FireBoard

[defeedme]

Hi, Kindred, Orstio and Wolverine

You guys are the masters!  I just schooled myself in the past month or so with joomla and I've been using phpbb since November. I didn't realize all these great new apps existed, web 2.0 is really coming along... My background is in programming and relational databases.

I'm in the process of converting my seasonal jonesbeach.com [nofollow] (crap frontpage) site to joomla with smf and cb but for it to go smoothly I'm testing the entire suite / bridge on robertmoses.com [nofollow] and robertmoses.org [nofollow]

I'm not sure how unique my install is but I just installed all the latest joomla / smf / cb bridge in the following fashion: joomla/cb on robertmoses.com [nofollow] and SMF on robertmoses.org [nofollow] - I want to be able to have the forum as a separate site for convienence and I Thought that would be cool.

It seems to be working OK (bridged and using separate domains) but the one big problem is the login and registration through "direct" SMF domain is not syncing with my joomla/cb domain. I thought this was a 2 way street ? I figured out what's happening, when you select the forum link through Joomla, which probably most people do, it restructures the SMF forum so it specifically uses CB. When you hit the forum directly, without going through joomla, it reverts back to the default "stock" SMF login and registration as if there was no integration at all. Basically, it appears the actual SMF site was never modified to link with joomla, only the other way around.

Is there an easy way to fix this ?  Worst comes to Worst I'll just install the forum on the same domain (probably the way it was intended) and just forward the other domain.

any help is greatly appreciated.

Best,
Mike
 

[Orstio]

I'm not sure how unique my install is but I just installed all the latest joomla / smf / cb bridge in the following fashion: joomla/cb on robertmoses.com and SMF on robertmoses.org - I want to be able to have the forum as a separate site for convienence and I Thought that would be cool.

Cookies can't be processed from other domains.  Your browser will not let the site from robertmoses.com read the cookie from robertmoses.org, thank goodness!  Imagine how insecure the web would be if any domain could read the cookies from any other domain?

Therefore logins will not work across two separate domains.

[defeedme]

Orstio, thanks for your response....

Actually, login/reg is working fine across 2 domains, but only from Joomla/cb > SMF not from SMF > Joomla/cb. The reason it works is because I am using the same web host provider, with the same database and using the direct paths.

Like I said, the only problem is when you hit the SMF site independently, it will not update the Joomla/cb site. All you have to look at is the source code of SMF when you hit it through both sites, the code is different. SMF by itself does not recognize joomla/cb.

Any ideas other than installing everything on one domain and simply forwarding the other as a work-around ?

Best, Mike

[Orstio]

So, you're sayingthat when you login on your stand alone forum, it does not log you into Joomla?

That would be because your stand alone forum is just that -- stand alone.  It is not bridged in any way.  The component is the bridge.  If your browser is not pointed at the component, you are not using the bridge.

[defeedme]

YES, absolutely right - so now the BIG question, which is what I've been trying to get at all along......

HOW, do I Bridge SMF directly to Joomla/cb - It works perfect from Joomla/cb to SMF using the "component" - SO how do I get the "component" installed for SMF   Do I have to write one myself    Or maybe SMFHACKS.com [nofollow] has one ??

This is interesting because even for a regular install, if someone accidentally types into their browser the direct smf path, for example, www.mydomain.com/smf [nofollow], they will be bypassing the joomla/cb "component" and screw up the integrity of the entire user registration/login process - defeating the purpose of using CB !  There must be a way to make SURE, even when bypassing the "component", SMF still logs you into Joomla/cb - no matter what it should be SEEMLESS !

I can't be the only one who has an SMF forum on a separate domain and would like to bridge it to an existing Joomla/cb domain - or am I ?? 



Best, Mike

[Kindred]

I think you are...

Orstio's bridge will not modify the smf source, and so, will never do what you want...

from your comments, I would assume that you are using the joomlahacks version of the bridge, so I would suggest that you might want to ask on the joomlahacks forum...

[defeedme]

Kindred, Orstio - Thanks again for your replies..  yes I am using joomlahacks bridge...

I did post my question on JoomlaHacks but no response yet... I did find another thread which addresses the subdomain issue which is very interesting, they are recommending SMF ONLY to be put in a subdirectory of joomla, period. And they also mention my backup plan.. forwarding the other domain to the "bridge url" / component as an alternative...

Different DB with different scripts doesnt really increase performance all that much unless you have a different DB on a separate DB server.

