helping mod authors port mods to next phpbb version...

[asinshesq]

I apologize if this has been covered elsewhere, but I've been wondiering whether there are or will be any detailed posts written summarizing how the code of the new phpbb has been changed compared to the old one so that mod authors who want to port their phpbb2.0.xx mods over to the new phpbb won't have to start from scratch in reverse engineering how the new version works. I'm looking ahead with some trepidation to the daunting task of getting my various mods working with phpbb3 (although I note that some of my mods like save posts as drafts won't be needed with the new version, and that should help!).

[ergo14]

i think most of the code will be redone from scratch, the database scheme is different i think ( havent got timee to look at it yet ) so dont expect lots of upgrade paths for the mods ...

[ChALkeR]

It will be easyer to rewrite most of them (if they are still needed)... maybe using some code from the old version of mods.

[asinshesq]

I'm resurrecting this old thread now that we're moving closer to a beta release.

I admit I am ignorant about the new code so I may be totally offbase, but I continue to think that if someone with big picture knowledge about olympus gave a little primer on how things are different, then phpbb2 mod authors would much more easily be able to figure out how to adapt their mods to olympus. And I am also guessing that if no one gives a primer like that, a fair number of mod authors will not take the time to reverse engineer (with the result that many great mods will disappear when olympus emerges).

Am I wrong about the need for a primer? Has anyone already written something on this that I missed?

[Crack]

From what I see the entire code was rewritten from scratch so it's impossible to create any kind of instructions for mod authors. Some of the little mods will require a total rewrite as most of the variables and functions they depended on have disappeared. You could as well ask how to port phpBB2 mods to IPB/vBulletin - not much difference.

[nEGATIVE]

Most mods eg. attachment mod, usercp, extra bbcode etc. will be made pretty much obsolete by Olympus though.

[nEGATIVE]

Not to mention Categories Hierarchy.

[asinshesq]

From what I see the entire code was rewritten from scratch so it's impossible to create any kind of instructions for mod authors. Some of the little mods will require a total rewrite as most of the variables and functions they depended on have disappeared. You could as well ask how to port phpBB2 mods to IPB/vBulletin - not much difference.

I continue to think that some generic guidance about what functions have moved where would be helpful, but as I said I have not looked at the code yet so I am be wrong about this.

Most mods eg. attachment mod, usercp, extra bbcode etc. will be made pretty much obsolete by Olympus though.

Not true. There are a ton of mods that do things that Olympus does not do. Just among my own 11 validated mods, I think that Olympus has no counterpart for over half. The ones for which there are no Olympus counterparts include, among others:

- clone posts
- email posts or messages to combinations of groups
- [pre] bbcode
- tabulated survey at topic head

And of course there are lots of other mods that other people have done that have no Olympus equivalent (smartor's album mod, skinmaster's forum watch mod (or is that included in Olympus?), spellchecker, etc.).

Some of these will be easy to port over (and some already have) but some - e.g. tabulated survey - may be tough.

[ergo14]

ive seen the devs state MANY times that mods like smartor album ETC , will not be included into olypus because its a FORUM software, so dont expect ,calendars, albums etc. Anyways... its a lot better option to bridge coppermine galery with phpbb ( olympus will be bridged easy too i think ) than use smartors album ( but its my opinion , ive used both for a LONG time )

[nEGATIVE]

If bithdays are included, a calendar would be useful IMO.