Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

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Ger
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by Ger »

On some sites it serves a purpose, on others it doesn't. Just like a blog extension, a gallery, etc. All of those features should be left to extensions and not as part of the core. The core of php Bulletin Board software should be, erm, the bulletin board...
Above message may contain errors in grammar, spelling or wrongly chosen words. This is because I'm not a native speaker. My apologies in advance.

Eric Harrison
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by Eric Harrison »

I have to admit, reading some of these comments from other PHPBB'ers is disappointing, yet, not unexpected. I have been carefully keeping an eye on the future plans for PHPBB. I see a lot of innovation in the social media world and I feel like pHPBB is being left behind.

I spend a lot of time on social sites. Upvoting, liking and mentions are all part of our social online world now. I see a comment I like, I want to give my vote. I want to like a post. I want to mention other users when I'm referencing or directing a post to them. I am able to do it on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, etc. why wouldn't someone want that same capability for PHPBB? I know I do.

It's been brought up that PHPBB free software. We should be happy with what we get. Well I've been happy for nearly 10 years. And appreciative. As far as I'm concerned PHPBB was and to some extent, still is, the industry leader in open source forum software. But the competition is closing in and not just with social media but other software companies as well. If it''s money PHPBB needs to give the features that many of us are asking for, then name the price. I'm willing to pay to help make it happen. Kickstarter would be a great choice.

Many of us are all in with PHPBB. Our users, posts, all our forum information is here. We've invested a lot of time and energy building our forums, recruiting users and encouraging the type of content that keeps those users coming back. Not to mention all the admin and tech work that is necessary to keep our forums running. I can also tell you that my forum has influenced others to create spinoff forums all using PHPBB software. So, in that respect, we also help grow the PHPBB user base.

So, asking PHPBB to stay current regarding social media practices really shouldn't sound too far fetched yet I feel these requests being met with a lot of resistance and occasionally scorn. PHPBB needs to adapt or else it will be left behind.

The irony is the catch phrase for PHPBB is "PHPBB - Creating Communites" and that is exactly what we are asking the devs to do. Help us continue to create these communities. The blueprint is already laid out. Make PHPBB more interactive with other social media as well as our current users. It's a perfect fit.

leschek
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by leschek »

While I don't use the like feature on my board I believe that it can be very useful to help to filter good/helpful posts in long topics from not so helpful post.
Ger wrote:The core of php Bulletin Board software should be, erm, the bulletin board...
It's like to say that mobile phone should be just phone. Almost everybody wants to take photos with it, browse internet etc.
So I think it should be core feature of phpBB.

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Kamahl19
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by Kamahl19 »

I could not agree more. The example with smartphone is exact, I dont understand why so many people dont see that simple forums/topics/posts are not enough.

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Master_Cylinder
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by Master_Cylinder »

Eric Harrison wrote:I spend a lot of time on social sites. Upvoting, liking and mentions are all part of our social online world now. I see a comment I like, I want to give my vote. I want to like a post. I want to mention other users when I'm referencing or directing a post to them. I am able to do it on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, etc. why wouldn't someone want that same capability for PHPBB?
Some of us spend zero time on those sites and you can always mentions a members' name and/or quote a post and tell them *why* you like it instead of just clicking a button of mass approval.

Why does it *have* to work the same way on *my* forum as it does on *your* sm sites? Some things, like voting/rating/reputation/karma kind of things (optional please) make sense for a forum but just because twitter has hashtags doesn't mean all forums should.

KnocksX wrote:Actually, +1/like should be a core feature. It's not just "retards" who want it, "liking" posts is huge for encouraging interaction in the forums and making people actually want to post, which is the dream of every admin.

Just because you're stuck in 2003 doesn't mean every new feature makes a forum similar to MySpace.
Actually, imho, it should only be a core feature if it's optional and if -1/dislike is included too. Thumbs-up without thumbs-down is simply retarded in my book.

Kamahl19 wrote:I could not agree more. The example with smartphone is exact, I dont understand why so many people dont see that simple forums/topics/posts are not enough.
Not enough for whom? What if it *is* enough for other admins and there is a way to add functionality through plug-in/mods? The question isn't whether some people want XY or Z it's whether or not it should be in the core or available for those that want it via mods.

I do think that something as basic as like/dislike for posts and karma/reputation/ratings for members should be part of the core since it is a key function of discussions that forums usually provide. However, I don't care how many "friends" a member has and I'd hate to see phpbb become twitter-ish. FB and twitter already exist; phpbb doesn't need to become a clone.


Personally, I can't stand most SM sites and if phpbb became another FB/Twitter, I'd switch to something else even if I had to pay for the sw.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it... :lol:

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Pony99CA
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by Pony99CA »

stevenmw wrote:
KnocksX wrote:Actually, +1/like should be a core feature. It's not just "retards" who want it, "liking" posts is huge for encouraging interaction in the forums and making people actually want to post, which is the dream of every admin.

Just because you're stuck in 2003 doesn't mean every new feature makes a forum similar to MySpace.
This is not the purpose of a message board. Being a part of a discussion and getting feedback are their are own encouragement for interaction.
What do you think "like" or "+1" are if not feedback? The point is that they save time and possibly posts. If you can like a post, there's no reason to reply with "Good post!" or "Me too" (which many boards discourage). Plus, those cause notifications to be sent, which liking a post probably wouldn't.
stevenmw wrote:Just like these forums, the support forums, and other support forums found else where. There is no reason to 'like' a post on a message board. It serves no purpose.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. How many times have you seen somebody on Area 51 post nothing more than "+1" in a reply . That annoys me to no end, partly because it generates another E-mail to me and partly because it's basically a junk post that could have been avoided with a Like/+1 system.

Yes, there may be times when you don't want post rating, so it should be an option, but it should definitely be part of the core system.

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KnocksX
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by KnocksX »

+1's for the posts by Eric Harrison, leschek, Kamahl19, and Pony99CA, directly above. So +1 +1 +1 +1 = +4.

Sigh, this can't be good for SEO.

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Ger
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by Ger »

leschek wrote:It's like to say that mobile phone should be just phone. Almost everybody wants to take photos with it, browse internet etc.
So I think it should be core feature of phpBB.
Many people want to be able to add a blog to their forum. And a gallery. And a newsletter. And a CMS. And a advertisement manager. And a Paypal plugin. And a portal. And similar topics. And a rotating header. And a welcome PM. And country flags...
By those arguments, you're not making a Bulletin Board system, but a "Make the funkiest website ever" system. While most people in reality will only use ~30% of all the options. Why not focus on that 30% for the base and make the funkiest plugin system ever for making the site fit for everyone?
Above message may contain errors in grammar, spelling or wrongly chosen words. This is because I'm not a native speaker. My apologies in advance.

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DavidIQ
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by DavidIQ »

Master_Cylinder wrote:Personally, I can't stand most SM sites and if phpbb became another FB/Twitter, I'd switch to something else even if I had to pay for the sw.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it... :lol:
Well...if we actually have a dislike or -1 button we'd be way ahead of them! :mrgreen:
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KnocksX
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Re: Biggest competition threats to PHPBB forums

Post by KnocksX »

Except he wouldn't switch to anything else, because there is no commercial forum software that DOESN'T have the like feature.

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