Introducing the first stable version of Global Forums Plugin
After 3 weeks of introducing this plugin as beta, I am glad to put it as stable today. There have been many enhancements and bugfixes based on the feedbacks of everyone at forum. special thanks to @Greg for reporting the bugs and asking for features.
If you don't know what global forum is, please read this post of mine which introduced it. Still, to make the things easy I will be listing the features again here.
Global Forums allows you to create Sitewide forums just like a standard bbpress forum but these forums can share a single installation of bbpress with group forums.
Features:
- Standalone sitewide forums
- Allows you to create subforums(You can go upto any levels of sub forum)
- Support for category forum*
- Oembed support(you will need to have oembed for buddypress by r-a-y installed)
- Forum posts/topics feed for global forum
- Forum topics/posts feed for individual forum
- Fully templatable
- Breadcrumb support for forums/topics
- Favorite topics for user
- My Topics view for user
- Unreplied topics view for user
- templatable admin section for forum management
- Posting to activity stream can be enabled/disabled
- Full tag support(add tag/delete tag)
- WordPress 2.9.2/wordpress mu 2.9.2/wordpress 3.0/wordpress Multisite 3.0 support
- SEO urls
- Full bbpress text formatting support(Including posting the code using backticks(`))
- And most of the thing which you expect from bbpress is available.
So the feature list has grown tremendously from the very first release. And In the end of this post, I will let you know my future plans for this plugin too .
Screenshots:-
Here is one screenshot.
For More screenshots, please check this post
Download:
Current Version: https://buddydev.com/plugins/global-forums/
Version 1.0.2: https://buddydev.com/http//buddydev.com/download/global-forum%201.0.2.zip
version 1.0.2 fixes a bug showing mysql_serverinfo
Version 1.0.1: https://buddydev.com/http//buddydev.com/download/global-forum-1.0.1.zip
Version 1.0 fixes two minor bugs with oembed and group forum exclusion.
Older Version:
Version 1.0: https://buddydev.com/http//buddydev.com/download/global-forum-1.0.zip
Installation and Upgrade
https://buddydev.com/plugins/global-forums/installation/
Found a bug, help us to improve
Bug Tracker: https://buddydev.com/bt/index.php/global-forums/
Need more support:-
Please ask a question in the forum if you need more support.
Please Note, This is a premium plugin and you can download it instantly after joining our premium club. Just click access buddydev premium link on the top and you will be redirected to the joining page. It costs just $30 for 3 months and It gives you complete access to all of our plugins, support forums .
What is more:-
I am thinking of following features to implement and will love to hear your ideas:-
- Restricting access to individual forums(restrict users to access a particular forum based on his/her roles)
- Porting some of the useful bb plugins for global forum
I hope this version address all the issues reaised, please do let me know your suggestions/views in the comments for the further improvement.
Hi Brajesh, I see you've been busy this weekend 🙂
Is the conversion script of native BP Group Forums into the Global Forums per member forum post the same?
Thank you.
Hi Mercime,
Thanks for the comment 🙂
Yes, that code is valid and will work with current version too.
Thanks
Brajesh
I have the stable version installed and oembed but embedding doesn't work. Any idea why?
Also, is there any way to get gallery media embedded in the posts?
Hi Chris
There was a bug in the 1.0 version related to oembed and excluding group forum. It is fixed in 1.0.1 now. Please try this one
https://buddydev.com/http//buddydev.com/download/global-forum-1.0.1.zip
There are no changes in template, so no need to override template.
Thanks
Brajesh
Are the comments supposed to show up in the activity stream? Would this be a possiblilty?
Hi Mark,
This is part of new version. You can enable it from Global Forum->Admin>settings.
Thanks
Brajesh
If I upload the newer version, Im running stable version, will I lose my previous comments?
Thanks,
Mark
No, nothing will be lost.
Brajesh?
hi Mark,
You can just overwrite the theme/plugin to upgrade. No data will be lost.
You can enable posting to activity from global forums->Admin->settings and then clicking on enable posting to activity.
