Mod installation ease with PHPBB3

Get help with installation and running phpBB 3.0.x here. Please do not post bug reports, feature requests, or MOD-related questions here.
Ideas Centre
Forum rules
END OF SUPPORT: 1 January 2017 (announcement)
Locked
k2xl
Registered User
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 3:50 am
Location: Georgia, USA
Contact:

Mod installation ease with PHPBB3

Post by k2xl »

Hi,
Just curious. I didn't get a chance to look and thought maybe someone here has a quick answer. Will PHPBB3 have easier mod installation methods? I have a joomla site, and it's great to be able to install and uninstall mods from the admin panel. I can even write the url to the mod installation zip file and Joomla will install it automatically...

Regards,
-Danny
http://www.k2xl.com/ - My flash games.
User avatar
david63
Registered User
Posts: 20646
Joined: Thu Dec 19, 2002 8:08 am

Post by david63 »

As there are no "official" mods yet only time will tell as to the ease, or lack of, in installing mods in phpbb3.
David
Remember: You only know what you know and - you don't know what you don't know!

I now no longer support any of my extensions but they will start to become available here
User avatar
karlsemple
Former Team Member
Posts: 39802
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 8:54 am
Location: Hereford, UK
Contact:

Post by karlsemple »

I would imagine the mod installation process is going to be the same as with phpBB2...following a set of instructions to make edits, there is no hooks system if that's what you are getting at. However how complicated a mod install will be depends on the mods themselves. There are mods on phpbb2 which are very simple to install, take the extreme styles mod as an example, yet others such as the cash mod are somewhat more complicated. phpBB3 is likely to have the same format.
Image
andy.w
Registered User
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:07 pm

Post by andy.w »

If its going to continue to be as bad as that - is any effort going into pre-preparation of security mods and anything related ?
I'm thinking of things like guest post protection mod, hiding member list etc.

The current mod situation is abysmal - mods that only work on 1 specific release and so on are almost useless.

How about a link to a mod page for the specific release that lists the mods
known to work on that release built in?

I have to say I'm currently considering a commercial package purely because of the mod mess. The time I'm wasting having to trawl through web pages and then code and then forums to fix what didnt work and more code and so on is just getting too much.

I appreciate the program and support here - and the fact that some mods must mess with code in irregular places - and everything but PHPBB shouldn't be a lifes work for every operator to do what should be basic tasks like security changes.
User avatar
karlsemple
Former Team Member
Posts: 39802
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 8:54 am
Location: Hereford, UK
Contact:

Post by karlsemple »

How is a commercial package going to change that? You will still only have the features they provide and are likely to be even more limited on modifications or add ons.

As for your specific points in phpBB3 the inactive members do not show on the members list and guest posting has a confirmation image. Also phpBB does not need security mods and keeping up to date will keep you secure, in the past many of the security mods have been the cause of security breechs.

My phpBB2 board had 200+mods installed and many of them were written for phpBB 2.0.6 yet they installed an worked perfectly well in phpBB 2.0.22 :)
Image
andy.w
Registered User
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:07 pm

Post by andy.w »

Have you ever actually used this software as someone who doesnt know it inside out who doesnt have a whole life to spend working on it?

"How is a commercial package going to change that? You will still only have the features they provide and are likely to be even more limited on modifications or add ons."

Expectations are very different and support is a different matter with commercial software. The features claimed must work. There are legal requirements for things and so on. Essentially you know where you stand.

"As for your specific points in phpBB3 the inactive members do not show on the members list"

I said nothing about inactive members. I consider displaying the member list both a security hazard and an invasion of personal privacy for my users.

"and guest posting has a confirmation image." Captcha images are totally unacceptable.

"Also phpBB does not need security mods and keeping up to date will keep you secure,"

Keeping up to date simply invalidates mods already installed leaving you flapping in the wind. Its the worst possible course of action as far as I can see.

"n the past many of the security mods have been the cause of security breechs."

Which is why I made the suggestions and comments. Its currently a mess.

