As discussion relating to portal is not officially sanctioned I will take the time to introduce the Kiss Portal, the whys where’s and whatnots…
My original thoughts when I started the development on the Kiss Portal were as its name implies to ‘Keep it Simple and Smart’ (a small change to the more familiar acronym)… The original ‘Keep it Simple Stupid’ was dropped as I could not find anything ‘stupid’ about it…
My strategy and as a consequence the restraints I imposed were:
- Never modify core code unless absolutely necessary ... (* see below)
Always use existing core code where possible (don't reinvent the wheel)...
Never complicate code to the point where no one can follow it...
Use a modular approach to modifications and portal blocks...
Allow sufficient leeway in order to support different theme designs to alter the look and feel of a board. (If a template/theme design doesn’t contain the required file to display a portal block it doesn’t break the page… it is simply skipped).
*Note: If core code had to be modified I did it in such a way as to ensure SVN update did not result in errors. How many times have you tried to follow a mod install only to find the text in 'Find xxx' was either missing or previously modified, at best this made things difficult but more often impossible...
Background:
Kiss was started a week or so after phpBB3 CVS became available and so is the first portal for phpBB3. Admittedly I got a little stick for developing based on pre beta but once I realised discussion was forbidden I soon learned to develop quietly, don't bug people and use the time to familiarise myself with the code. The portal code was written from the ground up and up to recently only contained my own code, however, with the support from the guys at startrekguide I have included several of their mods and a few new mods of my own…
Editing core code, my method:
In php code I use if (KISS_INSTALLED) do {i} else {j}. The original code would be in {j} and my alterations were in {i}... The SVN would update the code in {j} and I would examine the updates and make any alterations to my code {i} where necessary... In templates I use <!-- IF KISS --> {i} <!-- ELSE --> {j} <!-- ENDIF -->...
I note with this method it is entirely possible to disable the portal/portal code should a problem exist and the system reverts back to a default installation of phpBB3.
If you want to see it in action, join in and support it, or even criticise it, drop by… see sig for link. My thanks to everyone who has supported the portal, it may not amount to anything but it’s been worth the effort and by the way… I don’t even have a news section; all the portal page threads are pulled from the announcements forum…
Special thanks to Highway and the guys at startrekguide.
Mike