Topic: SimplePortal vs TinyPortal - Which do you PREFER?

[IchBin™]

Our next version plans to introduce such a system

One more part they are duplicated from Portamx? 

Fel

One more feature request that's been on the books since SimplePortal 2.0 was released. Which, I believe, was long before PortaMX was.

Semantics, anyways. Thanks for your concern, though.

Feline, perhaps you mean the features that you duplicated from TP? From my last look at your portal, you don't have hardly anything over TP other than a few whistles, which honestly I remember many of them being discussed at TP while you were around, but not implemented. And before you go praising your caching, just know that caching is not innovative. It's a necessary feature that TP has yet to implement, but we are talking innovation of features. Don't go acting like you are the innovator around here. Those of us who have been around here know who that truly is (Bloc) in the portal arena. Your constant berating of other portals and touting of OOP is really just tiresome.  With Bloc recent announcement closing of the TP site, I have asked myself where I would go and if I maybe wanted to look at supporting another portal. It is simply because of your "holier than thou" attitude that I wouldn't even touch PortaMx. The folks at Simple Portal are top notch. You don't see them going around talking trash about other portals. You should take a lesson from them, and Bloc for that matter.

[Crip]

I echo ' that B0ss!

[MrMorph]

Bravo, well said 

[feline]

Feline, perhaps you mean the features that you duplicated from TP?

Which features you mean?

Fel

[Aaron7pm]

Simple Portal, hands down, its way easier to customize, and its easier to use.

[Xarcell]

Feline, perhaps you mean the features that you duplicated from TP?

Which features you mean?

Fel

How about panels, frontpage, collapsible blocks, collapsible panels, and blocks that can appear anywhere? How about the type of preset blocks? TP was the first to do it. Even though SP was around before TP, TP was the first to implement the features mentioned. Heck, you even copied alot of the terminology used for TP. I grow tired of you running your mouth as if your the one who invented it all. If you didn't say anything, I wouldn't say anything either as I'm all for competitive portals. But since you want to boost and bash every other portal, I feel impaled to speak up.

[Eliana Tamerin]

Even though SP was around before TP

Have to correct you, though. Even though there was a portal called Simple Portal around before TP was conceived, SimplePortal, as created by [SiNaN], has only been around since February of 2008. TinyPortal's been around much longer than that.

Thanks for the compliment, but it's ill deserved. TP's the real Portal dinosaur here.

[Kindred]

Ok, Xarcell, Feline... that's enough please.

(and Xarcell, you feel impaled?   OUCH!)

[Sabre™]

(and Xarcell, you feel impaled?   OUCH!)

lmao

[Eliana Tamerin]

(and Xarcell, you feel impaled?   OUCH!)

He had a run in with Vlad the Psychiatrist. I guess it's some new therapy they're trying.

[feline]

Ok, Xarcell, Feline... that's enough please.

You are right, but it should not be, it is assumed PortaMx constantly, we would use code from TP. That will not accept without comment.

Fel

[Kindred]

Feline...  understood...   All 4 portal systems have the pluses and minuses, but all 4 are well coded and well done.

(and to detractors of any one...   there are certain concepts which are somewhat universal in the portal design and all portals will essentially use the same or, at least similar, methods)

[sharks]

I used to love TinyPortal, and in fact it used to be the best and only portal directly integrating and made only for SMF at one time, but recently Simpleportal has taken over as the best option, simply because it seems like Bloc (the guy who makes TinyPortal) has dropped or stopped development of TP. There have been many reports of hacking and errors with TP, so i would go with Simpleportal as it's the latest and most up to date portal mod for SMF.

[Kindred]

Sharks,

both EZportal and PortaMX are also up-to-date and supported portal systems...

[sharks]

Thanks for the info,  Kindred. I will check these other 2 as well. Having a choice is always the best option!

[bloc]

I used to love TinyPortal, and in fact it used to be the best and only portal directly integrating and made only for SMF at one time, but recently Simpleportal has taken over as the best option, simply because it seems like Bloc (the guy who makes TinyPortal) has dropped or stopped development of TP. There have been many reports of hacking and errors with TP, so i would go with Simpleportal as it's the latest and most up to date portal mod for SMF.

Hacking? Thats news to me - apart from the shoutbox "hack", which was a CSS exploit - TP is quite safe as it is I believe.

