[David]

Hello all,

In addition to help I would be interested in getting people’s  insight on running forums in Cbox.
What have you found to be the limitations?
Is it possible to export and or merge forums?
What mistakes did you make when you first went to set up and map out your groups with forums?
Have mobile users been able to navigate the forums well?
I am particularly interested in the ways forum users can create posts by email,  and reply by email as people being able to engage while on the move, is important.
CBOX recommends using bbpress rather than BP’s forums. Have people found that works best for them?

I have read https://commonsinabox.org/documentation/buddypress-vs-bbpress-forums  and decided to follow the advice to stick with bbpress.

NOW  TO CLARIFY:
I have set up a group and I am having trouble setting up  the forum in the group.

-I want to make sure I am using the right forum (bbpress not BuddyPress)
I have gone to DASHBOARD > GROUPS and created a group. While doing so, I specified that I wanted it to have a forum. However it refers to the forums as “Discussion Forums”  in the the “Group Forum Settings” settings. Is this Buddy Press’s native “Discussions” or is the BBpress?  I hope that this is the correct dialog box as it alos allows you to map a group to a forum created in the Dashboard’s Forum section.

When I goto DASHBOARD> Forums it lists the following:
<table class=”wp-list-table widefat fixed pages” cellspacing=”0″>
<tbody id=”the-list”>
<tr class=”post-65 type-forum status-publish hentry alternate iedit author-self” id=”post-65″ valign=”top”>
<td class=”post-title page-title column-title”>Group Forums
<div class=”locked-info”></div>
All forums created in groups can be found here.
<div class=”row-actions”></div></td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_topic_count column-bbp_forum_topic_count”>0</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_reply_count column-bbp_forum_reply_count”>0</td>
<td class=”author column-author”>admin</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_created column-bbp_forum_created”>December 9, 2013
8:05 pm</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_freshness column-bbp_forum_freshness”>7 hours, 27 minutes ago</td>
</tr>
<tr class=”post-77 type-forum status-publish hentry iedit author-self” id=”post-77″ valign=”top”>
<th class=”check-column” scope=”row”><label class=”screen-reader-text” for=”cb-select-77″>Select Greatness</label> <input id=”cb-select-77″ type=”checkbox” name=”post[]” value=”77″ /></th>
<td class=”post-title page-title column-title”>— Greatness
<div class=”locked-info”></div>
<div class=”row-actions”></div></td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_topic_count column-bbp_forum_topic_count”>0</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_reply_count column-bbp_forum_reply_count”>0</td>
<td class=”author column-author”>admin</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_created column-bbp_forum_created”>December 12, 2013
7:12 am</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_freshness column-bbp_forum_freshness”>7 hours, 27 minutes ago</td>
</tr>
<tr class=”post-79 type-forum status-private hentry alternate iedit author-self” id=”post-79″ valign=”top”>
<th class=”check-column” scope=”row”><label class=”screen-reader-text” for=”cb-select-79″>Select Logistics</label> <input id=”cb-select-79″ type=”checkbox” name=”post[]” value=”79″ /></th>
<td class=”post-title page-title column-title”>— Logistics – <span class=”post-state”>Private</span>
<div class=”locked-info”></div>
We make stuff happen
<div class=”row-actions”></div></td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_topic_count column-bbp_forum_topic_count”>0</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_reply_count column-bbp_forum_reply_count”>0</td>
<td class=”author column-author”>admin</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_created column-bbp_forum_created”>December 12, 2013
2:28 pm</td>
<td class=”bbp_forum_freshness column-bbp_forum_freshness”>No Topics</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
I see the forum I created within the group listed “Logistics”  BUT I also see on the top Group forums ( See attached)    There it says “All forums created in groups can be found here.”  Which leads me to think I might not be creating the forums in the proper place.

On bbpress’s site it suggests  that I might need to create a page to display a forum.
http://codex.bbpress.org/step-by-step-guide-to-setting-up-a-bbpress-forum/

I want to make sure I am creating the forum properly.
Let me know your thoughts.

[David]

I apologize for all the garbage in the post.  It does not look like there is anyway to edit it. though.

Apologies

[Scott Voth]

Hi David –

In terms of your questions about the group forum – I believe you are doing it correctly and using bbPress.  You might not be aware that you can create groups from the front end (not going to the dashboard).  Click on the groups tab in the menu, and you should see a yellow button called “Create A Group.”  This enables your members to create groups as well.  Hope this helps.

[David]

I will look.  I am assuming there is a way to restrict some users from creating groups based on their role?  Is that correct?  Also, will any groups be hidden from the site administrator?

So looking at the forums here at cbox… it does not look like there is a good way to search them. Is that correct?    It seems as though tags can be added, but it feels like the forum is somewhat limited in this respect.

Thoughts?

 

[Scott Voth]

Hi David – In Settings>>BuddyPress there is a checkbox that controls whether site admins or basic members can create groups.  By default all members can create groups.  I believe the admin of the site can see all groups, no matter if they are private or hidden.

There is no built in search in the forums – generally people add a Google search or similar plugin.

One limitation is that while forum topics can be tagged, there is currently no mechanism for creating a tag cloud specifically for that group forum (at least I don’t think).  I am going to write up a request for this, since it would be a useful feature.

You might want to check out http://hieroglyph.asu.edu/forums/ for an example of a very active forum using CBOX.

[David]

Thanks… I took a look and I have tos ay, I really like how the forum is displayed on the page.

It would be nice to have a way to close a forum thread and have it easily found.

[Author]

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