VPortal

[caphq]

The vbportal site says the version for vb 2.03 is still in development, but it appears some folks on here are already running it with 2.03. Whats the deal? I would like to get this program if it would work.

[snyx]

<a href="http://www.phpportals.com" target="_blank">www.phpportals.com</a>
to get the latest beta, you gotta contribute somthing to the project, otherwise you only have acsess to the last stable version.

snyx

[caphq]

Do they have a tenative date for the 3.0 release?

[caphq]

and the latest stable version is not for vb 2.0.3, correct?

[TheComputerGuy]

no its not the current one is for 2.01 and well vb 2.01 has a secruity flaw in it

[wajones]

Originally posted by caphq
and the latest stable version is not for vb 2.0.3, correct?

All your questions have been answered many times on the vbPortal developement site.

[caphq]

Welp.... I have nothing to contribute or I would, so I'll wait. :D

[tweak]

Man you don't know what your missing. It was worth the Donation man! well worth it..

[Juan]

I didn't like the first version, but this new one is a must have.

[TheHideoutGuy]

It's a must have!!
(3.0 that is...)

[c0bra]

Originally posted by TheComputerGuy
no its not the current one is for 2.01 and well vb 2.01 has a secruity flaw in it

Thanks for the heads up. I for one wont be trying any software that is still being distributed as stable but has a "security flaw in it".

[caphq]

Let me get my flame suit on here......

I refuse to pay for something like that. First, it’s not even a complete product; it’s still in beta. Second, they are trying to work the system by asking for “donations”. My assumption is they see donations as a way to not have to claim the income and pay taxes. The thing is, unless they are a tax-exempt non-profit corporation (which they are not), they are still supposed to be claiming the revenue regardless of it being called a "donation". I can almost 150% guarantee they are not doing so. Which means all that money is completely under the table, and completely illegal. They’re realistic overhead is actually minimal if you lay it out. I know a lot of time is spent on making the program, but they are not just covering expenses from this. I will just live without vbportal. Thanks for your help though. =)

[SteveK]

caphq, you're way off base here! Why don't you take the time to do some research on the phpportals website about "donations".

The author isn't asking solely for monetary "donations". Primarily he set it up so that people would help out in some way (bug identification, feature hacks, etc). This is so that vbPortals can improve. But, many of us took the easy route and contributed money to help pay for his time & expenses which is another way to contribute. Nowhere does he claim to be a non-profit organization seeking tax-free donations. If you do ever look at the product, you'll see that what he has done is worth multiple times the contribution he is asking for (either $ or your time).

[Juan]

I would also want to give my point on view on this.

I am not associated in any way with vbportal other that I volutarily agreed to make a donation and will continue to so. I don't contribute in their community because my knowlege of php is not that good.

The very serious accusations you make are unfounded and just based on speculation. If the same accusations were thrown at me, I will no doubt seek to take immidiate legal action against you for defamation.

Again, this is just my opinion. However, I would never dream of saying something so strong to anyone, even less in public and without any evidence whatsoever.

I know nothing about what vbportal does and to be honest, it's none of my business but I find your post to be very offensive and bitter.

[qwaz]

Juan, your intentions are good hearted but you defeat yourself with your own logic...You're accusing him of having no "evidence" to make his accusations. Then you proceed to make accusations and then say "I know nothing about what vbportal does".

*sigh*

[Juan]

The difference is that he is just speculating and clearly says so in his post. I'm not accusing him of anything other than making a public statement without providing any proof.

[caphq]

I don’t care what other donations they accept. I’m talking about monetary donations, and I clearly stating that. The acceptance of monetary donations requires taxation. The only way to avoid this is not only by registering as a non-profit corporation with the department of state, but also apply with the internal revenue service for tax-exempt status. Though my statement was speculative, I would be surprised if it was found to be untrue. Just the application and approval of tax exception usually takes 6 months to a year. It also costs several hundred to several thousand dollars in IRS and attorney fees to file the necessary documents. It would be an accurate statement to say it’s unlikely they went through this process so they could get donations for a bulletin board add-on program. They could sue me for my statements if they’d like, but I think a quick audit of their records would put the case to rest. Especially seeing as I stated my comments were mere opinions… and they continue to be. My initial post was not with the intent of causing trouble. If I wanted to do that, I would have proceeded to present my accusations to the proper authority. It just blows my mind that someone would charge for a beta program. You can call the “donation” whatever you want. The fact is, you give them money and you get a program. This fact cannot be disputed any other way.

