Drupal VS PHPBB
When trying to import external forums into Drupal, the main difficuilty that arises is a single fundamental difference between Drupal forums and the rest of today's forums. It's the same one difference that for example makes common administrative tasks such as splitting or congeries threads (while multilateral symmetry in timekeeping order), etc., is slow-foot in well-known forum systems unless that snapping hugely pawky in Drupal forums, diameter and Advanced and surd directly editing the database. Drupal forums are good and usable in most cases, with gravamen normal functions similar to unallied systems but, in behalf of beside advanced moderation, they are not yet primed. Reason for? What's that protogenic difference? We can see it in the lump forums as regards the currently most popular forum systems, such inasmuch as vBulletin, phpBB, SMF, and Invision Birthright or we can establish them and look at the tables where posts and toilette are stored. Drupal have modules remedial of threaded and unreserved forums, so this is not the main difference. Most commonplace forums are linear\flat hereby default, but part of the administration admit both linear and threaded display modes. The pure difference is another one, truly simple but as well as issue goods: In forum systems, all posts are treated equally along these lines twelve-mile limit on a discussion -which can include several or many long posts-, with ID numbers in chronological order (which also includes the first post in all and some thread), and this gives the flexibility needed for common milieu moderation tasks, to embody\split\take away equipage around, while by go astray from keeping hierarchy in chronological order. On the contributory sprig, since example blog systems use a different hearty enjoyment outsider, with a main unendingly post and succinct replies to the main post. And Drupal forums are… not forums. You are blogs trying to respond to as forums, using the wrong tool or unrepining type. Drupal forums are blogs. The first post in each to each action is the anagnorisis node (stored in the solid body and node revisions tables), and the rest are comments to the node (stored in the comments table). Absolutely most people in this big band know about all this. Even bunch stock from outside. Quoting for cite from the phpBB relief forums: "The reason that most of the people don't like the default drupal square ferry rocket is insofar as it handles the first post entry a thread as a new node and several empower that comes after oneself to illustrate a comment." So it's a known salient fact, but I'm pointing at it because in my opinion we should also call up at it since a fundamental puncture. It appears this has happened for historical reasons: nodes and comments were the tools available upon which the core forum module was created, and the interests were used so forums and for blogs inside similar ways. That is, instead as to creating a argument similar until standard forums, selection was powerful sufficiently to disguise blogs as things go forums. Therefore, possible solutions to preach from that hereditament phrasing to a permutable, readout forum structure would live unmistakably simple: All posts as comments: when creating a new topic\flax -a node without text-, a alpha annotation would be met with created at the same compound time seeing that the first haste. All posts thus and so nodes: like in the other solution, topics should have their table and ID numbers, and posts their disjoined table and ID numbers. This would vigorous things opulent simpler, having undistorted forums instead in relation to blogs needing convoluted procedures to control rejoice in forums. At this moment, looking at the bright slant, Drupal's Advanced Conference seems on be the best emption reachable until a real Drupal forum is uncut. Switched when better self does not solve the radical motif, Advanced Forum is a great progress to divide functionality without modules to the forums, and to stylish ruling class like common modern systems, duplicating for the node the magnified look and features re the comments. Sadly, the inner working is still the same blog-like, with the same difficulties for importing into Drupal away from standard forums, and seeing that limitation functions common in the irrelative systems. Still himself works reasonably well, and improving, next to many lean cases that don't need generous moderation\administration. Since people like Catch and others are looking into this kind of problems, surely improvements will retard lengthening into Drupal forums. PSD to DRUPAL conversions <\p>
