Help for a new forum

Started by Dr Web, October 03, 2021, 11:59:25 AM

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Dr Web

Hi,

I want to launch a new forum, and I need some features. I don't know which version to use, 2.0.18 or 2.1 RC4.

Required features:

- The forum will be in portuguese_pt language

- The forum is for a marketplace, and each vendor needs to have his own sales page where he talks about the services he provides. Is there some mod that allows this? I don't want a portal. Is that possible to use his own profile page as sales page?

- The members need to be able to upload images directly from their PCs, not hosted somewhere before posting.

- Need to have the paid subscriptions feature


My question is: which version of SMF has all these features and/or mods that allow them?


Thank you in advance for any help.

 
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

Doug Heffernan

Quote from: Dr Web on October 03, 2021, 11:59:25 AMHi,

I want to launch a new forum, and I need some features. I don't know which version to use, 2.0.18 or 2.1 RC4.

Required features:

- The forum will be in portuguese_pt language

- The forum is for a marketplace, and each vendor needs to have his own sales page where he talks about the services he provides. Is there some mod that allows this? I don't want a portal. Is that possible to use his own profile page as sales page?

- The members need to be able to upload images directly from their PCs, not hosted somewhere before posting.

- Need to have the paid subscriptions feature


My question is: which version of SMF has all these features and/or mods that allow them?


Thank you in advance for any help.

 

Smf 2.0.18 is a stable release, whereas 2.1.rc4 not. It is strongly recommended to use only stable versions on a live set up, unless you have enough knowledge to deal with all the bugs and other issues that might arise from the non stable versions.

My personal opinion is that 2.1. rc 4 is much much better than the 2.0.x branch. You can install both versions, check them out and see which one you like the most/fits your needs best and go with that. The choice is entirely yours.

That being said, the attachment upload and paid subscriptions are both built in at both versions. Whereas to add a sales page, you will need a custom mod. You can check the mods database if there is already such a mod. If there is not, you can always request one to be developed for you at the request forum. Hope it helps.

shadav

2.1 rc4 is not meant for a live environment as it is still in release candidate and has bugs and is constantly being worked on and updated (daily) and you would need to keep updating it on your site to fix bugs

2.0.18 is currently the latest stable version

Quote from: Dr Web on October 03, 2021, 11:59:25 AM- The forum will be in portuguese_pt language
language packages can be downloaded from here: https://download.simplemachines.org/index.php?languages
make sure to use the utf-8 versions and to convert your forum into utf-8

Quote from: Dr Web on October 03, 2021, 11:59:25 AM- The forum is for a marketplace, and each vendor needs to have his own sales page where he talks about the services he provides. Is there some mod that allows this? I don't want a portal. Is that possible to use his own profile page as sales page?
you want a page, not a board for the user to use?
there's a link directory mod but I don't think that's really what you are after
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=381

there's an article mod
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=1354

but if you are going to go the route of articles then I'd really suggest installing a portal mod like TinyPortal
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=97

or do you mean more like a classifieds section?
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=3468
or there is this one but it's not free: https://www.smfhacks.com/smf-classifieds.php

Quote from: Dr Web on October 03, 2021, 11:59:25 AM- The members need to be able to upload images directly from their PCs, not hosted somewhere before posting.
Not sure I understand what you mean, attachments are a built in function of smf

Quote from: Dr Web on October 03, 2021, 11:59:25 AM- Need to have the paid subscriptions feature
again not entirely sure what you mean, please explain more. Subscriptions are a built in function of smf

Dr Web

Quote from: Doug Heffernan on October 03, 2021, 12:38:12 PMSmf 2.0.18 is a stable release, whereas 2.1.rc4 not. It is strongly recommended to use only stable versions on a live set up, unless you have enough knowledge to deal with all the bugs and other issues that might arise from the non stable versions.

My personal opinion is that 2.1. rc 4 is much much better than the 2.0.x branch. You can install both versions, check them out and see which one you like the most/fits your needs best and go with that. The choice is entirely yours.

That being said, the attachment upload and paid subscriptions are both built in at both versions. Whereas to add a sales page, you will need a custom mod. You can check the mods database if there is already such a mod. If there is not, you can always request one to be developed for you at the request forum. Hope it helps.

I don't have the knowledge to deal with the bugs, so I think I go with the stable version 2.0.

