@AOKP Great post, dude! Do you mind sharing your site's url? I have some of my sites now IPB and I've been looking to move them.

@psychobunny said:

You probably need to use the write api plugin: https://github.com/NodeBB/nodebb-plugin-write-api/tree/master/routes/v1

Exactly what I needed but I couldn't locate that particular segment. Thank you so much.

Hey everyone,

I'm working on a project to pull data from an external source using search criteria and then create a category on a fly for that search criteria if I get 200 OK from the data source. If the category already exists in NodeBB, then do nothing.

Does NodeBB API extend to this use-case? And if anyone has implementation similar to this, please help share your deployment story.

Thanks guys.

This looks pretty sick, guys! Great work!

There is so much clarity to the front page than ever before. This looks ready!

@pitaj said:

@cytrax Facebook has PM? I thought they only had chat...

I just made a quick search, and I don't think Facebook has PMs. They have chat (Facebook messenger), but not PMs as far I can can tell.

My main concern with PMs and chat is that then there will be just one more way of communicating with people, and I think oversaturating the communication routes is bad for the software. I think a unified system would be best. JMHO

If chats were plugosphered, you could implement it either way

@julian said:

@pitaj Facebook has chats and private messaging integrated into one. There are two interfaces but they all plug into the same backend.

Facebook pushes the chat aspect, even going so far as hiding the ability to create new chats with someone you already chat with (fb will just open the same chat window then), but if you have a group convo, you'll see a new chat session made. That's what would be nice with NodeBB, I'd think

Admittedly, I've been off facebook as user for over 3 years. But I still have an account that I use for the API. I've checked out what you both mean and you're absolutely correct that it is now part of a single system. That's definitely changed from years ago. I believe that revolution is related to when FB decided to ditch the isolating mailing system idea or could have been part of preparation to create a complete separate mailing system for @facebook.com. That didn't gain traction due to fears over privacy from users. But let's digress from there..

I still think that a functional piece of forum is PM system. Just looking at Facebook's new integrated system, it is obvious that there are limitations. One, I can't choose to delete messages related to a thread in one shot. I have to hand select each message or simply completely remove the conversation. I don't see how scales when compared to threaded system.

Maybe there is a way to still control it from single backend but enable threading? I dunno.

When I say, trying to reinvent the wheel is not necessary, you can see what I mean by the fact that many are still fixated on debating whether or not chat system should suffice.

I really don't see how one could replace the other. I mean, look at Facebook. Would FB exist in its form without a PM? Can you imagine the loose if everything has to go through chat. chat compliments PM. It doesn't replace it. The same way PM doesn't replace PM.

I also don't think the value of the functional features that I've listed would be detrimental to NodeBB. On the contrary, they would accelerate the adoption of the system.

@pitaj said:

A PM plugin wouldn't be difficult to create. adds to long list of plugins to make

That's the point though, Pitaj. PM system is functional requirement which means you shouldn't have to install a plugin to have it unless it is a native plugin that simply requires activating because I can see the benefit of some sites not needing PM. But overall, PM system should work right out of the box.

Hey Julian,

I agree that you can't include every single feature requests in a product. I know all that too well because every other client that I meet with has a grand idea that would revolutionize my security product which of course is already the only leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant. It is virtually impossible to listen to every FR especially when most of them are "nice to haves". You can't please the world.

But over the years, we realized that functional features that should be implemented but left out created opportunities for our competitors to try and take the backdoor into an account. As a result, functional features that actually solve problems often get escalated to deal breaker level with real revenue riding on them.

When I relate that experience to NodeBB development, I believe there are core features missing that still prevent full adoption of this engine by major forums out there. I've been following this project for over a year and done enough research to understand what the core requirements are and from my experience of administering a forum for over 6 years.

To be clear, I am forever in awe of NodeBB's engine. It remains the best that I thus far come across due to its sheer speed and excellent rendering of posts. But there are gripes that always become quickly obvious every time I have visited the site. These possibly slow the adoption of this great product. I'm going to be very blunt here, but I hope it is seen as productive rather than troll event.

1. The layout on the homepage is very messyThe layout is wonky at best. Lack of alignment of the objects make very hard to find anything worthy of clicks. If I go to https://community.nodebb.org as a new user, I expect to find the best native rendering out of the box. Most adopters don't have enough time to be playing with code just to get a decent look out of the box. They want it functional layout from day zero.

2. Lack of "Real" Private Messaging System (Inbox)
   I brought up this point last year, but the response that I got back was that chat does exactly the same thing and doesn't need to be evaluated. That assertion to me is simply flat out wrong if you have a successful forum. Heck, even Twitter has a PM system.
   What is wrong with the current chat system on NodeBB? For one, there is no subject line. Two, messages are kept in linear form even if the topics being discussed are not related. For instance, when I try to send Julian a message, I click on chat, and I'm seeing chat messages from 8 months ago like I would on instant messaging app. To me, that is major fail on messaging system for a community and it astounds me that this is now in beta 7 yet never discussed as a necessary tool. I should be able to start a new message with defined title.

3. Lack of simple way to list sub categories
   Again , this is one of the points that avid members here fight over as not necessary. I keep seeing workarounds such as tags used to replace sub-categories. Why the conflict? Tags solve completely different from presentation standpoint. You cannot replace categorization through form listing with tags.

4. Stop reinventing the wheels
   What initially sold NodeBB to me as I was researching best forum engine to use for my projects was core engine. But the lack of wiliness to acknowledge the aforementioned functional features always pegged me back. Those are not nice to have features. They are essentially what most forums are built on which solve real forum problems.

