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neonlys
Starting Member
7 Posts |
 Posted - 17 June 2003 : 07:46:24
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Hi,
I just downloaded your forum today and thought it should give it a try. I’ve been using DcForum from dcscripts (www.dcscripts.com) for the last year, but I’m thinking of changing to this forum because it’s written in asp (which I’m a bit familiar with) and because it’s “free”.
I have Snitz forum with Carbon Communities (www.carboncommunities.com) and DcForum+. Based on the features of these two others, and my own wishes, I have made up a list under here, of features that I would like to see integrated into Snitz Forum. Until then, my primary forum will be DcForum+ since they have most of the features I have listed up under here.
I have not had the time to fully check what this forum can and what it doesn’t can, so forgive me if some of this features already exists in the forum.
I would really appreciate if you answered me on every one of the following questions and features.
Regards
Chris
My questions:
This is under the admin menu.
*Username filter configuration
Set the username field to auto focus
*Administrative functions
Can you group all the links into different categories? Example: forum maintance, community settings, updating etc.
*Bad word filter list
Set the bad word field to auto focus
*Place the menu of the forum in an own table or cell. Create icons to the menu links.
*Possibility to show/hide the navigation three that shows up right under the “Snitz forum 2003” logo
*Possibilities to retrieve archived topics and place them in their original forum again.
*Give us the possibility to translate the forum into our own language by editing some language files. I believe that users would greatly appreciate that possibility and would be willing to share their languages with all the other users of snitz forum. This gives you (the owner of snitz forum) a bigger market.
*Create an IP ban list. “All” forums with respect for themselves has an IP ban list. It’s so irritating when users register just to bother every one else in the forums by posting unwanted topics etc.
It would therefore be nice if we had the possibility to ban both static and dynamical IP’s.
*Give the forum a prettier layout. By that I mean a more user-friendly a nice-looking interface.
*The possibility to declare the meta-tags through the admin panel would be nice.
*Admins can customize the messages for retrieve password, register etc.
*4 different forum types: Public, members, restricted and private.
Public: every one can post and reply to topics in this forums. You don’t need to be a registered user.
Members: You must be a registered member to be able to access these forums.
Restricted: Only certain member types are granted access to these forums. Admin chooses which member types that are allowed to enter.
Private: Nobody has access to these forums without through admin. Admin has to give access to users, either one by one, or many at the same time, before they can access these forums.
*Functionality to "Pause" the community for maintenance or updates which will then display a temporary message to Members (Only admins can now access the forum).
*Ability to move Threads to different Topics.
*Editing of Threads and Posts.
*Locking and Unlocking of Threads.
*Who’s online function
*A friends-list: Add forum members to this list so that you can see when your friends are on the forum.
*Deactivate and delete user accounts
*Add an own announcements table right over the forum categories, where admins can post news and happenings. (It only shows the subject, which is click able. A news sort of thing)
*If you are logged in as admin, you can view 4 icons to the right of the moderator(s) column. A possibility to show/hide this column would be nice.
*I would really love an extra xhtml layer on the forum. This gives it a more “expensive” look. See a live example here: http://www.forums.carboncommunities.com/index.asp
Display the login screen on a separate page, by clicking on a link named “login” in the menu.
The possibility to select “Stay logged in when I return later?” Have this displayed right under the login screen.
*Admin stay logged in when he has logged in.
I logged in as admin, made some changes to the forum in the admin options, and then clicked “All forums” afterwards. When I then clicked on “admin options” on the main page again, I was asked to login again! WHY??
*A statistic module which shows forum statistics would be nice. Example: Total amount of topics, total amount of forums, total amount of categories, total amount of registered members, total amount of threads, most users ever online (just log the db entries) etc.
* The forum could have been much more structurized. All images are placed in an image folder, admin files in an admin folder, database in a db folder.