I will search the mods database now to see if there is already a "pages" mod.


Thank you very much for your help.
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

shadav

Quote from: Dr Web on October 03, 2021, 01:01:13 PMI will search the mods database now to see if there is already a "pages" mod.

there are page mods but they are only for the admin to use, not the end user to use....for that you would need to use an article type mod instead to grant users the use of it (how many times can I use a variation of the word use  :laugh: )

just curious why you don't set up a specific board for the vendor to post in and making them a moderator of said board
or use the classifieds system instead

Dr Web

Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 01:05:01 PMthere are page mods but they are only for the admin to use, not the end user to use....for that you would need to use an article type mod instead to grant users the use of it (how many times can I use a variation of the word use  :laugh: )

just curious why you don't set up a specific board for the vendor to post in and making them a moderator of said board
or use the classifieds system instead

Thank you very much for the two very detailed responses, greatly appreciated  :D

I need to the links you gave me to see the one it fits better my idea.

Your idea of a board is not bad, but, if a vendor uses only that board to communicate to the possible clients, after some time, that board will be too big, IMO. I wanted more like a sales page to present himself to the community, and put some images, etc, and then the clients will contact him. This way it is better for the forum to load, no?
 
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

Illori

i guess that depends on if you want to have access to the conversation between the user and the vendor. you could be open to legal action depending on where you are and how the forum is setup.

Dr Web

Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 12:40:01 PMNot sure I understand what you mean, attachments are a built in function of smf

I was precisely making sure it has this feature, so if it is built in, great. Do you know the maximum upload file size in KB or MB?

Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 12:40:01 PMagain not entirely sure what you mean, please explain more. Subscriptions are a built in function of smf

I wanted to know if a member can subscribe clicking a link, going to paypal and automatically become a paid subscriber with all the permissions to begin to post immediately. 
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

Illori

remember SMF is free, you can install it and test out all the features for free. you just need a host that it will run on.

Dr Web

Quote from: Illori on October 03, 2021, 02:18:13 PMi guess that depends on if you want to have access to the conversation between the user and the vendor. you could be open to legal action depending on where you are and how the forum is setup.

That conversation will be public. I am not talking about private messages exchanged between them. Obviously I will not see what they talk. As long the vendor is a paid member, he can do whatever he wants. I will not get any commission on whatever he sells.

He pays me to use the forum as a platform to advertise his services and all the money he gets, it's for him. I do not interfere in any way between vendors and clients.

I only provide a platform to put in contact vendors and clients.
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

Dr Web

Quote from: Illori on October 03, 2021, 02:32:07 PMremember SMF is free, you can install it and test out all the features for free. you just need a host that it will run on.

I know but I still don't even have a domain. I am still chosing the best name and should register a domain tomorrow.
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

Illori

you can install SMF locally on your PC using something like wamp or xamp etc.

Dr Web

Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 12:40:01 PMthere's an article mod
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=1354

but if you are going to go the route of articles then I'd really suggest installing a portal mod like TinyPortal
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=97

or do you mean more like a classifieds section?
https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=3468
or there is this one but it's not free: https://www.smfhacks.com/smf-classifieds.php

I will test these ones as soon I have a domain and SMF installed to see if this is what I am searching for.

The classifieds may be the right one, but, I need to have a classifieds section in every category.

Suppose the forum(marketplace) I want is about building houses.

So I will have a category to every profession.

One for Architects, one for Civil Engineers, one for Electricians, one for Plumbers, Painters, etc.

Each category needs a classifieds page, but what I really wanted was for each vendor to have his own page.   
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

Dr Web

Quote from: Illori on October 03, 2021, 02:36:43 PMyou can install SMF locally on your PC using something like wamp or xamp etc.

I can wait a couple days and then I can test directly in a server. Thanks anyway for the suggestion. I didn't know that.
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

shadav

you could still be held accountable if they are using your forum's pms
though you can state in your tos that you are not held responsible for 3rd parties and such, that's something you'd have to look into how to negate legality issues, making clear in a privacy policy, terms of use policy, etc.

the boards might get big just depends
one site I use has it set up that way, each vendor has their own dedicated board to interact with users (they can not post in other boards, only their specific board, this is done on smf through member groups permissions) and then if they need to speak privately members can either pm them or contact them through their business email or whatever the vendor choices at that point to further their sales or support. Basically that forum has vendors pay to have their own mini forum on their forum and access to their users, but we are talking about a forum with over 1M users  :laugh:

yes smf has built in subscriptions which after you set it up the user accesses it through their profile and then under the actions menu goes to paid subscriptions where they can place the order for the subscriptions you set up.