[ixian]

It's always nice to hear from people who have too much time on their hands.

A) You obviously want to try vbportal. If you really didn't care, you wouldn't have bothered with this tirade.

B) You see that they are asking for either money or programming help to actually get the beta. Since apparently programming help is beyond you, money is the way to go.

C) You are offended you can't get this hack for free.

I'm thinking I pretty much have your train of thought down. Then you decide to vent, and since you know no one will care about random venting, you try to throw some legalize into the whole mess to try and make your whining seem legitimate. The fact is, you don't even know whether he pays taxes on the money he receives or not. You just assume he doesn't because apparently that's how you would act.

The fact is, Bill Jones is a retired man working on this hack on his own. It is a massive hack - far more complicated than any you will find here - and the time required to build and maintain it, on top of answering questions (he has a forum with 10,000 posts, most of them asking for help - compare that to some of the hacks here) is too much to keep up with. Therefore, he limits access to people who can either A) Help him out with development and support or B) help out financially - I'm sure the cost of hosting his site alone is hundreds a month. Finally, as he has announced, he will release a stable beta to the public when he feels it's ready, and it won't cost anything.

I find this to be an entirely reasonable approach. I find your whining to be disgusting. Frankly, I am glad I don't have to deal with questions from you regarding vbportal. If you are that upset about it, how about you try and write one yourself? Let us know how it pans out.

[Pilot]

It's called a beta but you could use it now for 2.0.3 - it's a personal project for the developer and so has been in gestation a long time but that does not mean the code is untried.

If it was easier to install/understand it would be a killer app. If you have the time to get to understand it (and the documentation is minimal) then I am sure it would be worthwhile.

You need to relocate your VB directory which has put me off installing it so far, I'll find the time probably around Christmas!

[ozone2000]

well... now i know where im gonna click when i got enough money for a lisence (soon hopefully)... and it makes me even more happy to see that phpportal is using my white button set, cool, it fits perfect on their site!

[caphq]

Originally posted by ixian
It's always nice to hear from people who have too much time on their hands.

A) You obviously want to try vbportal. If you really didn't care, you wouldn't have bothered with this tirade.

B) You see that they are asking for either money or programming help to actually get the beta. Since apparently programming help is beyond you, money is the way to go.

C) You are offended you can't get this hack for free.

I'm thinking I pretty much have your train of thought down. Then you decide to vent, and since you know no one will care about random venting, you try to throw some legalize into the whole mess to try and make your whining seem legitimate. The fact is, you don't even know whether he pays taxes on the money he receives or not. You just assume he doesn't because apparently that's how you would act.

The fact is, Bill Jones is a retired man working on this hack on his own. It is a massive hack - far more complicated than any you will find here - and the time required to build and maintain it, on top of answering questions (he has a forum with 10,000 posts, most of them asking for help - compare that to some of the hacks here) is too much to keep up with. Therefore, he limits access to people who can either A) Help him out with development and support or B) help out financially - I'm sure the cost of hosting his site alone is hundreds a month. Finally, as he has announced, he will release a stable beta to the public when he feels it's ready, and it won't cost anything.

I find this to be an entirely reasonable approach. I find your whining to be disgusting. Frankly, I am glad I don't have to deal with questions from you regarding vbportal. If you are that upset about it, how about you try and write one yourself? Let us know how it pans out.

Yes you are right, I don't know if he does or not. I'll find out and let you know how it "pans out".

[ixian]

What, you gonna call the IRS?

TOOL (you): "Excuse me, I need to find out of this old retired guy is paying taxes on some money he's getting through his personal website".

IRS: "No problem, let me just grab his personal income tax forms and send them to you".

Yeah, ok. Give it a try.

