New 'members'

[Gambit]

We could all sneak into the ProjeKction chatroom under different names. Who would notice?

[tgraham]

Joomla, thats like DOOMLOOPS, right?

[Scott]

The other reason that I find it attractive is that it can easily integrated with Joomla, a CMS (Content Management System) that I like a lot.  I would really like for the site to be more than just a forum and a true CMS would be very cool.

Can you explain further, for non-techies like me, what exactly is a CMS?  And what would it do on our site?

A CMS is basically just a simple way to create websites.  I got this definition of CMS from smallbizonline.co.uk:

Content Management System A standard HTML website is static and fixed. Which means that to change any text and images, the page files that make up the site must be edited then uploaded to the web server. To do this you either have to be a web programmer or you have to hire one.
With a content management system, the content within the pages that make up the site is not pre-written into the pages, but pulled from an online database when a user requests a page. You have the ability to alter the content within the database at any time via an easy to use administration interface with your web browser. The logon to your administration uses a secure password therefore no one else can alter your website. View an example of a Content Management System.

The question "what would it do on our site"? is a good one.  The answer is I'm not sure, but I've always hoped that the site could be a little more than just a forum.  More of a resource for our users.  A couple of bad examples, but maybe they might get people thinking are:

1. TLC could publish his stories as PDF (or Word, or whatever format) documents that could be kept in a document manager.
example: DSC Coaching Documents

2. Joomla has a calendar component with which we could post important dates such as when artists of interest are touring and where.
Example: Joomla Calendar

3. There are add on modules like photo gallery where we could share pics.
Example: DSC Photo Gallery

[Nadim]

The question "what would it do on our site"? is a good one.  The answer is I'm not sure, but I've always hoped that the site could be a little more than just a forum.  More of a resource for our users.

"Build it, and they will come."  

I think it'd be a great idea (I'm sure someone else has thought of it before) to start up a new thread for folks to assemble a "wishlist" of features for a Planet Crimson forum++ (that means, more than a forum, or, more specifically, elevating the forum to a higher level, as we access the value of forum and then add one to it, but now I'm in the middle of a boxed sentence about C variable operations and have no idea how to stop it so I'll just stop--it's too late in the morning!).  If good things come of that, we should have an initial idea for requirements for a new site.

I wouldn't want to suggest anything and then have Scott do all the grunt work, so if you're interested, Coach, I'd be happy to help, as long as all I'm doing is trying to find a job.

[Scott]

Now on to the important stuff: I want my chat room!! (Pounds shoe on computer desk)

~s

Yeah, I got yer chat room, RIGHT HERE!

Well maybe not right here, but you can access from the portal page or the bottom of the forum pages.

[Scott]

I've just added a few phpBB "mods" that will make life a little easier regarding the new user stuff.  People may wonder why the spammers do this in the first place.  Here is part of an (edited) message I sent to Darren last night on the subject of Simple Machines vs phpBB.

As of right now, it still has the same problem that phpBB does. New users show up on the "member list" even though their accounts have not been activated by an admin.  The whole thing is pretty straight forward when you think about it.

Why do the spammers create accounts just so they can put links to their site in their profile? Despite what some may think, its not to get the users of the forum to visit the porn site. The reason is to increase their rating on the search engines and make their site show up closer to the top of the list when users search for porn, or gambling sites, etc..

Part of how Google establishes your ranking is by the number of links it finds to your site on other sites.

Having the account disabled doesn't mean shit to the spammer. The Spider Bot can still "see" the users profile on the list.

To discourage this, I've used a mod found on the phpBB site that prevents inactive users from showing up on the member list.  I've also installed a "Prune Users" mod that will allow me to among other things delete inactive users with one click.

While looking at that mod, I've noticed that we have quite a few "members" that have never posted.  I'm trying to decide if I should delete them or not.

[Kram]

While looking at that mod, I've noticed that we have quite a few "members" that have never posted.  I'm trying to decide if I should delete them or not.

If they're not spammers, I assume you'll keep 'em. Eh wot?

Maybe I'm the only one who cares, but since we now sport a link to that other place on our home page, does he have one to us on his?

[Scott]

Yes.  Actually, he put a link to this place first.

[Kram]

Alright then, I won't mail him the doggie booboos.

[Nadim]

Coach: the newest version of phpBB supports "visual confirmation" for new members (which is the slightly more annoying method of having a person type in numbers and letters from a warped image to show they're really human).  Maybe that would be a good way to get around moving to a completely new board?  

[Sebastian Knight]

Most likely yes. I tried (without success) to enable the Visual Confirmation feature for new users. For some reason this doesn't work for this site, I'm not sure why. I searched the phpBB help forum, but coudn't find a solution. I posted a question there related to this problem a week ago, but haven't seen a response yet.

Coach: the newest version of phpBB supports "visual confirmation" for new members (which is the slightly more annoying method of having a person type in numbers and letters from a warped image to show they're really human).  Maybe that would be a good way to get around moving to a completely new board?  

See, this is one of the reasons that people hate tech support guys.  They don't listen to you and assume you don't know what you're doing.

[Nadim]

See, this is one of the reasons that people hate tech support guys.  They don't listen to you and assume you don't know what you're doing.

Actually, the reason why I ignored his post about that is that I didn't see it...    I'm way too lazy to look through *everything*, because I've got slightly better things to do (like wait for Jim Gaffigan's special on Comedy Central later tonight [hint!]).  I just installed phpBB on my laptop to serve as my content management system and came across that thing in a hurry.  Works quite well for me.

Scott, want me to take a look at it, too?  Three eyes should see better than two.  

[highlythrakked]

Scott, want me to take a look at it, too?  Three eyes should see better than two.  

What, do you wear a monocle?  

[tgraham]

Its that third eye in the forehead.

[Kram]

He wears a monocle, smokes a pipe, runs around in a silk smoking jacket and is fond of saying "By jove, Old Bean I think you've got it!"