SMF & WordPress

[jjgallow]

Hello Greynor,

Thanks for your kind words.

There is no such feature yet.  I will think about this, but my initial reaction is that this feature would not be looked at for quite a while.  You could do it youself, but it would likely involve editing the SMF API substantially, for starters.

The reason I wouldn't give it priority is because it is a highly specialized feature, and I'm still trying to perfect aspects to do with members.

I would have a suggestion for you, though.  On DMRY's site, he describes various features he's included in the plugin that will integrate SMF Forums into your wordpress theme.  You may be able to integrate the blog so that it shows up in your forum automatically, through one of those scripts or throw wordpress's SSI.

Basically, would you be happy with knowing how to integrate the wordpress blog into your SMF theme?  Then yes, there is something that can be done about that.  An automatic thread, yes...but way too much coding for me

cheers,

Jeff

[jjgallow]

Hi jjgallow, thanks for your work. I am about to do some fresh installs of SMF & WPMU, so this might be useful. But can you let me know how this bridge would/could work in practice when combined with WPMU, what would be the way/order to do it and if there is a way to avoid Splogs?

Hello 7summits!

Great to hear this.  Please let me know how things work out for you!  To answer your question, while user deletion is now integrated, all other spam features are still separated (due to their complexity, and how quickly they're evolving).

I'm a little hesitant to integrate spam features, only to see all the code re-written a week later.  These features change quickly with both wordpress and smf.  It would be very easy to do, but would likely become incompatible on a regular basis.  I will eventually look into this.

To answer your question, Wordpress has some basic anti-spam features in it, and you can also get plugins from wordpress.org that give you advanced anti-spam features.  These plugins should be very compatible with this bridge.  The only catch is that if a user DOES get through  the spam filters, you will have to ban them on SMF separately, unless you delete them altogether.

My plan on dealing with this is to eventually create an SMF_WP plugin, one that works backwards from SMF to Wordpress.  So, if you prefer SMF's anti-spam features, you could register users through that side instead.

As for WPMU, it is designed by default to be a site-wide forum.  So, each user can create their own customized blog site, and register their own users.  But ALL users would be directed to the main, site-wide mother forum, where they would already be registered with a profile.

To create individual SMF forums for each WPMU blogger could be done, and I will do this.  I just haven't yet, because I was proud enough to get the compatibility going and all I need for myself is a site-wide forum.

The only directions for WPMU are that you HAVE to install it in the regular plugins directory, not mu-plugins.  I will eventually fix this so you can use either directory.  Other than that, you'll have to create themes that link to the forum.  Easy enough.  DMRY talks about some theme integration functions on his site as well.

[leoedin]

Hi

Jeff: Do you have any timeline for version 1.05, as the functionality from exporting existing SMF users is a deal breaker.

Thanks for the excellent work!

Leo

[mpMS]

Have tried it on a test system and it worked! Is it normal if I will logout on SMF and tried loging on again on SMF login page, SMF doesnt identify my password? I found out that I need to logout from WP and logon again in order to logon to SMF. Is it normal?

[jjgallow]

Hello leoedin,

I would guess my timeline is by the end of this week.  I took a fairly significant break, but have begun working on it again today.  I'd say I'm about 1/3 done the user export code right now.

cheers 

[jjgallow]

Have tried it on a test system and it worked! Is it normal if I will logout on SMF and tried loging on again on SMF login page, SMF doesnt identify my password? I found out that I need to logout from WP and logon again in order to logon to SMF. Is it normal?

Hello mpMS,

Thank you for bringing this up.  No, that's not normal.  It's not what happens for me.  Maybe it's a bug that's been overlooked.  I'm glad that it has otherwise worked for you!   Has anyone else experienced this?  I will try and get to the bottom of it.


Also...mpMS, I have PM'd you.  I doubt this is an isolated incident, but there might be parts of it that are specific to your setup.  We might be able to figure it out over private messaging.  Again, if others are runnning into this, please let me know.  I want this thing without bugs!

[greynor]

Hi jjgallow and thanks for the extended reply

I suspected this would be a bigger problem. I found some code snippets in the SMF-Mambo Bridge forum where they tried to do something similar. You can take a look here, but I'm not too familiar with the SMF code to tell you if it would work or not.

