Which Portal Software

PhpNuke, PostNuke or ???

[olwen]

I'm wanting to install community portal software for forums etc. I do want to integrate an image galery and may have to write some of that.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing they would like to share? I'm looking for versatile software that is easy to alter.

[KMxRetro]

I have to say that while good in some aspects, the massive file sizes, unneeded database calls and general poor coding of PostNuke and PHPNuke mean that I would avoid them both at all costs.

If you are looking for a portal, try out phpBB at [phpbb.com...] - this is only the forum part, but it can be manipulated through the use of templates to make it into whatever you want.

Plus, to be honest, most PHPNuke sites look VERY much like one another and blend into mediocrity as soon as they have done loading.

[olwen]

I certainly agree about the poor coding and similarity of PhpNuke -- I have it installed on one site and have played with it a bit. That's why I thought there must be other solutions.

[toolman]

[phpwebsite.appstate.edu...] have you looked at this one? I have used this in the past and it works well.

[EliteWeb]

Out of the two I prefer PHPNuke - If ya like use Slashdot code :) PhPNuKe has lots of security concerns (poor coding ;) ) but it can be manipulated just fine so it doesnt look like another site :)

[chiyo]

Have a look at hotscripts.com for many many of this sort of software. I would tend to start with a basic CMS and cutomize as you learn.

I agree that PHPNuke and Postnuke sites all tend to look the same very fast. The features are very exciting, but very few webmasters have the content to make them work - you end up with the same default templates with insubstantial customizations, and features that don't work. It can be very much like using an elephant to transport feathers. That said, it's a great way to start for someone wanting a dynamic site who does not to spend the time learning PHP or other coding.

[Brad]

There are things like Slashcode, Moveabletype, CMS's written in Perl which might be an alternative if you don't like the PhP products mentioned. And there are still plenty of regular forums scripts available.

Some considerations: how heavy duty of a script will you need. You don't want something hopelessly under powered or over kill either.

[chiyo]

II'd agree with Brad. Like PhpBB, much discussion and blog software are now offering many 'portal' like features. We use Movable Type for example. The flexibility is quote amazing as we started to use templates and includes to create highly dynamic pages. We were able to create pages that looked very different from other 'portally' like pages but with the same functionality. Decide on your focus first - discussion or news or whatever and then add on as you get comfortable with the system. Maybe the main problem with the PHPnuke and clones is that people just want everything and are not an expert at any!

[lorax]

Well, I'm about to be the sour grape.

I use PHPNuke and for my application it works fine. My requirements were simple, give me a portal package that I could learn and manipulate quickly, that had variety and above all else - I needed to find, choose, download, and get it set up in 2 days (customization included)! I did some research and found PHPNuke mentioned the most and rather than waste additional time researching I went for it. The site is up and running (and I did it 16 hours) and it has served it's purpose.

Would I choose PHPNuke again - probably not. In the process of customizing it's various components I agree with what seems to be the consensus - it's fat (reminds me of another software developer many of us love to hate). Reason for the bloat is the same, trying to accommodate the neophyte.

Next round - after we get our feet under us and let the business plan settle in - I will either build my own or use phpbb. I'd feel better if I built it cause then I'd know it inside and out.

[olwen]

I want more than just Forums. I was thinking that news features would be useful for posting articles. I may do and have others do articles of interest to the target audience. I'm not wanting to host downloads, and I'm ambivalent about links.

Both the articles and the discussion forums will really need pictures, and a general gallery may be of interest. Member's diaries (sort of blogging I guess) may be another useful feature.

The other feature I want to put on the site is a sort of Yellow Pages directory. I will probably write this mtself because I haven't seen anything like I want, and keep it fairly independent of the community pages, but integrated in appearance etc.

[Knowles]

Ive used PHPNuke and MyPHPNuke and didnt really find either to be very useful. All I simply wanted was a photo gallary forum and article content. I found it easier to try and write my own and port in other software to make it fit into what I was wanting in the end. I would suggest downloading them installing them locally and maybe looking at the code to get an idea how the features work then you can just build from there on your own. But like others have mentioned they are not coded the best in the world. I also like phpBB I use it for one of my sites as well and am working on customizing it into the rest of the site.

[lorax]

Olwen,
PHPNuke does have the ability to turn off the modules/blocks you don't want to use. It's relatively easy to modify once you understand how it works.

That being said, given what you're looking for, you could probably either cobb something together with scripts from Hotscripts.com (or other) or just write your own.

Best 'O Luck.

[KMxRetro]

I just didn't like PHPNuke. When I used it, each of the modules/blocks was contained in its own file, meaning a page with say, 9 blocks viewing, needed to actually open 15 files or more.

Database
Authorisation
Constant Variables/Functions
Header
Blocks x9
Page Body
Footer

[Brad]

I use phpNuke. It seems okay for my purposes which are pretty simple. I don't think it is for everybody or every site. It is handy for me because I do not have to spend a lot of time designing pages and can worry about content.

The other aspect was the ability to syndicate that content and php offerred both a RSS feed and a javasceript output. But for a more sophisticated person other products might work better.

I have seen a couple of sites done with Moveable type and they have impressed me the most. It might have been the servers but it always seemed very fast.

[olwen]

PHPNuke does have the ability to turn off the modules/blocks you don't want to use. It's relatively easy to modify once you understand how it works.

I have PHPNuke installed on one site I have, and my webhosting has a simple install for it available, but I started to dislike it when I had to alter things. So I was just looking round to see if people have any other preferences.

Since Toolman suggested phpWebSite I've had a look at that. Haven't looked at the underlying code and much customisation yet, but it installed easily and had quite a clean appearance. There was some info about combining it with phpBB that I'll also be looking into.

[lorax]

Since Toolman suggested phpWebSite I've had a look at that. Haven't looked at the underlying code and much customisation yet, but it installed easily and had quite a clean appearance. There was some info about combining it with phpBB that I'll also be looking into.

Let me know how you like phpWebSite and phpBB?

GB