Mambo & SMF Examples !?

[marcnyc]

I shouldn't post this now, but if I don't I'll forget...
In two days from now, my new site will be released at http://www.chaindlk.com (you can't see it until then).
In my site I was able to integrate: Mambo + MOS' Community Builder component + SMF + PHPlist (a professional mailing list software for those who just can't do it with Mambo's mass-mailing function).
I don't need Coppermine (for now) so I didn't go there but in a few months I will be offering free email from my site so I will be integrating that as well.
The peculiarity of my integration is that I integrated MOS and SMF with the following features:
- you can register once for all four services
- you can browse and use the SMF forum outside of the MOS pages while keeping layout and functionality
- you can still use most of the SSI.php functions on MOS pages, on SMF pages, on pages that aren't neither MOS nor SMF
- you can log in from SMF pages, from MOS pages and from pages that aren't neither MOS nor SMF
- you can plug in MOS modules into SMF pages, MOS pages and pages that aren't neither MOS nor SMF
- you can change theme with just one click on all the pages (MOS, SMF and pages that are neither of the two) without having to go through either MOS' theme picker or SMF's theme selection process.
The whole thing is based on SSI.php and on Ortsio's spectacular work with just a few modifications and a template of my own that was born and built before the whole integration thing took place...
I don't have test accounts right now but if I remember I'll create one with username test and password test so that you can enter and see how the layout slightly changes once you are logged in.
Hope you'll like it.
2 days to go.

[playareal]

wow cant wait to check your site out marc... good luck! 

[marcnyc]

thanks, doing last things now

[Dylan Malone]

It's still fairly early, but we do have all these components installed, and an active community.

http://www.algore-08.com [nofollow]

I haven't found a way to integrate b2evolution (the blogging sytem) with the SMF user database... which would do wonders for me.  <sigh>

There are many HTML problems and design issues under active and constant development by yours truly, but the excellent work by Oristo has made it easy to integrate Mambo to SMF, and Coppermine comes bridged to SMF out of the box.

Hopefully our site will eventually become a showcase site for the integration of these products, but I'll be the first to admit we aren't even close yet.  Check again in 30-60 days and see if we pulled it off.   

[marcnyc]

my site is now live.
since it is public I would appreciate if you don't register dummy test accounts.
if you want to log in and see the graphic changes for the logged user you can use:
username: test
password: testing
and please remember to log out afterwards so that others can use the same log in too.

the url is:
http://www.chaindlk.com

I haven't found a way to integrate b2evolution (the blogging sytem) with the SMF user database... which would do wonders for me. <sigh>
Check again in 30-60 days and see if we pulled it off.

Hey Dylan, welcome to Simple Machines, good to see you here. Remember me from the post on dynamic content in static pages on the Mambers.com forum? I am actually going to write that tutorial now if I find some time today, so go back there to check on that...

As for your integration, I might be able to help you. Can't promise anything now but since you seem to have one or two months time (not to mention four years, unfortunately) I might be able to write a little bridge for you so you can have SMF and b2e integration. I am not familiar with b2e so I'd have to look at it first and confirm my availability but I am pretty confident I could do it.

[Dylan Malone]

if you want to log in and see the graphic changes for the logged user

Neat trick.  I'm confused though, how do you show logged in Users a completely different template than guests see?  Is this a basic Mambo feature I never noticed in the Administrative back end somewhere?

Hey Dylan, welcome to Simple Machines, good to see you here. Remember me from the post on dynamic content in static pages on the Mambers.com [nofollow] forum? I am actually going to write that tutorial now if I find some time today, so go back there to check on that...

As for your integration, I might be able to help you. Can't promise anything now but since you seem to have one or two months time (not to mention four years, unfortunately) I might be able to write a little bridge for you so you can have SMF and b2e integration. I am not familiar with b2e so I'd have to look at it first and confirm my availability but I am pretty confident I could do it.

I'll be looking for your thoughts on how to get dynamic Mambo content to appear on a non-Mambo page-- there are several places where this would really help me.

As for the b2evolution integration, it's an important project I think.  My searching of Mambers.com [nofollow] and the official Mamboserver forums found a lot of threads by people complaining that there are no powerful blogging systems available as either Mambo components, or as bridged software.

I evaluated lots of Blogging systems and felt like b2evo was a leading system with an active development community.  It seems like a good choice to become the next success story like the SMF / Mambo bridge is becoming.   Of course, if we had a bridge between b2evo and SMF (like Coppermine) that would be sufficient for most of my needs.  (Mambo integration would be my fist choice, but as long as they share user databases life is good)

Hats off to all of you helping make these products work in concert.

