PhpBB forum support?

Sbu · #1 (permalink) Tue Apr 25, 2006 0:17 am *PhpBB forum support?*

Hi Torsten, Alan and Slava,
I want to give you a little feedback from the view of a newbie. Maybe it contains some helpful suggestions to handle new users and to increase the number of members of your great site.
Let's think about somebody want to learn or excercise English and searches the web for this request - would she (he) try it in her (his) native language ? - for this reason it will be a good idea to have at least one multilingual page on your site, which uses typical keywords (for the results of the search) to explain the power of your site and to add a list of abbreviations (see next).
I'm sure, there will be some users on your forum, who like to do the job of translating.
Now I want to take a look to the "first contact" with the potentially new user - won't he get a bit confused by reading so many abbreviations like ESL/TOEFL/TOEIC and so on, if he hasn`t dealt with it yet? I know, it's defined below, but to hit an unknown link could be a ergonomic barrier. Therefore it would be advantageous to see a short hint, when the mouse moves over such a abbreviation.
Okay I have a future request too. I think on more extensive, random generated efficiency tests, based on your basic tests in the respective degree of difficulty, where every registered user can watch his own advance of learning.
If you want to torment the designer of your site, you can ask him for this little comfort feature Wink

.
Last but not least, your site is very useful at the moment, it's nice to see the power of the web can help people around the world - keep on developing and best wishes for the future.
ps.: please don't blame me about my english - normaly I use it for reading - I promise Rolling Eyes

Torsten · #2 (permalink) Tue Apr 25, 2006 16:22 pm *Thanks for your feedback*

Hi SBU, Many thanks for all your suggestions, we'll think about them and get back to you. In the meantime you might want to take a look at the ongoing discussions and exchange even more ideas.

Regards
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Torsten · #3 (permalink) Fri May 05, 2006 6:18 am *Forum software*

Hi Sven,

Returning to our conversation - have you ever worked with or on forum software systems? What might want to move our forum from the current phpBB platform to a more sophisticated environment that provides our users with more features and functionality. Then we will need a professional like you to maintain and develop our forum. Maybe, this could be a job for you?
As for your other suggestions, we understand what you mean, we do want to improve the design and layout of our site and it would be great if you could support us.

Regards
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Sbu · #4 (permalink) Sat May 06, 2006 17:26 pm *Forum software*

Hi Torsten,
many thanks for your offer.
I tested Xchangeboard some time ago, but there are many other products on the market, so let me know, what you are intended to use and I will check my possibilities to help you.
I think, it would be mainly a problem of data migration and therefore I have to know the new base of your forum, to decide if I can support you.
Regards Sven

Torsten · #5 (permalink) Sat May 06, 2006 23:52 pm *VBulletin by Jelsoft Enterprises?*

Hello Sven, Thank you very much for your response. Looking at all the forum software systems available, it seems that vBulletin by Jelsoft Enterprises is the best choice as it provides a large range of features and can be customized in many ways. Have you got any experience in moving a forum database from one software to another?

Regards
Torsten

PS: OK, there might other alternatives out there such as CommunityServer.com etc?
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Sbu · #6 (permalink) Sun May 07, 2006 15:02 pm *VBulletin*

Hi Torsten,
I've taken a look at vBulletin and as I can see, it has integrated functionality for importing databases from phpBB ( depending on it's version ). Therefor the mainpart of the removal should be covered by vBulletin itself. May be you will need some scripts or little progs for doing complementary work (let me know, how I could assist ).
Regards Sven
PS.: I've only experiences on transforming mySQL-databases to XML and back and never tried to move one forum to another - it's a very special job

Torsten · #7 (permalink) Mon May 08, 2006 9:12 am *How to make the site more interactive?*

Hi Sven, many thanks for your response. We are still pondering which solution might be best. As of now, phpBB suits our users' needs but we are planning to offer more features. That's why we are even considering a system like CommunityServer. At any rate we will need a person who supports Slava with all the technical work. He has spent days creating a system that links our tests with the forum and allows users to ask questions regarding the tests.
Maybe you have some ideas how the system can be improved? For example, there is the following phenomenon: Every day several users taking our tests ask a question like this one:

Can't we use 'in' instead of 'at', if so what is the reason?
http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic8296.html

But we never know if the user who asks the question actually reads the answer. Many users fnd our site through a Google search and the landing page might be any of our tests. There they see the link 'Do you have a question?' which enables them to submit a question to the forum. Once their messages has been posted a red link marked >>> You Can View Your Message Here <<< appears on top of the message box. The question is if that user ever clicks that link. Even if she or he clicks it, they might not understand the system because all they see is their own message.
So, what do you think?

Regards
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Sbu · #8 (permalink) Mon May 08, 2006 14:52 pm *Site-behaviour*

Hi Torsten,
I think it's required to set up some cookies and to modify the construction of the topic-view. Doing so, you can display some extra text and notice the visit.
Disadvantage: modification of the underlying forum-software is needed.

Gothix · #9 (permalink) Tue May 16, 2006 18:17 pm *PhpBB*

Hi to all and especially at Torsten,

I read this discussion and now there ane 2 questions for me...
Do you want to use another Platform than phpBB or do you want to change it just a little bit? And secondly what do you exactly expect from a programmer to do here? the Forum is not so bad that it has to be changed generally...

so far Gothix / Florian Zumpe

Torsten · #10 (permalink) Tue May 16, 2006 19:11 pm *Adding Skype to the profile*

Hi Florain, many thanks for your message. You are right, the forum is running very smoothly. Slava has added a lot of scripts he created himself and it would be quite complicated to move the forum to another platform.

So maybe it'll be best to stick with phpBB and add even more features. For example, it would be good if users could add their Skype name. Could you upgrade the profile menu so this will be possible?

Regards
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Gothix · #11 (permalink) Tue May 16, 2006 20:08 pm *Some ideas and helpful suggestions*

Everything is possible - that would be a simple modify in the database and the profile-script... But i would say change the platform is not a good idea because the database-format could be another one and its quite dfficult to move the entries in the way they don't get lost... what do you say Slava ?

Torsten · #12 (permalink) Wed May 17, 2006 10:29 am *PhpBB support*

Hi Florian,

Slava is working on an urgent issue now, our forum has been hacked and he has to fix this as soon as possible. It would be good to have somebody like onboard who can maintain the forum on a regular basis. More here:
http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=391779

What do you think, could you support us and keep the forum running?

Regards
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Gothix · #13 (permalink) Wed May 17, 2006 13:13 pm *PhpBB forum support*

hmm... the whole forum ? How much would it be to do? Because I actually have to complete another job which is paid too good than I could work on it quickly... what would you expect from me managing this forum?

Torsten · #14 (permalink) Wed May 17, 2006 13:29 pm *PhpBB forum support*

Hi Florian,

Many thanks for your response. Let's touch base again when you finish your current job.

Regards
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

Gothix · #15 (permalink) Wed May 17, 2006 17:26 pm *PhpBB forum support?*

and with current job you mean the addition of some entries into the profile ?

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