[ajhalls]

Ok, so I really hate the way the templates are handled with plugins / products and everything. I want to have a simple setup that I can use to add new pages to my site but it constantly seems so complicated.

Can't there be an easy way of just having a php page that says:

<?
include("./globals.php");
include("./header.php");
include("./navbar.php");
// Wow you can put anything you want here

include("./footer.php");

?>

I have spent hours trying to include a php file using the directions of creating a plugin attached to global_start, new template, new php file, and can't get it to actually pull in the include when I do {vb:raw phpfileinclude} in the template. Everything else works, the plugin is active, but the method above seems so much simpler.

As a site administrator, I can't stand how hard it is to do version control in development. So much of what makes the site tick is in the database and tracking incremental changes so I /or my staff can find what was changed when and what might have broken things is pretty hard.

If vB would implement something like above, I might actually be able to find php developers who don't have to deal with such a large learning curve, do subversion checkin / checkout and so much more. I have one great vBulletin developer that has been with me for years, but finding another has been miserable, and trying to learn it myself is even worse which is making me want to switch platforms.