QUESTIONS FOR OUR COMMUNITY - HOW ABOUT JOOMLA CONTENT MGMT SYSTEM?

[Laly]

It looks like Canuck is off to a great start with the ideas Jack .

Maybe since you want to include video clips - those could go on the left or right side ...

It also would be nice if "we" had the option to reveal or hide certain boxes that we don't use or look at alot- but still having option to later "un-collapse" it. Sorry not as technically termed as Canuck is.

But i do like the general layout that Canuck is mentioning.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by Laly

It looks like Canuck is off to a great start with the ideas Jack .

Yes indeed, to put it mildly!

Originally Posted by Laly

Maybe since you want to include video clips - those could go on the left or right side ...

Keep that in mind, once we get the Template installed.

Will do!

Originally Posted by Laly

It also would be nice if "we" had the option to reveal or hide certain boxes that we don't use or look at alot- but still having option to later "un-collapse" it.

I've written a note re: your suggestion to Rockettheme Support have received a reply (he's pretty good about quick replies), so here it is, along with my reply back to him:

Rockettheme Support wrote:
Hello Jack,

That isn't a feature of any template at this time, it would require some custom javascript and possibly a Joomla plugin. We may do something like this in the future but not at present.

Cheers,

To which I replied:

Thanks! Please consider it. It would make Versatility EVEN MORE VERSATILE!

So... it may take a while but if enough others let him know, he may nudge it upwards in his task queue.

Originally Posted by Laly

Sorry not as technically termed as Canuck is.

But i do like the general layout that Canuck is mentioning.

No worries! Since most of our community (like ME!) is not particularly techie, that non-tech point of view is ESSENTIAL in making this Forum truly user-friendly to everyone in our community.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by canuck75

Hey Jack, ya I'd love to help you with the homepage. The trick with the homepage is to have enough doors/ entry ways into the sites contents but to keep it uncluttered.

Yes I totally agree! I'm hoping that Versatility IV 1.5, with its ability to turn OFF the boxes not needed for any given page, will give us that kind of flexibility.

I'm definitely open to offering other Joomla friendly templates as well, and welcome any recommendations you may have in that regard.

Originally Posted by canuck75

A website homepage can basically be divided up into 6 main sections: masthead, footer, body, right side and left side. I've listed below what content should probably be put in each section.

Masthead: navigation menu, graphics, user logon fields

Body: new forum posts, new blog posts, news items, updates from Jack ( to be turned on as needed ), chat box, pod casts.

Left and Right side bars: advertisements for your products, user testimonials, gold nugget stories, complimentary resources, time to next chat, featured users.

Footer: contact info, bookmarks

That's just a simple over view but it's probably a start.

It's a GREAT start and MUCH appreciated!

Originally Posted by canuck75

I'd be interested to hear what information people would like to see foregrounded as well. I'll try to take some time in the next couple of days and sketch out a basic template of where the content could go. Can you pm me with your fax info Jack?

I'm sending that info to you via the email of record in your Forum User CP. I'll attach a copy of the Versatility IV layout plan and you can just indicate what stuff to exclude from the defaults.

If possible, I'd like to use that template and/or other Joomla templates rather than getting in to a lot of custom coding, which is definitely NOT my department!

MANY, MANY Thanks!
Jack

[canuck75]

Hey Jack, no problem. I just got your email with contact info so when I get something together I'll fax it off to you. It will probably be really rough but I'll see if I can organize the content into the 'windows' provided in the versatility template. Do you know if the 'windows'/ content boxes can be expanded or shrunken? For example, looking at the template, if you were to leave the boxes "user 2 and user 3" out would the 'user 1' box expand to fill the void of the others? Additionally are the boxes specifically assigned? Meaning, will the user 1 box only feature a forum user and an advert1 box only feature an advertisement?

[Jack]

Originally Posted by canuck75

Hey Jack, no problem. I just got your email with contact info so when I get something together I'll fax it off to you.

Thanks very much! I just sent you a png of the layout plan which I'd forgotten to include in the previous email (lotta distractions today), as well as some links to additional info that may be helpful (these were also included earlier in this thread).

BTW, I'm going to send out a mailing to all users on the contacts list so you'll get a copy of it. It's not intended as harassment! LOL.

Originally Posted by canuck75

It will probably be really rough but I'll see if I can organize the content into the 'windows' provided in the versatility template.

Great, thanks!