*A color scheme selector could have been integrated into the Font/Table Color Code Configuration so that it’s easier for admins to select the appearance of the forum. (Personally I have to open frontpage to select a color because I don’t know the hex codes)
*Possibility to add certain e-mail addresses to an e-mail ban list. By that I mean the @yourcompany.com ending, not the beginning of it. Everyone that has an e-mail ending with @yourcompany.com will be asked to insert a different e-mail address.
*Different styles in topics. Instead of showing all replies right under each other, why not doing it this way?
You could choose how you want the topics to be displayed.
Try clicking on one of these links in the menu and you’ll get different topic styles:
“View in linear mode” (default is “View in threaded mode”).
See this address: http://www.dcscripts.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=57&topic_id=806&mesg_id=806&page=
*Different styles on the “Snitz Forum” mainpage.
Check out: http://www.dcscripts.com/dc/dcboard.php
Instead of using categories, DcForum uses Conferences. Each conference contains forums (unlimited of them), and in each forum you’ll find the topics.
You could choose how you want the forums to be displayed.
Try clicking on one of these links in the menu and you’ll get different forum styles:
“Choose classic view” or ”Expand conferences”
You get the idea? It’s very nice, isn’t it??
*Is it possible to display an image together with your user profile, something like the one DcForum+ has?? (It has in fact three different ways to show a topic, but you have to register and choose that in you user menu.).
*Notify admin when topics is posted
*Bookmark topics
*Pin/Unpin topics
*Show all the topics you are subscribed to.
Well, that’s all for me. Hope you enjoyed the reading, ‘cause it took me awful much time writing it. 
One more thing. Your forum is great, but everything can get better. But you have many things that DcForum+ doesn’t have (at least I think so).
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Tam
New Member
Sweden
56 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 09:12:43
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There are tons of mods for Snitz out there so you can configure the forum the way you want. Start here
The built-in features can be found here :
http://forum.snitz.com/specs.asp |
Edited by - Tam on 17 June 2003 09:13:11 |
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Anacrusis
Junior Member
USA
219 Posts |
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D3mon
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1685 Posts |
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sacred
Junior Member
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 10:28:14
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quote:
Originally posted by D3mon
You do realise of course, that Snitz is free, Open Source software and you won't be able to sell it?
I could be wrong but from what i read of the terms of use you are allowed to sell it as long as you give the open source to the person who buys it. in other words it can't be closed source.
taken from the gpl.txt
When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it
if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it
in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and
you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee.
---------------
So as long as those who distribute snitz continue to allow open source I think they can still charge people for the modifications made, warranties given and physical download of the code. Unless I am reading the gpl wrong.
Many blessings,
Sacred |
Edited by - sacred on 17 June 2003 10:29:32 |
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Tam
New Member
Sweden
56 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 10:55:15
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| Can't say it sounds nice if someone is trying to make money of Snitzforum and the community and their FREE code. I sure wouldn't mind if they changed GPL to avoid that. |
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davemaxwell
Access 2000 Support Moderator
USA
3020 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 11:05:22
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Hi, Chris.
Some of what you're asking for is already in the code or available as a mod. What's available as a mod may or may not get added in the future, but it is availavble. There is a definite limit to what gets added to the base code because not everyone wants the same thing (like I personally don't care for the who's online feature, avatars and private messages). Let's see if we can't step through all this and show what's already there and where you can get the rest....
Note: If I say there is a mod available, look in the mod w/ code forum or go to www.snitzbitz.com to try and find it.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
My questions:
This is under the admin menu.
*Username filter configuration
Set the username field to auto focus
*Bad word filter list
Set the bad word field to auto focus
These are good ideas. Will look into how to do that later....
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Administrative functions
Can you group all the links into different categories? Example: forum maintance, community settings, updating etc.
They are already grouped together by basic functionality. How else would you have us group them? Just curious...
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Place the menu of the forum in an own table or cell. Create icons to the menu links.
