phpBB Constructor - its own phpBB build for everyone
I welcome habraauditoriya!
I would like to introduce you to the fruit of one of my oldest hobbies - the designer of the phpBB assemblies , on which I worked lately. The essence of the project is simple: to give anyone the opportunity to get a phpBB assembly with exactly the same functionality as it needs, but at the same time in the shortest possible time.
The letters turned out to be too much, so for impatient I give a brief description of the parts so that they can be skipped with a clear conscience:
')
Once upon a time, when phpBB2 was at the peak of its popularity, phpBB builds from craftsmen that included a car and a mod cart for all occasions had a lot of fame. A striking example is the project phpBB Plus , which included, if I am not mistaken, about fifty modes of varying complexity. For many, this was convenient, since it was not necessary to spend time on self-installation of a mass of mods of varying degrees of necessity. Moreover, this process was tedious and time consuming.
But the assemblies were not a panacea, because everyone has different needs, and still something was missing, but something was superfluous. Not to mention the load on the server from such a monster. So over time, users of assemblies accumulated enough experience and started up self-modifying their forums and games withfire by the then AutoMod.
With the advent of phpBB3, the development team did a lot of work to simplify the installation of mods for end users, the MODX standard improved in many respects, the new AutoMod supporting MODX appeared. Also, most of the vital functions, which were previously solved with the help of monstrous mods (recall the eerie Attachment Mod), got into the engine core. This led to the fact that assemblies based on phpBB3 have not gained great popularity, although I know several teams that are engaged in the development and support of assemblies to this day.
This idea did not leave me for a long time, and a year and a half ago I began to slowly incarnate in the code. Thanks to the efforts of the members of the phpBB Mod Team, most mods are well placed in automatic mode. Consequently, it is possible to automate the process of creating an assembly and reduce the time it takes to keep it up-to-date. But if it can be automated, then why not let the user choose what he wants to see in the assembly, and what doesn't?
This is the purpose of the phpBB Constructor . You are free to choose which functions and localizations you need, and as a result you get an assembly that includes the necessary modes, and if the mode provides localization for the languages you have chosen, they will be set, if not, the language variables will be inherited from English. We, in turn, control that all the mods included in the constructor work well together and do not conflict during installation.
AutoMod is a great tool from Mod Team that can handle many mods automatically, but still:
But, in fairness, I must say, you have to pay for it by restricting the freedom to choose mods.
On the other hand, paranoia hints that hands are the only way to be sure that there is nothing superfluous in your build ;-)
Given the technical inclinations of the audience Habr, I hasten to move to the technical side of the issue.
The heart of the phpBB Constructor is the MODX Library , which I thought should be published under the BSD license. It accounts for 80% of the routine work on installing mods: parsing installation instructions, editing files, registering installation scripts supplied with mods, etc. It was with her that the work on the constructor began, and it accounts for most of the effort invested.
Another important element is the small mod Inherited Translation , which provides the above-mentioned inheritance of the mode language variables from English, if the mode itself does not contain localization for the desired language.
The third component is not a very big patch for the phpBB installer, which is responsible for running the mod installation scripts and the SQL queries accompanying them. So far, my hands have not reached its publication, but it is a matter of time, though not very long.
This is perhaps the most intriguing part (for me especially :-), because there is still much to be done:
At this stage, feedback is very important to me, both as regards suggestions for improvement and fitche requests, as well as bug reports. For these purposes, you can write directly to the support forum , as well as to the bug tracker , if someone likes this method. In addition, it will be useful to help both localize existing mods and offer new ones.
I wrote down a small screencast about using the constructor, I think someone would be curious about it:
UPD. After some reflection, moved to "Services."
UPD2. At the request of workers added Ukrainian localization.
I would like to introduce you to the fruit of one of my oldest hobbies - the designer of the phpBB assemblies , on which I worked lately. The essence of the project is simple: to give anyone the opportunity to get a phpBB assembly with exactly the same functionality as it needs, but at the same time in the shortest possible time.The letters turned out to be too much, so for impatient I give a brief description of the parts so that they can be skipped with a clear conscience:
- Historical background - where did phpBB Constructor come from and why?
- You can do better - what has changed with his appearance.
- phpBB Constructor vs AutoMod and Hands - for critically tuned.
