Is / Will there be an official PORTAL for phpBB?

[blombardo]

Lets see what I can learn; and what I can share with those who read this... I have questions - and information here:

I have been researching this question for WELL over 40 hours over the past couple weeks - I've asked many questions on numerous other boards and there appears to be no official standing.

Here on this site - there is an official statement saying 'A portal will be created' (from a couple YEARS ago)

phpBB Group's Position on Portal Development
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=79844

-- That thread mentioned an OFFICIAL LIST OF ALL PORTALS (omg Thats what I need!) but the list is 'not available to me'

Link I cant access:
http://www.phpbb.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=17699

There is a 'discussion' posted at the end of the above topic (which was a locked announcement)

The discussion was here: (but now its locked - and a few years old)

Discusson on Portal Development P&P's
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=79846

So whats the deal? Years have gone by... I am still using an UN modified phpbb installation because I'm really afraid of screwing things up with all the after-market mods all over... I keep hoping that one day PHPbb v 3.0.6 or whatever comes next -- may incorporate... say... ALL the mods that exist - into the package so that EVERY available feature could be available to everyone... I guess that may be too much to ask for--

So I'll stick to the PORTAL topic for this thread... Is there one? - was there one - Will there be one? Will one of the existing portals be given a green lite to be the 'official standard'?

The biggest problem (in my opinion) between the different portals I've found is that they all have IN-compatible styles...

And to offer some info from my most recent research; I will include a list of EVERY portal I have been able to locate - and their respective sites... I know little - to nothing about any of them...


I have no clue which portal to choose - because each one will be a nightmare for me to configure any future mods into - especially when it comes time to update my phpbb software... then I will have tons of mods that dont work... I would really like an official portal.














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List of portals I have found:

============================================================================
=== phpBB Portal Options ===
There are many different Portal options designed to work within the Administrator Control panel of phpBB 3.+

The official position of the phpBB group can be found here:
viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1812245&p=10953435#p10953435

The following is a list of:
1: All known Portals
2: Their latest version and what version of phpBB it is designed for
3: Their support website.
4: Information about Custom Styles that may or may not be available
5: Things that may set them apart from one another (custom mods for example)
(this is an incomplete list because there is no single source of finding them all)

ONE:
1: DAMysterious Portal Portal XL5
2: XL5 - phpBB 3.0.2
3: http://damysterious.xs4all.nl/portalxl/portal.html
4: 128 STYLES
5: Built in gallery, Built in Style changer; available with a 'fullymodded phpbb' package through another site

TWO:
1: Stargate portal (formally known as KISS/phpBB3portal)
2: Unknown - phpBB3.0.5
3: http://www.stargate-portal.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=10
4: Many styles; uncounted but close in number to XL5
5:

THREE:
1: Board 3 Portal
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.board3.de/
4: Only THREE styles! - tons of requests but none seem answered.
5: Teamspeak plug in,

FOUR:
1: phpBB3 Portal Alexis Canver
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.phpbb3portal.com
4: unknown styles
5: Modules available include; WoW Recruitment Form w/ ACP, Highslide mod for phpbb3portal, Raid Progress Block + ACP Support, WoW Recruitment Block W/ ACP Control - v2.2, PHPRAIDER portal block


FIVE
1: Nut Portal
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.blizzhackers.com/ (site seems to be offline)
4: Unknown
5: Unknown

SIX
1: PhPbb Frontpage
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.phpbbresources.com/ -main site is down.
4: Unknown
5: Unknown

SEVEN
1: phpGrr! JwB
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://zoofware.com/
4: Unknown
5: Facebook integration

EIGHT
1: MK portal Large cms-- more than just a portal
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.mkportal.it/ and http://www.mk-portal.org/
4: Unknown
5: Unknown

NINE:
1: EzPortal (made for SMF but can be used on other systems)
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.ezportal.com/
4: Unknown
5: Unknown


TEN
1: Hacked Portal SpiderZ
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.phpbbhacks.com/download/6295
4: Unknown
5: Unknown

ELEVEN
1: Portal Extension
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.phpbbhacks.com/download/281
4: Unknown
5: Unknown


TWELVE
1: PhPbb CMS
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.phpbbhacks.com/download/1262
4: Unknown
5: Unknown


THIRTEEN
1: IM Portal masterdavid (5 years with no update)
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.phpbbhacks.com/download/2779
4: Unknown
5: Unknown