*Possibility to show/hide the navigation three that shows up right under the “Snitz forum 2003” logo
Both of these can be handled by doing some simple editing to inc_header.asp
*Possibilities to retrieve archived topics and place them in their original forum again.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Give us the possibility to translate the forum into our own language by editing some language files. I believe that users would greatly appreciate that possibility and would be willing to share their languages with all the other users of snitz forum. This gives you (the owner of snitz forum) a bigger market.
This in the works (v4). A definite workload, so it'll take a while...
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Create an IP ban list. “All” forums with respect for themselves has an IP ban list. It’s so irritating when users register just to bother every one else in the forums by posting unwanted topics etc.
It would therefore be nice if we had the possibility to ban both static and dynamical IP’s.
There are a number of mods available to do this. Search in the mod add-on w/ code forum.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Give the forum a prettier layout. By that I mean a more user-friendly a nice-looking interface.
This one is a bit touchy. There are a lot of people that prefer the current look. You can change the look by making changes to inc_header.asp and inc_footer.asp and setting the colors how you choose. You can also replace the current icons with others. There have been other people who have gone through and made significant changes to the format, but that's a labor intensive process, and there is no plan to go to templates or such because the approaches needed for that are either database intensive or have file access needs which some hosts do not provide.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*The possibility to declare the meta-tags through the admin panel would be nice.
There is a mod available for this (I think)
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Admins can customize the messages for retrieve password, register etc.
I think there is also a mod out there for this one. Otherwise it would require some changes to asp files (register.asp, pop_password.asp, policy.asp just off the top of my head.)
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*4 different forum types: Public, members, restricted and private.
Public: every one can post and reply to topics in this forums. You don’t need to be a registered user.
Members: You must be a registered member to be able to access these forums.
Restricted: Only certain member types are granted access to these forums. Admin chooses which member types that are allowed to enter.
Private: Nobody has access to these forums without through admin. Admin has to give access to users, either one by one, or many at the same time, before they can access these forums.
Already in the base code. Private forums need to be enabled in the admin section, then the forums need to be edited to set the access type. The restricted is the only one not in the system base but there is a mod being worked on for groups, which should get you what you need.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Functionality to "Pause" the community for maintenance or updates which will then display a temporary message to Members (Only admins can now access the forum).
Essentially now in the base code. There is a disable function, but it disables it totally. Could be changed to allow admins to continually access the regular portion of the forums (admin section already available....)
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Ability to move Threads to different Topics.
*Editing of Threads and Posts.
*Locking and Unlocking of Threads.
These functions are already there (unless by the first you mean moving replies to other topics, then that is not available....)
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Who’s online function
There is a mod available for this
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*A friends-list: Add forum members to this list so that you can see when your friends are on the forum.
The looks similar to the who's online function, just needs to be limited to a list. Not currently available that I know of.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Deactivate and delete user accounts
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Add an own announcements table right over the forum categories, where admins can post news and happenings. (It only shows the subject, which is click able. A news sort of thing)
There is an announcements mod available.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*If you are logged in as admin, you can view 4 icons to the right of the moderator(s) column. A possibility to show/hide this column would be nice.
Those functions are there for a reason, to allow easy access to the admin functions. You can probably add code to show/hide the functions(use the category hiding functionality as a base), but I doubt this will get added to the base code set.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*I would really love an extra xhtml layer on the forum. This gives it a more “expensive” look. See a live example here: www.forums.carboncommunities.com/index.asp" target="_blank">http://www.forums.carboncommunities.com/index.asp
Not sure what you mean by this. That link looks like it is just has some stylesheet stuff added to it.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
Display the login screen on a separate page, by clicking on a link named “login” in the menu.
The possibility to select “Stay logged in when I return later?” Have this displayed right under the login screen.
You could do this using the code in the base set that is used when registration is required.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Admin stay logged in when he has logged in.
I logged in as admin, made some changes to the forum in the admin options, and then clicked “All forums” afterwards. When I then clicked on “admin options” on the main page again, I was asked to login again! WHY??
