Originally developed for my Coulee Area discussion boards, Innovative Forum builds on and enhances Drupal's core forum module. When used in combination with other Drupal contributed modules, lots of that are automatically utilized by Superior Forum, you are able to achieve a lot of what stand on your own software offers. Since it makes use of the core forum module, it uses the node and comment technique created into Drupal and it is completely integrated, not a bridge. Even though it does not have all the functions of stand by yourself forum apps, becoming entirely integrated into your website supplies advantages they don't.
News
March thirty, 2011 I missed a bug that influences anyone who employs subforums. It's fixed from the dev although not Alpha 4. #1109820: The "x new" posts link for subforums is wrong
Functions
1.x features.
2.x attributes.
Dependencies All versions require core Forum and a PHPTemplate based theme. Core Statistics is recommended to provide the "views" column in topic listings.
D6 1.2 requires AP 2.x.
D6 2.x requires Chaos Tools and Views. It can be tested against Views 2; Views 3 seems to work but is in alpha and that may change. Some capabilities require Node Comments 2.x. Note that Node Comments has issues with Views 3.
D7 requires Vews at least 3.0 Beta 3 and Ctools at least 1.0 Alpha four. Older versions are not supported. (Remember to flush the cache twice as per Views' instructions.)
For a complete forum package, see this list of other contrib modules. Release Philosophy
It takes me a very long time from opening a new branch to releasing a x.0 version (years, not months). During this time, functions are added,
Microsoft Office 2010, code is refactored, and lots of things change, sometimes radically. I work on this module here and there in between raising kids and working on my own projects and frequently end up committing things that aren't quite done and may even be critically broken. For this reason, I normally never advise using the development snapshots in production. When we are very close to a new release, and the dev snapshot is so a lot better than the last release, I take extra care to commit only working code and will say on this page that it's safe to use.
Because it can be such a very long time between the branch opening and a stable release, and several people want to start using the new version, and I do not want them using the snapshots, I make periodic "Alpha" releases. I label these as "Alpha" simply because they are part of ongoing development but they aren't "Alpha" quality. Each of these releases is made as solid and bug free as I possibly can make them. They are safe to use although not feature complete. The caveat is that the next release may be radically different. If you use the module mostly as is, that's not a problem. AF isn't going to store data so you won't lose any of your content in an upgrade. If you have a heavily customized style, though, you will need to figure out what has changed since the last release and make adjustments. If you can live with this,
Office 2007 Enterprise, I highly recommend using the named releases of your actively developed branch because that is where the best capabilities are. Plus, the more people using it and, most importantly, giving feedback and helping where possible, the more solid it is.
When I have added all the features planned for a branch, I move to "Beta" to work out the bugs and then to "RC" for final checks. I try to avoid adding major capabilities in either of these but might add minor ones,
Office 2010 Pro Key, especially if they don't affect the styles or strings.
Version Status
Last updated:March 28, 2011
D6 1.x: This branch is feature complete and will only be getting security fixes and possibly bug fixes at this point. Support questions are answered if I have time but my focus is on 2.x. Even though this is the stable branch,
Windows 7 sale, you should consider using 2.x if you never require absolute stability.
D6 2.x: This is the actively developed branch. Right now, most new attributes are added here first and ported to D7 because Michelle is still working in D6.
D7: Troky ported and is maintaining this branch. At this time, Michelle is not involved at all, so many kudos to Troky. Without him, there wouldn't be a D7 branch before next summer. Now that the D6 branch has a new alpha, the D7 branch should be getting one soon. Demonstration
ShellSN is the demo web site for my modules, including AF 2.x, that it is possible to play with. You can also view an example implementation on my Coulee Area community forums but please do not make an account there unless you actually plan to participate in our community. 2.x screenshots are available as well. There is no demonstration site for 1.x.
Themes with styles
If you offer a theme (free or for purchase) that includes an Advanced Forum style,
Windows 7 Discount, let me know and I'll add you to this list.
Fever Ultra - Included inside the pay version.
Share your site
If you are using this module on a publicly visible website, I'd love to hear from you. It's always fun to see your module utilized in the wild.
Donations
My modules are not sponsored except for very rare paid for functions. I am a full time mom with no income currently. I use donations as my "mad money" to buy things that I'd like to have but can't justify putting into the family budget. If my module has helped you and you'd like to thank me monetarily, I usually have a Chipin active or you'll be able to use PayPal directly. My PayPal email has a domain of charter DOT net and a user name of mcox (didn't print it directly to confused spam bots). If you can't afford to thank with money, then go help someone who knows less about Drupal than you. Pay it forward. :)
Downloads
Windows 7 Discount Advanced Forum drupal.org
Hybrid Mode
