XenForo as a Platform (Custom pages, custom profile fields, etc.)

[Developer]

Hello,

I am curious whether XenForo is suitable for use as a platform for an application/website that is not primarily a forum but has a forum area/component.

My site is going to need users, user profiles, private messages, and the like. Since I am going to want it to have a forum component anyway, I thought it might be better to build my application "on top of" forum software rather than create these components myself and then try to bridge my application and its separate database with forum software.

I thought about using the Symfony2 Framework with preexisting bundles to get some of the basic functionality, but the bundles aren't necessarily made to work with each other, may be abandoned, etc. I'd like to build my site/application on a platform whose components are assured to work together and won't be abandoned, which got me thinking about using forum software as a platform.

To that end, can anyone tell me whether I can create custom pages with XenForo and if so how easily? What about custom profile fields? Can XenForo be effectively leveraged as a platform for custom applications? Can anyone speak to their experience doing so?

Thanks for your time.

 

[TsuChi]

I am no dev but from what I have read and seen XF would suit your expressed needs provided that you use its features like conversations, discussions, profile etc
XF is very extensible so you can build a lot of apps/functionalities over its core.

custom fields is a core functionality of XF and one developer even extended its use:
http://xenforo.com/community/resources/custom-fields-by-waindigo.885/

custom pages is core functionality of XF and it can be extended
http://xenforo.com/community/pages/example-page/

TC

 

[TsuChi]

and you should look at this thread
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/pixelexit-com.58098/
to see what a skilled developer can do with basic page functionality

 

[Jeremy]

Yes. It's quite powerful and should work for you.

 

[Alpha1]

I was originally intending to use django as a platform to build various content types on. XenForo better suits my needs because its a more modern platform and has a lot of finished addons that you can simply buy and use. Quite a few people are using xenforo for the same purpose and therefore we will see more and more content types published here.
XenForo currently lacks stock content management, but there are various addons that allow you to add widgets, tags and other relevant things. This does mean stacking addon on addon which sometimes gets complicated in terms of dependencies. But as you are a dev the sky is pretty much the limit with XF.
I would not be surprised if XenForo releases will expand XF as a platform by providing more backbones.

 

[wedgar]

I was originally intending to use django as a platform to build various content types on. XenForo better suits my needs because its a more modern platform and has a lot of finished addons that you can simply buy and use. Quite a few people are using xenforo for the same purpose and therefore we will see more and more content types published here.
XenForo currently lacks stock content management, but there are various addons that allow you to add widgets, tags and other relevant things. This does mean stacking addon on addon which sometimes gets complicated in terms of dependencies. But as you are a dev the sky is pretty much the limit with XF.
I would not be surprised if XenForo releases will expand XF as a platform by providing more backbones.

What do you mean by stock content?

Thanks!

 

[Digital Doctor]

What do you mean by stock content?

Thanks!

He means Xenforo doesn't have content management natively.

 

[wedgar]

He means Xenforo doesn't have content management natively.

Ok. Thanks.

 

[Developer]

Hello,

It's been a while since I posted my original question. I'd meant to thank those of you who replied, and apologize that it slipped my mind at the time.

Since it is closely related, I figured I'd add my followup question here rather than begin a new thread. The description of the "page node" says that it's meant to encompass mostly static content. See https://xenforo.com/community/pages/example-page/

Can page nodes include the results of PHP scripts as well, so that they can include/display dynamic content? Can anyone point me in the direction of documentation that explains how to accomplish as much?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Paul B]

Can page nodes include the results of PHP scripts as well, so that they can include/display dynamic content?

Yes, page nodes support PHP callbacks.

https://xenforo.com/community/threads/editing-templates-and-defining-a-callback-for-pages.7226/

 

[Developer]

This looks perfect, thanks Brogan!