Stafford Forum 2.0 is coming! Help & suggestions needed...

[KencoPlenco]

What about a voting poll kind of thing? It would be interesting to see how many people like or dislike stuff (laid out in a graph kind of way for visualization) even thou this forum does do a lot of that anyway via post and comments and also the poll system:S

 

[Admin]

Well, I have to say I am very surprised to read so many "If it ain't broke don't fix it"/"I like things the way they are," posts! I assumed that you all just put-up with the 'retro' feel of The Forum, but would relish the idea of a more '21st Century' community. Clearly, the old adage about "assume" holds true.

I agree with the if it isn't broke don't fix it, however I also like the idea of something more updated. Imagine those links to stafford radio on the side been a button to click and your already listening while posting updates on here, Having a box below that show recent activity of twitter or facebook, social peeps get fed everything from one website.

That's exactly the sort of thing I was thinking, and that is my exact motivation! Have a skill point for being on the same wavelength.

I have always said that I would love Stafford Forum to be the central hub for Stafford's online community, and now that there are several Stafford-based Twitter accounts (including our own), Facebook pages, radio stations, etc. out there, I thought it would be great to have a front page that brought this all together.

I love the vBulletin engine which overclockers forums use - is that an off-the-shelf package?

Indeed it is. In fact, the way Overclockers have it configured is very "off-the-shelf" (i.e. vBulletin is very customisable, but the layout/theme they have is very basic and almost as it comes 'out of the box').

For the forum element of Stafford Forum 2.0, I would almost certainly use vBulletin, but I would hope to customise it so that it looks a bit nicer and easier on the eye. It would work in almost exactly the same way as The Forum does at the moment, but it would look better, and feature all of the things that you lot have been crying out for (e.g. email notifications of PMs, better PM management, birthdays listed on the front page, better layout, YouTube integration, etc.).

The main thing that got me thinking and led to me posting this thread was all the bells & whistles I was reading about on the vBulletin site. Before I plonk down the money for vBulletin, I thought I'd ask for ideas on what other software/platforms we could use to integrate with it to create a 'front page', rather than the forums being the first thing you see. I see a lot of sites these days which look very professional and polished, and then hear people comment "Oh, that's just a standard WordPress layout," so I started thinking "Well, if it's that easy, why don't we do it?"

FB/Twitter integration might be nice but I'm getting kind of sick of sites doing that tbh. Just because I'm on your site doesn't mean you have to be all up in in my shit.

TBH I'm not a big FB user, its not my bag baby. What exactly would be integrated, my FB shiz here or this shiz on my face?

Yes - that is the exact kind of integration that annoys me (I may be in the minority here). If I wanted to say/share something on FB - I would have - and vice versa. I am capable of using two sites at once (whore) so don't go throwing my lyrics all over the place automagically - I don't like it.

Oh no, I didn't mean anything like that! As you know, we take Internet privacy seriously, so I wouldn't dream of featuring anyone's Facebook content on Stafford Forum.

When I talk about Facebook integration, I simply mean being able to 'Like' or share a thread/post, connect your Forum profile to your Facebook profile (as an option, by no means mandatory or encouraged, but many people like that sort of thing). So, integrating Stafford Forum into your Facebook, rather than the other way round (if that makes sense). This sort of thing would really help to promote The Forum, as people would see their friends 'liking' discussions on Stafford Forum, and it would hopefully bring them here.

Same with Twitter integration; just a little box which shows the latest tweets from the Stafford Forum Twitter and links to our Twitter feed. Not tweets from our followers, or anything like that!

And, as gdavies says, in line with our efforts to really promote Stafford FM and Stafford Radio, we could have updates from them on the front page, along with buttons to launch a little pop-out player, so that you can listen without navigating away from Stafford Forum.

This is all great input, so keep it coming everyone. Once I know what people want, and how I can achieve it, I'll put the wheels in motion!

 

[Gramaisc]

Talking with gdavies in real life this afternoon, he mentioned the matter of phone compatibility. Not being a person who uses a phone as anything other than a phone, this aspect hadn't occurred to me. Are there, perhaps, issues when people interact with the current Forum system via a phone that could be improved?..

 

[tek-monkey]

Yes, as mentioned earlier fat fingers regularily hit mark all as read instead of view latest!