Yes, you can install and use JSMF with joomla and smf on different subdomains provided both joomla and smf are using the same database, and that your joomla's live site value in the configuration file is set correctly.

What do you mean outside of joomla's root? do you mean that you installed joomla in www.domain.com/joomla [nofollow] and smf in www.domain.com/smf [nofollow]? I'm afraid no, your smf must be in www.domain.com/joomla/smf [nofollow], but you can still set up a subdomain to point to this url. HOWEVER, you wouldnt want to do that because with the jsmf bridge, you will be accessing your smf forums using the bridge's URL (option=com_smf?blahblahblah), so what you can do is manually specify the redirection url for your subdomain. (eg forums.domain.com [nofollow] redirects to www.domain.com/index.php?option=com_smf [nofollow])

Thx a lot, you've explained me very well what i can do and what i cannot.
In my vision Joomla, SMF (and Gallery2) are separated applications which interact through a bridge, so the more they're independent the better it is.  If i want to access my forum directly i can setup a subdomain forum.domain.com [nofollow] pointing to www.domain.com/joomla/smf [nofollow], but for the administrator point of view it should be better to have different scripts on different directories. Less problems when updating, deleting, etc.
Ok maybe it's more just a sophism, than a real need

[Kindred]

Just to note: All those restrictions and comments are related to the Joomlahacks bridge... and the joomlahacks is not actually a bridge, it's more of an integration, since it modifies source files on both sides.

Orstio's bridge does not require the same database, nor does it require smf to be in a subdirectory of joomla...

[defeedme]

It seems like the joomla hacks bridge is more complete and tested - they have very detailed instructions. Also, I'm not sure how "CB" friendly Orstio's bridge is - I've been reading some past threads and it seems like SMF is trying to avoid integration with CB, not sure why. In the long run everyone wins when things work together regardless of which products are chosen.

Thanks, Mike

[defeedme]

is this the answer to my original question ?  I just found this in a thread from last year...

ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REDIRECT USERS FROM ACCESSING THE FORUM DIRECT URL

Inserting the code below into smf's index.php will redirect any users who access the forum URL directly into the joomla/mambo wrapped forum URL.
Orstio made the original hack and exrace modified it...


Code:
// Redirect users who try to access /forum directly
if (strpos($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], 'dlattach') === false && strpos($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], 'verificationcode') === false)
{
        if(!defined('_VALID_MOS')){ header("Location: /index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=yourItemidNum&".$_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']); }
}

[Kindred]

the joomlahacks bridge is not more complete or more tested...   it is just a different approach.
Orstio (and most of us here) believe that a bridge should not actually change either of the sides (i.e. neither joomla nor smf are modified in Ortsio's bridge).
Joomlahacks has gone the other way, making changes to both smf and joomla source.

Without making changes to smf source, you can not replace the smf profile with the CB profile...   nor can you get CB information into SMF at this time...

[defeedme]

Hi Kindred,
I appreciate the advice and input, would you agree the joomlahacks bridge is more "CB" friendly ?
It seems to work great now with that re-direct code, even on separate domains.
I guess since joomla is the main site software, SMF is viewed in some people's eyes as an "add on". Whereas SMF pro's feel it's good enough on it's own and joomla is the "add on" to SMF.

interesting theories, hopefully in the long run everything will work together seemlessly.
Thanks, Mike

[Orstio]

You will find better support for the joomlahacks integration at joomlahacks.com.

[defeedme]

I'm glad I waited to implement my forum solution: there's a dirty word going around - and it's going to light-up the land. FIREBOARD - ultimate integration.

[SlammedDime]

If you think so...

[defeedme]

Ob

If you think so...

I guess you "don't" think so ?  The whole point is people who use Joomla need a solution that compliments CB and a Forum WITHIN Joomla (seamlessly). People at SMF seem to think they ARE a cms which I guess is possible but as a cms it does not compare to Joomla. I guess that is the core problem, SMF does not want you to integrate with anything else.

