Forum that looks like a blog or social

[smartmouse]

Hello, it is a lot of years that I'm admin of my forum. I'm not a blogger nor an influencer. But nowadays people look only for blogs and social networks.

So, what about giving a new look and feel to forum templates to make them appear like blog or social?

I have searched in the theme section but I cannot find anything similar that is updated as well.

Do you know a way to transform my old forum in something fresh, that could appear engaging to millenials too?

[shadav]

what version of smf are you using?
for what you are looking for will probably need to be a paid custom job, I know @Mick. has made one of his forums look more like a blog, so he might be up to the task

[Kindred]

Well, function does affect, if not dictate form, in this case....


You could make thr forum look blog like,  pretty easily,  but, unless you are running a blog, why would you?

[Mike66]

You can make pretty much anything if you choose a portal and get to know that well. Put in a little time and experimenting, and learn a little CSS as you go to improve the layout.

Check out mine if you like, link under avatar, it is running on 2.0 but I'm currently making something similar with a 2.1 test forum.

I'm a fan of Mick's work too!

[TwitchisMental]

Hello, it is a lot of years that I'm admin of my forum. I'm not a blogger nor an influencer. But nowadays people look only for blogs and social networks.

So, what about giving a new look and feel to forum templates to make them appear like blog or social?

I have searched in the theme section but I cannot find anything similar that is updated as well.

Do you know a way to transform my old forum in something fresh, that could appear engaging to millennials too?

Speaking as a millennial for other millennials.. alot of us grew up with forums.. (and directories,top site pages, etc.. etc..)

I believe it is the Zoomers/Gen Z that you are after XD and honestly good luck.

Now all jokes aside.. do you actually have some kind of look in mind? Maybe some examples?

You say that you want it to look more social and blog like..  Honestly that could be resolved with a few mods.  Not sure about 2.1 but back on 2.0 I loved having Simple Portal + SA Shop + SA Battle because it made it feel more like a nice fell blown website with a big community.

What design features would you be looking for in a "social" theme?  I do not have a current project going on, so I am all ears on what others may be looking for in a SMF theme.

You did mention looking at other themes already, but have you specifically looked at Mick.'s theme Envy ?

@Mick. did a dang good job at making Envy more than just another SMF Theme. Link - https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?theme=2979

There is also UI.S made by @gecitli which also does a great job at being more than just another SMF theme. (This one has not been updated for 2.1.0/2.1.1 yet.)
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?theme=2971

[Mick.]

To achieve the blog look you would need 3 things.
- a portal
- hide link to forum and create link buttons to categories instead.
- a modified display.template.php

I'm currently working on a theme that has this for this purpose. A plain, code killed, lightweight theme. I've removed 10's of lines to achieve this. But doing this, comes with disadvantages. Mods that edit display.template.php will not work.

Anyhow,
Signatures, member group badges, post count killed. Custom profile fields, killed.  Just the avatar and date of post.

For the portal, some minor css is needed.

[smartmouse]

what version of smf are you using?
for what you are looking for will probably need to be a paid custom job, I know @Mick. has made one of his forums look more like a blog, so he might be up to the task

2.1.
Can I see that forum made by Mick?

Well, function does affect, if not dictate form, in this case....


You could make thr forum look blog like,  pretty easily,  but, unless you are running a blog, why would you?

Since there are few o no posts to new topics, it seems to have a blog instead a forum.
Anyway I don't want to convert my SMF forum to any other CMS, such as Wordpress... just change look and feel of forum sections and forum threads to something modern.

You can make pretty much anything if you choose a portal and get to know that well. Put in a little time and experimenting, and learn a little CSS as you go to improve the layout.

Check out mine if you like, link under avatar, it is running on 2.0 but I'm currently making something similar with a 2.1 test forum.

I'm a fan of Mick's work too!