[marcnyc]

Hi dylan, showing logged users differently is something I have written myself, it's not a Mambo feature, especially because (I am not sure you actually noticed) only half of my site is Mambo (whatever you see in the folder called /content/) while the other half is not Mambo based, therefore I made Mambo (as well as SMF) work with my template, as opposed to the opposite. Mambo is my slave, I don't like it to be the master of all features of the site, because that would force me to use abnoxious iframe wrappers for all my non-MOS pages such as custom written scripts like the one in the /reviews/ folder or in the /interviews/ folder.

Anywa life sucks a little less today. I've had 15 new registrations after less than 24 hours from the official launch and I haven't even sent a newsletter to my (also) integrated mailing list yet...

As for MOS content in non-MOS pages I have published a tutorial at Mambers.com (http://www.mambers.com/showthread.php?p=74431#post74431).

But let's not forget that this is not a MOS forum but a SMF forum so let's stay on topic... I'll bring the discussion back on track by saying:

SMF rocks! I love it! It's gorgeously beautiful! :-)

[Abedie]

my site is now live.

It's looking great My compliments!

Greetings Abedie

[marcnyc]

Thanks

[Orstio]

Very nice work, Marcnyc.   

[marcnyc]

Well, again, thanks again ;-)

[packman]

my site is now live.

It looks good. You need to tweak the forum theme though to bring the News and Stats Boxes fully back on the screen in IE.

This reminds me that I must get back up to speed on this bridge.

[marcnyc]

What exactly are you talking about?
I had tested it with IE but I didn't find any problems. Can you be more specific please?

[packman]

If I go to your site and click on Community to display the forum, the 'News Box' and 'Key Stats' blocks overhang the right hand edge of the screen by a small amount. For example, at the moment all I can see of the first line of the Key Stats box is:

849 Posts in 285 Topics by 215 Memb

Neither box shows it's righthand edge (and there's no horizontal scroll bar to display the missing bits).

If you look in the SMF theme files (not sure which one without access to my source code) you'll see references to a problem with table widths in IE. If I'm remembering correctly you need to set the width to 100%, otherwise IE uses 106% which pushes the edge of the table off screen.

[marcnyc]

I believe I did set all my tables to 100%, if not to 98%, but I know that the side module boxes on the right are set to 150 pixels.
I'll investigate this but I'd like to know what screen resolution you are using.
I tested this on 1280x... but I have also made provisions for 800x600 screens. The site detects the resolution and if it is less or equal to 800x600 it will remove the right column all together (which tells me that your resolution is higher), will shrink the top banner and everything should fit on a screen (as long as the browser is opened all across the screen).
What seems weird is that I had made provisions for no right column at all in the forum pages, in order to leave more space to the forum itself, it's strange that you are seeing those right columns in the community pages. I have to research that...

[packman]

I'm not seeing the right columns. I just see the left column + forum. The boxes I'm referring to are the SMF 'Key Stats' and 'News Box'. I think the PC I was using earlier was 1280*1024. I've just tried it on this PC which is definitely 1280*1024. I lose the extra bit of the boxes when using IE6 but not when using FF1.

Take a look in the default SMF index.template.php theme file and search for 108% to find the bit of code that I'm talking about. I found that I also had to do that fix for IE6 as well as IE4 and IE5.

[marcnyc]

would it be possible to get a screenshot of the problem?
you can PM it to me or email it to webmaster at chaindlk dot org
that would be very kind
maybe we shoule take this to the private messanging area, since I doubt anybody cares about my problems

[packman]

A screenshot is on it's way via email.

[Nephilim]

I shouldn't post this now, but if I don't I'll forget...
In two days from now, my new site will be released at hxxp:www.chaindlk.com [nonactive] (you can't see it until then).

Nice site man.  I've got a Mambo/SMF site going on for our (Nashville, TN) goth/industrial/darkwave scene here.  It isn't nearly as graphically polished (yet), but it works.

hxxp:www.nashvillegothic.com [nonactive]

I don't have coppermine in use ATM, but that will possibly be coming later.  I'm still evaluating some different gallery options and I haven't decided yet.  It will be a lot of work when I implement it....I have about a zillion pictures waiting to be posted that were held over from the last galleries we had (before the switch to Mambo/SMF).  I'm dreading it.

Either way, Mambo and SMF both rock.  I am continually impressed with it for ease of install, configuration, and options over the CMS and forums I used to use (php-nuke and phpbb *shudder*).

[marcnyc]

Wow cool, it's nice that through SMF forums we even found two sites with SMF/MOS that are about the same type of music, what a coincidence! ;-)
I didn't know there was such a scene in Nashville ;-)