CMSGamers.org

[Drew Turnbow]

Website: www.cmsgamers.org

I'm going to be releasing my CMSGamers game content management system in a couple weeks and need some feedback on the setup of my website so far.

Keep in mind, I'm not a programmer, all work on my script is being outsourced, however I want to provide the best possible community environment.

This is not a feedback thread on my upcoming cms (it's not released), the feedback is geared towards the setup of the website as a distribution for my cms and for community building.

You'll notice my forums are setup similar to how they are done here, I feel like xenforo has done a great job with how they do things, so I'm trying to use them as my case study.

 

[AzzidReign]

Why does it say you are using xenporta? Worst addon for any large community.

 

[Drew Turnbow]

Why does it say you are using xenporta? Worst addon for any large community.

please don't hijack my thread into a xenporta debate.

 

[AzzidReign]

please don't hijack my thread into a xenporta debate.

It is quite relevant to THIS thread. If you can't see it...open your eyes. You are claiming to have your own CMS...yet you are using xenporta.

 

[AzzidReign]

I'll take note of you avoiding the initial question. For future proof in the event you remove branding:

"XenPorta (c) Jason Axelrod from 8WAYRUN.COM" ..........

 

[Drew Turnbow]

I'll take note of you avoiding the initial question. For future proof in the event you remove branding:

"XenPorta (c) Jason Axelrod from 8WAYRUN.COM" ..........

You give absolutely no reason as to why you think xenporta is not good for large communities and not only that you are just rude, I asked you politely not to turn this into a Xenporta discussion. However, you feel the need to do so, even though I've never been rude to you or tried to talk about something in a thread you started that you felt was not relevant.

I really don't care about your vendetta against xenporta, http://bukkit.org/ uses this same portal that I'm using with over 330k members without any problems.

If you want to try and say something is not good, then you should also provide relevant information that supports your claim, which you have not done yet.

I'm not sure why you have taken this personal attack against me, however I'll ask you again to please drop it and if you want to provide constructive criticism about my website then feel free to do so.

If you need help with this I'll start the sentence for you: "Xenporta is not good for large communities because<thisisthepartyoufillin>"

 

[JABRONI]

You give absolutely no reason as to why you think xenporta is not good for large communities and not only that you are just rude, I asked you politely not to turn this into a Xenporta discussion. However, you feel the need to do so, even though I've never been rude to you or tried to talk about something in a thread you started that you felt was not relevant.

I really don't care about your vendetta against xenporta, http://bukkit.org/ uses this same portal that I'm using with over 330k members without any problems.

If you want to try and say something is not good, then you should also provide relevant information that supports your claim, which you have not done yet.

I'm not sure why you have taken this personal attack against me, however I'll ask you again to please drop it and if you want to provide constructive criticism about my website then feel free to do so.

If you need help with this I'll start the sentence for you: "Xenporta is not good for large communities because<thisisthepartyoufillin>"

I think what he's trying to get at is you say you're making a CMS, but are using Xenporta. He doesn't want people to get ripped off, if you decide to start selling here.

 

[eberkund]

^ Exactly.

Once you have an initial version of your software ready, you should run it on your website like they do here at XenForo. It would be like if XenForo used phpBB on their forums haha.

 

[Russ]

I think everyone is assuming he's releasing a CMS for XenForo, at least from what I'm reading he's releasing a CMS dedicated to the general gamer. I could be wrong but

Anyways I like the style

 

[Drew Turnbow]

I think everyone is assuming he's releasing a CMS for XenForo, at least from what I'm reading he's releasing a CMS dedicated to the general gamer. I could be wrong but

Exactly this, it's a standalone gaming themed cms for those looking to start websites like gamespot or IGN, also it doesn't have a built in forum system. Even if it did have a built in forum I wouldn't use it on my distribution site because I need the features of the xenforo resource manager to allow myself and others to sell addons/themes for it.

Also, the initial core features of my cms will be a free download, however the issue here is not about my cms, I'm just trying to get feedback on my website in general.

