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Each Blog should come with its own Forum

  1. brucewagner
    Member

    I like this Forum interface...

    Is there any way to attach my own FORUM (just like this one)... to my BLOG.... here on WordPress...?

    If not, there SHOULD be...

    My free Forum host http://runboard.com offers free blogs... I prefer WordPress though.

    Why shouldn't each WordPress Blog come with its own Forum...?

    Added Bonuses:

    (1) The look of the pages (style) would be carried through both - your blog AND your forum...

    (2) The users would only need ONE user account - a WordPress account - not two... One for the blogs and one for the forums... What a nuisance that is!

    (3) One common shared "tag" system... for cross-referencing both - blog entries and forum posts...

  2. drmike
    Member

    We're waiting for you to write the code to do it.

  3. timethief
    Member

    You can get a forum for your blog by going to the internet and finding one there. This has come up many times and you can find what you need by using the forum search box. And I see that you have one so this thread is just to request that sysadmin add forums to wordpress blogs and that is done through sending in a feedback. :)

  4. brucewagner
    Member

    I already have a forum hosted by http://runboard.com ...

    I am saying that I would love to see an optional Forum integrated into WordPress - tied to your blog...

    There would be many benefits to having it integrated into your WordPress blog...

    ONE user account.
    COMMON page styles and themes, etc.
    ONE SHARED "tag" system... for cross-referencing both blog entries and forum posts...

    Obviously, the bulk of the code has already been written.

    The code for THIS forum could be re-used for this purpose...

  5. drmike
    Member

    Please remember that there are other free wordpress hosts that do offer forums, like mine. You can find a large list of them here.

    You can also grab the wordpress software from http://wordpress.org and find yourself a host and install a forum plugin. Heck you can even grab the software for this forum from http://bbpress.org

  6. timethief
    Member

    @brucewagner
    Staff have asked that such requests be sent to them as a feedback. When you send one in on Monday include a link back to this thread and they will witness your reasoning. Others have asked as well and the threads in the forum search box demonstrate this. :)

  7. brucewagner
    Member

    I'll try to remember to send them a Feedback on Monday.

    By the way...

    WHY would their Feedback EMAIL be... "Closed for the weekend"?

    I've never heard that one before...

    That is just plain odd.

    Their email inbox will not hold incoming messages until Monday?

    : )

  8. timethief
    Member

    @brucewagner
    We do not have crystal balls and cannot look into the minds of the powers that be. There are only 2 staff covering support and Mark our Support Maven does have the forum on a feed. In urgent situations he will respond but nothing you have posted here has been urgent. Most has been opinion and criticism. Answers to your support questions can be found by using the FAQs and the forum search box. The bottom line is: your question should be directed to sysadmin in a feedback. Volunteers on the forum cannot answer questions on policies. :)

  9. drmike
    Member

    Bruce, don't you think folks should take a day off once in a while?

  10. brucewagner
    Member

    People should take a day off... Absolutely!

    But email inboxes don't need a day off. Ha ha!

    Right. It's not urgent. And Feedback instructs me to post it here.

    That's why I did.

    If he has this forum on a feed then I probably don't need to send it to him again via feedback, on Monday...

  11. timethief
    Member

    You've posted so bye now and happy blogging.:)

  12. mark
    Staff

    Here's the feedback.

    "Thanks for your suggestion. This is something only you have suggested and as such is going to be low on the list of priorities compared to features requested by other users.

    There are also many other sites that offer free forums.

    An alternative is to use another blog. Forums are essentially a post followed by opinions. Blogs / posts are a bit like that too."

  13. mark
    Staff

    Or.......

    Create a page.
    Manually link new pages from that page and have each new page be - essentially - a thread.
    You can have lots of pages (threads) and you can clear them if needed.

  14. drmike
    Member

    Feedback is not email. You're free to email to support at this domain. That's open 24/7 and staff does check that, even on the weekend. (At least they check the stuff I send them)

  15. jacobsonchiro
    Member

    I'd like to have forum-like features too.

    Basically, I want the different conversations that start on my blog to stay together (regardless of who starts them) rather than all the conversations being combined and stepping all over each other in a single thread.

