• This forum has been archived. New threads and replies may not be made. All add-ons/resources that are active should be migrated to the Resource Manager. See this thread for more information.

8WayRun.Com Modifications for XenForo

I can't even imagine the hacks that Jaxel will have to write to hobble together a complete and powerful blogging system based upon threads, which weren't designed to be blogs! Simple as that. Simple blogging system I can see, but most definitely not an extremely advanced system with all the bells and whistles. I'll just create a CMS based upon threads, sound good? (PS - this wasn't aimed directly at you, its more of a general use threads as data source thing)

That's a good point. The big worry is that for many seperate systems which still exist 'within' the forum such as social groups and blogs within vBulletin caused considerable fragmentation and a reduction in user participation. Having some way to bring these together so that all members can see that content and not get confused as to where they should post, or look for information is a challenge.

Solutions like having the latest five blogs appear in the sidebar seems to work reasonably well, but unless there is a continuous stream of good content people start to ignore it and do not notice when new stuff appears. The same could happen with some sort of thread style notification though.

One idea that I've seen before and struck me as a reasonable idea was to have the content itself neutral so that it can appear equally well in both a thread format and blog format. Naturally as these would be created in the blog interface it probably won't look as good in threads, but it may provide a way for users who just want a 'simple' view of the content to see it and still participate without having to find the blogs. Perhaps having content in the thread view strip out blog specific tags, information and perhaps even images? Much like RSS provides a simple and basic view, the thread view of blog content could do the same thing. And presumably that may not be so hard to implement as I was under the impression that XenForo is designed to cater for the same content being displayed in various forms. Having said that, that could lead to confusion in itself if it wasn't clear, and issues like content duplication. So not an ideal solution, and there is most certainly much better ones I'm sure.

It's all quite specific to how you use your forum and your niche really, so perhaps just keeping it a fairly simple starting point, then others can adapt it to their needs. Anyway I'm sure there is a solution to this issue of fragmentation and confusion that a separate blog system within the forum causes and hopefully Jaxel can solve it :).
 
Okay... as people have seen, my current project is a Blog system. I actually haven't started any programming, as I've been working through designs in my head for the past 2 weeks. However, before I start programming, I want to know people's opinions. Basically, I have two options when it comes to creating Blog software with XenForo, and I want to know which people prefer...
  1. Create a "blog/comment" content type.

    Creating a new content type pretty much means that the block will be a separate entity from the forums (XenMedio is an example of this). With a new content type, handlers need to be made for all XenForo events, but there is a lot of customizability. For instance, the activity page would say things like: "user posted a blog entry", "user replied to blog entry", "user liked blog entry".
    .
  2. Use the "thread/post" content type.

    Using the existing "thread/post" content type is extremely easy. With this, an admin would simply need to create a new forum node, and assign this node as the blog node. Then the blog page will simply retrieve it's information from this node. The best thing about this method is everything is already built into XenForo and all XenForo features will be available from the start.
Honestly, I'm leaning towards #2.

I'd prefer #1.
 
I think it's probably pretty clear by the comments on both this thread and the one in my signature that there are two schools of thought, and (at least!) two separate sets of priorities.

Some folks prefer the full featured solution with the potential to add all the bells and whistles that their heart's desire and dev capabilities allow. -> # 1 above.

Other folks are more concerned with the fragmentation of community interaction that ANY separate commenting system causes, and would be happy with a far simpler, but more tightly integrated solution. -> #2 above

Heck for those that really want to go to the other end of the spectrum, they could go with option #3: Wordpress Multi-site!

I think I've made my personal feelings amply clear, so I won't reiterate them again ;), but I would like to point out something quite simple:

Given that there DO seem to be two separate camps with different priorities and desires, and Onimua has done a STELLAR job building a blogging solution for the Type #1 group, why do so many people think that XF needs ANOTHER community blogging solution with the same basic architecture and focus? Wouldn't it be better to have two separate systems with two different methods so that BOTH groups can have a solution that fits what they need for their individual communities?

Those that prefer a type #1 above, that want all the bells and whistles of a well developed community blogging system already have a solution in Onimua's excellent LN Blog.

Those that want to avoid the community fragmentation risk, and prefer simplicity and not having to worry about maintenance of a separate content type can go with Jaxel's solution and keep all community interaction together for maximum critical mass.

Personally, I think the XF community is better served by having diversity in the solutions available. Not all sites are the same. Not all communities have the same priorities and needs. One of the great strengths of having such a wonderful, talented group of engaged 3rd party devs is the ability to have DIFFERENT solutions available. :)

<edit>changed above to avoid implying that there might be any chance of addons/updates for the forum interacting with the blog type in a different manner :) </edit>
 
So I'm working on the styling... any ideas? recommendations? features?
View attachment 12429
Do you think it will be possible for admin to create custom blocks (as in XenPorta) that the individual bloggers can select to use? Obviously it would be good to be able to add things like:
  1. Gallery images/albums (once there is a Gallery solution)
  2. About me
  3. Contact info
  4. XenAttendo events that the member has signed up for (can you sign up for events? Don't remember :oops:)
I'm sure we can come up with more! :)
 
Expect Release Date for XenTorneo is before January 31.

XenTorneo will not be used for running tournaments. I've spoken to tournament organizers and the majority of them just don't like running tournaments in the cloud; they find it easier and less troublesome to run their brackets on TIO, where they dont have to hope the internet doesn't go down.

Because of this XenTorneo will just be a ranking system dealing with tournament results. TOs upload their TIO files and the system will calculate the results. It will no longer calculate a bracket though; instead it will take an image upload form so that TOs can upload their own bracket image.
 
Based on what Tigratus is saying, I think I'm going to go with option 2...

This doesn't mean the blogs will LOOK like a forum, but simply that they will be read by the system as such. Basically the same way I do the recent news block on XenPorta; they don't look like a forum, but when you click to read more, or post a reply, it takes you to the thread.

I agree with option 2.
 
Expect Release Date for XenTorneo is before January 31.

XenTorneo will not be used for running tournaments. I've spoken to tournament organizers and the majority of them just don't like running tournaments in the cloud; they find it easier and less troublesome to run their brackets on TIO, where they dont have to hope the internet doesn't go down.

Because of this XenTorneo will just be a ranking system dealing with tournament results. TOs upload their TIO files and the system will calculate the results. It will no longer calculate a bracket though; instead it will take an image upload form so that TOs can upload their own bracket image.

Wow, Jaxel you are the Best! ;)
 
I'm a bit concerned that there's no mention of the wiki (carta) in the original list of mods here. Maybe thats because this thread started a year ago and we don't yet have extended Edit for the OP.

Anyway the Wiki is GOOD - except for lack of integration with the node hierarchy.
Can that be done with a hack?

That is, on admin selected wiki pages, they appear in the node hierarchy. Guides, basic info, splash pages for a Category or forum.
This would be FAR better than the XF Pages.
 
Top Bottom