Originally Posted by canuck75

Do you know if the 'windows'/ content boxes can be expanded or shrunken? For example, looking at the template, if you were to leave the boxes "user 2 and user 3" out would the 'user 1' box expand to fill the void of the others? Additionally are the boxes specifically assigned? Meaning, will the user 1 box only feature a forum user and an advert1 box only feature an advertisement?

I THINK it's flexible in the manner you described, and I believe that User means whatever content the User (in this case I take that to mean the page designer rather than a page visitor, but again I may be mistaken - still learning!).

RE: Adverts, again I think that's a suggestion by the developer and not a requirement.

Here's the email address to the Rockettheme support and the guy is usually pretty good about getting back fairly quickly, so I invite you and those reading this post to contact him directly and then post what you've learned to this thread, so we'll all learn more about it.

Thanks!
Jack

[Laly]

Okay thanks for the update Jack...

[Buster]

Hi Jack,

I just watched the Joomla short and I concur with everyone, it looks great! The amount of flexibility will be a great thing. I happen to be the type of guy that needs to play with something to see what works best and not so good at just looking at it and knowing. I am looking forward to doing that. Do you have a timeframe on when you are looking to get this up and running?

I appreciate you having someone with Canuck75's expertise to help you along. He seems to have a good grasp on the right questions to have answered in your mind while beginning this task.

I will certainly send along any suggestions that I come up with along the way. I am certainly looking forward to the new format. As far as the different versions go, the one that you chose (Versatility IV 1.5 Layout) looks as good as any as far as I can tell.

Have a great day.

[Jack]

Originally Posted by Buster

Hi Jack,

I just watched the Joomla short and I concur with everyone, it looks great! The amount of flexibility will be a great thing. I happen to be the type of guy that needs to play with something to see what works best and not so good at just looking at it and knowing. I am looking forward to doing that. Do you have a timeframe on when you are looking to get this up and running?

Hey Buster, thanks for taking a look and getting into our discussion here! I'm really looking forward to your input as a non-techie (as is the case with most of our users).

vBmtor plans to install it in a little less than two weeks from now. He will set it all up on a testing server he has as he needs to connect vBulletin > via a Bridge plugin > via Joomla > into the Versatility IV 1.5 template.

It's a pretty big job, but he's the guy to do it!

Meanwhile, re: playing with it (ahem! ) there is a demo of the template at the RocketTheme website that you can play with, without hurting anything.

Click that link text in the paragraph just above this one and it will take you there.

As soon as you get to the demo page, in the upper right corner it will say 1.0, just click on that and it will change to the 1.5 demo version.

The color is a pukey green (imho) but don't sweat that, we're able to warm up the colors and all that jazz once we get it installed.

As I mentioned we'll also be able to have embedded video discussions, podcasts, all kinds of bells and whistles!

Meanwhile, just go ahead and click around with all of the menus etc. of that demo and see how it works.

One cool thing is that once we get it installed, when you log in at the main page you'll also be logged in to this Forum and whatever content we want (I think, eventually) can be piped into that cooler template.

Originally Posted by Buster

I appreciate you having someone with Canuck75's expertise to help you along. He seems to have a good grasp on the right questions to have answered in your mind while beginning this task.

No kidding! And I'm looking forward to input from EVERYbody, so the system will be understandable and easy to use no matter what level of techie-ness one has.

Originally Posted by Buster

I will certainly send along any suggestions that I come up with along the way.

Yes just post them in this thread so we can best keep track of them and keep the dialogue rolling!

Originally Posted by Buster

I am certainly looking forward to the new format.

Me too, BIG TIME!!!

vBulletin is powerful software but it's usability is about a D as far as I'm concerned. It's been drivin' me batty!

Originally Posted by Buster

As far as the different versions go, the one that you chose (Versatility IV 1.5 Layout) looks as good as any as far as I can tell.

Cool! And basically it's all boxes that we can fill with whatever we want, images, text, YouTube embeds, podcasts, Flash animations, etc. And I want everybody to contribute. It's definitely not all on me!

Originally Posted by Buster

Have a great day.

You too, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

All the very best,
Jack

[Laly]

Okay Jack...

Spending some time today doing my ideas for the Joomla template and I have a question-Can some of the boxes be combined --- like the User 1-2-3 boxes to make up like the Chat box area?? Or even the Inset and Inset 2 area??

Same with the User 11-20 and Advert areas--or maybe divide up the actual forum threads into these areas .... but I do have my general layout done .

laly

[canuck75]

Yes those are good questions Laly. I'm wondering the same thing. Can you clarify that for us Jack? Another question as well, is it possible to have the chat box open in a separate window? That way users can browse the site and type in a separate chat box.