Thanks
Brajesh
Great, it works a treat thanks Brajesh, as it is network activated, how do I hide the tab using css on other blog pages?
Thanks,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the comment.
Please put this function in your bp-custom.php.
add_filter("gf_add_to_nav","no_gf_nav_on_sub_blogs");
function no_gf_nav_on_sub_blogs($what){
global $current_blog;
if($current_blog->blog_id==BP_ROOT_BLOG)
return 1;
else return 0;//do not show
}
This code will do the trick.
Hey Brajesh Im getting this in all my comments, I've removed the friend option, what shall I do?
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /home/collabbo/science3point0.com/wp-content/plugins/global-forum/includes/filters.php on line 118
Hi Brajesh – Updated to wp 3.01 and bp 1.2.5.2 and lost function, any ideas? I can give you access if you want?
Thanks,
Mark.
Hi Mark,
Please upgrade to 1.0.2.
This version was tested with wp 3.0/wpms 3.0 and bp 1.2.5.2
Hi Brajesh,
I upgraded to 1.0.2 global forum and I still get this error:
Warning: mysql_get_server_info(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL-Link resource in /home/collabbo/science3point0.com/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 1582
For an example, see here: http://www.science3point0.com/Discussion/topic/ipdf-epaper-reader-development-thread-input-heavily-needed/
Thanks,
Mark
Still got errors Brajesh, can you please help?
@all,
Just to note here, It was a double init bug and I fixed it for Mark. If you are facing this issue, please update to global forum 1.0.3
Just to confirm, great help from Brajesh.
Hi, Is there an option for the admin to delete topics/ posts? Can't see it…
Currently you can not do it from admin panel. You will need to visit individual thread to delete the topic/posts.
I saw there was support for add/delete topic. However, I cannot find where to do this. After a topic is formed, I see no spot where topics can be added or deleted.
Dave
Hi Dave,
Is global forum working for you. Are you able to see the admin panel of global forum. have you created a few forums. To make global forum work first you will need to create a few forums from Glogbal Forum->admin. Once you are done with that you will see the option to add topic on the global forum front page and all the sub forums page.
Let me know if you have already done that.
Figured it out, and it's working! Thanks for your time Brajesh.
Your download link for this is broken. Takes me to the Join page. I am already a member. I join ed for this plugin, so please fix it ASAP. Thanks.
Hi,
You have a pending payment(echeck) so your membership was pending.Anyway, I have activated it manually. You should be able to download the plugins now.
Thanks
Brajesh
Brajesh,
Is there a way that I can add a link that says "You must log in to post." Similarly to how they have it at bbPress. Love this forum. So much better..Thanks!
-S
Hi there,
I downloaded and installed this plugin and its realy great.
Only 1 thing. On my old budypress formu i had a plugin that enabled a user to make attachements to his or hers comment.
"Forum Attachments for BuddyPress"
Is there a possibility to hook this one up with this plugin?
Thanx,
Bert
Thanks for helping out with solving the global forum problem that is present in BP. I've tried to use the merge funktion:
add_filter("gf_get_root_forum_id","gf_no_restriction");add_filter("gf_excluded_forums","gf_no_restriction");
function gf_no_restriction(){
return 0;
}
..it is kind of working, but every time I visit the forum page, a new parent "Global Forum" is created.
If I remove the merge-code, my forums are no longer visible.
Any thoughts about what´s wrong?
Hi there Still no reaction to my post above?
Hi there,
I downloaded and installed this plugin and its realy great.
Only 1 thing. On my old budypress formu i had a plugin that enabled a user to make attachements to his or hers comment.
“Forum Attachments for BuddyPress”
Is there a possibility to hook this one up with this plugin?
Thanx,
Bert
Hi Bert,
Sorry for not rep0lying to your earlier comment. Thanks for the comment. I am working on one such plugin and I am hopeful to put the attachment plugin by 16th Nov.
Thanks
Brajesh
Hi there and thanx for your respons.
Looking forward to the plugin.
Bert
Hi! I´m looking for the .pot-file to start of with then making my "gf-your_local.mo" -fil (gf-sv_SE.mo)
Anybody who has it or know where to find it?
