Considering if I should buy XenForo.

Jeanz

Jeanz

Member
Hi there,

I'm considering if I should invest in XenForo, but I want to make sure it fits my needs before I do it.

I will be using it for my Avril Lavigne fansite, where I'm currently using WordPress with the plugins BuddyPress and bbPress to create that "community feel", however I'm not satisfied with it, it feels cheap and unfinished, even though I've done what I can with it.

I stumbled upon this website http://www.avforums.com/ and I really liked the profiles and forums, that's when I first learned about XenForo. I've done some research and found that many of the features the basic XenForo is missing that I need, can be bought as add-ons.

However I just need to be 100% certain that this is the right choice before I go and buy it. I know it's cheap compared to the other alternatives like vBulletin, but it's still a lot of money for me, so I just need to be sure! :-)

Question 1: I need a news portal on my site, the entire front page needs to be dedicated to news and community stuff, like on http://8wayrun.com/ so I'm guessing that the add-on XenPorta can do that for me?

Question 2: Xen Media Gallery is awesome, but I wonder if I can add a media tab to the user profiles, so they can have their own personal galleries in their profiles?

Question 3: I remember seeing a ranking system, or at least something where the users had different "levels", but is there any add-ons for point systems that would reward the users with points when they log in, comments, writes a status and so on, to encourage the users to be active?

Question 4: Is there a add-on for reviews?

Question 5: Is there a add-on for profile friendships so the users can ask each other for friendship on the site?

Question 6: I tried the demo for XenForo and found it a tiny bit confusing, but I think I would just have to spend a little time on getting to know it. One thing I couldn't quite figure out, is something so simple as a plain page with content on it? Whenever I tried making a new page, it became a part of the forum, and that's not what I want. I have a lot of content that needs to be in their own pages and available in the navigation bar. Also is there not a HTML editor for page content, or how does that work?

Question 7: How would I install it on my host when I already have a working WordPress installation? I can buy another MySQL database to set up the DB files in, but if I install it in a folder like www.mysite.com/community, could I just make my front page redirect to that direction when I'm ready to delete my WordPress site?

Also if I buy XenForo would I need to buy the Resource Manager? I'm not really sure what it does and if it's something my site could live without?

I feel like I have a ton of questions, but I think these are the most important ones right now. I really appreciate if anyone would want to take the time to answer them :-)

Thank you!
 
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There are several portal add-ons available. You'll need to ask @Chris D about XMG, but any gallery requires an add-on. There are several credit add-ons in the resource manager. I do not believe I've seen a reviews add-on, but some have used the resource manager for one. XenForo doesn't have friends, and I'm not sure I've seen an add-on that implements "friends".

Pages are nodes, which fall under the "forums" tab, you can add HTML to the navigation bar and @Jake Bunce has an add-on that allows you to add nodes to the navbar. There is no WYSIWYG editor.

As to Q7, yes, that would work.

You are not obligated to buy the Resource Manager or Enhanced search and can add them on at a later date if you so choose.
 
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Thanks for the answer! :)

So the resource manager is not something I would need in order to use add-ons? I guess I'm just not sure on exactly what it does, and if I need it or not :)
 
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Jeanz said:
Question 4: Is there a add-on for reviews?
Click to expand...
As for this, with very little work you can make @Bob B's Showcase add-on into a very nice review add-on. I've just really started with working on it as a review setup, but this will let you see the basics.
https://servinglinux.com/reviews/

EDIT:
Site is down for a short while.. upgrading from Percona to mariaDB - and it's not going well.
 
Last edited:
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What kind of files would you host? If it's pics and vids, you could post them in your forums...but for better management, xenmediagallery is really cool.

If it's some other file type, like music or something, then resource manager will organize it nicely.
 
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drastic said:
What kind of files would you host? If it's pics and vids, you could post them in your forums...but for better management, xenmediagallery is really cool.

If it's some other file type, like music or something, then resource manager will organize it nicely.
Click to expand...
Mostly pictures and perhaps videos as well, and most likely also YouTube videos, since I don't have the rights to the official music videos :-)
 
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technically, you can put those in your regular forum posts. but, if you plan to have a lot of content and want it organized really awesome, then definitely get the xenmediagallery. it's freaking awesome
 
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