"My phpBB2 board had 200+mods installed and many of them were written for phpBB 2.0.6 yet they installed an worked perfectly well in phpBB 2.0.22 "

Frankly I find that hard to believe.

200+ mods? - sounds like you chose the wrong package in the first place to me.

How on earth could you update such a thing and know you've retained everything correctly?
David Robinson
Registered User
Posts: 369
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2003 11:39 pm
Location: Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Contact:

Post by David Robinson »

andy.w wrote: Expectations are very different and support is a different matter with commercial software. The features claimed must work. There are legal requirements for things and so on. Essentially you know where you stand.


Often times the support provided on this website is much better than what you will find with commercial forums. Also, all of phpBB's claimed features work... I have no clue what you could possible be referencing.
andy.w wrote: I said nothing about inactive members. I consider displaying the member list both a security hazard and an invasion of personal privacy for my users.


It's really easy to remove the memberlist from public view.
andy.w wrote: Captcha images are totally unacceptable.


Why?
andy.w wrote: Keeping up to date simply invalidates mods already installed leaving you flapping in the wind. Its the worst possible course of action as far as I can see.


So fixing security holes is the worst possible course of action? That's a poor mindset. If you apply the updates by hand, they won't invalidate mods 99% of the time, and when they do it's always an easy fix. If you can't fix it, the community here would be happy to help.
andy.w wrote: "n the past many of the security mods have been the cause of security breechs."

Which is why I made the suggestions and comments. Its currently a mess


Making MODs easier to install would not make them more secure.
andy.w wrote: "My phpBB2 board had 200+mods installed and many of them were written for phpBB 2.0.6 yet they installed an worked perfectly well in phpBB 2.0.22 "

Frankly I find that hard to believe.

200+ mods? - sounds like you chose the wrong package in the first place to me.

How on earth could you update such a thing and know you've retained everything correctly?


It's hard to believe, yeah, but just look at that forum. They're not all major gigantic MODs, but they're there.

And how is installing MODs a sign of using the wrong package? I guarantee none of the competing commercial options could have all of those modifications.
User avatar
Black Antitoon
Registered User
Posts: 219
Joined: Mon Dec 25, 2006 12:12 pm
Contact:

Post by Black Antitoon »

In the module management of the ACP I see a module named .Mods (with the dot), but there is no tab in the ACP. But maybe this means something. Maybe this module will be enabled with RC1 and isn't enabled yet beacuse they don't want people to write mods at beta stage. Does anyone know more about the .Mods module?
User avatar
Lastof
Registered User
Posts: 743
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2004 7:29 pm
Location: UK

Post by Lastof »

Black Antitoon wrote: In the module management of the ACP I see a module named .Mods (with the dot), but there is no tab in the ACP. But maybe this means something. Maybe this module will be enabled with RC1 and isn't enabled yet beacuse they don't want people to write mods at beta stage. Does anyone know more about the .Mods module?


It's a place for mod authors to add any controls that they may have on their mod. The reason it doesn't show up is the same reason categories don't appear if they have no forums under them, Olympus is clever.
Last edited by Lastof on 04 May 2011, 00:00, edited -1 times in total
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Image
Look, I'm officially not a bug!!
User avatar
karlsemple
Former Team Member
Posts: 39802
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 8:54 am
Location: Hereford, UK
Contact:

Post by karlsemple »

This is phpBB3 beta support and not the place for this discussion. to the original poster, no one is forcing you to use the software and thus feel free to use something else if it better suits your needs.

The bottom line is that modifying phpBB3 is going to be along the same lines as phpBB2, obviously the code is more modular meaning the mod authors might be able to take advantage of that to make life easier on the installer. As it stands at the moment there is no plugin/hooks system and there is not likely to be one in phpBB3 :)

I have closed this as you are obviously not entirely happy with phpBB and I do not want a flame war between you and the die hard phpBB fans :)
Image
Locked

Return to “[3.0.x] Support Forum”