No,
I harcode translated the text in the PHP files to Dutch.
Greetz,
Bert
Hi,
When I try to edit a forum, it gives me this error:
Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in /home3/username/public_html/wp-content/plugins/buddypress/bp-themes/bp-default/gf/admin/edit-forum.php on line 1What could be the reason?
Hi,
You will need to reupload the "gf" directory in your theme using binary mode of FTP. Please delete the current "gf" directory, and reupload it after setting the transfer mode "binary" in your FTP program.
Hope that helps.
Hi there again,
You said you would have such a (global forum atachment) plugin by the 16th.
Is there allready any nes?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Bert
Hi Bert,
Sorry for not rep0lying to your earlier comment. Thanks for the comment. I am working on one such plugin and I am hopeful to put the attachment plugin by 16th Nov.
Thanks
Brajesh
Hi there,
Still havent heard anything. Holiday season?
Bert
Hi Bert,
It will take some more time. I am still trying to work on it but please do not expect it before 3rd January, we may have it before but I am not very sure.
Hi there,
Hows it now? Still looking for a way to update!
Hi Brajesh,
Please respond. Are you still there?
Bert
Sorry, It is not yet done. Had to work on theme. The theme is released, so please keep an eye, I am getting back to the plugin again we will have it this week by thrusday.
Hi Brajesh,
Thanks for helping! I've uploaded the folder again using Binary mode.
I am facing another problem though, whenever I make a bp-custom.php file and add the code to change the URL and title of the forums, I get this error when I try to open the forum using the new link:
ERROR: Could not establish a database connection
When I delete it, works fine. But now I can't seem to open the forums at all. Whenever I click on the forums link (or type the address manually) the site redirects to the home page. The forums just don't open at all now.
Hope you can help 🙂
Cheers and Merry Christmas!
Hi again,
Wondering if you've had the time to look into my previous problem?
Also, I noticed you have mentioned in your comments to download 1.0.3 version. Where can I find the link to download it? All I see is 1.0.2 on the download page.
Thanks!
Hi ,
Sorry for delayed reply. Had not checked comments, so could not see.
what are you doing to change the forum url? That may give a clue. please port a topic in the forum, and we can get it solved faster.
Sorry for delays, and hope you had a great Christmas 🙂
Hey Brajesh,
Just installed this plugin but I can't find the admin menu. Am I blind or could something be wrong?
Ohh it's on the actual Global Forum page. Gotcha:)
How can I force it to not load the included stylesheet?
Hi Jordan,
Please put following in your functions.php
[sourcecode language="php"]
remove_action("wp_print_styles","gf_enqueue_css")
[/sourcecode]
I can't log into BuddyDev. Anyone else having this problem? It doesn't give me an error, just redirects back to the homepage without logging me in. I tried resetting the password but it's not sending any emails either.
Hi Jordan,
Please clear your cookies for buddydev.com and you will be able to login.
Emergency!
I just moved over my theme and plugins, etc to my live site and global forums won't work. Whenever I go to /siteforums it just redirects me to the homepage. One time between deactivating and reactiving it said that the forum component wasn't setup.
Please help, I'm supposed to be launching the community in one hour.. 🙁
So frustrating it worked finally for no good reason. Nvm 🙂
Hey Jordan, sorry could not help you that day.
Hi there,
I moved my site, including all mu data to a new host and a new URL. Now everthing works fine at my new site (al my data is in the groups) Byt when i try to open the global forums directory my site goes to the homepage. Als older post are shown in the site widget but when i click on the post i go to the homepage.
Can you please help me quik because i was planning to open my site for the public this weeknd.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Bert
Hi Bert,
There are two things, Please check bb-config.php if that is configured correctly and if yes, then make sure you have "gf" folder in your theme.
For posts(If you are referring to wordpress posts) the .htaccess file may not be correct. check the "RewriteBase " in the .htaccess is correct or not ?
GOT it.
Thank you verry,
verry much.
🙂 any news on the forum topic atachements 🙂
What do I do if I do not have the Global Forum Admin panel?
