Hi,
I am new to Joomla and have a quick question. I have reviewed the templates and they all seem to present color options, while retaining the essential layout of Fireboard. What I am looking for is a template which presents the forum content more inline with the concept of Web 2.0. It may be that Fireboard can readily be customized in this way, but I am presuming it will require the use of a plug in or template to achieve the desired look.

I am grateful in advance for your help! I've attached a mock up for your reference in PNG format. I'd of course want to be able to customize colors to match my site...(shades of blue)
I'm looking forward to good news!
Sue

Fireboard templates are basically just CSS. You'd have to re-write most of Fireboard to make it look like that. Your PNG looks more like a multi-user blog than a forum, IMHO. I don't get where the Web 2.0 comes in. What do you consider "the concept of Web 2.0"?

Web 2.0 is all about sharing and collaboration, as you know. The format i am endeavoring to incorporate is very accessible and user friendly, and takes the concept of forum into the present.

The current layout of standard forums has been the same since the first forum I ever used and that was a very long time ago (15 or so years ago...)

Thanks very much for the feedback. I will continue to research platforms that can facilitate what I need to accomplish. Although the present format may work well for tech platforms, I need something a little different.

kind regards and best wishes.

Looking at the attached file I must say that I don't even see the purpose of your inquiry. You don't even need Fireboard to do what you are proposing. Joomla's own native structure can handle that with ease. When I opened the image file that's what I thought I was looking at. A plain Jane Joomla install with some content added. No extra component needed.

Perhaps if you were less vague in what you were trying to accomplish?

What you proposed already exists. The thing is that it exists in the form of a multi-user blog.

A "web 2.0" multi-user blog is a blog in which everyone can submist a new blogpost, of course there are moderators, and all "replies" are in the form of "comments". And so the first post is therefore the blog entry.

"Web 2.0 Blogs" have the accent on the first "post" or "entry" in blogterms. The "Web 2.0" part of the name states that it's "interactive" and people can respond via comments or can submit it to socalled "social networking sites". In a forum it would be impossible to accent the first post, unless the first post is displayed on every thread page in a different style than the replies (as is the case with blog entries and comments).

Forums were always and are still "Web 2.0", because the term only refers to interactivity between the user and the content, and it there's something that's interactive it's got to be a forum.

You made a small mistake, but your problem is solved by creating a multi-user blog with comments.

I think he just wants the templating system made easier so there's no learning curve trying to learn CSS.

Thanks very much for your guidance. I make small mistakes everyday, although I do try to minimize them!
)
I will research the multi-user blog concept. Can you advise what part of Joomla I should look at for that?
kind regards and gratitude,
Sue

prazim wrote:
Thanks very much for your guidance. I make small mistakes everyday, although I do try to minimize them!
)
I will research the multi-user blog concept. Can you advise what part of Joomla I should look at for that?
kind regards and gratitude,
Sue
mistakes are to learn from.
check out http://extensions.joomla.org/

You might try searching for a multi-user blog (most of them have comments as a standard), but most of the time it's for a selection of users or better said a group of friends which, together, are blogposters and anyone can respond. You'd have to look further to find blogs which can be easily configured for anyone to post a message.

But there's also the problem of categories. In forums this is standard forum structure. Blogs have that too sometimes but that's not part of the core structure of blogs, so that really depends on which blog system you choose.

You could also try using newssystems in which anyone can post a new newsitem, and people can comment on it. Categories play a more active role here. Then again there's the thing that newssytems in Joomla are often linked to the front page and such.

What do you need this for anyway? It's really weird that you want a combination between a forum/blog/newssystem/commentry/thing, what purpose would it be for? Is it just a different layout? Because if so, I recommend using a forum like this one, and intensively modify the layout. In Fireboard you'd need to change the threadlist in categories to display the first post under the threadname, this requires quite some PHP and SQL skills on a high level, but it's do-able.

I've been in Joomla for a way too long while, and I'd really like an answer on my questions because you've caught my interest. If it's merely a design change, then it's a lot of trouble for a little change.

Thank you so much ysva for sharing your knowledge with me. It isn't just for a different look! I am launching a new community platform for an existing community that has thus far connected just by email, and through the existing "big 3" online group platforms.

I need the type of platform I presented because it is very important to engage the community in a number of different conversations and topics during the sometimes constrained time they are logged in. The community will contain prayer requests, news items regarding The Faith, news about world events that tie into Old and New Testament prophecies concerning the days we are living in, and also there will be a section for the more prolific to share articles they have written concerning our daily walk as His followers, and other areas as The Holy Spirit inspires.

Those who are sincere about living fully in the will of The Almighty spend their time ministering to others, and also deepening their knowledge of Him through prayer and study. This platform is intended to facilitate one's ability to quickly survey recently posted discussions and articles and then carefully select how one is to allocate the time they have to the material offered to them.

In the case of prayer requests, for example, different prayer needs resonate with people differently. Some find a particular request compelling because they have been through it, and so forth, or have expertise in that particular illness, so the format I am seeking will enable, in this case, for members to scan through the prayer requests and identify quickly those they need to respond to, or pray for on an ongoing basis, while others they may just pray corporately for ("Lord, please hear the cries of your servant Nancy, and her needs for xyz....and all of those who have posted here...etc).

It will work similarly for articles. the "buzz" section at the top right will enable members to quickly identify where a lot of attention is going as an indication that in addition to things they may already know they have an interest in, they should be sure to check out those things as well. This is an ideal way to engage someone who may have come to the prayer request area to request prayer, and they will then see items that will induce them to participate in praying for specific needs as well. In fact, they may very well have something to offer another suffering soul becuase they spotted their post's like in the buzz section.

It is not unlike shopping. If you visit a site that says "these are our most popular items" in a category of items you are browsing, you are more likely to look at them, especially if you didn't go to the site specifically seeking those items. That's the idea.

There are so many demands on people these days that in order to make it worthwhile for them to participate in online communities, one needs to consider the full 360 of their lives. Although techs may be willing to navigate a more limited structure in terms of forums, it simply isn't a viable approach for extremely busy adults who are seeking to be more involved in matters pertaining to their faith during online/non-work time. If it's too cumbersome (lots of clicking for very little substance), they'll stick to their favorite blogs and the articles fed to them with more immediacy through other means.
I hope this helps!
in gratitude,
Sue

A lot of clicking is easily prevented by creating different layouts, an almost not by creating a new core structure. The core of it all is the same: you want people to post and react to other posts, and you want many posts and reactions but keep the overal view. Almost all systems discussed in this topic have this, and I would recommend a forum (try Fireboard or maby integrate phpBB in Joomla). The only thing that doesn't suit your needs at the moment is the keeping of the overal view. There's no need in changing the core, because that works, you need to change your layout only. Try getting some help in this, but stop suggesting the "Web 2.0" idea, because Fireboard ís Web 2.0 already and suggesting it isn't will attract replies that aren't very friendly (you're suggesting that there code does not suffice to web 2.0 standards).