Dr Web

Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 03:01:48 PMyou could still be held accountable if they are using your forum's pms
though you can state in your tos that you are not held responsible for 3rd parties and such, that's something you'd have to look into how to negate legality issues, making clear in a privacy policy, terms of use policy, etc.

Do you mean if a vendor scams a client, or the client is not satisfied with the vendor's service, he can sue me as owner of the forum?


Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 03:01:48 PMthe boards might get big just depends
one site I use has it set up that way, each vendor has their own dedicated board to interact with users (they can not post in other boards, only their specific board, this is done on smf through member groups permissions) and then if they need to speak privately members can either pm them or contact them through their business email or whatever the vendor choices at that point to further their sales or support. Basically that forum has vendors pay to have their own mini forum on their forum and access to their users, but we are talking about a forum with over 1M users  ;D 

Could you please let me know how much each member pays per month to have his own board?

I was thinking about 50 euros per month. An Architect charges 6000 euros for a project. If he gets only one client per month, and pays me 50 euros, I think it is perfectly ok.

What do you think? It's much, or can I ask more?


Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 03:01:48 PMbut we are talking about a forum with over 1M users  ;D

If it is 1M paid users, oh la la  ;D . It's a lot of $$$
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

shadav

no offense but just starting up your site 50 euros about $58 usd is way too much to expect anyone to pay if you do not have users that they have access to

lol no that's 1M users, not paid, that's just that forums users, vendors there are maybe about 100 now or so that pay to use their forum for advertising and access to their 1M users...last I checked it was $50/year, but as said that gave the vendor their own mini forum on their forum (their own boards in it that they moderate and can advertise in and run promotions and giveaways in and offer support in)

no offence but let me put it this way, would you pay money to someone that doesn't have any clients for you?
first you need to build up your forum and it's members/clientele, then you can work on getting some vendors and then start charging them for advertising to your members. baby steps...no one's going to pay for a service that you can't currently provide. First get the members, next get a few vendors for free even, then start charging vendors once you have a large clientele and a few dedicated vendors, then start getting more vendors and charging them...


and yes it could be that the vendor scammed them or the vendor is doing something illegal

Dr Web

#17
Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 04:10:19 PMno offense but just starting up your site 50 euros about $58 usd is way too much to expect anyone to pay if you do not have users that they have access to

lol no that's 1M users, not paid, that's just that forums users, vendors there are maybe about 100 now or so that pay to use their forum for advertising and access to their 1M users...last I checked it was $50/year, but as said that gave the vendor their own mini forum on their forum (their own boards in it that they moderate and can advertise in and run promotions and giveaways in and offer support in)

I did not say I would charge 50 euros since the lauching of the site. I was thinking in about a year, after having very good traffic, and enough members to make it attractive to the vendors to pay that amount.

But what I wanted to know was if this amount is ok when the forum has many visitors.


Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 04:10:19 PMno offence but let me put it this way, would you pay money to someone that doesn't have any clients for you?
first you need to build up your forum and it's members/clientele, then you can work on getting some vendors and then start charging them for advertising to your members. baby steps...no one's going to pay for a service that you can't currently provide. First get the members, next get a few vendors for free even, then start charging vendors once you have a large clientele and a few dedicated vendors, then start getting more vendors and charging them...

Exactly what I have in mind. I am thinking about to invite vendors and offer one year free, and then they decide. I will spend some good amount in advertisement to boost the traffic.

Thanks for all the good advice. 
 
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

shadav

well can't really say if the price is good or not, depends on if the vendor is willing to pay for it or not  ;D and that's the biggest issue, if people will pay and how much are they willing to pay but best of luck

Dr Web

Quote from: shadav on October 03, 2021, 04:53:26 PMwell can't really say if the price is good or not, depends on if the vendor is willing to pay for it or not  ;D and that's the biggest issue, if people will pay and how much are they willing to pay but best of luck

True. Very good point and it makes sense. It depends of how much profit they can make.

Thank you very much for your help. Good luck to you as well.
Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear, or an idiot from any direction ;D

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