But you are partly right on myself "dropping" of TP - I have no real drive for it anymore. BUT - many people regard as quite good as it is, and thats why I will keep it here and updated as SMF changes and errors turn up. Since its also have so many features(as many have pointed out as the reason, its too complex lol) it also feel "done" to me. Whats left to do with it? TP Modules never got off the ground really and (as some also pointed out) there are quite a few SMF mods that do what current TP modules do anyway.

I might pursue some mod ideas I have, that strays into the area of portals too, but I see no reason to create just another portal mod, or indeed make TP even more complex that it is. Kudos for everyone supporting it though - that makes me and the TP team proud to have persevered with it for so many years. And best wishes for all that have new ideas and attempts in that direction now.

[sharks]

Don't get me wrong, Bloc. As far as i am concerned, you are a true Hero of SMF and without you, i think many things, including the default SMF themes would have looked a bit different. But like you say, TP has indeed become quite complex, but its the functionality that matters at the end. My other primary concern, which i haven't voiced, is the added "weight" that TP forces on the server when installed. It nearly doubles or triples the number of queries in many parts of the forum. I used to have it installed on one of my big forums and i was forced to upgrade to VPN. Lol. But i guess if you slim it down a bit. Oh, i just got a fantastic idea! Why not release a TP Lite?! That way, you just make it a small core version of the existing TP and include only the most basic functionality in it. Like myself, i need it only for the blog system with some pages, which places the posts and comments from within the forum on the front page. That's the basic feature of a portal. And if you include just that, maybe there won't be as many queries and it will become more server-friendly on bigger forums. What do you think?

The way i see things, is that Simpleportal is going to go the same way as TP did in a few years or less. It's not going to be simple anymore as development progresses and more features are added. So, i think having trimmed down version of a portal along with the full blown version should be available, depending on the types of forums. Personal/small forums can use the full version and the lite version is mainly for commercial/big forums.

[Aaron7pm]

TP is great, but its too complex, it gets what you need done, but it requires more work. Thats why SimplePortal is better, you dont need to do much to make a simple or complex portal.

[bloc]

Don't get me wrong, Bloc. As far as i am concerned, you are a true Hero of SMF and without you, i think many things, including the default SMF themes would have looked a bit different. But like you say, TP has indeed become quite complex, but its the functionality that matters at the end. My other primary concern, which i haven't voiced, is the added "weight" that TP forces on the server when installed. It nearly doubles or triples the number of queries in many parts of the forum. I used to have it installed on one of my big forums and i was forced to upgrade to VPN. Lol. But i guess if you slim it down a bit. Oh, i just got a fantastic idea! Why not release a TP Lite?! That way, you just make it a small core version of the existing TP and include only the most basic functionality in it. Like myself, i need it only for the blog system with some pages, which places the posts and comments from within the forum on the front page. That's the basic feature of a portal. And if you include just that, maybe there won't be as many queries and it will become more server-friendly on bigger forums. What do you think?

The way i see things, is that Simpleportal is going to go the same way as TP did in a few years or less. It's not going to be simple anymore as development progresses and more features are added. So, i think having trimmed down version of a portal along with the full blown version should be available, depending on the types of forums. Personal/small forums can use the full version and the lite version is mainly for commercial/big forums.

Thats perhaps doable..but I have no desire to trim it down, for starters people have always complained about it when I removed features. And frankly..just a frontpage with a SSI function to show latest posts isn't a portal to me. Blocks will always be resource -hungry when it allows users to use PHP code..so right here its hard to keep queries down when everyone wants 20 different blockcodes that aren't optimised when used in conjunction with others.

SMF is optimised. It has sections that do certain things and no more. The queries can be perfetcly matched to the page. TP, and possibly other portals, doesn't or can't be optimised the same way, because it allows the user infinite freedom to add extra code.

Thats why I think pure "portal mods" are not the way, and thats why you might need a VPS just to run a TP installation.TP might be lean in its default state, but once the user starts adding stuff, it goes right up on queries. Caching might help..but how effective is it on custom code? For my part I think special case mods are much better than a do-it-yourself-toolbox like TP is. And thats why I feel its "done" as it is. I have created a complex CMS-like mod..but its too much dependant on what the average user might add, and that are more often than not, will follow the philosophy of "adding in whatever I can"...

[MrMorph]

Feline, did you invent OOP or something ?