New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Do you have an Open Source Product available for Joomla!? Let everyone know here.
Locked
grumblemarc
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:15 am

New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by grumblemarc » Wed Apr 30, 2008 3:46 pm

A partner and I have decided to resurrect the defunct Kookaburra project and give it a new name and focus. Introducing AGORA! I won't go into too much detail but you can check us out here and on our homepage at Joomla Me!

Agora is a bridgeless forum for Joomla and currently only working on Joomla 1.0.xx. With the stable version about to be released we will then quickly turn our attention towards the 1.5.xx platform.

It's pretty impressive if I must say so myself BUT our time and skills are reaching their limits and we are actively seeking Developers, Coders, Moderators, Translators as well as help with developing our Support Manuals.

So check us out and give Agora a shakedown. We'd appreciate it.

User avatar
Robert_Vining
Joomla! Enthusiast
Joomla! Enthusiast
Posts: 111
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2006 4:07 pm
Location: League City, TX
Contact:

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by Robert_Vining » Thu May 08, 2008 4:10 pm

Agora Forums has just moved to version 1.0.3 Stable. You can find us in the Extensions Directory and on http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/agora/ .

We are currently moving the website for JoomlaMe due to a large increase in users recently (thats a good thing!) and are using the Forum on the Joomlacode.org site for quick answers to support questions.

http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/agora/forum/

Download it, install it through the components installer, set a menu item for the component, go to the frontend as an admin and set your configuration options and your ready to roll!

Quick note.... make sure you change the Base URL under Options from http://www.yourdomain.com/components/com_agora
to your correct domain name for all functions and images to work correctly.

User avatar
dax702
Joomla! Guru
Joomla! Guru
Posts: 557
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:20 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by dax702 » Thu May 29, 2008 8:31 am

how does this compare with Fireboard?

grumblemarc
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:15 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by grumblemarc » Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:46 pm

No comparison as far as I'm concerned.
Check HERE for a quick comparison. Mind you it hasn't been updated in months and MORE features have been added to Agora and many more bugs squashed.

User avatar
phreak_02
Joomla! Explorer
Joomla! Explorer
Posts: 375
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2005 3:31 pm
Location: Austria
Contact:

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by phreak_02 » Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:17 pm

Hi there,

As i can follow, it's a pretty active process. To bad that it's not visible on the joomlame-page, it would rise more interest. A backend demo would be nice too.

Keep up the good work.
phreak
http://www.cycomsplat.com - I work for you !
http://www.kindaktuell.at - I'm running this !

User avatar
Radio
Joomla! Intern
Joomla! Intern
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 8:29 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by Radio » Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:01 pm

I don't see why nobody has just re-programmed PHPBB3 into a fully installable joomla component!. I would do it myself but I couldn't support it if I did. I know I wouldn't have the time to track all the updates on phpbb3 and keep the joomla version up to date etc... A team should get together!

grumblemarc
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:15 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by grumblemarc » Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:07 pm

Radio wrote:I don't see why nobody has just re-programmed PHPBB3 into a fully installable joomla component!. I would do it myself but I couldn't support it if I did. I know I wouldn't have the time to track all the updates on phpbb3 and keep the joomla version up to date etc... A team should get together!
What does that have to do with THIS component? You already suggested this on the FireBoard forums without result. It would be nice if you posted your wishlist items in the proper place.

User avatar
Radio
Joomla! Intern
Joomla! Intern
Posts: 90
Joined: Fri Jul 21, 2006 8:29 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by Radio » Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:14 pm

It has nothing to do with your forum component sorry :'(

Desperados
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:21 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by Desperados » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:17 am

what about joomla and mybb ?
http://forum.pcgames.ir Persian Pc Games Forums

http://e107.ir Persian e107 support !

User avatar
susanj
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:45 pm
Location: Somewhere: Down Under

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by susanj » Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:28 am

I installed this component on my community oriented site and it looked great...but I had a problem. However, the guys at the support forum were nothing short of FANTASTIC!!!!!! And to a relatively joomla newbie, support is essential! While posting on the support forums I didn't feel stupid and they were very helpful.

Taking their advice and uninstalling the component and re-installing did the trick! It is now functioning on my site, although it hasn't had a large amount of use yet, due to my site not being officially launched.

I love being able to work from the front-end. I love the capabilities of this component. I love the potential of this component. I love how it easily integrates with CB. It is user-friendly and admin-friendly. It doesn't seem as bloated as other similar components yet does a great job and the forum is pretty quick, even on slower servers.

