Looking for Software for a new Forum

EricaJoy

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Wondering if Xenforo is The One.

Is oauth or openid login built in by default?

I've read lots of threads about why one should use Xenforo but I'd like to know the flip side. If you're using XenForo, what do you think its missing?
 
Wondering if Xenforo is The One.

Is oauth or openid login built in by default?

I've read lots of threads about why one should use Xenforo but I'd like to know the flip side. If you're using XenForo, what do you think its missing?

There's plenty missing. But that's only because it's a new software. Given time, it'll definitely be the leader of the pack.
 
As far as I know, only Facebook login is included. I haven't seen any options for any others. On a new forum, XenForo would be great because you won't be missing anything that members might have been used to while using another software. Currently, it is missing a lot, as Peggy mentioned. For example, you can't watch entire forums, only threads. But give it more time, and you'll be seeing a lot of goodies being added. Mike and Kier are hard at work.
 
Wondering if Xenforo is The One.
<matrix reference>
You should probably speak to the Oracle
</matrix reference>

Only you can decide if it's what suits you best based on how the software stands now (how you're using it). If it helps, a list of some of the features available in 1.1 are listed here along with the latest information that's been published officially.

If you do want my opinion, I find it a pleasure to use. Everything is logical in terms of where everything is. It simplifies tasks such as posting, writing on profiles, it uses overlays appropriately etc. etc. I also find creating add-ons to be easy too - also logical there.
 
<matrix reference>
You should probably speak to the Oracle
</matrix reference>

Neo: Are there other programs like you?
The Oracle: Oh, well, not like me. But... look, see those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise, and sunset. There are programs running all over the place. The ones doing their job, doing what they were meant to do, are invisible. You'd never even know they were here. But the other ones, well, we hear about them all the time.

best quote I could find :p

Wondering if Xenforo is The One.

Is oauth or openid login built in by default?

I've read lots of threads about why one should use Xenforo but I'd like to know the flip side. If you're using XenForo, what do you think its missing?
Xenforo is great and in time can only get better "imo" anyway. well worth the "cheap" $140 price.
 
If you are looking for a forum software, Xenforo is the one. My users love it. I love it. My designer loves it (so much easier than vBulletin).

If you are looking for a forum plus a CMS plus an Arcade plus .... you currently have to look elsewhere, e.g. IPB. The software is young, the owners currently concentrate on the forum and the addon coders have released many addons, but the major ones (at least for me) are still missing.
 
Nothing that I would consider major, no. There are plenty of add-ons to fill in the blanks.

Why don't you tell us what you would consider important and we'll let you know if XF has it.
Because I haven't run a forum in about 6 years (I started that site on phpBB then converted to vB) and I don't know what is standard in the arena anymore so what I think is important now probably wouldn't cover my bases.

I'm trying to make an informed decision about what software to spend my money on and there is a dearth of information to be had about what vB and IPB are lacking but since XenForo is relatively new, not much information is out there. As such, I'm trying to get the answers straight from the people who actively use XenForo.

I guess I'll be more specific. What is the one thing you wish XenForo had that it doesn't have?
 
I think a lot of what people desire is coming in the release of 1.1. I personally don't have a demand for anything that isn't here (or planned for 1.1). What are you planning on doing with your XF license? Different communities require different things, and it could help to point to some features if we know the purpose of your forum(s).
 
I guess I'll be more specific. What is the one thing you wish XenForo had that it doesn't have?

Nothing that is a show stopper, or even more than a minor "Oh it doesn't have the ability to have forums where only the Original Poster and specified Staff can see topics..."

Minor stuff for those of us who adore the product and firmly believe it is the best, most exciting, most enjoyable forum software to use by a country mile.

Sounds to me like you would benefit from taking the Demo for a spin, see if it is right for you :) If you haven't had a forum for 6 years, you are not going to miss one single thing.. the forum world has moved so much in that time, the major players didn't have that many cool toys back then either. Edit.. I should add, Xenforo is already 1000000x better than any of the competition was 6 years ago :D or now... lol but that last part is purely subjective.. the first part is not ;)

Give it a go, one thing you might already have noticed, is how much fun it is to use from an end user perspective :)
 
I guess I'll be more specific. What is the one thing you wish XenForo had that it doesn't have?

Good question. And I can honestly say that there is only one thing I wish it had that it doesn't have. A smiley manager. I'm a smiley addict, love to use them, got to have them on my forum, and really want to be able to mange them, as in place them in categories, put them in order of appearance, etc.

Other than that, I don't believe it lacks anything that's important. But that's only my opinion.
And I totally agree with Kim's post above.
 
Because I haven't run a forum in about 6 years (I started that site on phpBB then converted to vB) and I don't know what is standard in the arena anymore so what I think is important now probably wouldn't cover my bases.
Actually, since you don't know what you don't know you will not actually be missing stuff you aren't aware of or don't remember. Ignorance is bliss and it's a good position to be in.

Can you give some examples of what is included in the set "plenty"? I'd like to get my new site going by the end of the month so I don't have much time to give it, alas.
If you have run a vB forum for any length of time you likely grew accustomed to that there's nothing that can't be done and someone already thought of it and made a mod/addon that does it.