[Kindred]

I know I am a little biased, but personally I have never been impressed by "fireboard".

and SMF is a forum. We here at SMF don't think anything else. That's why we bridged to joomla and mambo (and other CMSes). However, SMF can do everything that CB does... so, IMO there is no need to have CB at all, if you have SMF.

and SMF DOES encourage integration...  that is why we have bridges with many different systems. The reason we no longer bridge to joomla has been explained, IN DETAIL, in several other messages (and it is not because we don't WANT to integrate)

[defeedme]

before fireboard and after reading many experiences with bridges - the joomlahacks bridge was definitly the preferred solution, so I guess your discontinuing didn't affect too many people... But now with fireboard 1.0.3 stable just released, to my surprise it appears alot of sites are gravitating towards it, sacrificing the stable, more mature smf for the ultimate integration with CB. http://thegolfspace.com [nofollow] is one biggie that made the switch..

[SlammedDime]

I'd rather switch from Joomla to Mambo before I'd ever switch from SMF to Fireboard.

[Kindred]

defeed...  you obviously don't know what you are talking about and are just trying to stir things up.

stop trolling.

[defeedme]

Kindred. I'm only speaking truths and facts, I just went to JoomlaDayUsa.org [nofollow] in NYC last week and everyone there agrees FireBoard is the way to go. The bridges can cause big problems and slow down your site - this is a fact. SMF is great on it's own and Joomla.org [nofollow] even uses it - but for true community builder integration, FireBoard is the only seemless solution. I think people should be aware of all the facts if they are using Joomla.

[rummie]

uc

[defeedme]

rummie,

interesting, since these last posts there has been more and more Fireboard talk on this forum. I'm not the only one discussing the facts about Joomla integration.

I don't work for Fireboard and have no reason to promote them except for the fact anyone who wants better "seemless" integration. There has been another thread started asking smf if they are going to make better integration - I don't think they are.

I really have no idea what you are talking about "viagara/casino" sales.

[Kindred]

once again...  we have stated the REASON that we CAN NOT (legally) continue the bridge. It has nothing to do with wanting to (or not).

IMO, fireboard is not a valid replacement for SMF...  it has significantly less functionality and is a minimal solution. Yes, there is an integration with joomla...   but I (and a significant number of others) would rather switch from Joomla to Mambo rather than change from SMF to fireboard.

(and, since you apparently missed the joke... you used a non-existent word...   the term is seamless...   by saying seemless, as rummie said... fireboard does indeed SEEM LESS than SMF.)

[Orstio]

I think it's important to realize that Fireboard is a Joomla component, and SMF is a stand alone forum product.  Fireboard is perfectly suited to many Joomla site owners' needs, but one needs to understand that it is limited to its dependence on Joomla.

Others need the power that only a dedicated forum software can give.  And still others need a forum that will work with a CMS other than Joomla (for example, some people need the configurable access control of a CMS like Xoops, or the configurability of extensions like e107).

[rummie]

k yo

[dukeofgaming]

I've used fireboard... it is maturing, and I'd like to think it is the way to go, but its not... regardless how seamless adapting it is.

I have a community of over a thousand users, using fireboard would make me loose a lot of control... it will be a pain, but I will have to use the joomlahacks' approach if nothing better comes out...

I miss the days where updating was just 3 little patches away...

[defeedme]

ha ha , now I get it! sorry about my spelling...

it's very interesting how this thread has struck a nerve...
Finally someone else has noticed that Fireboard is maturing (thanks capt.)

I fully understand that SMF has it's place as one of the best stand-alone free forums available and integration options with other cms products. Unfortunately, Joomla is hands down the best cms out there and it would have been really awesome to have the best forum option available for it (SEAMLESS)... there are 2 new exciting templates available from RocketTheme(populus) and TemplatePlaza(comuna) that are really pushing the envelope which allow for easy "turnkey" high-quality community based sites...

Joomla has been recognized by Google as a premiere project and they have partnered on more than one occasion.
There really isn't much more to say about this topic and I appreciate all the responses and honesty..

Just like Microsoft and Apple still co-exist today - I'm sure Fireboard and SMF will both continue well into the future...

Best Wishes and Happy Holidays..
Mike

[cferd]

I hate to rain on your parade, but Rocketwerks is working on a bridge for Joomla 1.5 - PHPBB3, that from all indications is being endorsed by some Joomla devs. When it comes out, if it works as they say, FB will be in serious danger of losing support fast. It will in all likelyhood be relegated to small sites, and maybe not many at that.

[Sundog_AK]

Like mentioned above, Fireboard may be suitable for certain sites and needs, but you are likely going to need SMF or other standalone forum software (bridged if need be) for sites with large forum usage. A Joomla Mod mentioned why the Joomla forum wouldn't switch to Fireboard in this thread:

hxxp:forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,194373.msg1065844.html#msg1065844 [nonactive]

I have played around with the Populus theme and it is indeed quick and dirty to get a web site up and running with Fireboard embedded.  But like everything, you have to decide what your long term site usage/volume is going to be to make decisions on what software solution is best or you will go through the major pain of trying to convert messages from one forum to another. 

