vBulletin Blogs coming

[attroll]

I see that vBulleting is adding blogs to their forums software now. Have you heard anything more about this Brian?

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1327029

[tfw2005]

Sounds good over there. Personally, I want this system more for articles and "news", like a CMPS on steriods, so it doesn't change my desire for it.

Maybe Blogicles could focus more on non-blog oriented areas now, that would be my preference. Things like this: http://www.vbadvanced.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20666 and other networking based functionality, that could merge into this "new profile page" by VB.

Either way, I bet Brian just let out a big "SONOFA", sorry dude.

[Brian]

Yea, I saw that yesterday. I thought vB had dropped the ball on a blog program, but I guess I was wrong. It should make things interesting. I'm sure the competition now will result in more features and possibly a lower price on our end for you guys though. :)

[attroll]

True it will make things interesting, but I see some things that you have that I need that I bet they will not touch. Like Time stamping, multiple blogs, allowing users to creating sub-categories and a few others. I have a feeling it will be a good blog system but very basics.

Brian you have the ball and the head start on it so it is all in your ball park now.

[tfw2005]

In relation to the people who have posted "I'd like to see this in Beta 2" throughout these forums, how active are you in implementing them? Are you basically attempting to add most of the non-conflicting ones in, or are you being selective?

If you are adding most in, then I don't think you have much to worry about. That makes this one of the most robust add-ons for the forums yet.

[Brian]

Yea, from what I'm seeing, it looks like the two products will both be able to fill different niches. I'm just really glad that we decided to take the route of making things as dynamic as possible and can focus on many different areas, especially after seeing vB's announcement. :)
I've been trying to incorporate as many feature requests as possible as long as they are something that's plausable and something that I think will be used by enough customers to make the work involved in adding them worth it. Here's a quick rough list of some of the things that have already been added in to give you a better idea of what's coming:


Time limits on editing entries/posts.

Upload attachments via FTP.

New "Attachment Manager" page on the user side allowing users to quickly sort through and manage their attachments, complete with inline moderation tools.

New images to replace the edit/empty/delete links in the Category Manager.

Option to allow members to change the time/date that the entry was submitted.

Custom Fields - New "admin only" option that will allow only admins/mods to see the custom fields if they are marked as such.
New options to specify whether the custom field should be displayed before/after the message area when submitting entries, and a separate option to control where they are displayed when viewing an entry.
Multiple select boxes.
More advanced layout for the search page to allow better search limitations for custom fields that have pre-set options (checkboxes, radio, select, etc).
New option to limit the number of choices that can be selected in multiple select custom fields.

Pagination for modules in the admin cp.

Collapsable categories in the admin cp.

Options for users to delete their custom modules.

Main option to choose a specific style that will affect all of the blog system.

Ability to show a selected attachment/thumb in the "Browse Category" page with entries.

Create a new category based off of an existing category's settings.




Then there are a few key features still left that I'm trying to make sure are included in Beta 2, but have not yet been added (though most can be expected in Beta 2):

Attachment moderation.

RSS Feeds

Options to send entries/attachments/posts back to the moderation que if they're edited.

Category Icons - Ability to upload an image to display next to the category title, plus usergroup permissions to allow members to upload icons as well.

Change "Quick Navigation" module so admin can add additional links, plus add some settings so that the different sections (what's new, my favorites, subscriptions, everything else) can be turned off.

Create permissions for a usergroup based on another groups' permissions.



That's just what I have on the list at this moment. I will still be going through the forums to look for other suggestions that I may have missed to see what else I can fit in before the next release as well.

[attroll]

Well Brian you will have to hurry up and get Beta 2 out now.

I really need it by mid week next week or by next weekend at the latest so I can open up journals on my web site for users doing a complete hike on Appalachian Trail. Most hikers that are planning on hiking the whole trail have already left by now. There are some leaving in the next week but that is pretty much the late window to get started.

Here is my beg borrowing and crying post.

[tfw2005]

Looks good. Most of the stuff I was looking for is in there. I'm probably waiting till round three anyway, so no rush on my end.

I think now that you are looking for angles to set you apart, the 2 "medium" importance points I mentioned here: http://www.vbadvanced.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20664 would be perfect for a round 3 timeframe. This would definitely show the system has more than blog capabilities, which I think is now a key selling point.

[Brian]

attroll - I'm shooting for a time line similar to yours. It should be possible, but I can't make any promises since unexpected things always seem to come up. I realize that my time allotment for getting another beta out is starting to run thin though, so I am doing my best to get it out asap.

tfw2005 - The Editors Pick module is actually under my "Beta 2" section of the to-do list, but that's one that's kinda on the line and may be bumped to Beta 3 if I find that the other features take longer than I expect.
I see the usefulness of something like the ability to enter a link to a thread, but that's one of those things that would take some time and I think there are some other features that need to take higher priority. I *may* be able to work that one in by the first public release, but I can't make any promises right now.

[insolentmuse]

Sounds good over there. Personally, I want this system more for articles and "news", like a CMPS on steriods, so it doesn't change my desire for it.


Same.

Besides, I get better help and customer support / service here than I do with vBulletin itself.

I love vBulletin, but getting a solid answer to something specific there is horrible. Granted, sometimes I just misread, or need a little handholding, but at least here I know I'll get help whether it's a knock on the head, or a brief tutorial ;)

I've managed to get rid of all non-vbadvanced products but one. I just need Brian to come out with a classified system and I'll be a total convert ;)

[Lionel]

Brian, register and log in there (http://www.profileheaven.com/)

If you can manage to do the profile editing and displaying like them, you'll have a killer in your hands