    The key feature I'd like is for other people to be able to start their own threads that I can then categorize. This seems to be the same as allowing others to mark their comments as a new post --rather than as a comment. Does anyone have an example wordpress blog that does this? How about one that integrates with an external site to provide the forum(runboard.com has been mentioned)

    Here's an example that hopefully clarifies what I'd like

    Current Situation, Chronological:
    1) topic A is brought up
    2) first reply to A
    3) topic B brought up
    4) second reply to topic A
    5) first reply to topic B

    I'd like it to look like

    1) topic A is brought up
    2) first reply to A
    4) second reply to topic A

    3) topic B brought up
    5) first reply to topic B

    Categorized by topic: Topics A and B are separate threads.
    Thanks for the help/examples.
    Luke

  16. eclecticgeek
    Member

    I actually have been doing what Mark suggested. I have a separate "Forum" page on my blog. When I get a free moment, I plan on creating sub-pages to organize them better. I like it because by leaving comments open on that page, it gives visitors a central place to post additional questions.

  17. forestneeds
    Member

    I thought that the option for this facility had been requested before. I'm one who'd appreciate that option.

  18. timethief
    Member

    "Yes" it has been requested and "yes" Mark has responded above.

    Here's the feedback.

    "Thanks for your suggestion. This is something only you have suggested and as such is going to be low on the list of priorities compared to features requested by other users.

    There are also many other sites that offer free forums.

    An alternative is to use another blog. Forums are essentially a post followed by opinions. Blogs / posts are a bit like that too."

    He also supplied a work- around

    Or.......

    Create a page.
    Manually link new pages from that page and have each new page be - essentially - a thread.
    You can have lots of pages (threads) and you can clear them if needed.

  19. raincoaster
    Member

    I see no reason not to have a forum as a link in a text widget. If it's on the sidebar, it'll be on every page automatically, including your personal tag pages. Can't get better than that!

  20. patriotsfanblog
    Member

    Still would be nice to be able to have a page that opens up to a forum....

  21. brucewagner
    Member

    That's what I am currently doing.

    I have a Forum link in a text sidebar widget which takes you to my Forum on runboard.com (see http://brucewagner.wordpress.com )

    I would not need to use runboard.com at all, though, if only I could do it all here...

    What is the Difference between a Blog and a Forum?

    Essentially, I think it is this:

    In a Blog: Only the Blogger can post new threads/topics.

    In a Forum: Any Reader can post a new thread/topic.

    It seems like a SIMPLE feature to add to WordPress...

    The OPTION of allowing registered users to post BOTH -- Comments and/or New Topics...

  22. timethief
    Member

    I'm respectfully repeating that Mark has responded to your request (see: above). Please send in a feedback directly to staff if you wish to continue debating this with Mark.
    Thanks, in advance, for your cooperation. :)

  23. raincoaster
    Member

    I think it's pretty clear how much more complex this would be: with one blogger per blog, that's almost 600,000 people for WordPress to deal with. If the blogs were all forums, even if they were tiny forums, that would be many millions of people potentially communicating with WordPress, attempting to post javascript, or what have you. Administratively, it's an order of magnitude larger.

    Just as WordPress concentrates on doing blogs well, there are forum builders who concentrate on doing forums really well, and they do a good job. I support going to the experts rather than asking those who are excellent at one thing to attempt something they may not be interested in or particularly outstanding at. I know they're a great team here at WordPress, but I don't expect to divert them from their primary goal of providing the best blogging platform around.

  24. jacobsonchiro
    Member

    Bruce,

    I couldn't find the link to your forum from your sidebar. I found the link to runboard, but not to your forum. I want to check how you linked the two up. Can you give me a hint where to find it? Thanks.

  25. forestneeds
    Member

    At the bottom.

  26. nosysnoop
    Member

    Maybe make a clickable image that says forum on a widget so when clicked it goes to whatever forum you're using. Instead of just a text link that people might not see.

  27. sussexmuddyarse
    Member

    Bruce...I'd need a map and several hours to find the forum in that massive sidebar. Is there any point cramming in so much stuff?

    Anyhoo...is there currently any way to display a forum on one of your blog's pages? I'm using the free hosted version so no plug-ins.

  28. engtech
    Member

    sussex: you wouldn't be able to do that.

    All you could do is link to the forum.

  29. sussexmuddyarse
    Member

    As I thought :(

  30. brucewagner
    Member

    By the way... I just Googled.... And discovered...

    Your favorite site doesn't provide RSS feeds?

    There is a free online service which converts any web page into an RSS feed... on the fly...

    It's called, Feed43.com (supposedly pronounced, "Feed For Free")

    The Forum / Message Boards host I am using (runboard.com) does not offer RSS Feeds, oddly enough... So, I am going to give Feed43 a try.

    Apparently, the way it works is: It "looks" at the web page and intelligently figures out the patterns of the data displayed there... and converts it into an RSS news feed...

    I'll check it out and see how well it works... And I'll report back...

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