This is by design. A security feature which makes it harder to access the admin area.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*A statistic module which shows forum statistics would be nice. Example: Total amount of topics, total amount of forums, total amount of categories, total amount of registered members, total amount of threads, most users ever online (just log the db entries) etc.
Some of these stats are already in the base code. It would just require some extra code to get the rest.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
* The forum could have been much more structurized. All images are placed in an image folder, admin files in an admin folder, database in a db folder.
This is more of a personal opinion. The files are kept in a single folder to make implementation as simple as possible. It's already in the code to allow you to move your images into another directory. The files are all names for easy identification, so the general population here decided that extra directories were not needed. This was a community decision a long time ago.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*A color scheme selector could have been integrated into the Font/Table Color Code Configuration so that it’s easier for admins to select the appearance of the forum. (Personally I have to open frontpage to select a color because I don’t know the hex codes)
There's a mod available for this...
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Possibility to add certain e-mail addresses to an e-mail ban list. By that I mean the @yourcompany.com ending, not the beginning of it. Everyone that has an e-mail ending with @yourcompany.com will be asked to insert a different e-mail address.
There was talk of adding this to the base code, but it hasn't made it there yet.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Different styles in topics. Instead of showing all replies right under each other, why not doing it this way?
You could choose how you want the topics to be displayed.
Try clicking on one of these links in the menu and you’ll get different topic styles:
“View in linear mode” (default is “View in threaded mode”).
See this address: www.dcscripts.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=57&topic_id=806&mesg_id=806&page=" target="_blank">http://www.dcscripts.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=57&topic_id=806&mesg_id=806&page=
Snitz is not designed by default to handle threading. It is a linear based forum and always has been. There was a mod a long time ago to allow you to switch, but it hasn't been upgraded to the latest version yet.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Different styles on the “Snitz Forum” mainpage.
Check out: www.dcscripts.com/dc/dcboard.php" target="_blank">http://www.dcscripts.com/dc/dcboard.php
Skinning is not in the base code. This is a major undertaking and may someday make it into the code, but not right now...
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
Instead of using categories, DcForum uses Conferences. Each conference contains forums (unlimited of them), and in each forum you’ll find the topics.
You could choose how you want the forums to be displayed.
Try clicking on one of these links in the menu and you’ll get different forum styles:
“Choose classic view” or ”Expand conferences”
You get the idea? It’s very nice, isn’t it??
Sub-forums are not in the base code. I think someone wrote a mod to handle it, but I don't remember if it's been updated for 3.4 or not.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Is it possible to display an image together with your user profile, something like the one DcForum+ has?? (It has in fact three different ways to show a topic, but you have to register and choose that in you user menu.).
There is a mod for avatars (assuming that's what you mean). If you mean including a picture of yourself in the profile, that's in the base code.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Notify admin when topics is posted
Subscriptions are in the base code.
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Bookmark topics
Mod is available for this....
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Pin/Unpin topics
In the base code (sticky topics)
quote:
Originally posted by neonlys
*Show all the topics you are subscribed to.
In the base code if subscriptions are enabled. Look in the menus above the login.
[quote]Originally posted by neonlys
Well, that’s all for me. Hope you enjoyed the reading, ‘cause it took me awful much time writing it.
One more thing. Your forum is great, but everything can get better. But you have many things that DcForum+ doesn’t have (at least I think so).
It took a long time to respond to too. Hopefully this gives you the information you need. |
Dave Maxwell
Barbershop Harmony Freak |
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davemaxwell
Access 2000 Support Moderator
USA
3020 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 11:06:48
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quote:
Originally posted by sacred
I could be wrong but from what i read of the terms of use you are allowed to sell it as long as you give the open source to the person who buys it. in other words it can't be closed source.
You can sell an installation service, and you can sell hosting which provides a snitz forum. You cannot sell the code itself as a stand alone entity. |
Dave Maxwell
Barbershop Harmony Freak |
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sacred
Junior Member
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 15:46:03
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quote:
You can sell an installation service, and you can sell hosting which provides a snitz forum. You cannot sell the code itself as a stand alone entity.
