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-   -   Blogs - You don't need a hack to host blogs (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=93800)

FASherman 08-06-2005 10:00 PM
Blogs - You don't need a hack to host blogs
 
Why does anyone feel they need a hack to host blogs on their site? Its not necessary.

1. Create a forum called Blogs
2. Select 'NO' for "Act as Forum" - Now you have your Blogs category.
3. When a user requests a blog, create a forum under Blogs. They should provide a title, a description, and whether or not they want to accept comments. You can also add options like password protect to make it private. Much more powerful control than any journal hack. Blog entries & comments count against post counts. Reputation system extends to the blogs, etc.
4. Edit the permissions for the forum. Generally, people should be able to post, but not create threads.
5. Make the requesting user the moderator of their forum. Give them full reign over the forum BUT DO NOT ALLOW THEM EXPANDED user moderation roles.

Minimal effort user blogs fully integrated into all VB functions. No hacks necessary. Future releases of VB will not break it. Blogs easily tied into subscriptions. RSS publishing as easily as any other forum. Blogs can have polls. Persistant read marks for blogs. New entries displayed via new posts. Multiple authors (moderators) for shared blogs. Ajax editing of entries. The list of things that make this better than any journal hack are nearly endless.

And just because it doesn't NEED any hacks, doesn't mean other hacks won't enhance the functionality. Use the "Split Forumhome into several pages" hack to give your blogs their own home page. Thread Description v1.2 hack to give entries a description. vbSpell to spell check entries. Post Award Hack to recognize particular entries, etc.

Brinnie 08-08-2005 12:15 PM
Worst Idea EVER!

That's not a blog, it's a hack of a forum.

Blogs can be skinned and customised. Livejournal and MySpace are great examples. Next time go check it out before you...

...Nope I'm not gonna say it. :surprised:

Cyricx 08-08-2005 03:23 PM
Wow Brinnie, that's a pretty rude response...

Fasherman is on to a possibility. You could even use vbadvanced cmps to give them the home page with it pulling latest threads from only that forum, they can customize the blocks this way and that, could tie into a gallery section for their pictures, let them create a style for their homepage look etc.

The possibility is there for this to be a very feasible option Brinnie.. sometimes you just gotta pull your head out of...

.. Nope I'm not gonna say it. :surprised:

On a side note, Fasher - I think the reason people are lookin for hacks to tie them in, is most have already created their blogs and don't want to "recreate" them. It would work well for people just starting blogs, but those that already have one going don't want to waste what they've already got going.

Nephand 08-08-2005 03:23 PM
That's exactly what I've been mulling over lately FASherman. The only thing I'm trying to get straight in my mind is being able to provide a url to the 'blog' page - but I'm thinking if the RSS feed is stored in a directory then a domain/subdomain can easily be applied.

The first post to the thread being the blog post - subsequent replies being comments on the 'blog post'. Lock the thread if you don't want comments. It seems simple (I've only just picked up vBulletin so I'm working my head around it at the moment).

RSS can be skinned and customised, I don't really understand Brinnie's violent reaction to the idea.

Andreas 08-08-2005 03:42 PM
This has 1 major Problem: Managability.
What if you have several Thousand Users, and quite a "few" of them want a Blog?
You'll be creating Forums all day long ...

Furthermore, it blows up forumcache massively.

amykhar 08-08-2005 03:43 PM
Actually, a modification of my hideaway hack could do a lot of what he wants. It's just that the permissions need to be changed. Then, the users in the allowed usergroups could create their own Blog. ;)

Amy

mholtum 08-08-2005 03:50 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyricx
Wow Brinnie, that's a pretty rude response...

Fasherman is on to a possibility. You could even use vbadvanced cmps to give them the home page with it pulling latest threads from only that forum, they can customize the blocks this way and that, could tie into a gallery section for their pictures, let them create a style for their homepage look etc.

The possibility is there for this to be a very feasible option Brinnie.. sometimes you just gotta pull your head out of...

.. Nope I'm not gonna say it. :surprised:

On a side note, Fasher - I think the reason people are lookin for hacks to tie them in, is most have already created their blogs and don't want to "recreate" them. It would work well for people just starting blogs, but those that already have one going don't want to waste what they've already got going.
Brinnie was the same way over at www.vbadvanced.com when he/she first joined there looking for support. It is amazing to me the outright rudeness of some people... Amazing

amykhar 08-08-2005 04:20 PM
Just a thought, it would probably be best to click ignore on offending users and report them directly to the admin staff rather than complain about them in the threads.