All you might accomplish is having the IRS take a mild interest in looking after this. If the money received is under $5000, which it almost certainly is, it's doubtfull they will even go to the trouble. The IRS these days isn't as old school as they used to be when they would raid granny's house because she didn't report her piggy bank.

The bigger question that is just begging to be asked is, is there something really bugging you in your life that is causing you to act like a total tool in public, or are you always this way? I'm just curious at this point, not particularly upset.

P.S. His forums have a number of your "give it to me free or suffer" brethren posting. Perhaps you can go compare dead horses.

[qwaz]

Well, there goes a good debate down into name calling.

Good job.:rolleyes:

[wajones]

This is really getty silly. First off I don't know why I'm bothering to disclose this. It's really only between me and the IRS.

1. I'm a retired US federal employee (IT Systems Administrator) with 39 years, 2 months service. I do do recieve social security. My retirement is small, but I would do nothing to put my retirement in jeopardy.

2. Because I do not receive social security I am working towards that means. I need to work an additional 7 years to do so. I need to earn almost $5000 a year under social security. I am trying to do that by working out of my home. e.g. Internet work, I do computer repairs, upgrades. So I do claim everything I can.

3. I am doing everthing thru PayPal, nothing below the table. I refuse cash in the mail payments. you can ask anyone in my forums.

4. Most of the time I give free access to those that can't afford it. The only exceptions have been to those with attitude problems.

5. I also allow anyone that buys vbulletin thru my affiliate link free access.

I'm tired of typing, have to do better things, so I'll stop rambling.
All I can say is that I'm a model citizen, pay my taxes, defended my country in Vietnam, served my country for close to 40 years, I have a Presidential Citation to boot.

phpPortals is not a non-profit organization and I will pay my taxes, thats all I have to say.

Once you've achieved 40 years of un-tarnished service to your country then come talk to me.

BTW, My name is William A. Jones or wajones, I don't hide my identity. My city of residence is in the side column.

[qwaz]

You really didn't need to do that.

[caphq]

Originally posted by wajones

Once you've achieved 40 years of un-tarnished service to your country then come talk to me.

Damn...because I really wanted to speak with you. heh. :rolleyes:

[wajones]

Originally posted by caphq


Damn...because I really wanted to speak with you. heh. :rolleyes:

HeHe! I figure there aren't any IRS agents with 40 yrs. :p

[caphq]

Sorry for being a dink. You didn't deserve it. :(

[ixian]

Originally posted by qwaz
Well, there goes a good debate down into name calling.

Good job.:rolleyes:

I can see your point about name calling (although I feel "tool" is both fairly mild as insults go and somewhat accurate in this case) but there is no way I am going to agree there was any thing good about this "debate". I'm just glad it is now over.

[wajones]

Originally posted by caphq
Sorry for being a dink. You didn't deserve it. :(

No problem, I have encountered worse, but always endure. I believe in confronting your issues, so I respect what people think and once you hear both sides then form your opinion.

I should probably change the button from donation to ??. Contributions to "profit making organizations" are taxable but mis-understood. Thats just the button that PayPal provides, the other buttons say purchase or buy now and I want to make it clear that your not buying vbPortal. It will be made available once it's ready, it's just not ready. I am installing a cvs server tonight, well my son is for me. I have 3 or 4 people lined up to help with things. So it should go faster.

[BradC]

boy did this thread take its ups and downs.. lol

I felt like I just went to King's Island... and rode on the BEAST :)

or Son of Beast... hehe

Anyways.. I am glad it has calmed down and everyone is back to relaxing in their chairs/recliners... (ppl sitting on the couch?$) :)

btw.. Pilot.. on your problem of having to relocate things.. to get it to work.. I have tested a theory of mine a few times. and have got it to work... but it will take a few minutes to get it set up correctly and working perfectly.. :)

btw.. moving the folder is not going to hurt anything other than your paths to your images.. for the most part.

[tweak]

wajones And the entire team at VB PORTALs im glad to support your guys constant work on VB PORTAL. You dont pay for the product you get service and a Nice place to be as well. Im a New memember i had a hard time tryin to get that donation but i did and it was well worth it. as people say its a Beta is it really??? I mean look at Everything always Updated within months so whats the Diff.. Its totally user friendly and if you have a problem its solved instantly..