As portal I'm using TinyPortal, I have always used it with my forum. Can it be usefull to reach my purpose?
I know CSS, do you think it could be enough to change pages layout? Haven't I to create a something like a custom theme, managing to use PHP and then templating structure of SMF?

I had a look at your site. Nice! Did you make it or are you using a theme?

Speaking as a millennial for other millennials.. alot of us grew up with forums.. (and directories,top site pages, etc.. etc..)

I believe it is the Zoomers/Gen Z that you are after XD and honestly good luck.

Now all jokes aside.. do you actually have some kind of look in mind? Maybe some examples?

You say that you want it to look more social and blog like..  Honestly that could be resolved with a few mods.  Not sure about 2.1 but back on 2.0 I loved having Simple Portal + SA Shop + SA Battle because it made it feel more like a nice fell blown website with a big community.

What design features would you be looking for in a "social" theme?  I do not have a current project going on, so I am all ears on what others may be looking for in a SMF theme.

You did mention looking at other themes already, but have you specifically looked at Mick.'s theme Envy ?

@Mick. did a dang good job at making Envy more than just another SMF Theme. Link - https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?theme=2979

There is also UI.S made by @gecitli which also does a great job at being more than just another SMF theme. (This one has not been updated for 2.1.0/2.1.1 yet.)
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?theme=2971

I have no kind of look in mind and I did not know the theme and mods you described. I was looking for inspiration and I found the site provided by Mike66 a good start point.

To achieve the blog look you would need 3 things.
- a portal
- hide link to forum and create link buttons to categories instead.
- a modified display.template.php

I'm currently working on a theme that has this for this purpose. A plain, code killed, lightweight theme. I've removed 10's of lines to achieve this. But doing this, comes with disadvantages. Mods that edit display.template.php will not work.

Anyhow,
Signatures, member group badges, post count killed. Custom profile fields, killed.  Just the avatar and date of post.

For the portal, some minor css is needed.

Do you have an example of your work?

[Mike66]

As portal I'm using TinyPortal, I have always used it with my forum. Can it be usefull to reach my purpose?
I know CSS, do you think it could be enough to change pages layout? Haven't I to create a something like a custom theme, managing to use PHP and then templating structure of SMF?

I had a look at your site. Nice! Did you make it or are you using a theme?

Most of what you can see has been done with TinyPortal. I find the Global Headers & Footers mod useful for customising too.

Thanks - it started off as a theme, but I have heavily edited that over the years to suit my needs.

[Kindred]

"modern"??        Looking like a blog is not "modern". Looking like a blog is looking like a blog - while looking like a forum is looking like a forum. There are variations from retro to outdated to modern all within the blog-o-sphere and forum-verse...

Function dictates form -- and vice versa.

[Mike66]

I'm with Kindred on this.

Exploring the themes in the SMF Customise section https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?action=themes should hopefully prove a good starting point for you.

I actually find a well designed forum far more fresh and engaging than Social Media nowadays - but hey, what do I know

[smartmouse]

"modern"??        Looking like a blog is not "modern". Looking like a blog is looking like a blog - while looking like a forum is looking like a forum. There are variations from retro to outdated to modern all within the blog-o-sphere and forum-verse...

Function dictates form -- and vice versa.

You misunderstand me, I did not mean that. I mean something that has style in line with the current times.
There is also a them called ModernStyle

I'm with Kindred on this.

Exploring the themes in the SMF Customise section https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?action=themes should hopefully prove a good starting point for you.

I actually find a well designed forum far more fresh and engaging than Social Media nowadays - but hey, what do I know

I agree, but it seems young users don't 

[landyvlad]

If you are trying to pull users AWAY from social media onto a forum platform instead that is a massive challenge. It's not just about looks but functionality.

Ask yourself "WHY would my target audience move from faceache/instabad/etc"?

If you don't have a COMPELLING answer to that question - something that a forum platform can do (in the context of your subject matter) that they aren't already getting on anti-social media, then you should probably save yourself the effort and just acknowledge you won't get that demographic.