If you haven't yet checked this forum component out, do so! (and no, I don't work for them...I just like the product :p )
Susan

User avatar
Hazzaa
Joomla! Explorer
Joomla! Explorer
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:13 pm

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by Hazzaa » Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:11 pm

phreak_02 wrote:Hi there,

As i can follow, it's a pretty active process. To bad that it's not visible on the joomlame-page, it would rise more interest. A backend demo would be nice too.

Keep up the good work.
phreak
We are about to release a new version in the next few days. Once this is done, I will make it a priority to set up a full blown demo for admin panel for your reviews. I do apologize for now having done this to earlier versions but the admin panel has been going through some major overhauls. At the rate we have been progressing on this, I would have to rebuild it from scratch on an hourly basis. :). I think all will be please with all that is new to this area.

LogicWeb
Joomla! Fledgling
Joomla! Fledgling
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:41 pm

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by LogicWeb » Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:53 pm

I saw the forum on your site, looks good. Do you have various styles or does it use the theme off Joomla itself?

I just started playing around with Joomla personally, so I don't know how that works yet.
http://www.logicweb.com - dedicated / vps servers, resellers, domains
LogicWeb...a smart web solution

User avatar
Hazzaa
Joomla! Explorer
Joomla! Explorer
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:13 pm

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by Hazzaa » Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:52 am

LogicWeb wrote:I saw the forum on your site, looks good. Do you have various styles or does it use the theme off Joomla itself?

I just started playing around with Joomla personally, so I don't know how that works yet.
We just released the latest version and new styles are in the process of being developed. Agora has it's own template styling but is very easy to manipulate to your own color scheme if you know css. There is an area in our wiki documentation that tells you which parts of the css handles which areas of the forum, thus making it relatively easy to color code it.
Lastly for those that have asked about a test site, please feel free to go to http://agora.joomlame.com where you will find a username and password for both user level and admin level. All configuration to Agora is done from the front end allowing you to enable moderators without giving them access to your Joomla administration panel.

grumblemarc
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:15 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by grumblemarc » Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:27 pm

Just updating. Agora will very very shortly be available on the Joomla 1.5.x platform in full native mode. Just tweaking some bits and pieces here and there prior to the release.

User avatar
classixuk
Joomla! Enthusiast
Joomla! Enthusiast
Posts: 108
Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:14 pm

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by classixuk » Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:13 am

I took a look at Agora again, based on your enthusiasm.

However, I didn't download it, because I see you guys have now set up a webstore and began charging money for the converters that are required for peeps to convert their exisiting forum softwares over to Agora.

Hilarious!

If this is how you treat your tiny userbase right now, I hate to think what will happen if you ever actually did get anywhere near as popular as Fireboard.

Paid support perhaps? Or maybe paid templates? Even better...do a vBulletin and begin charging for the forum.

I really think you guys are going nowhere fast, and completely deluded in believing your own hype to boot.

A fully integrated forum solution, with many more users, already exists and it's called Fireboard. They don't charge their users for the neccessary converters.
Further, using the plugin called Jfusion, Joomla users can easily integrate the major players in the forum world such as PHPBB3, SMF and MyBB etc...which are all FREE forum softwares with FREE converters, and guess what? The JFusion plugin required to do the job is FREE too!

So tell us (I fancy a giggle)...why on earth would anyone with more than one braincell actually pay you guys money to convert from their superior forum system?

Option 1
Convert from a major forum system to a tiny little player with a doubtful future = Money up front!


Option 2

Convert to any proper forum system with a userbase of thousands = FREE.

You guys are hilarious!
:D :D :D

User avatar
dax702
Joomla! Guru
Joomla! Guru
Posts: 557
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:20 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by dax702 » Thu Sep 18, 2008 8:35 am

Classixuk, I find your post rather rude and offensive. Honestly, I'm amazed at how much free open source software exists. I always wonder how do these people make any money from all their time spent on writing these programs? Perhaps you were fed with a silver spoon, or maybe never had to work hard to live. But people do need to make money in order to live in this world. Maybe Agora Cart is going to be their business that puts food on their table; there's no reason to laugh or deride someone from trying to make it in the world. Yes, I enjoy and use free open source software, but I donate to the cause whenever I can because I am not a programmer, just an end user and I place value on the hard work that programmers do for the world.

