Can Chris Coyier please write a tutorial on how he setup his forum?

[hackyaaa]

There aren’t that many bbPress themes out there to begin with.

I had tried creating my own theme but bbPress theme creation is total pain. (I am sure many of you would agree.)

Css-tircks’ forum design is truly unique & I also really like how the forum is user-friendly as well.

I am just wondering if Chris or anyone who is familiar with bbPress theme creation can write a guide/tutorial that others can follow.

It would be great if the tutorial/guide covers the organization of the forum setup as well.

[chrisburton]

I just purchased access to The Lodge. I’m on video 51 and so far it’s still on the process of building the layout using HTML (some PHP) and Sass. I’ll let you know if the building of the forums is in there. I don’t think it is because when this design was flushed out, it was still using Vanilla.

[hackyaaa]

Thanks. Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

I feel that most people find it difficult/uncomfortable to theme bbpress because it’s not something most people do very often.

Before I even get to designing the forum, I have to think about how to organize the structure of the forum first and after that, I have to deal with unfamiliar html structure of bbpress.

I’ve googled extensively to see if anyone has created any detailed tutorial but I haven’t found any.

I guess I am not really interested in investing many hours on my own for something that is rarely called for.

I am not being lazy; I just feel like it’s not a fiscally sound decision.

[chrisburton]

In all honesty, I was excited for this forum to switch to BBPress as I thought it would have been easier to navigate and flow through posts to answer problems. This isn’t the case for me. I wish Chris stuck with Vanilla.

[hackyaaa]

@chrisburton, that’s the exact concern I have for end-users.

Vanilla is a bulletin board many end-users are accustomed to.

bbpress on the other hand is a forum which some users find very confusing.

However, the benefit of forum solution such as bbpress, especially combined with BuddyPress, is enormous.

The trick, as a developer, is to organize the forum in such fashion that most end users feel comfortable using.

I had developed a community site on bbpress + buddypress last year & it was a total disaster. I naively assumed that end-users would find the benefits of many social functions that are built in buddypress.

Instead, many end-users complained how confusing the new site setup was.

After only a week, the site owner asked me to revert the site back to vBulletin. Was not a fun experience, at all.

I need to somehow create a theme which does not create confusion. That’s where I am suck at.

Sometimes we do the dumbest thing in the world. Just look at Windows 8. LOL

I don’t want to be that guy who gets fired for bringing in the innovation no one likes.

[chrisburton]

The Lodge does not have a screencast introducing the process of the bbPress integration. However, he does talk about wanting to use it and the reasons for it.

In my opinion, I’d like to see a different and innovative approach to forums.

[Alen]

http://esotalk.org/

Enough said!!!

[chrisburton]

I was thinking a more innovating approach to conversation styles.

[hackyaaa]

@deeve007,

With all due respect, anybody can theme wordpress or bbpress.

The real issue is that there isn’t any tutorial/guide as to how to turn bbpress into a solution which does not alienate end-users who are not used to a forum solution such as bbpress.

Forums & bulletin boards are very different animals.

[Alen]

The real issue is that there isn’t any tutorial/guide as to how to turn bbpress into a solution which does not alienate end-users who are not used to a forum solution such as bbpress.

If this is your real issue. Your only solution is to actually test it out with your users. There’s nothing anybody can say here that can solve this problem.

[noahgelman]

Add me to the list of people who wished he stuck with Vanilla. I don’t like the UI of bbPress

[Alen]

In the end I’m sure Chris and Co will be the one’s to judge

There are at least 4 people involved in this discussion, including mods, that don’t like the switch.

And no Chris will not be the one to judge. The users will. He’s barely active on here (just to be clear, am not expecting him to be).

[Alen]

You said judge. Not decide. Two diff things.

[Alen]

Do it.

[Author]

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