And again I LOVE THIS PRODUCT Thanx for your hard work and keep it up.
:D

[NitroSimSev]

WAJones you have done one helluva job with PHPPortals! I use it on my site and I am STOAKED about the future!!

[Sinecure]

Originally posted by Juan


The very serious accusations you make are unfounded and just based on speculation. If the same accusations were thrown at me, I will no doubt seek to take immidiate legal action against you for defamation.


I beleive that legal action can't be taken for someone's opinion..
I could br wrong though :rolleyes:

[Juan]

For someone's opinion not, but for defamation of character in public. You can't go around calling or suggesting someone is a thief, specilally if it is not true.

Anyway, the person has already apologised in public so there is no point in continuing talking about the matter.

[SirSteve]

All I can say is vbportal is awesome! Everyone (even wajones) takes time to help when you run into problems or have questions.

[Pilot]

Moving the VB folder will make all the URLs that are posted on my BB which refer to other threads on the same BB stop working for one thing.

Plus people will have the forum index bookmarked and have thread URLs posted on other sites etc etc.

It's really inconvenient and I would prefer that hacks did not require such changes so they could be tested without risk.

The documentation just says move the VB directory - does not really explain the rationale for it and for some of the other installation steps.

[BradC]

Pilot, this is an issue yes.. we are trying to work on it as best as we can.. but the only bad part is.. if you are going to have an index page.. what are you going to do with the index.php file that the forums use.. as their homepage..

either way.. it is a problem that is hard to solve, yes renaming one of them will do it.. but will it do the job? Not really... any suggestions on this are more than welcome..

[Pilot]

Why can't VBPortal have a path setting so it can find the VB script directory (wherever it might be) instead of requiring it to be under it's own directory?

From a "professional" point of view - it looks bad to make the user site have to fit it with the hack's point of view instead of being parameterised.

I see the Portal replacing my home page and not replacing my forum index.

I could install VBP into my home directory (server root) but there are a lot of files.

Ease of use/install = degree of takeup, I thought VBP lite was going to make this happen.

[BradC]

It goes back to the two index.php files.. there bud.

Since the Forums by defualt is index.php and is such because not everyone is using vbportal and most people just have the forums installed.

So how do you propose changing it so you can have two index files in one directory? That is the question.. and that is the problem.

Yah it is a pain in the butt to change everything around just to work.. and it best works when you are doing a clean install.. and I have not used the light version yet.

[Pilot]

Not sure why this is a problem. What I would like is to have VB in server directory "vb" with the index.php showing the forums. Indeed that is how I have it.

When I install VBP - I would like it in directory "portal" with index.php showing the portal. The other directories would remain where they are.

I can then make my home page work how I like by redirecting it or using SSI etc.

Two directories - two index.phps? Why is this a problem any more than having index.php in the admin directory and the mods directory?

The Portal is just a news display tool with a few other things. At least that what I want it to be.

Then I can install it with no impact - test it out without disturbing my live BB (but on the same site as I only have one) and remove it if I like with no impact.

[Ruth]

i don't know about php, but i know that default.htm(l) overrides index.htm(l), is it the same in php?

[wajones]

Simply put you can put it where ever you want it as long as you set the paths up properly . Just can't put into the same directory as is without additional hacking. I've had four different installs using the same vBulletin at the same time, including an install from a different server.

[BradC]

I was under the assumption that users.. like yourself were wanting to use this as a front page.. or your index page..

if not wajones is correct insaying you can put it wherever...

you want to create a folder called buttmunch in your root.. along with your forums in the root, it will just take some changing around to make sure that all the paths were correctly and then you are set.. and can do redirection through whatever means that you want too.

Anything and everything is possible, if you have the time and know how.. I have none :)

[F_O_G]

what is this VPortal?

[Steve Machol]

F_O_G,

Please see the last line in my sig and enter your info. Thanks!

[NitroSimSev]

vBPortal or PHPPortal is a front end interface with the vbulletin. To see it in action check out PHPPortals.com (http://www.phpportals.com) or my site NitroSim.com (http://www.nitrosim.com)