User avatar
classixuk
Joomla! Enthusiast
Joomla! Enthusiast
Posts: 108
Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:14 pm

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by classixuk » Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:32 am

dax702 wrote:Classixuk, I find your post rather rude and offensive. Honestly, I'm amazed at how much free open source software exists. I always wonder how do these people make any money from all their time spent on writing these programs? Perhaps you were fed with a silver spoon, or maybe never had to work hard to live. But people do need to make money in order to live in this world. Maybe Agora Cart is going to be their business that puts food on their table; there's no reason to laugh or deride someone from trying to make it in the world. Yes, I enjoy and use free open source software, but I donate to the cause whenever I can because I am not a programmer, just an end user and I place value on the hard work that programmers do for the world.
Hi Dax,
Sorry if you found the post rude or offensive, and please be assured that I also, like you, donate money (as well as my time) to many open source projects.
And far from being born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I have had to work for every penny I have and every business I have built.
But there was a history of the previous poster constantly spamming OTHER component developer's websites, urging the userbase to convert from their forum to his forum.
At first I thought he was over-eager, and later presumed he was slightly arrogant.
My lastest thought is that he has more front than Harrods.

It appears to me that far from "helping the open-source community" with his links and mentions that were posted everywhere, he was just trying to establish a route of steady $15 payments.

You say that "Maybe Agora Cart is going to be their business that puts food on their table", but I highly doubt it.

It's a flawed business model...why would anyone pay $15 upfront to convert to an unheard of, very small forum component, when the people who have actually made (and been making) fantastic full featured forum systems for years, don't charge their users a penny to convert?

And most interestingly, the forum component itself is a resurrection of an old abandoned component which was (and still is) based completely around the previous code written by the team at PunnBB - who DO NOT charge for their converters.

Like I said...the guy has more front than Harrods, but I wish him the best of luck in the popularity wars against the fantastic Jfusion and the existing Fireboard forum components.

grumblemarc
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:15 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by grumblemarc » Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:02 pm

Excuse me. Know some history before you come blasting someone for it. Agora (not Agora cart) is free and shall always be free. It is only the converters that we charge a slight fee for since it took money out of own pockets to make it a reality for all the users that requested them. According to you we shouldn't be allowed to charge for a product although everyone in the Joomla community is doing the same exact thing. Ludicrous.
A fully integrated forum solution, with many more users, already exists and it's called Fireboard. They don't charge their users for the neccessary converters.
Not only do they not charge you they actually have no converters and offer not the slightest bit of assistance for any of their userbase that want to convert to their solution. Support is next to non-existent over on the FB forums and users are still asking the same questions they have been since day one because the problems that plauge that component have yet to be addressed. Let's not even get into access levels and private forums. Also promised since day one and has yet to materialize. And they won't be answered in their next release either.
Further, using the plugin called Jfusion, Joomla users can easily integrate the major players in the forum world such as PHPBB3, SMF and MyBB etc...which are all FREE forum softwares with FREE converters, and guess what? The JFusion plugin required to do the job is FREE too!
Check the title of my thread. INTEGRATED forum. Not bridged. And that's good that they offer their converters free. They probably have revenue coming in from ads and sponsors that help cover that cost. We do not. And no ones forcing anyone to convert so if you don't like the price don't buy one.
So tell us (I fancy a giggle)...why on earth would anyone with more than one braincell actually pay you guys money to convert from their superior forum system?
Why? They're doing it for FireBoard (out of their own pockets and costing them fr more than the pittance we charge). Why not us? If you want to compare the 2 please be fair about it. And the main reason would be (check the title of my thread again) having an integrated forum solution. FireBoard superior? Not hardly. More popular? Certainly. And it comes with it's own entourage of cheerleaders like yourself.
Option 1
Convert from a major forum system to a tiny little player with a doubtful future = Money up front!
No one's forcing anyone to convert to anything. We've only been players in the Joomla extensions arena for a few months now. FB? 2 years now and counting and they haven't come close to getting it right. You obviously haven't even tested the Agora system to discover it's power. And with the new version coming out for BOTH Joomla platforms it proves to be even more powerful (and MUCH faster than FireBoard). Our support is second to none. Go ahead. Pose a questin over at BoJ and see how long it takes you to get an answer, if you even get an answer.
Option 2
Convert to any proper forum system with a userbase of thousands = FREE.
You are obviously speaking out of ignorance hence the rudeness in which you chose to display it. Agora is a "proper" forum system, based off of PunBB so it has a very strong, tried-and-true foundation underneath it. FireBoard was based off of JoomlaBoard which was buggy as hell to begin with. So while it may be more popular it definitely is not more powerful, stable or as fast as Agora. Compare it feature for feature and you or anyone else will see for yourself.

