Just a suggestion... but could the fourth or fifth Kickstarter stretch goal be a license for XenForo or Invision Power Board or vBulletin or Vanilla Cloud... or... well... anything other than the Drupal forum we're using now. :P
Thu, 10/03/2013 - 17:33
#1
Stretch Goal Suggestion
Yeah, I know, this forum ain't fully featured. But that's because we haven't activated all the modules and features that can be added. Our tech recruitment had been focused on coding for the game up until this point. We're starting to get Web developers who can make the Drupal site do all the fantastic things that other developed Drupal sites can do.
So, it will get better.
In the meantime, since we don't have a WYSIWYG editor enabled yet, I suggest a browser add-on BBcode tagger such as: http://codefisher.org/format_toolbar/
Former Online Community Manager & Forum Moderator
[img]http://missingworldsmedia.com/images/favicon.ico[/img]
Make sure they understand, not just how to set it up and maintain it, but what the security weak points of Drupal and its various modules are. You can always find someone who can "make the site pretty". Make sure to wall off important pages with things like [b]securepages[/b] and [b]securepages_prevent_hijack[/b]
And while it's expensive, look at possibly switching the site over to full SSL with a real, valid cert.
Your big issues with using Drupal forums vs a dedicated forum system with Drupal integration is going to be performance and moderation (the former actually being LESS important than the latter).
In all honesty though, you're better off segregating your main site from your forums. Fewer opportunities for exploits of a single integrated system. Not to mention formatting issues and page space wasted cramming the site into the middle 50% of the page width and 500+ pixel wide gutters.
Also, do some bounds-checking. Wide images in this layout basically overlap everything (tested, but not posted).
1) 99% of the stuff that comes out of my mouth is intended to be funny on one or more levels.
2) The other 1% is just straight BS.
3) You're never going to be entirely sure which is which.
[url]http://cox-supergroups.com[/url]
There is dedicated forum software out there that you *dont* have to pay for either.
SMF forums (Simple Machines), phpBB, Vanilla Forums, YaBB... there are others out there.
I have a preference for SMF forums, because that is what I am used to myself... and for those who have frequented the Titan Networks, its the same software that they use as well.