FOURTEEN
1: MX portal aka Solstice (Incredible huge CMS with payroll and more...)
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.mx-system.com/
4: Unknown
5: Unknown


FIFTEEN
1: KTVM portal
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: viewtopic.php?f=70&t=847955
4: Unknown
5: Unknown


SIXTEEN
1: Phpbb Primetime
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://www.mylatterdays.com/
4: Unknown
5: Unknown


SEVENTEEN
1: Alpha portal
2: Unknown - Unknown
3: http://alphaportal.net/
4: Unknown
5: Unknown

[ameeck]

AFAIK the phpBB Teams will not be developing a portal (that topic you mentioned is very old and nothing like that has been developed). The current opinion is that phpBB is primariliy a discussion board software and a portal goes further than the basic set of needs.

There will also be no official third-party portal. However anyone can submit a MOD to the MOD Database here on phpBB.com where the MOD will be approved and tested that it works correctly.


Honestly, I think deploying any two-click portal solution is a bad idea. Look at all the index pages the portals provide, tons of useless information that just scare away a new user.

Consider giving some time (you could have it finished quicker than in your 40 hours of research) to a custom homepage which will be layed out according to your needs and then integrated into phpBB as a custom page.

[blombardo]

Thank you for your clarification. I have been using a custom made front page for the past two years and it stinks.

I have SO MANY different modules / things running that all pull info from different places and it is a pain to manage... After seeing the amazing ease of use with one of the portals - having a menu built into my phpbb forums - that was a dream... Trying to get information out of the World of Warcraft game -- into the website roster - the dkp - and then be able to tie it into the phpbb forums so that ranks and points can be automatically syncronized- so the in game calendar can talk to the in forum calendar - so people can sign up in game or on forum...

so many things I am trying to tie into our forum... I need a content management system... and the idea of using Joomla with its OWN control panel - or any other cms that has a SEPERATE control panel is just more work than I want...

The simpler it is the better - one control panel is my goal... for the Arcade- the gallery - downloads section- all of it tied together in one neat clickable configurable menu... (the PhpBB admin control panel is the PERFECT place)


No matter how i look at it = it is a lot of work to set up; I had just hoped that once I set it up into (whatever) portal system -- I could have a sense that I choose the RIGHT one - the one that WILL have continued support...

Imagine how it will suck if I'm able to tie all that mess together properly (with my limited skills it will take me hundreds of hours) -- only to learn that once I upgrade to the next version of phpbb (whatever) that it is all broken and now I have to re - do all that work...




On a related topic - Perhaps if the staff here decides to avoid the portal topic - maybe they could simplify life and define a STANDARD - UNIVERSAL - GENERIC - style - one that will now- and forever- be compatible with every version of phpbb. One that can have enough 'extra' 'future' fields encorporated so that any portal creator will have a standard set of guidelines to follow; so the entire mess of styles will no longer be so confusing...

Take the MODx system and how effective it has been - now we have 'AutoMod' to install mods with... its great...

If portals are out of the question; the issue of styles and portal compatibility could at least be addressed.


If anyone else has more info to share on adding to my list of portals - that would be great.

i have found NO ONE that will list 'all existing portals and their support sites'

My home made list is the only one that exists as far as I can tell.

What web site would be the 'official PHP' site that would have the clout to say '_______- will be the official portal that shall be used as the standard for all others to work off of'

-The same entity that has approved the existence of 'phpbb.com' and those who maintain and develop it...


It's not php.com (parents helping parents lol)

php.net focuses more on the programming language than the software written in it...

Honestly I dont see any other site on the net that would be in a better position to take a stand for all us Newbies and say 'That looks like the best portal system - and ________- is in charge of it on _______- website'

I'm SURE that the staff here has a personal opinion about the different portals... Why cant they post their personal opinions? Make a "This is the UN-official best portal system" - then list all the others after it...


=I'm the kind of guy that it takes me about 3 hours to perform a 3 minute mod... I'm just slow at this stuff... so any advice I read from people with knowledge on the subject is worth a LOT of valuable time to me.


On another note:

Isnt the PhpBB system the largest most popular use for the php language? Why is there no reference to this site on the php.net site?

http://us2.php.net/links.php

-links to other places... but none to here.

[Brf]

We are not a site offering any support or discussion for PHP itself, therefore we are not appropriate for that list.