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TSuchma
Starting Member
2 Posts |
 Posted - 12 March 2003 : 17:05:53
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Hello to all!
We have been using Fusetalk and while it has a good look to it, we have had comments by our users that it is too much trouble. Our competitor uses Front Page Discussion Webs and we used to use that in the early days, but we found it very unstable despite good technical help from Microsoft.
We are thinking about Snitz and using it.
I do have some questions and I hope you can help me here.
How long are the notes available for reading by our members? In Fusetalk, the notes are archived after 100 days and when our members tried to do a search for past information, it was hard. Unless the title was specific to the note contents and/or you knew the author of the note, one could not do a good search.
So, search ability is one strong thing we need in a good forum.
I see there is chat, right? for those that utilize it.
Can some of you tell me in a nutshell the basic benefits of Snitz forums and if any can compare to Fusetalk, that would be a great help for me.
Changing out a forum format to a new one is a really bid deal and I don't want to make a mistake in doing so.
Any help for this newbee would be greatly appreciated.
Terry
Terry
<edit>Moving to a forum that would get a better response. - Dave
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Edited by - davemaxwell on 12 March 2003 17:16:12 |
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Nikkol
Forum Moderator
USA
6907 Posts |
Posted - 12 March 2003 : 17:12:59
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quote:
Originally posted by TSuchma
How long are the notes available for reading by our members? In Fusetalk, the notes are archived after 100 days and when our members tried to do a search for past information, it was hard. Unless the title was specific to the note contents and/or you knew the author of the note, one could not do a good search.
So, search ability is one strong thing we need in a good forum.
That is entirely configurable by the forum admin. You can keep topics for as long as you like. You can archive them on a regular basis (if you want) and searches can be done on the archives. Try playing around with the search function here to see how it works.
quote:
I see there is chat, right? for those that utilize it.
There is a chat MOD that you can add, but it is not part of the base code.
quote:
Can some of you tell me in a nutshell the basic benefits of Snitz forums and if any can compare to Fusetalk, that would be a great help for me.
Sorry, I haven't even heard of Fusetalk.
Any more questions? We'd be happy to answer.
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Nikkol ~ Help Us Help You | ReadMe | 3.4.03 fixes | security fixes ~ |
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TestMagic
Senior Member
USA
1568 Posts |
Posted - 12 March 2003 : 17:28:36
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The FrontPage Discussion Groups are about as basic as they come. You'll notice it's not really possible to edit anything, so if anybody posts something you don't want there, you can't delete it.
Fusetalk is very nice (I think macromedia.com and businessweek.com use it, if memory serves), but expensive and bulky.
Snitz is good because it's very customizable and offers a lot of functionality for both users and admins. It is certainly one of the best ASP forums available (at any price), and the community here really adds to the quality of the package.
Snitz is very easy to set up, so you could very easily download a copy, set it up and try it out to see how you like it. |
Snitz rocks! · Search 2 |
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pdrg
Support Moderator
United Kingdom
2897 Posts |
Posted - 13 March 2003 : 10:18:51
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| And it is *way* the best value for money ;) |
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TSuchma
Starting Member
2 Posts |
Posted - 13 March 2003 : 10:56:36
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I thank you for your responses, but I am hoping for more input. As I said, this is a giant leap for our group, a wildlife conservation organization and I want to make the right decision.
I appreciate the one response on both Fuse Talk and Snitz. I hope others that read will still post additional notes on comparing Fuse Talk with Snitz.
May I ask a silly question? What are the "mods?" Are they easily available or just a simple option for the forum administrator? We will want a "good" spellcheck (I know I need one!) and chat available to our group.
Our competitor that uses a Front Page format gets a lot of traffic at their forum site. But, with all the posts and responses, it is very confusing and difficult to zero in on certain notes or note authors. Those that know Front Page will know that which I am referring. We, on the other hand, have been told that many of our readers just don't respond on our Fuse Talk because it is not as easy to do. I never understood that as I found Fuse Talk easy to navigate. Some just want to jump to a forum and read and write without effort, any mouse maneuvering or thinking a little more about what they need to do. And, because Fuse Talk might require any extra effort by some, these folks, I am told, may be somewhat intimidated by our format, resulting in less traffic in responding though many are reading according to our stats.
One more thing I want to say before closing is that any new forum software MUST be stable since it deals with hundreds of notes. We don't want any down time due to software corruption. Front Page was not, but Fuse Talk (and our server) was very stable. Is Snitz a stable forum software?
Terry
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Edited by - TSuchma on 13 March 2003 11:02:03 |
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PeeWee.Inc
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1893 Posts |
Posted - 13 March 2003 : 12:00:53
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I have never used fuse talk so i can not say that snitz is better but, it is the best forum i have used.