No offense David but that is not what the license says. You might be inferring. Not that I am looking to sell it but between what members think here and what the license says look like two different things. And yep I did read the license thoroughly before I started working with this forum software.
These lines alone
"distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish"
**it says distribute not installation BIG difference. Then if you read the lines that preceed it that define free software it says
"When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price"
Further down it states
"For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights.
We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and(2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software."
And further it goes on saying it must be open source and the people given all source code who buy it as well as that no patents are permitted.
I have seen this subject before in this forum but when reading the logical statements in the license and not inferring my own rights and wrongs it clearly states you can sell the software as it stands as long as you adhere to the guidelines in the license, such as not imposing further restrictions and giving all source to the recipient.
I am not trying to start a huge argument but I also want to make you aware of your statement versus what the GPL.txt files states. Which to me they seem conflicting. If you do a word search on installation it is only used once in the license agreement and it is NOT in reference to payment receiving.
And if I missed a statement within the gpl license that literally states you are not allow to distribute this software for a fee please let me know.
Many blessings,
Sacred |
Edited by - sacred on 17 June 2003 15:51:53 |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20595 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 16:52:26
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| it does NOT state that you can sell the code, it states that you can charge a fee for its distribution, the two things are not the same, and you must make it very clear that they are not paying for the code. |
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sacred
Junior Member
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 18:17:32
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quote:
Originally posted by HuwR
it does NOT state that you can sell the code, it states that you can charge a fee for its distribution, the two things are not the same, and you must make it very clear that they are not paying for the code.
Hi Huwr, I think we are getting hung up the terminology between you and I. Terminology of code versus software.
Basically, the gpl.txt gives us the right to sell the enhance or original versions of the product. Product being snitz forums. In doing so part of selling that product is making sure it is open source.
So if I wanted to I can open up a shop and sell the original or enhance versions I have or made of the snitz forum product as long as I abide by the terms of the conditions of the GPL
Much like Compusa sells copies of software, they are distibutors. I too can sell copies of snitz forum software original or enhanced by me, which includes a copy of the code.
And yes we can't sell the full rights to the code base itself as I stated in the previous post because it would break the patent and copyright stuff.
You agree?
Many blessings,
Sacred |
Edited by - sacred on 17 June 2003 18:24:31 |
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HuwR
Forum Admin
United Kingdom
20595 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 18:30:52
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| You are NOT selling a copy of the software. You are charging for its distribution, there is a big difference, and has nothing to do with terminology. |
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Tam
New Member
Sweden
56 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 18:31:07
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quote:
Much like Compusa sells copies of software, they are distibutors. I too can sell copies of snitz forum software original or enhanced by me, which includes a copy of the code.
Isn't distribution more like, you can charge for the media it's stored on, shipping fees etc but you can't make a profit of the product itself? Like some companies do with Linux-distributions?
Edited to insert quote |
Edited by - Tam on 17 June 2003 18:34:08 |
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ruirib
Snitz Forums Admin
Portugal
26364 Posts |
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D3mon
Senior Member
United Kingdom
1685 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 18:40:20
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I'm not quite so sure I'd offer such a quantity of my own time in creating/supporting MODs and helping other users if I suspected that it was all in aid of fattening some technically-challenged sales guys wallet.
This probably needs officially clarifying. |
Snitz 'Speedball' : Site Integration Mod : Friendly Registration Mod
"In war, the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won" |
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sacred
Junior Member
USA
153 Posts |
Posted - 17 June 2003 : 18:54:34
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Sorry Huwr,
But I think you are splitting hairs but I will go along iwth you and ask a simple question...
What are they distrubuting?
Is it not infact Software program?
If there is nothing to distribute then poof snitz is gone nothing to pay for except a blank CD, or blank link.
Many blessings,
sacred
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