Now, it could be that I simply don't understand the mission statement of NodeBB as a product. I wouldn't rule that out. But if you are thinking of displacing the likes of Vanilla, IPB, XenForo etc, then it would be great to at least provide the fundamental features that those engines have out of the box, then start to build on what they don't have to give NodeBB a real edge that would take it into the next level that would reward the hard work that your team have put in.

@trevor Total typo there.. I meant PM, Trevor. The IM is great. PM is what I was referring. You can't substitute PM with IM. IM doesn't have ability to archive conversations based on set topic. It classes everything as one giant conversation. But PMs serve different purpose. I'm glad @nik has made that point eloquently too. I think it would be a great step forward for NodeBB to focus more on functional tools within forum and ACP. You only have to look at the list of forum solutions out there to see that 90% of them offer PM out of the box. Discourse included - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software#Features.

I like the new addition of tags but there are still some functional tools missing that is making it harder to transition from old forums such as vBulletin, IPB, Vanilla etc..

• PM - I cannot emphasis enough how important this is to any online community.
• Flexible/simple out-of-the-box homepage layout adjustment based on categories and sub-categories - having played with tag system, I think it actually compliments categorization rather than replace it. There are instances where tagging is enough and an example of that would be stocks forum. It works in that use case because users already know the ticker symbols which would then lead them to the forums of the tag. The tags in that scenario would also be predefined by the system rather than user.

I don't care for any more sleekness as the simple design is actually what attracted me to the system to begin with. Most of the best forum engines out there are not about flash but rather simple layout that just make sense to users. I know that the team is working hard on features but I think those would be great quick wins without compromising the core of NodeBB which is simply the best out there.

@julian said:

It almost feels like I've just discovered gold in its purest form.

@cytrax Can we use that as a testimonial?

LOL.. I missed this post. lol. I charge 0.50c per testimonial click. haha

@julian That would be awesome, Julian. As @KnownSyntax said, it is simple things like that that makes it easier to present NodeBB as a solution to other moderators and users. The engine is already head and shoulders above rest.

@a_5mith said:

@cytrax there's nothing out of the box that allows you to do that yet, but there's no reason you couldn't create a new theme and theme it yourself, all the info is there. Last post, last post time, etc, you'd just have to look inside topics.tpl and see the list view there, then replace most of the hooks from topics to categories. If that makes sense.

Let me give that a shot. I'll watch that video by psychobunny to understand theming of NodeBB and try and modify the presentation.

Thanks man!

@a_5mith said:

@cytrax Not out of the box, you could create a new theme and display it the old fashioned way.

Potentially, you could hide the category title and the recent posts, and just have the image with that character. Assuming the members of your forum know who each character is etc.

Something that ends up looking like this.

http://i.imgur.com/ELkQEsA.png

If you'd like to try it on your own forum, go into ACP>Theme>Customise and use

.category-box {
    display:none;
}

Hey 5mith,

So I tried the CSS but the list view is not really what I want. I basically just want the categories to be listed in the same format as posts in the forums. This is actually somewhat related to my post a while back about sub categories and to be able to list them all on the homepage. Nothing new here but it would give someone that's trying to migrate from the worlds of vBulletin, IPB etc, real familiarity when transitioning to NodeBB and enabling them to fully enjoy the NodeBB engine without feeling like they need to make a compromise on their bread and butter. It would definitely help enhance the adoption of the technology in my opinion.

@a_5mith said:

@cytrax Psychobunny has a great post on his blog about creating nodebb themes, you can find it here

Thank you so much for your help, a_5mith.

@a_5mith Thank you for that info, Smith. That's awesome!

I'm currently working to resolve an existing issue on the forum whereby the actual categories are not even showing up on the homepage. I have a support ticket for that and once I have that straightened out, I will try that CSS.

I have to watch theme video to see how I can modify it further.

Is there a way to have categories on the main page listed in simple format. i.e. List view. Just as we have each forum displaying posts. I would like to experiment with that. This would at least help minimize the impact of not having sub-forums which is very crucial for something like a gaming site. Nesting would also be a great addition.

The current default works great for forums with small number defined categories, but it doesn't scale well for large number i.e. for a game with 30 characters each its own forum. That's my current challenge.

Are there any workarounds for this?

Thanks y'all!

@julian said:

@cytrax said:
The money you save when your car stops at a red light, you can use to pay the toll to enter London's downtown

I spent about 600pounds sterling on parking and speeding tickets from the shitty sentinel type cameras they have around every shitty street corner. They even have 20mile/hour zones in a whole borough around Islington. Immoral shit! I think Edmonton is the only place in Canada to have those speed cameras. Ontario outlawed them.

So yeah, the crappy money that you think you're saving at the traffic light is taken back from you by ten folds!

Last time I was in home in Toronto, it was $1.30 per litre. Canadian gas is always about 30% more expensive than down south of the boarder which is ridiculous given all the gas in Alberta. But we have our crazy regular tax and green taxes to thank for that and it won't be changing anytime soon.

@a_5mith UK? That shouldn't even enter the conversation. I don't know how people do it out there. That's why they re-adapted those new cars to always stop the engine at the traffic light in order to save some gas. Well, UK is expensive for everything really.

I guess I'm a cheat. I will always be the last one here for while given I'm stuck out in Germany/UK for about 10 weeks. lol