 

[AzzidReign]

You give absolutely no reason as to why you think xenporta is not good for large communities and not only that you are just rude, I asked you politely not to turn this into a Xenporta discussion. However, you feel the need to do so, even though I've never been rude to you or tried to talk about something in a thread you started that you felt was not relevant.

I really don't care about your vendetta against xenporta, http://bukkit.org/ uses this same portal that I'm using with over 330k members without any problems.

If you want to try and say something is not good, then you should also provide relevant information that supports your claim, which you have not done yet.

I'm not sure why you have taken this personal attack against me, however I'll ask you again to please drop it and if you want to provide constructive criticism about my website then feel free to do so.

If you need help with this I'll start the sentence for you: "Xenporta is not good for large communities because<thisisthepartyoufillin>"

You must not have looked at my site then. We installed it, tried tweaking it, and still locked up our database and caused downtime ever 5-15 min when it was installed. I was merely pointing out the fact you are saying you have a CMS but are using xenporta....if it is a CMS, you should be able to plug it into xf...since you are advertising it here...that was my initial assumption. I went to check it out to see it on your production site and damn...all I see is xenporta.

Exactly this, it's a standalone gaming themed cms for those looking to start websites like gamespot or IGN, also it doesn't have a built in forum system. Even if it did have a built in forum I wouldn't use it on my distribution site because I need the features of the xenforo resource manager to allow myself and others to sell addons/themes for it.

Also, the initial core features of my cms will be a free download, however the issue here is not about my cms, I'm just trying to get feedback on my website in general.

Can you share with us a link to this supposed CMS? I came in this thread looking for one and don't see one...and if you haven't looked at my avatar and checked out my site...my site is a gaming website...hence my interest....

 

[Drew Turnbow]

You must not have looked at my site then. We installed it, tried tweaking it, and still locked up our database and caused downtime ever 5-15 min when it was installed. I was merely pointing out the fact you are saying you have a CMS but are using xenporta....if it is a CMS, you should be able to plug it into xf...since you are advertising it here...that was my initial assumption. I went to check it out to see it on your production site and damn...all I see is xenporta.

Can you share with us a link to this supposed CMS? I came in this thread looking for one and don't see one...and if you haven't looked at my avatar and checked out my site...my site is a gaming website...hence my interest....

• My cms is not released yet, should be completed in the next 1-2 weeks according to my developer
• My cms does not have a built in forum system and is not currently setup to properly host a non-gaming related community which is why I'm using xenforo + the resource manager
• I can't just plug it into xenforo because I'm not a programmer/developer and I have limited funds (just enough to get the first version of my cms coded) integrations will come later
• My cms is geared towards setting up websites like gamespot, ign or mmorpg.com
• I wasn't trying to advertise my cms, I was only asking for feedback about my website that uses xenforo and will be where I distribute my cms (the info about my cms was to point out what the purpose of my website was about)

 

[sgray]

I am a gamer and a game server owner/manager. Your website is not appealing to me on the content level and on the theme level, it's a free style.

Why should I seriously consider your CMS for my next gaming website if you are not willing to use it personally and are saying you won't develop the feature most important to a gaming community, a discussion area for members? If you're aiming to compete with GameSpot's solution, you'll need to step up your own game a lot.

I'm not out to be a jerk to you, this is simply real feedback from someone that is part of your target audience.

 

[Drew Turnbow]

I am a gamer and a game server owner/manager. Your website is not appealing to me on the content level and on the theme level, it's a free style.

Why should I seriously consider your CMS for my next gaming website if you are not willing to use it personally and are saying you won't develop the feature most important to a gaming community, a discussion area for members? If you're aiming to compete with GameSpot's solution, you'll need to step up your own game a lot.

I'm not out to be a jerk to you, this is simply real feedback from someone that is part of your target audience.