- Under the hood - some intimate details from the depths of the scripts.
- Feedback - 4 ways to change the world for the better.
- Finally, a screencast for the impatient.
')
Historical Background
Once upon a time, when phpBB2 was at the peak of its popularity, phpBB builds from craftsmen that included a car and a mod cart for all occasions had a lot of fame. A striking example is the project phpBB Plus , which included, if I am not mistaken, about fifty modes of varying complexity. For many, this was convenient, since it was not necessary to spend time on self-installation of a mass of mods of varying degrees of necessity. Moreover, this process was tedious and time consuming.
But the assemblies were not a panacea, because everyone has different needs, and still something was missing, but something was superfluous. Not to mention the load on the server from such a monster. So over time, users of assemblies accumulated enough experience and started up self-modifying their forums and games with
With the advent of phpBB3, the development team did a lot of work to simplify the installation of mods for end users, the MODX standard improved in many respects, the new AutoMod supporting MODX appeared. Also, most of the vital functions, which were previously solved with the help of monstrous mods (recall the eerie Attachment Mod), got into the engine core. This led to the fact that assemblies based on phpBB3 have not gained great popularity, although I know several teams that are engaged in the development and support of assemblies to this day.But you can do better!
This idea did not leave me for a long time, and a year and a half ago I began to slowly incarnate in the code. Thanks to the efforts of the members of the phpBB Mod Team, most mods are well placed in automatic mode. Consequently, it is possible to automate the process of creating an assembly and reduce the time it takes to keep it up-to-date. But if it can be automated, then why not let the user choose what he wants to see in the assembly, and what doesn't?
This is the purpose of the phpBB Constructor . You are free to choose which functions and localizations you need, and as a result you get an assembly that includes the necessary modes, and if the mode provides localization for the languages you have chosen, they will be set, if not, the language variables will be inherited from English. We, in turn, control that all the mods included in the constructor work well together and do not conflict during installation.
phpBB Constructor vs. Automod
AutoMod is a great tool from Mod Team that can handle many mods automatically, but still:
- All that is in the constructor is tested for compatibility and normal work, and in case of which we are ready to help.
- Having made the assembly once, you can install it as many times as you like.
- You do not need to look for the mods and latest versions you need.
But, in fairness, I must say, you have to pay for it by restricting the freedom to choose mods.
phpBB Constructor vs. Hands
- First of all, one does not interfere with one another :-) The assembly created by the designer is a good starting point for self-modification.
- Hands much longer.
- And again, you don’t need to search the Internet yourself for the right mods.
On the other hand, paranoia hints that hands are the only way to be sure that there is nothing superfluous in your build ;-)
Under the hood
Given the technical inclinations of the audience Habr, I hasten to move to the technical side of the issue.
The heart of the phpBB Constructor is the MODX Library , which I thought should be published under the BSD license. It accounts for 80% of the routine work on installing mods: parsing installation instructions, editing files, registering installation scripts supplied with mods, etc. It was with her that the work on the constructor began, and it accounts for most of the effort invested.
Another important element is the small mod Inherited Translation , which provides the above-mentioned inheritance of the mode language variables from English, if the mode itself does not contain localization for the desired language.
The third component is not a very big patch for the phpBB installer, which is responsible for running the mod installation scripts and the SQL queries accompanying them. So far, my hands have not reached its publication, but it is a matter of time, though not very long.
ToDo
This is perhaps the most intriguing part (for me especially :-), because there is still much to be done:
- Provide the ability for users to store profiles of their assemblies and build auto-update packages for them.
- Forms for proposing new mods and messages about the released updates in case we overlook something.
- Categorization mods. With the growth of their number, it becomes necessary.
- Generate instructions for custom styles and even automatic scripts for installing them.
- Featured mods to simplify the selection of the required.
Feedback
At this stage, feedback is very important to me, both as regards suggestions for improvement and fitche requests, as well as bug reports. For these purposes, you can write directly to the support forum , as well as to the bug tracker , if someone likes this method. In addition, it will be useful to help both localize existing mods and offer new ones.
And finally
I wrote down a small screencast about using the constructor, I think someone would be curious about it:
UPD. After some reflection, moved to "Services."
UPD2. At the request of workers added Ukrainian localization.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/127562/
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