Mods can be found on this forum or:
http://www.snitzbitz.com/
http://80.242.225.218:81/filelibrary.asp
All you have to do is read the read-me and then edit a few lines of code. |
De Priofundus Calmo Ad Te Damine |
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taropatch
Average Member
USA
741 Posts |
Posted - 13 March 2003 : 16:49:37
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TSuchma,
I also have only used Snitz so I cannot comment on Fusetalk.
First, Snitz is free and highly customizable. Hopefully, you or someone working on your board is familiar with Microsoft ASP (Active Server Pages). This knowledge will help you customize the forum to the look you want and integrate it with the rest of your site.
The same goes for mods. The base code functions can be found here: http://forum.snitz.com/specs.asp
Anything features beyond that requires mods to be installed. If you know ASP, you may write your own. In many cases, other users have already created a mod and are generous to share it with whoever wants it. See www.snitzbitz.com. Usually it requires copying and pasting code in to the appropriate pages of your forum. I personally do not know ASP well but am able to follow the instructions to install some mods.
Also, you should know that the data (posts, member info, etc) is stored in either a Microsoft Access database or you may choose SQL if you/your host has that. Therefore, you choose which posts are archived, deleted, etc. It's all up to your forum Administrator and the amound of space you can afford on your web server.
Lastly, I'd say that the forum code is very stable. The problems with my forum is always my host's problem and not the forum source code. If I may also add that the snitz community is a fantastic, helpful, energetic group of people. Whenever there are problems, people are quick to help.
Good luck,
AKW
happy snitz user |
Edited by - taropatch on 13 March 2003 16:51:52 |
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ruirib
Snitz Forums Admin
Portugal
26364 Posts |
Posted - 13 March 2003 : 17:00:35
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quote:
Originally posted by TSuchma
May I ask a silly question? What are the "mods?" Are they easily available or just a simple option for the forum administrator? We will want a "good" spellcheck (I know I need one!) and chat available to our group.
Mods are modifications to the base code. They come in a wide variety and supplement the functionality included in the base code, which is quite enough, by the way.
Currently iSpell is being experimented with Snitz, looks like it works quite well. |
Snitz 3.4 Readme | Like the support? Support Snitz too |
Edited by - ruirib on 13 March 2003 17:01:04 |
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spyordie007
Junior Member
USA
408 Posts |
Posted - 13 March 2003 : 17:28:03
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I have used both Snitz and Fusetalk for quite some time, we own and use a copy of Fusetalk (with MS SQL for the database) where I work. for the non-profit I work for we use Snitz (with MySQL for the database).
A big advantage to Snitz is the ability to edit/alter the source code as you (the administrator) see fit. The Price of Snitz is really good  plus you can use "mods" which are really just pieces of ASP code that people (anyone) have made to work with Snitz forums. I know there is a Spell Check mod for snitz forums floating around, it may or may not do what you want (I have it installed on my snitz forums so feel free to check that out, the link is below).
The nice thing about fuse talk is you get something that is "corporate standard out of the box" that requires little effort to manage or support.
I would really recommend checking out this forum along with the hundereds (maybe thousands) of links to other "Snitz Powered" forums that people run to see if any of them are what you are looking for.
As for those of you who are not familer with Fusetalk I would recommend checking out the Anandtech forums, I think they have somewhere in the neighborhood of 125K members with millions of posts (although dont quote me on those figures):
http://forums.anandtech.com
-Spy |
Power - The only narcotic controlled by the SEC, not the FDA.
Prosperity without pollution! The American Hydrogen Association - http://www.ahanw.org
Questions about Hydrogen? Post them on our forum - http://www.ahanw.org/forum |
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spyordie007
Junior Member
USA
408 Posts |
Posted - 13 March 2003 : 17:35:21
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Additonal info so everyone knows:
Snitz forums:
Codebase: ASP (Active Server Pages)
Database: MS SQL, MySQL, Access
License: GPL
Fusetalk forums:
Codebase: CFM (Cold Fusion)
Database: MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, Access
License: Pay to use it |
Power - The only narcotic controlled by the SEC, not the FDA.
Prosperity without pollution! The American Hydrogen Association - http://www.ahanw.org
Questions about Hydrogen? Post them on our forum - http://www.ahanw.org/forum |
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TestMagic
Senior Member
USA
1568 Posts |
Posted - 13 March 2003 : 17:35:58
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As Nikkol said, Snitz doesn't come with chat, but you can add that function. We've had a few discussions about this, and there are some very good reasons for why you would NOT want to use a chat application with your forum (ask us about this specifically, and we can point you in the right direction).
I like Snitz because it is very fast and easy to use. I particularly like the Quick Reply option.
I've seen the basic Fusetalk before, and I have to say that it's not very appealing--it's too plain, not much to do on the main page. Their $2,000 package is better, but that's too expensive.
You should also check these pages for a few more options and ideas:
Some great Snitz forums: http://forum.snitz.com/halloffame.asp
Some of the other forums available: http://forum.snitz.com/competition.asp
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Snitz rocks! · Search 2 |
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