Amy

dwh 08-08-2005 06:26 PM
I find the usergoup permissions too complicated to feel safe making users moderators. One small change in a future version and boom, moderators see something they're not supposed to. Also, way too much administration.

If vbulletin would have blogs in mind for a future version and allow users to create their own blog subforum automatically that would be great. But I don't see it happening. As it is you can't have more than about 1200 forums anyway. Because they are pulled into the datastore which has a limit.

Andreas 08-08-2005 06:56 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwh
As it is you can't have more than about 1200 forums anyway. Because they are pulled into the datastore which has a limit.
Let's see if you're right ... 670 and counting up :D

dwh 08-08-2005 07:38 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by KirbyDE
Let's see if you're right ... 670 and counting up :D
Haven't tried on vb 3.5 but 3.07 it goes to around 1200 (on my site) depending on certain variables it can be more or less. I heard some people got to 1500.

Logikos 08-08-2005 07:43 PM
The max number of forums you can have is 65535. Thats because the forumid field type is smallint(5). :)

Marco van Herwaarden 08-08-2005 07:53 PM
There is no absolut limit. If you have short forum descriptions, you can have more.

Logikos 08-08-2005 07:58 PM
What do forum descriptions have to do with it? :confused:

Andreas 08-08-2005 08:01 PM
forumcache gets insanely large and exceeds mySQL max_packet_size.
But other then that it should work

Marco van Herwaarden 08-08-2005 08:38 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Live Wire
What do forum descriptions have to do with it?
Because the descriptions are in the datastore row for the forumcache. The total number of bytes is limited. So a lot of forums with long titles will quicker be full then with short titles.

FASherman 08-08-2005 09:08 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brinnie
Worst Idea EVER!

That's not a blog, it's a hack of a forum.

Blogs can be skinned and customised. Livejournal and MySpace are great examples. Next time go check it out before you...

...Nope I'm not gonna say it. :surprised:
Were you aware that you can apply unique styles to individual forums? If a user has a style that they want for their blog, they can have it, giving them their own distinct look.

Cole2026 08-08-2005 09:51 PM
Ok well, it is not the best idea, I would rather have a blogging system to do what I want. But, he is trying to help the people that need a bloggish type system for 3.5, and cannot find one. (Luckily, amykhar helped me out with this one!).

It is very rude to flame his suggestions when he is just trying to help, good or bad suggestion, you really should say thanks to Fasherman.

Logikos 08-08-2005 09:56 PM
In reply to FASherman's first post:
Its just not the same feeling. Plain and simple. :ermm:

Brinnie 08-09-2005 01:41 AM
I'm just playing devil's advocate to the 4th power.

Boofo 08-09-2005 01:54 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by FASherman
Were you aware that you can apply unique styles to individual forums? If a user has a style that they want for their blog, they can have it, giving them their own distinct look.
Ok, I'll bite ... how do you apply unique styles to individual forums? ;)

amykhar 08-09-2005 02:08 AM
In the control panel. You just set it to make the forum style override the user's choice.

FASherman 08-09-2005 03:15 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by amykhar
In the control panel. You just set it to make the forum style override the user's choice.
Yes ma'am. You are correct. :classic:

Boofo 08-09-2005 08:20 AM
Oh, ok, I thought you were talking about something else.

Brinnie 08-09-2005 08:57 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfoot045
Ok well, it is not the best idea, I would rather have a blogging system to do what I want. But, he is trying to help the people that need a bloggish type system for 3.5, and cannot find one. (Luckily, amykhar helped me out with this one!).

It is very rude to flame his suggestions when he is just trying to help, good or bad suggestion, you really should say thanks to Fasherman.
You're very right... Sorry Fasherman. :(

Boofo 08-09-2005 09:01 AM
Can someone explain to me what a Blog actually is? I've never messed with any of it and I hear about it all the time. What is the difference between a Blog and something like Amykhar's Userpage Mod?

sabret00the 08-09-2005 09:10 AM
blogging alternative but it's a far cry from actual blogs. thanks for sharing none the less.