So next time, before you come in here spewing venom, get the facts before you speak.

User avatar
Hazzaa
Joomla! Explorer
Joomla! Explorer
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:13 pm

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by Hazzaa » Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:18 pm

I am one of the developers over at Agora. I hate that this thread became a thread about a comparison of Agora to FB to any other platform. This is merely letting the Joomla community know that Agora exists. That's it, that's all. It was not a forum to attempt to put FB out of existence nor is $15 going to pay the bills. It helps with covering costs. calssixuk, you have had an issue with grumblemarc for ages. Fight it out in private. Also yes Agora is based off of PunBB but more rightly so, based of Kookaburra developed by Shayne Bartlett of the JFactory. He felt that kookaburra was not really needed and that it had no interest. grumblemarc showed it to me, I tried it and felt it had GREAT potential.

Guess what, it does. The more components in the playing field, only makes developers work that much harder to become better, become #1. If your mentality tells you there is ONLY room for 1 component, I wonder how hard the developers would work on making it any better. Heck why should they, they are #1 and will always be #1

We are very proud where Agora has gone in the short 6 months it has been in existence.
Have a great day all
Hazzaa

grumblemarc
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:15 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by grumblemarc » Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:57 pm

I must apologize to all. I should not have let myself get drawn into this the way I did. Hazzaa is right. We are not here to compete with FireBoard. There is enough room in the Joomla community for more than one forum component. We just want to offer people a choice. That is all. The users will ultimately pick the solution that best fits their needs. And that is how it should be.

User avatar
classixuk
Joomla! Enthusiast
Joomla! Enthusiast
Posts: 108
Joined: Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:14 pm

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by classixuk » Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:20 pm

Just a quick reply to say sorry to you guys. I never meant to start a flaming war or anything.

I jumped to conclusions on the pricing thing (although I still think it's a poor business model if you want your component to grow in popularity).

And to both Hazzaa and GrumbleMarc, I can assure you that I have no personal issues with GrumbleMarc as a person; only his previous posting styles when he was active at BestOfJoomla (Fireboard's own site) trying to promote his own component. Lets say that I found the tactic a wee bit underhanded.

I think that you guys have a large mountain to climb together with Agora, and I wish you the best of luck. Components such as Jfusion are offering users the chance to integrate popular forum softwares such as PHPbb, SMF vBulletin, IPB and myBB into their Joomla sites (when I say integrated Marc, I do actually mean integrated - not bridged as you assumed). Gone are the days of bridges and hacks - components like Jfusion allow the user to choose which forum software they want to integrate, whereas your project only gives one option - a modified version of PunnBB (which isn't really that popular anyway).

But like I said, I do apologise for my previous posting style; it was out of character for me to post like that. In future I will drink more caffeine in the mornings to wake me up.

Best of luck you 2 with your component, I hope it works out for you both.

User avatar
dax702
Joomla! Guru
Joomla! Guru
Posts: 557
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:20 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by dax702 » Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:41 pm

Hi, I just downloaded your new Agora forum to try it out. Upon uploading the zip file it said success but had these two warnings:

Warning: mysql_fetch_row(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/mariosf/public_html/libraries/joomla/database/database/mysql.php on line 357

Warning: mysql_free_result(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/mariosf/public_html/libraries/joomla/database/database/mysql.php on line 360

And when I click on Agora Forum from the components menu, it just shows me the long changelog of the various versions but I do not see the actual backend for the component anywhere.

Please advise?

grumblemarc
Joomla! Apprentice
Joomla! Apprentice
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:15 am

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by grumblemarc » Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:51 pm

Those are 2 common errors that should not affect anything. To be sure uninstall and reinstall. They should not show the second go round.

Administration is handled from the front end.

User avatar
Hazzaa
Joomla! Explorer
Joomla! Explorer
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:13 pm

Re: New INTEGRATED forum for Joomla

Post by Hazzaa » Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:25 am

That issue has now been resolved.


Locked

Return to “Open Source Products for Joomla!”