A hook for automatically creating new threads would be the best solution, but i guess the SMF staff will never release something like this

I set up a test board at work and if I find some time I'll try to use the snippet linked above. I'm really looking forward for your new release - the user synchronisation of existing users will be a great help. Keep up the great work, you're the reason I'll use SMF

Thanks,
Greynor

[jjgallow]

Hello greynor, thanks!  the encouragement is appreciated!

I would like to introduce more theme integration, and I will keep yours in mind when I do.  I'll also look at the code...it wouldn't be the first time I borrowed ideas from other bridges (I try to leave recognition in my code).

I can understand why SMF wouldn't want a hook there.  Quite the security breach.  But I'll see what can be done.

Please do let me know how your test board goes!  It would be a great feature for sure.

I'm working on 1.05 right now...going unusually well 

[jjgallow]

 

Happy 4th of July!

Version 1.05 is done, and it was a lot of work!

BACKUP YOUR DATABASES BEFORE USING, PLEASE!

You can get it here:
http://www.earthorbit.com/opensource/

Basically, this is the version that allows established sites to use the bridge.  It will integrate previous users, so large sites can migrate their smf users to wordpress, or visa versa, and link them together!

It is obviously untested, and without warranty, so please backup your databases first and let me know how things go.  The more feedback, the faster I can make it stable.

This is, imho, the way to go for a Wordpress solution with SMF.  Using this pluggin, they are still entirely independent of one another.  You can uninstall one, or upgrade one, and the other will still function on its own.

At the same time, you can have your users seamlessly integrated.  The only real catch is that it works from Wordpress to SMF, so you can't register new users on SMF, for instance, and expect them to show up in Wordpress.  I am working on a solution to this....a twin plugin for SMF.


p.s....Please report any problems!  I've heard of a problem logging back into SMF, but can't verify it myself.  For the most part, I've been able to fix any problems reported quite quickly.

[mfapsj]

I've installed it and as far as I can see it all works! However I'm still building the site so no 'real' activity is happening yet. But I've set up a try user account and integrated previous WP users successfully.

Now, I figured out how to disable User registration in SMF - because they won't integrate into WP. But how do I remove the password reminder in SMF? Because that'd mess with the WP user, wouldn't it?

[jjgallow]

Hello mfapsj,

Great to hear you tried it out!

For password reminders, you're absolutely right.  This is a bit of an issue.

Until I build a plugin that works backwards from SMF, you'd have to link your password reminder to Wordpress's instead.

If  users do run into this problem, they can always go back and use Wordpress's password reminder.  It will over-ride any password changes made in SMF, and they should be in sync again.

Also,  Remember this:

If the user resets their password in SMF, and then goes to wordpress, it won't work, so they'll try to re-register.  It won't let them, and will tell them they already exist.  So, they'll try Wordpress's password reminder.  As soon as they do this, all should be in Sync again.  So, it is an annoyance but will not lock anyone out.

[mfapsj]

Ah, ok. That sounds logical. Many thanks!

How can I change the linke the password reminder to WP, and the register link? I found the files that SMF is using but how to change the links that are in use on the actual site I have not been able to find (index.php?action=reminder & index.php?action=register). I think it'd make for a neater version.

Oh, and did I say many thanks for your efforts? I really appreciate it, it is an amazing feature - exactly the thing I was looking for!!

[mpMS]

Speaking of accounts, I normally have many users on forum and limited to wordpress. What is the best method of integrating their accounts? Do I need to recreate a wordpress account and it will automatically integrate with smf?

[RoarinRow]

Looks like some great progress here.  Looking forward with the next iteration for the twin plug in for SMF, where all my users are   

[shortyb]

Looking good I am still using 1.4 and works great. I dont see the need to upgrade yet seeing as I need the SMF register to work into WP. I dont have a big members database in either one yet, and dont want to use WP's login as my main.

JJ- you rock man keep up the good work. I wish I knew more about SMF to be of some help but alas I do not.

add: Hey is there any way to display News/Announcements from SMF in the word press template? If not that would be a sweet feature to tack on as well. I know the orig author has how to do latest news post, board stats, users ect but no random news ! Any way. JJ do you think you will be making the SMF registration create the wp db any time soon?

