SimplePortal vs TinyPortal - Which do you PREFER?

[Chasingu]

For any mod installation, specially big mods (but you never know), it might be useful to keep in mind that SMF is always making a backup of your core files before installing it, in ./Packages/backup folder. So if things really go wrong, one can always overwrite the current files with those from the backup.

Back on topic: nice to see the votes show them still keeping close!

Thanks for that information. i never knew that before.

[Sabre™]

@ stikkki
I'm a member at both sites and have read all of your posts regarding your described issue.
Your last post at TP suggests that it was installed fine, and there is no mention of it being otherwise.
The team and/or members would most definitely continue to assist you if you had/have further issues

With your first portal issue...  well I dunno mate, I cannot speak about that which I do not know.
The support staff numbers are high, so cannot explain why you received no assistance for awhile, but a member has offered it for you.

I personally enjoy the little extras portals provide. Most can be found in mods, but the "all in one" idea is the way I like it.

[Yahmez]

...that it's really not that one portal is better than the others, just that it simply fits one person better versus another.

Sort of like sex toys, huh?

Or sexual preference? ROFL
No seriously, that was effing hilarious exchange there.
Oh and I haven't tried tiny portal to be fair, but I started with EZPortal and now use SimplePortal and am very happy with it and the support.

[bullbreedluverz]

@ stikkki
Your last post at TP suggests that it was installed fine, and there is no mention of it being otherwise.

i never named the portal.... ur assuming i ment TP

[Sabre™]

Nope.

I'm a member at both sites and have read all of your posts regarding your described issue.

I know which portal you meant buddy
Since you stated you no longer use any portal, I guessed it was because you were still having problems, so mentioned that you could still get assistance if needed.

[bullbreedluverz]

that was nearly 9 months ago... life has moved on a little since then lol

[Sabre™]

Well You brought it up! lol
I just merely read into it out of curiosity.
It was a good read as well.
There are other portals available if you desire to have another attempt in the future. These 2 will be here for a loong time to come. And so will the support for them
I personally never push anybody into one direction or another, we all have the ability to decide for ourselves, but I'll use which ever provides what I need, with less hassle.
So 'for Myself', I already use the best, and will just leave the rest.

[TheListener]

*Throws a waterbomb at Sabre on behalf of the Simpleportal team*

[bullbreedluverz]

Well You brought it up! lol

i ment "forum" life lol

[IchBin™]

*Throws a waterbomb at Sabre on behalf of the Simpleportal team*

* IchBin Throws the [$context['TPortal']] Shield up to protect him

[Antechinus]

I'm going be using The Evil Portal anyway so I don't care.

[ML]

Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but what exactly do these "portals" do?

[Arantor]

Portals add a frontend around the forum. For example SimplePortal adds a new front page that displays recent posts, plus other blocks too, and includes a non-AJAX shoutbox.

Take a look at www.simpleportal.net - the front page is what SP offers out of the box (though obviously not the exact same theme)

[bloc]

Thats probably the least powerful feature of a "portal" IMHO, I always felt adding extra pages - and even extra whole functions - is the most desireable thing to add to a forum.

Thats why TinyPortal have always been focused more on "articles", which really is custom pages, reached through "index.php?page=mypage". They can be of PHP, HTML or BBC types and even external HTML or PHP pages located somewhere on the server.

It really gives you more to play with, without loosing touch of the community/forum of course.

Think of a portal(in this sense) as a mini-CMS, or Lighter "Joomla+SMF" if you like.

[Arantor]

Sure, I glossed over that, but I often find it's easier to explain what something is by demoing its most visible features.

[Antechinus]

I agree. The front page itself is trivial. Custom pages (unlimited in content, number, arrangement and individual styling) are another big benefit. Side panels added to the forum, that can be made to appear or disappear with one click, add a lot more available functionality particularly if you are site admin. Top and bottom blocks can also be useful although to my mind they are not as important.

Everyone has their own ideas on the optimum layout. My opinion is that:

1/ It must look clean and slick. Haphazard insertion of blocks all over the place reduces the appeal of a site. This means that both the content and the sizes of the blocks must be considered when deciding on layout.

2/ The arrangement of the blocks must make good ergonomic sense. As an example, I find that having a listing of recent posts at the left of the forum works really well. People love it because they can see what is going on while they are browsing the forum. In fact the traditional board index, although it is often considered the central part of a forum, is in my opinion almost redundant on a well laid-out site.

3/ The number of blocks per page and their content must be carefully considered with regard to load times. As an example, RSS feeds are resource hogs, so if you have six different RSS feeds and a shoutbox and a listing of the last 50 recent posts all on the forum's main page then it will load like a total slug compared to a basic SMF forum. Use what you need on each page and no more. If you need more then link to it clearly with a custom menu.

[Arantor]

Front page is what gets people in, IMO, but yes it is a smaller benefit than the other stuff.

[TheListener]

I use my portals as tasters for what is in the Forum.

To me a portal is like a websites frontpage and is treated as such.

Simpleportal is the easiest to use and navigate.

[Antechinus]

Well I'm running TP at the moment and I've had members say our site is the best- looking and best laid-out they've ever seen, with a great combination of functionality and ease of use. They may be biased but it's nice to hear anyway. So it doesn't depend on which portal you use, but more on what you choose to do with it.

[Sabre™]

@ TheListener
Which other portals have you used, and asked for assistance on their site if experiencing problems?
I can only find you at SP.