This is not the case for XF. The mod/addon availability is modest at best. It's not unreasonable to assume that the availability may improve in the future but it is a big unknown. Unless you know someone who's good at coding and has free time, or you have deep pockets to just outright pay for the development of add-ons, you will need to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait till someone may get around to releasing functionality you need.

As far as what's included in the set of plenty? Too many things to list really.
One of my favorite highly aggravating issues is that XF has no signature control options to control what users can and can not do with signatures. This results in having to manually take action when signatures get out of line especially since XF allows for videos to be embedded into signatures.

At the end of the day you will need to buy XF to decide whether it is for you. The demo, even though it's basically an endless demo, is sort of like the resume, it gets you an interview but the interview is still required to have a chance at getting the job. Buying XF and installing it locally or online is the interview.

If the $140 is too much of an entry barrier to buy something you may end up not using then perhaps running a forum isn't the activity for you. I am in the process of starting a new forum and I went out and bought IPB first, then XF, and then I actually bought vB too (even though I will probably be burned at the stake around here for that). Even though there's lots of vB hate around here its a script that provides a lot of functionality out of the box or via commercial/free mods that just doesn't exist for XF.

Having said that, I do think you can get away with using XF for a completely new forum because users aren't used to certain functionality at that location. You essentially start with a clean slate by saying "Here's my forum and here is what it does!"

It doesn't matter when a user says "Well, but over at XYZ forum they offer this and that, I want that here too.", or if they say that then they are welcome to go and be with that other forum. Forum features are icing, if users stay or leave just because of some feature then you don't want that user anyway. I ran a very successful forum on phpbb2.x for the longest time before switching to vB and the forum gained users over competing vB forums because of the content and the community.

Point is, don't worry too much about what's missing. Focus on what's there and how what's there can help you attract and retain users.
 
As far as what's included in the set of plenty? Too many things to list really.
One of my favorite highly aggravating issues is that XF has no signature control options to control what users can and can not do with signatures. This results in having to manually take action when signatures get out of line especially since XF allows for videos to be embedded into signatures.

See I wouldn't have remembered that being a big deal from my previous forum experience but now that you've mentioned it, it does make a difference..

If the $140 is too much of an entry barrier to buy something you may end up not using then perhaps running a forum isn't the activity for you. I am in the process of starting a new forum and I went out and bought IPB first, then XF, and then I actually bought vB too (even though I will probably be burned at the stake around here for that). Even though there's lots of vB hate around here its a script that provides a lot of functionality out of the box or via commercial/free mods that just doesn't exist for XF.
The money isn't a barrier. I have set a soft budget of $200 for the software but its flexible.

Focus on what's there and how what's there can help you attract and retain users.
It's a really niche topic (African-American genealogy limited to a specific set of counties in Virginia and North Carolina) so I'm not super concerned about attracting users.

I've given it some thought and the things that I really require are as follows:

- php/mysql based solution (obviously, since I'm here)
- A way to share images, pdfs, and docs. Ideally a users could just post a img/pdf/doc and have it displayed inline as the first post and comments on the post would make up the thread.
- Ability to log in without registering using Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, or OpenId accounts for their identity if they chose to.
- Stability (For example, I tried out Vanilla last weekend and trying to search the community resulted in so many "Bonk's" that I gave up on it as a viable solution.)
- Customizable user profile fields since I'd like people to be able to list links to all their family trees
- Customizable pages that are part of the forum system and allow (sanitized) html
- Permissions that allow specific usergroups to create subforums in designated forums (so people can create a subforum for a certain surname if they want to focus research)
- Failing the above, post and/or thread tagging

I'm sure I'm missing some things but thats a start.
 
See I wouldn't have remembered that being a big deal from my previous forum experience but now that you've mentioned it, it does make a difference..

The money isn't a barrier. I have set a soft budget of $200 for the software but its flexible.

It's a really niche topic (African-American genealogy limited to a specific set of counties in Virginia and North Carolina) so I'm not super concerned about attracting users.

I've given it some thought and the things that I really require are as follows:

- php/mysql based solution (obviously, since I'm here)
- A way to share images, pdfs, and docs. Ideally a users could just post a img/pdf/doc and have it displayed inline as the first post and comments on the post would make up the thread.
- Ability to log in without registering using Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, or OpenId accounts for their identity if they chose to.
- Stability (For example, I tried out Vanilla last weekend and trying to search the community resulted in so many "Bonk's" that I gave up on it as a viable solution.)
- Customizable user profile fields since I'd like people to be able to list links to all their family trees
- Customizable pages that are part of the forum system and allow (sanitized) html
- Permissions that allow specific usergroups to create subforums in designated forums (so people can create a subforum for a certain surname if they want to focus research)
- Failing the above, post and/or thread tagging

I'm sure I'm missing some things but thats a start.

I bolded the parts that aren't included:

- Facebook is only system currently supported, though I think Kier has stated they intend to extend that further (Hopefully in 1.1).
- Custom profile fields are available in 1.1.
- As far as I know there is no forum software that supports a user creating a sub-forum.
- Thread tagging isn't a feature of XenForo (nor of 1.1) but I am working on my own add-on (with my partner) and hope to have it done sometime soon. It will also probably be a feature eventually.
 
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