I never said that I won't add a forum, I said that it's not going to have a forum in the 1st version. It will come down to what will appeal more to my members, having an integrated forum setup with something like xenforo or a built in forum system. (most likely I'll end up with both to give options and let people choose what they want, it's also not unlikely that another developer will come along and decide to sell an integration/bridge or setup a built in plugin for a forum)

I'm having this all done out of pocket at my own expense and I'm giving the cms away for free as open source. I do have plans on how to generate income, like selling additional plugins to extend features, which will allow me to continue developing. I plan to offer everything a person would need to run a proper gaming community, it will just take time.

My main focus right now is getting my first version released, a custom designed website, built in forum system and or integrated forum solutions will come eventually among many other features.

 

[AzzidReign]

Thanks for the clarification. I'd rather not have to sign up on your website to discuss the CMS. Would have been nice to see some discussion here and if there were plans for integration/bridge to Xenforo...I know a lot of people are looking for that (me included, but we've already begun work on ours using xf and widget framework as the base).

 

[Drew Turnbow]

Thanks for the clarification. I'd rather not have to sign up on your website to discuss the CMS. Would have been nice to see some discussion here and if there were plans for integration/bridge to Xenforo...I know a lot of people are looking for that (me included, but we've already begun work on ours using xf and widget framework as the base).

I removed that part about signing up to my website, ask anything you want and I'll try to answer as best as I can.

 

[AzzidReign]

What are the feature set? How will this be geared towards gaming? And how will it be different than Wordpress, Joomla, or Drupal?

 

[Drew Turnbow]

What are the feature set? How will this be geared towards gaming? And how will it be different than Wordpress, Joomla, or Drupal?

Feature List (this list will be in v1.0 to be released soon)

• From the games submission area you'll be able to add the title, background header image, release date, developers, publishers, summary/description and age ratings. You can also upload images/screenshots, select multiple genres and multiple platforms to list the games in as well.
• Drag & drop multiple media files at one time for easy uploading
• From the backend you'll be able to control the look and appearance of your game cms with of color options, styling options and font types.
• Image slider for showcasing featured games and latest news
• Create custom pages that can be linked from the navigation area
• Localization for easily adding new languages
• Custom menu system for easily adding to the navigation system
• Adding videos is very similar to adding games, you can select the title, video image, summary, tags, youtube url, giantbomb url or ign url and select which game to attach the video to.

• Lot's of settings can be controlled from the admin area:
  • Timezone
  • Date Format
  • Logo Url
  • Enable/Disable Contact Form
  • Automatic or Email Verification for New Users
  • Meta Tag Info
  • Giantbomb API for Listing Games
  • Social Connect Settings with Facebook, Google and Twitter
  • Buy Now Option with Amazon Affiliates
  • Unlimited Platform Categories
• Multiple advertising locations
• Create news articles and add images and tags with full editor

Planned Features (this is only a partial list)

• 5 star admin/member ratings on games, videos, screenshots, etc
• Blog system
• Widget/Block Framework
• Plugin system for easily adding more features through plugins
• Theme system for easily adding more themes
• Forum Integration (with automatically adding forum category for game specific discussions that show on the game page, you can see a mmorpg.com game page to see what I mean about this)
• Clan/Guild directory
• Age gate for videos
• CD Key Giveaway System
• User submitted videos, screenshots, games (set to be approved before going live)

One of my biggest goals is relational content, I want to focus heavily on the ability to relate content to games and make it as user friendly as possible.

 

[drastic]

You could probably just get a bridge coded to fit one of the many game scripts that already exist and find a way to seamlessly integrate them.

Why code an entire system when they already exist and work well? You just need a code and design to connect the pieces.

There's nothing in your features that XF and a current flash game script can't already do if bridged nicely.

I'd save your money on coding and testing an entire system and create a bridge as an addon that other ppl here can purchase.

 

[sgray]

I said that it's not going to have a forum in the 1st version.

That is a more specific statement than you had previously made at that point.

Please keep in mind we don't know what your (detailed) roadmap is, what you are having your developers working currently, and what might be offered as add-ons later. All we really have to go by is a near-empty Xenforo site and what is posted on this thread. I saw the features list earlier and it's slightly interesting, but without an actual download, it's air rather than substance.

In any case, good luck, you're diving into a niche that has a bit of competition already.