Anyway, my 2 cents. 

[rummie]

u!

[defeedme]

hmmmm...
I acutally use phpbb 2 on one of my sites and it's OK but not so good. I may be converting it soon to FB..

I guess phpbb3 is much better, but no matter what they are working on, it's still a "BRIDGE" and FB has a huge jump out of the gate right now... I can't see why a fully matured FB can't be awesome for any size forum.

just checked out rokbridge and it does look interesting and has potential, also if Joomla.org [nofollow] is converting to phpbb3 - that is very interesting also...so yes, nothing is written in stone: but one important thing it does appear to be missing right now is community builder integration/support - that is a huge killer right there.

Just an FYI: FireBoard is based on the two-shoes m-factory joomla component joomlaboard. Community Builder (www.joomlapolis.com) has the largest known two-shoes m-factory forum with 50,000 users.  That's pretty solid in my book:

http://www.joomlapolis.com/component/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,/func,view/catid,6/id,37481/#37481 [nofollow]

Joomlapolis - city of 50,000!   
Website - Announcements 
Written by Nick A.     
Monday, 23 April 2007 
Recently our site - Joomlapolis.com [nofollow] the home of Community Builder - naturalized its 50,000th citizen. The growth has been phenomenal! The community is still growing at an average rate of 100 new members each day. The forums are also operating at high speed - currently over 8000 topics and around 27,000 replies. Joomlapolis might just have the largest Joomlaboard installation around.

The CB Team would like to thank its worldwide community of Joomla community builders. Without their support and encouragement Joomlapolis and the Community Builder would not have reached this milestone.

[cferd]

Actually, Rockettheme/Rocketwerks IS a Joomla dev if I'm not mistaken
(which explains the convenient loophole of templates not needing to be GPL to interface with Joomla - while all other PHP code must be )

Thanks for pointing that out rummie. I wasn't aware of that. I only remember Brad and Johan talking it up. I don't use PHPBB, and am not sure yet if I will use it on the 2 sites that don't have SMF. That bridge does look intriguing though.

defeedme, BestofJoomla has about 9K users of its own and it seems to work ok. But why would the people that know best (Joomla devs) be looking elsewhere? I mean, it's not like Simpleboard-Joomlaboard-Fireboard is brand spanking new.

[rummie]

c

[cferd]

No there is not a BIG or HUGE difference between MEMBERS and USERS. To be a member you have to be a user first. You don't get to register, in most cases, unless you visited a site. Once you register, it makes you a known USER, or a MEMBER. See?.

When I said 9000 users (which is actually more like 11,000 users) I meant USERS, not users at any one time. You seem to be nitpicking to get a point across.

Nonetheless, I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of sites using FB will not have anywhere near 10k users, so they will probably be just fine with it.

[Kindred]

actually, cferd, although he was wrong in indicating a huge difference in the TERMS, he was right in the overall sense...

registered users and users concurrently logged in are two completely different things.

One of the forums that I admin has 50,000+ users...   and regularly has 300-500 concurrent log-ins.
Fireboard would crash with that load...

[defeedme]

Kindred,

I am very interested in how you came to the conclusion that FireBoard will crash with 300-500 concurrent log-ins. Did you actually test this using a shared hosting account such as go-daddy or 1&1 ?  If this is true, Is there a reason why FireBoard can't fix this problem in a future release ? Does it have something to do with being part of joomla ?

Also, do you know if it will crash with 300 concurrent log-ins if the site were hosted on a dedicated server instead of a shared hosting account?

I am very curious about this because the site I plan to use with FireBoard will definitly be getting 100 or more concurrent log-ins on a regular basis with CB also..

Thanks
ps. It appears something happened to rummie's posts - he mentioned something about mysql

[Kindred]

I tested fireboard on a shared server and had it visibly slowed with 20 users online at once;  I never went any further,  and I never said that they might not make it better. However, from my experience, fireboard has some in-elegantly designed code which will eventually use up the available resources.

They may improve it.. they may correct the code...  but I still would not switch out of SMF for my forum needs. (besides, Mambo is doing some really nice things with the 4.6 and 4.7 series)