[greynor]

Yes, I finally integrated the bridge into my blog. And it works perfect!
I changed all the login/logout/register-links to the wordpress blog
A good hint for all of you: adding the ?redirect_to=FORUM_URL to the login/logout links is a nice feature for the forum-browsing people because of the automatic redirect to FORUM_URL after logging.

[GLMontyWV]

Can anyone who has installed this please post a link to their forum?  Would love to take a look at this installed and running.  Thanks!  Monty

[jjgallow]

mfapsj, 

Sorry I have not gotten back to you, I have been using all my extra time to work on a twin plugin for SMF that will eliminate the need for changing links or other code in SMF's theme.

I am almost done, and it will solve your problem.  Once I'm done this, I will start looking at various theme integrations, but as of yet I haven't even touched it (so I am not much help here!).  Either way, when I'm done this twin plugin, you won't NEED to change anything for user registration, etc., in SMF.

Ah, ok. That sounds logical. Many thanks!

How can I change the linke the password reminder to WP, and the register link? I found the files that SMF is using but how to change the links that are in use on the actual site I have not been able to find (index.php?action=reminder & index.php?action=register). I think it'd make for a neater version.

Oh, and did I say many thanks for your efforts? I really appreciate it, it is an amazing feature - exactly the thing I was looking for!!

[jjgallow]

hello mpMS,

first of all, did you get everything sorted out?  I'm assuming your upgrade solved the problem?

Sorry I have not answered your question yet.   VERY busy on this twin plugin, but almost done.  If you have WP_SMF Version 1.05 (or higher),  all you do is go to the Bridge Admin panel and there should be a button called "Integrate Previous Users".

Backup your database for precaution, then click on the button. You're done!   (yes, it WILL integrate your SMF users into wordpress for you)

As for manually creating a Wordpress account for them, this is not necessary and not recommended.    The bridge will not know what to do for this.  As a security precaution, it only integrates users with the same password.  Since you set them up, the passwords will be different and the bridge will not dare integrate them.

If you've already done this, here is my recommendation:

1.  Go into the Plugins Panel and Deactivate WP_SMF  (VERY IMPORTANT!)

2.  Delete all the user accounts in Wordpress that you created, unless they are active and have the same password as in the SMF account.
**********NOTE!  If you didn't deactivate WP_SMF, then it will be trying to delete these users in SMF!  Since it can tell they're bogus, it probably won't...but Deactivate it anyway.

3.  Re-Activate WP_SMF

4.  Backup your Databases

5.  Go to the WP_SMF panel, and Click on 'Integrate Previous Users'

Problem solved.  All your SMF users can now log into Wordpress.  Previous Wordpress users, and previous Dual users (with the same password) will also be integrated.

Speaking of accounts, I normally have many users on forum and limited to wordpress. What is the best method of integrating their accounts? Do I need to recreate a wordpress account and it will automatically integrate with smf?

[jjgallow]

Thanks for the kind words, shortyb! 

Really appreciated.  If what you're doing works, stick with it.  But for general community knowledge, I will explain something here:

Version 1.05 (and later) are not inherently more dangerous than 1.04.  You can upgrade to them, and you should be okay.

Where you need to back your database up is when you Integrate Previous Users.  This is an Available tool on Version 1.05 (and later), but it will not just go ahead and do it on its own.  This precaution was made just for people like you who don't need the feature.

As for displaying News/Announcements, I will tack it onto my list.  There most certainly will be a way, but I haven't delved into themes yet.  I will be soon

p.s....if you find a way to do it, please let me know!

cheers

Looking good I am still using 1.4 and works great. I dont see the need to upgrade yet seeing as I need the SMF register to work into WP. I dont have a big members database in either one yet, and dont want to use WP's login as my main.

JJ- you rock man keep up the good work. I wish I knew more about SMF to be of some help but alas I do not.

add: Hey is there any way to display News/Announcements from SMF in the word press template? If not that would be a sweet feature to tack on as well. I know the orig author has how to do latest news post, board stats, users ect but no random news ! Any way. JJ do you think you will be making the SMF registration create the wp db any time soon?