Pre-Sales Questions

[alsthom]

Thank you for that fast reply!
One more question, please.
What are the diffirences between light and full version of the bridge?

[Admin]

Light version provides only basic synchronization of registration/login. But this version is non-invasive and consume less system resources than full version because Joomla is not loaded additionally to phpBB for all pages.

Full version provides advanced integration, SEF URLs, wrapping phpBB inside Joomla template etc.

[alsthom]

So with light version we have a forum as stand alone but with users synchronised and with full we have a forum wraped as component?
I thought that we could visually intergrate forum wit light version, too. Am I wrong?
Hope you understand my english

[Admin]

So with light version we have a forum as stand alone but with users synchronised and with full we have a forum wraped as component?

Yes.

I thought that we could visually intergrate forum wit light version, too. Am I wrong?

Yes, you are wrong. Light version doesn't affect phpBB display, phpBB is displayed as usual.

[dewdrinker19]

...though note that 3.2 has bugs with passwords, so better use 3.1.5 for now.

Is this still true?

[Admin]

Sure not! Please use Joomla 3.2.2!

[MrAnonymous]

Hi Admin,

Your Joomla and phpbb bridge looks really impressive and I am considering to purchase it. I already have an existing phpbb and I am now planning to install Joomla at root instead and integrate phpbb into it. I am absolutely new to Joomla but have experience with phpbb for awhile. However, I do have a few questions regarding your extension:

1) If I purchase the p8pBB bridge, do I also receive future updated version of this extension for free since I’ve purchased it once already, or is it paid annually or do I need to purchase each version separately?

2) I noticed you have 2 extensions,: p8pBB bridge and p8pBB bridge light. What are the differences between the 2? I mean, as the name says, the light version probably have lesser added features, uses less resources than the other version and has phpbb as standalone, but what are the other differences between the two? Does p8pBB bridge light also have SEF?

3) Right now I have phpbb SEO's Ultimate SEO MOD installed. This is a pretty big mod and has a big effect on my site. Meaning most of the current friendly urls created by this mod are indexed in google already. When I use your extension, I am planning to uninstall the SEO mod to avoid conflicts and also I dont see a need for it with the URL Rewrite. But I am worried I will loose the page ranking for these and also the URL to those indexed topics since it will show 404 error if I am unable to redirect them to the URL changes. I dont think I can even add a mod_rewite since the urls are structured differently. The SEO Mod uses the topic headings and adds the topic number to it at the end. Its does the same for posts. My question is, is there a way I can try to make sure the old urls created by phpbb seo mod are properly redirected to the new ones? Do I need to manually add in the alias name matching the old ones (hope not cuz I have over 12000 topics) or is there a way to transfer these data in MySQL? Can you give me your advise on how you may approach this problem please? This is a huge concern for me..

4) When I install this bridge between existing phpbb and new Joomla, what will happen with the existing users already registered in phpBB? Would they be copied over to Joomla user table during their first login? Or does the full integration of copying user data from phpbb to Joomla happen during the installation itself? How does that work?

5) Will there be any conflicts between the usernames allowed in phpbb to the usernames allowed in Joomla? Meaning, are username with spaces, underscore, etc.. will also work with the integrated Joomla? What will happen if 2 users in phpbb have the same email address and they are integrated with Joomla? Will there be a conflict? What happens to these users then?

6) Also just to confirm I can use this bridge if my Joomla database is installed in a joomla-db and Phpbb installed on phpbb-db right?

7) Would you be releasing an updated version for phpbb 3.1 when its released in the future? Right now its on Beta 3 stage. If you do release, do we need to purchase that separately?

8. When I was reading one of your other topic on this, you had mentioned:

Yes, you can register, delete users, save profiles, block/activate/deactivate users in either Joomla or phpBB frontend or backend. Another user will be also changed.

I am wondering, how is this bridge able to do that without editing the core files? They cant do that with just .htaccess changes since its updating the database so I am assuming the component files has those queries. How does it work? And what will happen with Usergroup and permission set up in current phpbb with Joomla?

9) I also read this:

Yes, bridge can redirect phpBB profile links to point to the community builder profiles.

If phpbb user profile is redirected to Joomla's, is it possible to show user posts, user topics and other phpbb stats there?

10) After I purchase this extension, am I able to use this in my local EasyPHP while developing my site? I always create the basic in my localhost before I do it live.


Sorry about my long post with so many questions. In the past I had used single sing-on but never tried a bi-directional integration. I am planning to redo my site completely and this extension plays a big role in it. Your support will be very much appreciated!

[Admin]

1) If I purchase the p8pBB bridge, do I also receive future updated version of this extension for free since I’ve purchased it once already, or is it paid annually or do I need to purchase each version separately?

You purchase a one year subscription which includes support and all updates/upgrades. Subscription should be renewed if you want to get support and new updates once a year passed.

