:55:02 AM
Adding such features for galleries, etc is a lot of code. It is much much better it stay a mod.
SMF is getting more modular, so it should be much easier to interface a social thing with the forums. With the current hooks expanding and some more work planned, it should get easier to integrate things.
I do not support a monolithic piece of software that tries to do it all. Those kinds of software will do it all, but none of that will be done well. With proper modularity and bridging you can use the best software for each function and have it work well. It's a little more complex, but ultimately more powerful and easier in the long run.
/me is a fan of the UNIX Philosophy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix_philosophy), particularly Doug McIlroy's summary.
its all good.. it will be what it is,, and thats good enough for me,,
anywho,, thanks to SMF and all the code jockey's that make my life easy... Felblog, Gallery Pro, TP,, all ya'll AWESOME JOB!!!!
I think of this mods can be a default feature of smf:
- Global Announcements (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=419)
- Reason For Editing Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=349)
- Profile User Action (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=540)
- Topic Ratings (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=91)
- Users Online Today Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=217)
- Member Color Link (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=111)
- Profil Moderator Managment (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=833)
- Copy Topics (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1074)
- Related Topics (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=189)
- SMF Poll Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=765)
- Contact Page (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=377)
- SMF Archive (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=339)
- Highlight Search Keywords (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1051)
- PM On Registration (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=387)
:D :D :D :D
SMF User Email System they have that in SMF 2.0 now developed their own email system. You can see it on this forum.
I would like to see the Highlight Search Keywords as a feature as well kind of makes sense instead of wondering where the keywords are in the topic/post
Quote from: vbgamer45 on June 14, 2008, 07:51:06 PM
SMF User Email System they have that in SMF 2.0 now developed their own email system. You can see it on this forum.
thanks ;)
Quote from: vbgamer45 on June 14, 2008, 07:51:06 PM
I would like to see the Highlight Search Keywords as a feature as well kind of makes sense instead of wondering where the keywords are in the topic/post
I would have to agree, I have just taken over supporting it from Karlbenson. I updated it for SMF 2 Beta and added a choose colors page and etc. It actually doesn't change much actual code so it would be easy to implement as a new feature. Its a pity that SMF 2 has been feature-locked. :(
I would like to say however, that as cool as some of the mods are and as much as people have downloaded them, they should probably remain as mods for the sake of the development of the core SMF software. In short so that the SMF team spends their time on more important things.
There has to be something left for the modders to do. ;D
I'd really wanna see SPOILER MOD in the next version as default. It would be so much better, and somehow I feel it should be a part of every forum.
Why? I've never had a forum that would need that tag.
I'd prefer SMF to stay simple, but make it easier to add packages, like SMF 2.0 is doing with attempting to apply mods to template files.
As much as it is a useful mod, and I do use it on about half the boards I run, I do think it is better as a mod. Only a small category of board would make use of a spoiler tag.
@ Motoko-chan
I believe that what you say is maybe true, however, I see buttons like - SHADOW [even today I don't see the point of shadow because I see no change when it's clicked. ], GLOW, or TELETYPE and that worries me.
How come they included that stuff, which noone uses, and they don't include something like spoiler button - That troubles me.
IMHO, shadow and glow should be removed. They're useful only on IE, and everybody else doesn't see anything. Glow should be changed to background color, but otherwise, chuck 'em. They're the first BBC I disable when I start a new site, simply because there's no need for BBCs that don't work 100% on all browsers.
But that's my personal opinion, and not one of the team.
Quote from: ameo on June 21, 2008, 07:16:39 AM
How come they included that stuff, which noone uses, and they don't include something like spoiler button - That troubles me.
Legacy from the YaBB SE days, I suppose. It had them and the majority of people migrating were using the old software. Of course, I'm just speculating. I wasn't around back then to know why for sure.
A spoiler button is a bit more complex than what you mentioned, anyway. You need to have special CSS states for it, or at least one CSS class to make the text color match the background (bad idea for SEO, it looks like cloaking). Those buttons are some simple inline code things.
Quote from: Eliana Tamerin on June 21, 2008, 10:46:55 AM
IMHO, shadow and glow should be removed. They're useful only on IE, and everybody else doesn't see anything.
I agree with you there.
Motoko-chan, about the spoiler tag, I think that is easier than that, is just the color of background (of that piece of text) and font equal. Maybe a "merge" with color text and glow :P
About the buttons and functionalities, I think that you should review some of the old ones..., some of them don't have any sense nowadays.
Btw, do you "collect" information about the MODs installed on SMF communities? If not, why not use something like that? That way you can know at anytime what people REALLY like and use, maybe is good to help the development team ;)
This is another mod of i think of can be a feature of smf 2.0 , this is a feature of Icy Phoenix and vbulletin:
Permissions Info (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1118)
Quote from: Eliana Tamerin on June 21, 2008, 10:46:55 AM
IMHO, shadow and glow should be removed.
IMHO I agree too.
This is my new list:
Who Voted What? (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=347)
SMF Poll Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=765)
Users Online Today Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=217)
Global Announcements (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=419)
Topic Ratings (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=91)
Sorted Package Manager Listing (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=875)
Permissions Info (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1118)
Highlight Search Keywords (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1259)
Reason For Editing Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=349)
View Single Category (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=486)
Attachements layout (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=771)
Minimum Characters/Words Per Post (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=290)
View Single Post (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=111)
No Temp Directory Removal (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=724)
Member color link (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=111)
SMF Archive (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=339)
Related Topics (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=189)
Profil Moderator Managment (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=833)
Profile User Action (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=540)
Post Limit Options (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=380)
What do you think??
and this is a list with some mod of are features in smf 2.0:
Ajax Registration Feedback (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=725)
SMF User Email System (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=371)
Custom Profile Field Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=319)
Signature Settings Mod (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=528)
Font and Size Dropdown (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=639)
Redirection Boards (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=38)
Image Popup (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=781)
URL Popup (http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=451)
Quote from: Eliana Tamerin on June 21, 2008, 10:46:55 AM
IMHO, shadow and glow should be removed. They're useful only on IE, and everybody else doesn't see anything. Glow should be changed to background color, but otherwise, chuck 'em.
You keep [move]?! [shadow], [glow], and [move] are the trifecta of awful forum bbc.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of move as well. Chuck 'em!
Quote from: Motoko-chan on June 21, 2008, 11:41:23 AM
A spoiler button is a bit more complex than what you mentioned, anyway. You need to have special CSS states for it, or at least one CSS class to make the text color match the background (bad idea for SEO, it looks like cloaking). Those buttons are some simple inline code things.
I was under the possibly mistaken impression that search engines ignored your CSS.
Quote from: Eliana Tamerin on June 21, 2008, 10:46:55 AM
IMHO, shadow and glow should be removed. They're useful only on IE, and everybody else doesn't see anything.
Yeah really. Who wants feature bloat just for one brain damaged browser? :) I disabled these BB codes on my own forum.
It's better to have most of these things proposed above as mods rather than core features, because of all the reasons stated. Less for developers to maintain, faster response from mod authors, and the simple fact is that mod authors enjoy what they are doing, so why not let them do it?
Major search engines these days do read css and javascript to make sure that you aren't cloaking or cheating
(eg having lots of links for spammy purposes, but hidden by using the same fontcolor as the background color)