M.Smith 08-09-2005 09:11 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boofo
Can someone explain to me what a Blog actually is? I've never messed with any of it and I hear about it all the time. What is the difference between a Blog and something like Amykhar's Userpage Mod?
A blog works similarly to a forum in that a user makes a post about something and people can comment on it. The main difference is that the whole of the post is shown on the main page and to view the comments you go to another page.

I tried making what FASherman is talking about a while ago but didn't get round to finishing it.

The thing is, by modifying the templates and applying a different style to one forum or category you can easily transform vB into another kind of software like a blog or an article system with comments etc. vBulletin is by design forum software but with a bit work it can easily become something else.

Marco van Herwaarden 08-09-2005 09:32 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brinnie
I'm just playing devil's advocate to the 4th power.
Then i hope for you that the Supreme Court don't come with a decission on you soon.

Boofo 08-09-2005 09:34 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Smith
A blog works similarly to a forum in that a user makes a post about something and people can comment on it. The main difference is that the whole of the post is shown on the main page and to view the comments you go to another page.

I tried making what FASherman is talking about a while ago but didn't get round to finishing it.

The thing is, by modifying the templates and applying a different style to one forum or category you can easily transform vB into another kind of software like a blog or an article system with comments etc. vBulletin is by design forum software but with a bit work it can easily become something else.
Thanks for explaing that. ;)

Then, basically, if you take Amykhar's Userpage hack and re-work it a little, that could be made into a member blog then, right?

M.Smith 08-09-2005 09:45 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boofo
Thanks for explaing that. ;)

Then, basically, if you take Amykhar's Userpage hack and re-work it a little, that could be made into a member blog then, right?
I've never used that hack but just by looking at the screenshots and demo I'm guessing it would need to be coded in as a feature and not just a template mod.

Boofo 08-09-2005 10:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Smith
I've never used that hack but just by looking at the screenshots and demo I'm guessing it would need to be coded in as a feature and not just a template mod.
But it probably wouldn't take a lot to do it, I would think. ;)

sabret00the 08-09-2005 10:20 AM
vBulletin and/or Amy's hack are and never will be IMO blogging scripts, while Amy's would be a perfect profile replacement script, blogging scripts carry so much extra weight, it's why we're as of yet to see one that's truly integrated to vBulletin, the closest we've come is AN-net's, oh well the 3.5 generation of hacks may bare from nice fruit in that department but we'll see.

Brinnie 08-09-2005 10:45 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarcoH64
Then i hope for you that the Supreme Court don't come with a decission on you soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boofo
Can someone explain to me what a Blog actually is? I've never messed with any of it and I hear about it all the time. What is the difference between a Blog and something like Amykhar's Userpage Mod?
"Blog" is short for "Weblog" and it is a Journal.


#1
The prime difference between a blog and a forum post is control.
The owner of a weblog can administrate many aspects from the design, layout, font color, link color, background color, & logos all the way to specifying who he wants to be able to post in his weblog as well as the ability to edit his entrys and delete any post or journal entry he wishes.

For the record, I would like to present the grand jury with EXHIBIT A1

#2
In a forum, anybody (let us say registered) can start their own thread and anybody (let us say registered) can respond. In a blog, the owner(s) are the only ones who can start a discussion.
Also, blogs are chronological. When someone responds to a blog, the topic does not move to the top of the heap, whereas on a forum it does.

Let the jurors note EXHIBIT A2 for the record.
EXHIBIT A2 is a trusted unnoficial blogging FAQ from Oregon State University. Note line 642 states that:
Quote:
What's the difference between a blog and a forum?

most blogs maintain a distinction between the blogger and the readers, while in a forum, anyone who is a member may post. Forums are also designed to maintain many different discussions at once, while blogs are more linear, in that they are date-based. The distinction blurs a bit when a blog allows readers to comment, or when a forum only allows a few people to post but many people to read.

That is only the second most important characteristic of a blog and it is the primary focus of this discussion. This man, wants to create that effect and call it a blog... As a MySpace freak and a LJ fanatic (with over hmmm, let's say 30 accounts?) it's in my nature to object... Sure, I did it in a disruptive manner, but what's new? It's not a blog. It's a hack of a forum- and I object, your honor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Smith
The main difference is that the whole of the post is shown on the main page and to view the comments you go to another page.
That is A single feature but note: forums can do that as well in Linear Mode. It's a very common blog feature but hardly the "main difference".