2) I noticed you have 2 extensions,: p8pBB bridge and p8pBB bridge light. What are the differences between the 2? I mean, as the name says, the light version probably have lesser added features, uses less resources than the other version and has phpbb as standalone, but what are the other differences between the two? Does p8pBB bridge light also have SEF?

Light version provides simple synchronization and don't allow to wrap phpBB indeside Joomla, no integration with JomSocial and other extensions, no SEF links etc. Please read list of features for both products.

Light version is more non-invasive than usual version.

3) Right now I have phpbb SEO's Ultimate SEO MOD installed. This is a pretty big mod and has a big effect on my site. Meaning most of the current friendly urls created by this mod are indexed in google already. When I use your extension, I am planning to uninstall the SEO mod to avoid conflicts and also I dont see a need for it with the URL Rewrite. But I am worried I will loose the page ranking for these and also the URL to those indexed topics since it will show 404 error if I am unable to redirect them to the URL changes. I dont think I can even add a mod_rewite since the urls are structured differently. The SEO Mod uses the topic headings and adds the topic number to it at the end. Its does the same for posts. My question is, is there a way I can try to make sure the old urls created by phpbb seo mod are properly redirected to the new ones? Do I need to manually add in the alias name matching the old ones (hope not cuz I have over 12000 topics) or is there a way to transfer these data in MySQL? Can you give me your advise on how you may approach this problem please? This is a huge concern for me..

You need to apply common 301 redirects in /.htaccess. Forum URLs may require separate redirect pattern for each forum, but topic links can be redirected at once via single pattern which can match topic ID.

4) When I install this bridge between existing phpbb and new Joomla, what will happen with the existing users already registered in phpBB? Would they be copied over to Joomla user table during their first login? Or does the full integration of copying user data from phpbb to Joomla happen during the installation itself? How does that work?

There is build-in converter of users, you can copy users from phpBB to Joomla.
And we have a 'silent transfer' feature - once a user logs in Joomla with his phpBB details - same Joomla user is auto-created and logged in.

5) Will there be any conflicts between the usernames allowed in phpbb to the usernames allowed in Joomla? Meaning, are username with spaces, underscore, etc.. will also work with the integrated Joomla? What will happen if 2 users in phpbb have the same email address and they are integrated with Joomla? Will there be a conflict? What happens to these users then?

Synchronization is based on case-insensitive username which is unique in both systems.
There should be no conflicts with current usernames.

6) Also just to confirm I can use this bridge if my Joomla database is installed in a joomla-db and Phpbb installed on phpbb-db right?

Yes, you can.

7) Would you be releasing an updated version for phpbb 3.1 when its released in the future? Right now its on Beta 3 stage. If you do release, do we need to purchase that separately?

Yes, we will support this version. It will be either included in current bridge version or in separate package which will be available along with current package.

8. When I was reading one of your other topic on this, you had mentioned:
Yes, you can register, delete users, save profiles, block/activate/deactivate users in either Joomla or phpBB frontend or backend. Another user will be also changed.

I am wondering, how is this bridge able to do that without editing the core files? They cant do that with just .htaccess changes since its updating the database so I am assuming the component files has those queries. How does it work? And what will happen with Usergroup and permission set up in current phpbb with Joomla?

These are technical details. Full version executes phpBB within Joomla code, light version uses hooks.

9) I also read this:
Yes, bridge can redirect phpBB profile links to point to the community builder profiles.

If phpbb user profile is redirected to Joomla's, is it possible to show user posts, user topics and other phpbb stats there?

Yes, you can have a tab with user's posts and display user rank in CB profile.

10) After I purchase this extension, am I able to use this in my local EasyPHP while developing my site? I always create the basic in my localhost before I do it live.

It should work if you have Apache and PHP 5.3+.
Note that Joomla should be loaded via root - i.e. http://site.com
http://localhost/joomla/ is not possible.

[MrAnonymous]

Thank you heaps for such a prompt response. It is so helpful.

"You need to apply common 301 redirects in /.htaccess. Forum URLs may require separate redirect pattern for each forum, but topic links can be redirected at once via single pattern which can match topic ID."

Once I purchase your extension, if I give you my current pattern of my forum urls, would you help me with the 301 redirects pattern for my forums in /.htaccess? Would that be part of your support or is it a custom request? And is the support given via forum or support ticket system?

"Synchronization is based on case-insensitive username which is unique in both systems. There should be no conflicts with current usernames."

Would there be conflicts with the email address? If the usernames are different by uses the same email ID, would that be synchronized or will this show an error for the second user?

"It should work if you have Apache and PHP 5.3+.
Note that Joomla should be loaded via root - i.e. http://site.com
http://localhost/joomla/ is not possible."

Thats great to hear. After I test in my localhost, I will be developing the site in dev.site.com before I change it to site.com. Would that work when its used like that or do I need to inform this to your support team when setting this up?

[Admin]

We can try to help with redirects for free.
Support is given via support system only.

If user A saves his profile and his email already exists with another user - he won't be able to save his profile. So all emails should be unique.

You don't need to inform us about moving to live site.