Are there any specific reasons why I should choose the Ninjaboard over the  Kunena forum extension with a K2 site?

 

Better integration examples?

 

 

 

I assume there are people out there that use these extensions with k2?  Let's hear your opinions...

what about user accounts?


Lorenzo said:
the forums are separate from k2 content so it doesn't matter.

I use Kunena and really like it, but I use it with JomSocial so I don't have the integration issue you will with K2. I can tell you that in the Kunena config you can select the profile integration, but K2 is not one of the choices. Search on the Kunena forum and you may find something about integrating the two. I have not used Ninjaboard, but really can't say enough about Kunena.

I would definitely recommend NinjaBoard. It has a different base philosophy and what we see of it now is just the tip of the iceberg.

The development speed for NinjaBoard is high, the team is very open to new suggestions and it is the absolute easiest forum to integrate design wise. Their Chameleon approach works REALLY well!

Also, it is built using Nooku and this helps on the security side.

Regarding K2 profile integration with avatars - it has been requested and I hope we will see it soon (as I would like to have it too).

I have installed both and will post my opinions later.

Having always used Kunena, despite lack of interest from them to work on integration to K2, I was amazed when I started using NinjaBoard last week.

I just added a basic forum to www.simon.getk2.org.


Its so simple
No complicated backend that scares not technical site owners.
It Chameleon engine is fantastic at replicating your site style.
Support is first class. I got and excellentresponse from the dev team
Follows Joomla MVC so templating over rides are a breeze.

At the moment it is not as feature packed as say Kunena, but it is young and stable.

Simon

1. Can you list the features that nijaboard is missing that kunena has?

2. How does nijaboard specifically integrate with K2 where Kunena does not?

 

for one, I can see how NB's auto-skinning called Chameleon really integrates well with my template.

LOL.  The current lack of features in an understatement.  The screenshots (k2 forum limits me to 3... talk about limited features :-)) show Kunena features, most of which are missing from NB.  

Simon Wells (K2 Support) said:
Having always used Kunena, despite lack of interest from them to work on integration to K2, I was amazed when I started using NinjaBoard last week.

I just added a basic forum to www.simon.getk2.org.


Its so simple
No complicated backend that scares not technical site owners.
It Chameleon engine is fantastic at replicating your site style.
Support is first class. I got and excellentresponse from the dev team
Follows Joomla MVC so templating over rides are a breeze.

At the moment it is not as feature packed as say Kunena, but it is young and stable.

Simon

oops, I didn't have a chance to edit my own reply in the allotted 15 minutes k2 forum gives you.... these are the "features" I will make sure my client's forum does not have to accept.....


"in is an understatement."

 

of course one advantage is that ninjaboard will import kunena if and when nb matures.

 

In the end I guess it is a matter of the site's users:  

Simple, shiny looking, simple  = nb

full featured = kunena

Did not understand all of these examples...

 

I never liked the post editor in Kunena. It is messy in my opinion, and I would love to see it cut down considerably.

 

NinjaBoard has attachments...

 

And the extra menu that Kunena adds, similar to Jomsocial is something that would be the first thing to remove if I ever would run a Kunena board. I want all navigation to happen through the menu that I set up and where I decide it should be, not where the forum devs think it should be.

 

But yes, Kunena has more features at the moment, but I still think NinjaBoard is the way to go. A really BIG thing for me is the attitude of the developers and other people using the extension. With the NinjaBoard people you never get the feeling that they do not want you to say anything or ask anything.

 

I am looking at the two and try to imagine the long term perspective. What system do I think will develop in the right direction? Who seems to be more open to feedback and have a philosophy that I like?

I agree, the post editor should be able to be trimmed to your liking, without hacking.

 

I haven't used Kunena enough to have an opinion of the menus.  It seems that NB is lacking a user friendly place for all the required buttons/options that a user might need.  Again, I have limited experience with NB.

 

The developer attitude is the number one reason I would pick nb.  For example, the attitude of Peter van Westen, the developer of www.nonumber.nl/ has made me use his extensions on all my clients sites.  

 

After reading your reply, I was thinking that since NB has all the potential to add the required features that kunena has currently, but are more willing to develop a better forum then I would be willing to switch.  In the future, due to the fact that NB will import Kunena data, I think I will go with Kunena, for now.

Svein Wisnaes said:

Did not understand all of these examples...

 

I never liked the post editor in Kunena. It is messy in my opinion, and I would love to see it cut down considerably.

 

NinjaBoard has attachments...

 

And the extra menu that Kunena adds, similar to Jomsocial is something that would be the first thing to remove if I ever would run a Kunena board. I want all navigation to happen through the menu that I set up and where I decide it should be, not where the forum devs think it should be.

 

But yes, Kunena has more features at the moment, but I still think NinjaBoard is the way to go. A really BIG thing for me is the attitude of the developers and other people using the extension. With the NinjaBoard people you never get the feeling that they do not want you to say anything or ask anything.

 

I am looking at the two and try to imagine the long term perspective. What system do I think will develop in the right direction? Who seems to be more open to feedback and have a philosophy that I like?

In NB when it comes to buttons and options, you will find some that relates to the thread or post located either at the top or bottom of the relavant post/thread. For other things, I really prefer to use the main menu for the site or a side menu. I like to place things in a menu that I position where I want it according to the layout of my website.

 

And yes, Peter is a great dev. and I really wish other devs would ask him to get included in his extension manager.

Hi guys,

It's true that we lack many features. Unlike Kunena, Ninjaboard is completely from scratch so there's a lot of work ahead.

Menus is something we'll make easier in 1.1, but without having our own menu module. It'll be natie (just like breadcrumbs today).

Since we're not aiming to match every other forum regarding features, 1.1 won't be quite as featured as Kunena, but 1.2 will.


For instance, 1.2 will be able to detect data from links in posts. So instead of a YouTube or embed button in the post editor, you simply paste a link to a YouTube video and it's embedded.
So while we do aim to solve the same common problems other forums are, we're not trying to solve them the same way. Instead we look at the problem and try and find the best way to sole it. Not reinventing wheels, just making it roll smoother ;)


modernmagic said:I agree, the post editor should be able to be trimmed to your liking, without hacking.

 

I haven't used Kunena enough to have an opinion of the menus.  It seems that NB is lacking a user friendly place for all the required buttons/options that a user might need.  Again, I have limited experience with NB.

 

The developer attitude is the number one reason I would pick nb.  For example, the attitude of Peter van Westen, the developer of www.nonumber.nl/ has made me use his extensions on all my clients sites.  

 

After reading your reply, I was thinking that since NB has all the potential to add the required features that kunena has currently, but are more willing to develop a better forum then I would be willing to switch.  In the future, due to the fact that NB will import Kunena data, I think I will go with Kunena, for now.

Svein Wisnaes said:

Did not understand all of these examples...

 

I never liked the post editor in Kunena. It is messy in my opinion, and I would love to see it cut down considerably.

 

NinjaBoard has attachments...

 

And the extra menu that Kunena adds, similar to Jomsocial is something that would be the first thing to remove if I ever would run a Kunena board. I want all navigation to happen through the menu that I set up and where I decide it should be, not where the forum devs think it should be.

 

But yes, Kunena has more features at the moment, but I still think NinjaBoard is the way to go. A really BIG thing for me is the attitude of the developers and other people using the extension. With the NinjaBoard people you never get the feeling that they do not want you to say anything or ask anything.

 

I am looking at the two and try to imagine the long term perspective. What system do I think will develop in the right direction? Who seems to be more open to feedback and have a philosophy that I like?