 

[gdavies]

design aspect for mobile version would be helpful for us fat fingered peeps, but pretty sure with the talent on here we could tweak, hack or even install parts that don't come fresh out the box and have something that people could shout about

 

[Jonah]

If an update is completed could Tapatalk support be added?

Tapatalk is a forum app on the iPhone http://www.tapatalk.com/

 

[Rikki]

I do almost all my forum browsing and posting from my iPhone. Apart from the fat finger issue which I have problems with myself at times I think the forum works perfectly well on a phone.

 

[proactive]

Oh no, I didn't mean anything like that! As you know, we take Internet privacy seriously, so I wouldn't dream of featuring anyone's Facebook content on Stafford Forum.

When I talk about Facebook integration, I simply mean being able to 'Like' or share a thread/post, connect your Forum profile to your Facebook profile (as an option, by no means mandatory or encouraged, but many people like that sort of thing). So, integrating Stafford Forum into your Facebook, rather than the other way round (if that makes sense). This sort of thing would really help to promote The Forum, as people would see their friends 'liking' discussions on Stafford Forum, and it would hopefully bring them here.

Same with Twitter integration; just a little box which shows the latest tweets from the Stafford Forum Twitter and links to our Twitter feed. Not tweets from our followers, or anything like that!

The Myface/Spacebook/twitter integration thing was what was troubling me, but now you've expanded on what you meant I think that's fine. People can then make as much or as little as they like out of it.

A vbb based layout as per many other forums would be good and I agree with the comments that have been made re music/youtube integration.

Just wish I could be of some help but web 2.0 things aren't something I have any experience of I'm afraid.

 

[Jonah]

I do almost all my forum browsing and posting from my iPhone. Apart from the fat finger issue which I have problems with myself at times I think the forum works perfectly well on a phone.

Yeah it does but my eyes aren't what they used to be and Tapatalk helps!

 

[Admin]

Talking with gdavies in real life this afternoon, he mentioned the matter of phone compatibility. Not being a person who uses a phone as anything other than a phone, this aspect hadn't occurred to me. Are there, perhaps, issues when people interact with the current Forum system via a phone that could be improved?..

Yes, with the prevalence of mobile devices these days, I would definitely be looking at implementing a platform that supports a mobile orientated stylesheet/layout. As far as I know, there is a version of vBulletin (or a plug-in/customisation of some sort) that allows for auto-detection of one's browser, and if it sees that you are using a mobile device it will automatically display the 'mobile' version of the site.

design aspect for mobile version would be helpful for us fat fingered peeps, but pretty sure with the talent on here we could tweak, hack or even install parts that don't come fresh out the box and have something that people could shout about

I have learned the hard way that, whilst hacking and tweaking allows for more customisation, it makes it a real pain to apply official updates and patches. The platform that The Forum currently runs on, PunBB, doesn't support Private Messaging, Stafford Points, the 'Useful Links' & 'Who's Online' boxes, the Calendar, etc. I have hacked all of those in, and as a result the code is so far removed from the original that upgrading is basically out of the question at this point!

It is actually this fact that was the original driving force behind the decision to switch, and as a result I would like to stick to standard products, plug-ins an customisations, so that I can easily update and ensure you guys always have the latest features.

 

[gdavies]

tapatalk comes as a plugin for most forum boards, as standard with vbulletin or invision power boards

 

[Admin]

If an update is completed could Tapatalk support be added?

Tapatalk is a forum app on the iPhone http://www.tapatalk.com/

I will look into it. When I am browsing forums on my own phone and I get the "This forum supports Tapatalk, would you like to install it?" prompt, I always ignore it, so I have to admit I have no idea what it really is or what benefits it brings!

I suspect it is a simple vBulletin plug-in or extension, so hopefully it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

At this stage, all I want is a nice looking front page, which pulls in all the aforementioned data (e.g. Stafford Forum latest tweets, latest pictures posted to The Forum, most popular threads, buttons to listen to radio stations, Forumites' birthdays, etc.) and presents it in a polished, inviting way, which allows the user to then dive into whichever part they want.

Remember, and the end of it it will still be the Stafford Forum that you know and love! The main element will still be the forums, and (other than a bit if a facelift) they will look and operate in much the same way, so don't worry in that regard. I'm just looking for help in creating a nice landing page, as per the above.