Just replied to your post in the forum . Please check.
is there any way to import all data of a current stand alone BBpress 1.0.3 version to this plugin system?
Regards
Not actually, but you can export the database and import using the php myadmin. That should work.
Hi Brajesh,
I'm thinking of signing up mainly to get hold of this plugin. I notice though that it hasn't been updated in a while. I run WP 3.1.1 and BP 1.2.8 – will it work for me? If not, do you plan to upgrade it soon?
Phil
Hi Phil,
sorry for delayed reply. It works with BP 1.2.8+wp 3.x
Thanks Brajesh.
hey guys… is there anyway in which i can let users "add to favorite" a topic started by somebody else too?
figured this out… but involved some hard-coding into the main files… wouldnt recommend at all. will wait for future versions of forum before we can think about how to do this the right way.
once i use to code to merge together global and group forums… the "activity stream" function is getting disrupted in the groups… it is still functioning ok for the user profile… just the group is getting affected. If i create a new topic form global forum in a certain "group forum"… it shows on the actual group page > forum too… just that the activity is not triggered. Also… if i directly create a new topic form the group pages itself… the new topic shows in global forums too… but the activity, once again is not reflecting that i've made a new topic… sample applies to replies also… any help?
Hi Siddharth,
The global forum has no idea of group forum. So, if you create a topic/post reply(and you have enabled post to activity in global forum), there will be a post to activity. But that will belong to user and point to global forum and not to the group forum. There is no way for global forum to know if a forum is associated with some group. That details is stored in group meta actually.
Hey. This plugin stopped working for me with WordPress 3.2 and BuddyPress 1.2.9.. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance…
Okay, I got it. The "gf" folder was missing from my BuddyPress theme.. I'm not sure how this folder (and the one from bp-gallery) was deleted – but it was…
Sal C.
Hi Sal,
if you keep these folders in bp-default theme, they get lost with each upgrade. That's why I suggest to use child theme and keep these folders in child theme. Glad you got it solved 🙂
Any chance in getting this to work with BP 1.5 soon?
Yes, It will be very soon.
I have a patch from @enderandrew for it. Just need some more testing before release. Btw, hopefully by this Monday, all of the premium plugin will be compatible with bp 1.5. I have worked and got 7 of them working, the remaining won't take much time.
great!!! looking forward to that.
Hey Brajesh, long time no talk! I was just looking at the features for BBPress 2 that will be working in sync with BP 1.5 and was wondering if there is going to be a way to migrate my Global Forums over to BBPress? I love Global Forums but the backend integration is too nice to pass up! Thanks.
hello, ive activated the 'post to actiivity' option in the settings, post it is not happening, any ideas why? many thanks
Hi,
Is this plugin still in active development? There's seem to be a site wide forum option in buddypress now – is this different?
Hi,
There will be no future development of this plugin and I advise to use bbpress 2.0 which seems like a good alternative(and much faster) for the sitewide forums.
Hey Brajesh,
How can we go about migrating our old Global Forum topics to BBpress 2.0?
Hi Jordan,
1. Please do not worry, I am supporting it for BuddyPress 1.5.x, just won't be any updates for it for future Version of BuddyPress as bbpress 1.0 support will be dropped from BuddyPress soon(hopefully in upcoming major version)
2. you can always migrate using this plugin
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bbconverter/
Hope that helps.
Btw, even the bbpress 2.0 is not mature enough, so I will advise to wait till another release of bbpress.
Awesome, I didn't know that plugin would work for Global Forums too. I'm using the BBpress 2.0 on a local install of the new version of my site and it's working splendidly. Thanks for providing GF in the meantime!
No problem, you are always welcome:)
I do have some reservations on the way bbpress is using post types(for reply etc) but overall it is going in right direction and with next release I hope it will be a great solution for forums on wordPress.
What is wrong with its use of post types and comments for replies? MySQL efficiency? I found that setup made it very easy to apply normal plugins to the forums topics and replies.
As far as I remember, when I checked it last, It was using post type for replies. and that is what I do not like.