The evidence before the court is... Incontravertable, there's no need for the jury to retire.

FASherman 08-09-2005 10:45 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boofo
Thanks for explaing that. ;)

Then, basically, if you take Amykhar's Userpage hack and re-work it a little, that could be made into a member blog then, right?
Not really.

There is function and presentation. Many of the previous comments have focused on presentation, but the reality with respect to presentation is that one can develop a custom style, complete with a style templates to emulate the look of their personal favorite blogging site and apply it to the blog forum and subforums. VB already has the capability to address the presentation layer if one chooses to do the work.

In function, a user blog is nothing more than a forum where the author (or authors) are the only ones able to create threads. If they choose, users may post in reply. Or they can choose to close the thread and make it purely informational with no responses. Usually, blogs also incorporate RSS feeds of the blogs in some format.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brinnie


"Blog" is short for "Weblog" and it is a Journal.


#1
The prime difference between a blog and a forum post is control.
The owner of a weblog can administrate many aspects from the design, layout, font color, link color, background color, & logos all the way to specifying who he wants to be able to post in his weblog as well as the ability to edit his entrys and delete any post or journal entry he wishes.

For the record, I would like to present the grand jury with EXHIBIT A1

#2
In a forum, anybody (let us say registered) can start their own thread and anybody (let us say registered) can respond. In a blog, the owner(s) are the only ones who can start a discussion.
Also, blogs are chronological. When someone responds to a blog, the topic does not move to the top of the heap, whereas on a forum it does.

Let the jurors note EXHIBIT A2 for the record.
EXHIBIT A2 is a trusted unnoficial blogging FAQ from Oregon State University. Note line 642 states that:
That is only the second most important characteristic of a blog and it is the primary focus of this discussion. This man, wants to create that effect and call it a blog... As a MySpace freak and a LJ fanatic (with over hmmm, let's say 30 accounts?) it's in my nature to object... Sure, I did it in a disruptive manner, but what's new? It's not a blog. It's a hack of a forum- and I object, your honor.That is A single feature but note: forums can do that as well in Linear Mode. It's a very common blog feature but hardly the "main difference".


The evidence before the court is... Incontravertable, there's no need for the jury to retire.
Its a good thing you aren't a lawyer. You wouldn't make a very good one. You source impeaches your argument:

Quote:
The exact definition of "blog" is open for debate.
You repesent it as though there is a generally accepted definition.

Quote:
Most people agree that the key feature of a blog is that it has dated entries, like a diary or journal.
This meets the key feature.

Quote:
The main difference between a blog and a forum is that most blogs maintain a distinction between the blogger and the readers, while in a forum, anyone who is a member may post.
My suggestion would also meet this criteria. The rest is your opinion which, as usual, you present in a confrontational manner.

The question left unanswered is this: Can you provide a better option for VB3.5 that integrates the user database?

Short of a better alternative, you're just whining. Very unbecoming - even for a girl.

Boofo 08-09-2005 11:11 AM
I thought Brinnie's post was entertaining myself. Good job! ;)

@ FASherman - So a blog is more of a personal type forum then?

FASherman 08-09-2005 11:21 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boofo
I thought Brinnie's post was entertaining myself. Good job! ;)

@ FASherman - So a blog is more of a personal type forum then?
Functionally, yes, with the proper permissions set.

Brinnie 08-09-2005 11:31 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by FASherman
You source impeaches your argument:
Yes, me source impeach mine arguments, lolz.

Quote:
Originally Posted by FASherman
The question left unanswered is this: Can you provide a better option for VB3.5 that integrates the user database?
Yea... A link in your profile is better than this... whatever you call it.

sabret00the 08-09-2005 02:45 PM
lol @ this thread, very entertaining.

phenom 08-09-2005 06:27 PM
So I've set up a sort of generic "blog" area at my forums - one where only the original thread starter (and me, of course, as admin) can post in, just by modifying permissions. You start a thread, and it's yours and yours only. Sure, it doesn't have customization that some people's definition of a blog has, but for the people on my site, they don't really care to have all that. They just want a place to spill their guts, so to speak.

http://www.takemybagel.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=34


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