 

[dangerousdave]

i used to be a member of a forum that was hosted by proboards (have a look at jackelus.proboards4.com if you want to look at it specifically), and i found that the two things it did well were

1) a load of buttons that embedded the html coding inot your reply for you (for those of us that aren't as tech savvy)

2) you could easily set up polls

until the band that the above forum was promoting stopped the forum was really active, probably down in part to the two nice little features i've just mentioned (oh, and if you want to check it out that forum has now been switched so you don't have to be a member to post on it, so you'll be able to see all the functionality itself)

the only other thing that has cropped to mind is that there's a new website (only available in america unless you understand proxy servers) where you and a group of friend can create your own playlist, much like a jukebox. is there any way that skill points could be exchanged for plays? or is that getting rate too complicated? (and open to abuse...)

 

[Wormella]

It would be nice if it worked well with mobile devices - goldilox & I both use them (samsung galaxy s & blackberry pearl) and struggle to check the forum on them sometimes, and yes, something you could share posts on facebook / twitter / +1 would be fab - but other that that, I've no desire for it to be combined with everything else I use.

I've mixed feelings on the chat box, I don't usually use them - although I've seen them work well on other forums, but anything that stops threads being derailed as often as they are would be welcomed by myself.

The forum works pretty well as it is because it works, and there isn't too much in the way. If there's a front portal page, then a link through to the forum, I'll more then likely just update my book marks so I don't have to click an extra link...

 

[db]

It would be nice if it worked well with mobile devices...

yeah defo.. maybe have a nice short URL that bypasses the front-page guff & takes you straight to the forum, and invokes a mobile-friendly CSS or something (e.g. m.staffordforum.com or whatev's)..

I've mixed feelings on the chat box, I don't usually use them - although I've seen them work well on other forums, but anything that stops threads being derailed as often as they are would be welcomed by myself.

agree entirely..

If there's a front portal page, then a link through to the forum, I'll more then likely just update my book marks so I don't have to click an extra link...

yeah, i will almost certainly do the same lol.. other places i use that have a "main site" which then link to a forum (e.g. something awful), i bookmark the forum directly cos i have no interest in the main site/front page at all!

 

[grumpystaffordguy]

I use a lot of different forums and have done for many years. This one is OK. I'm not certain about the social media links. I dont think messaging is a good idea.

I don't know a great deal about websites, but I do have experience of the server side of things if you ever need a hand with that.

 

[Admin]

I'm not certain about the social media links.

Can you provide any more detail? In what way are you uncertain about them? As previously mentioning, I'm purely thinking along the lines of having a box on the front page which shows tweets from the Stafford Forum Twitter, as well as the facility to 'Like' a post/thread, which would then post it to your profile so that it would promote it to your friends, and therefore hopefully get them to join in the discussion. That sort of thing.

I dont think messaging is a good idea.

Do you mean Private Messaging? Because we already have that (see the 'PM' links under each user's name next to their post).

Or do you mean you don't like the idea of a real-time chat-box? If so, I'm inclined to agree, and it has been discussed before, but I would be interested to hear your thoughts as to why you don't think it's a good idea.

Thanks.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Regarding the chat box idea, I personally think it would be great. There are many times where I have PM'd a user because they are online but they still don't notice that they have PM's and eventually log off. I then find myself having to derail a thread (or at least make un-necessary posts) in order to get their attention.

A chat box would be simpler for these occassions, and although it may have negatives I would at least think that it's worth a "trial run". Those who wouldn't use it - don't use it. Just like Admin's desire to add social networking links - these are all good useable integrations but nobody would be breaking your arm to use them

 

[Admin]

Regarding the chat box idea, I personally think it would be great.

Yes, a chatbox/shoutbox is definitely being given serious consideration. All the 'kids' seem to love that sort of thing these days.

I'm just trying to weigh-up the Pros and Cons of buying the full vBulletin CMS solution versus just buying vBulletin, and integrating it into WordPress. Any advice in this regard would be appreciated!

 

[wmrcomputers]

What kind of costs are involved with each option? If it's not ridiculous, I'm sure you could set up a Paypal donations link to raise the funds. I've gained several customers through the forum so a donation is the least I could do and I'm sure there would be others who would be prepared to chip in a few quid. Just a thought