Curious About nextBBS?
nextBBS is an open-source Internet forum system written in PHP. Development of nextBBS was started on August 23, 2004 [by the] owner of clicdev.com[...]
nextBBS multi-boards is currently running in public beta at clicdev.com. Single-board versions are running medium-to-big size communities, such as militate.com, sdglive.com, etc. Other organizations integrate nextBBS as part of their hosting offering, such as pearlgaming.com
In December 2006, Portals Magazine compiled the list of SourceForge's 10 most popular Web 2.0-related applications. nextBBS was number 5.
(source: Wikipedia)
Take a look at our Features page: Click here
Or follow our 2 minutes Tour: Click here
Seeing is believing: Videos!
"A popular board with a ton of features and integration with Mediawiki, Coppermine, and Zoints." - Mashable.com
| The Curious Case Of The Evil iMac |
Well, in a nutshell: for the second time since the beginning of this year, my development iMac has decided to ruthlessly crush a hard drive. First, it was its internal HD. Because it wasn't such a big one I went to Fry's and bought a 2TB Firewire 800 HD to replace it. Turns out, iMacs do not like external HDs that much: it's not possible to setup boot camp and it's not possible to ignore the mechanically dying internal HD therefore everything takes forever to do and I don't have half the features set I would get using the built-in drive. Of course my backup was somewhat old and it took me three weeks to restore everything to a somewhat "OK" state. Well, that's because I would salvage stuff from the old HD by mounting it, copying as much data as possible before it crashed, waiting for the HD to cool off, reboothing, etc. Today, my Firewire HD died. If you do the math, it is apalling: that HD survived the iMac regimen for exactly 6 weeks. So, here I am, typing this on my laptop -- which is by no means a development machine -- and apologizing to everybody for the current lack of updates to nBBS. I will let you know when (IF?) I get back to a state where I can develop.
-Chris. PS: Of course, in the meantime my son's Macbook drive also decided to give up the ghost. When I google for HD-related Apple horror stories, I am shocked to find so many stories... Comments |
| Roadmap to 2.0 |
It's amazing how activity has has withered since I mentioned nextBBS v2.0. I guess everyone is just wondering what this is about. Here is, then, a tentative roadmap. Now's your time to complain if you don't like it!
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| Version 0.5.3 released, called "No really?" |
For those of you used to toying with the nightly build, there's nothing really new there. For the others, here is what this version, which is an intermediate release, brings to the table:
- Fixed various issues, including:
Do not update a topic read count needlessly.
- Removed stupid "web 2.0" effect when submitting a mesage.
- Fixed some php 'strict' issues in dbdriver
- New experimental 'select' method in dbdriver
- Introduced concept of new accounts needing super mod validation before they can participate:
post, change reputations, post high scores...
- validation is done from members list
- Upgraded rich text editor to latest version of FCKeditor
- Fixed non-validating list page
- Partial code for visual portal creation - not ready yet. Not even experimental.
- "Drop-ins"!
- First drop-in: addsignature.php
- Calendar now with custom events.
- Guests can be prevented from chatting.
- Fixed a bug with mass moderation
- Added 'pms waiting' notification box
- Moved to jQuery\nMade RSS compatible with external widgets
- Users can now download their private messages.
- New syndication now supports every version of RSS + Atom feeds
- Added first pieces of a real-time notification framework.
Testers: even though, as usual, the upgrade process was tested and regression testing was conducted, please install this version as soon as possible and check that we did not introduce new issues.
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| Version 0.5.0 is out! |
| It is out and with it come a new calendar, a better admin cp, etc. Note: the default skin, in this release, offers the 'visibility' choice twice. To get rid of it, simply edit login.tpl and remove one of the blocks labeled: '<!-- block: Visible or Hidden -->' |
| You should subscribe! |
| Here is the thing: I've decided to become serious about my technical blog (nexus.zteo.com). I made this decision when I realized that it was already attracting a passionate readership and it would not make sense not to give these readers more of what they've liked. Therefore, I've decided to offer access to this blog through Feedburner, which makes it easy for anyone to get updated either in their RSS reader, by emails, etc. I plan on adding new articles on a regular basis, as well as inviting some of the great people who have contributed to nBBS and other projects as 'guest speakers'. I think that the blog will keep focusing on the technological aspect of my projects as well as community management, design and open-source. I need to know if you guys find this idea interesting. And how do you let me know? It's easy enough: all you have to do is subscribe to the Feedburner thread, through RSS or email. This can be done here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheNexus Cheers. -Chris. |
| To do list |
| OK, we've discussed the infamous todo list for quite a while now. I've decided to make it "official" so that you guys don't feel like "it's going on the todo list" is just a way to give you the runaround. It now lives here: www.nextbbs.com/?act=extmw/TODO_List |
| nextBBS v0.4.7 is out: PHP5, optimizations |
| It's all fresh off the oven. Note that it's an odd release number, meaning no stability increase in this release. If your web host is running php5, please test this release extensively. We believe that we have achieved complete php5 compatibility but testing is never time wasted. Note: we are also releasing today the German language files for nextBBS. Many thanks and apologies for the delay go to Commifreak! Cheers! |
| April 2007 Update |
| Being worked on right now: No exciting feature, just the sort of things you need when nearing version 1.0:
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| Now using SubVersion |
| After a couple years of loyal service, today I have sent our Perforce server in retirement. The whole nextBBS source code is now available both online and directly from our SVN server. For more info, take a look at www.nextbbs.com/?act=extmw/Source_Control -C. |
| Is nextBBS a Web 2.0 application? |
| This is the second installment in our series "What makes nextBBS so special?" Portals Magazine reports that nextBBS is in the top 10 SourceForge Web 2.0 applications. But is nextBBS really a Web 2.0 application? The answer is not very complex but not simplistic either: nextBBS could be thought of as a "Web 1.9" or "Web 2.1" application depending on your views. Allow me to explain. Oftentimes, people see a "Web 2" label and think bells and whistles: In-place edits, dynamically updated information, etc. Even though nextBBS offers such features, it's the "other" Web 2 we are interested in: the community dimension. nextBBS is a community building tool and the more you use it the more you come to realize how deeply hybrid it is: standing at the crossing of Forums, Wikis and Blogs, it remains tightly focused on communication and sharing. Modules allow users to create drawing tutorials or integrate with existing social networks seamlessly and more importantly, as is the rule with this software, non-intrusively. nextBBS is not "in your face". What we think of as "Web 2 spectacular" is here, indeed, but every AJAX call, every page manipulation is the result of the developers' careful deliberations. The goal is to leverage these feature to make the visitor's time more enjoyable, rather than putting an aggressive display of technical prowess. In conclusion, yes, I believe that nextBBS is a genuine Web 2.0 application, in a user-conscious way. And it is my belief that with web applications this should be the only way. |
