[wp-forums] This one is for Podz, because he asked.

Wed Aug 10 03:34:48 GMT 2005

On Aug 8, 2005, at 6:13 PM, TechGnome wrote:
> The first suggestion is to dump bbPress. I know it's Matt's little  
> pet project, but in my opinion it's not ready for prime time. I  
> honestly don't think it will be able to keep up with the expansion  
> of the forums. I sometimes feel like Matt cares more about the spit  
> & polish shine than the inner workings. The best analogy I can  
> think of is a Porche 911 shell on a Yugo chassis and engine. Looks  
> nice, but that's about it. We need to get a "real" board system  
> that has stood the test of time and can take it. (BTW: Not that I'm  
> suggesting that vBulletin be used, but I've seen it handle far  
> heaver sites than WP-F and much faster too.)
Calling it Matt's little pet project does both Matt and bbPress a  
disservice.

As for bbPress keeping up, I think you've got it backward; the inner  
workings are really where it shines.  It doesn't have all the spit &  
polish, as you call it, yet, but the engine is solid.  By that I mean  
its feature set needs improving, particularly search.

I know of no benchmarks between bbPress and any other software.  If  
you have or have seen any data to back up your speed claims, I'd very  
much appreciate seeing it (honest!).  bbPress is built to be fast;  
I'd like to make sure it is.

> Add a last posted date to the search results. Nothing is more  
> frustrating to actually do a search for something only to find out  
> the thread is 2 years old. I had that happen to me. More than once.  
> It doesn't take much to include it as part of the results.
>
> A more advanced search. Allow the ability to selectively search  
> certain areas exclusively or in combination. I want to search for  
> "XYZ" gimmie the first 5 items from the codex, and the first 15  
> items form the forums. Currently, if what you are looking for isn't  
> in the first 5 any where, you're screwed as there's no way to go  
> Next 5, Next 5, Next 5....etc.
Search is 100% on the list of things that need improving.   
Unfortunately, search is notoriously difficult in any app.   
Admittedly, there are things that could be changed (such as the  
pagination you suggest) that would be pretty quick.  They just  
haven't happened yet.

That said, have you been using WP-F's "Search First" box (which is  
NOT bbPress but instead uses Yahoo!'s API), or have you been using  
some third party hook into into bbPress' native search (or perhaps  
typing in search queries directly as a url)?  The Yahoo! search is  
pretty good - most (though not all) hits show a last posted date.   
I've no idea how it works, though, it's not bbPress (which, clearly,  
is not to say it shouldn't be discussed).

The bbPress native search (which is NOT implemented on WP-F unless  
you know how to find it directly) is in need of improvement.  More  
robust searching will happen.  I'm just not sure when yet.  Better  
dating is a good idea.  Thanks.

> Speaking of Next, Next, Next....nothing is more annoying than  
> having to click Next Page> 5 times just to get to the end of the  
> thread (or the middle were you left off) - it would be nice to have  
> better pagination both in the forum threads and in the search results.
Re: search, see above.  Re: anywhere else, have you visited WP-F  
lately?  Tags, forums, profiles and topics are all paginated.

> Subscriptions -- despite what Matt thinks, subscriptions are a good  
> thing. It allows people to keep better track of the threads they  
> participate in or start.
I agree with Skippy and Podz here.  I think feeds are the way to go.   
That said... I've never heard Matt say subscriptions will never  
happen (I suppose he may have).  I can say that they will in the  
code, either in bbPress core or as a plugin.  I cannot say whether or  
not they will/should be implemented at WP-F specifically.

> I'd also like to see a link to "View posts with no replies". I  
> don't think I need to explain that one.
Still in the works.  I've never said I'd do something re: bbPress and  
proceeded to not do it.  I've taken my sweet ass time about  
somethings, but they get done.

> Now, here's why I don't think anything is going to some of it. WP-F  
> uses bbPress exclusively. I don't think any amount of pushing from  
> others is going to change that. Same with the theme/style of the  
> forums. And all of the other suggestions are fundamental changes  
> that would need to be made to bbPress in order to work. And they  
> are just not going to happen.
Things will happen.  Things have happened.  Things do happen.  Many  
as a result of this very mailing list.  The timescales involved are  
not to everyone's liking.  I won't apologize for that.

Michael
--mdawaffe