Kunena 6.2.5 & module Kunena Latest 6.0.7 released

The Kunena team has announce the arrival of Kunena 6.2.5 [K 6.2.5] which is now available for download as a native Joomla extension for J! 4.3.x/4.4.x/5.0.x. This version addresses most of the issues that were discovered in K 6.1 / K 6.2 and issues discovered during the last development stages of K 6.2

Topics contains old discussions (generally more than one year ago or based on circumstances that subsequently changed) or topics resolved in other ways. Topics moved into this category are closed from further discussion.

Question Kunena 1.6 - a moderator's view

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13 years 11 months ago #71 by sozzled
Kunena 1.6 is big. I mean it's huge. It's not just the way that your users will notice the differences - and those are mostly only cosmetic - it's how you will need to adjust your approach to forum administration. It's because K 1.6 is so very different to K 1.5 that this discussion topic exists: to prepare people for when K 1.6 is finally unveiled for all to see.

Even though I have been involved with Kunena for a long time and I'm a strong supporter of the project, you would also be aware that I have shared my opinions about Kunena honestly, candidly and (I hope) objectively. Kunena 1.5 was, as you know, merely an adaptation of Kunena 1.0 for Joomla 1.5 and K 1.0 was, itself, the successor to something else. Kunena 1.5 was, therefore, a "follower" in some ways, not the leader, in forum software innovation that the developers envisaged.

Kunena 1.6 changes those perceptions and it changes them very quickly. Kunena 1.6 marks the beginning of leadership in software innovation. Admittedly the developers cannot solve all the technological hurdles that were endemic within K 1.5 (or earlier) and that's because you, the users, are impatient for change. There are only so many hours in the day and the developers are hard pressed for time to complete K 1.6 which marks this first stage in the overall transition of the Kunena product, free from the hindrances and legacies that have dogged it since it arrived on the scene.

So what has this got to do with the subject that I have chosen for my 'blog today? Plenty, as you will see.

New users of Kunena (even old users of Kunena, like me) get confused with the terminology. In the discussion topic, Standard (consistent) Terminology?! there were some excellent points made about the inconsistent [jargon] terms that pepper the topics in these forums. I tried to clarify some of the terminology - I may have done more harm than good - by trying to find definitions of certain terms within the Wiki .

But, the Wiki has evolved over time as the collaborative effort of a few users, lacking the co-ordination of a central editor-in-charge, and the Wiki contains numerous factual errors, inconsistencies and contradictions.

There is a wonderful article in the Wiki called How to create Categories, Forums and Subforums - I refer to this article lots of times when I'm trying to help new users - that attempts to demystify some of the Kunena jargon. The article uses terms like categories, forums, sub-forums, child-boards, topics ... and, after a while, you find yourself using the terms interchangeably. Although the article states, quite clearly, "the categories of Kunena are not Joomla categories", there is more to this than meets the eye.

Starting with K 1.6 we will be talking about message threads (or topics or discussions) within categories. Categories are themselves contained in sections. Categories may have "child boards" (if you like, sub-categories). The point that I'm making is that categories are containers for messages; sections are containers for categories. Simple as that.

The idea of categories and sections is not new, of course, and the concept is borrowed from Joomla 1.5: articles are organised within categories that are themselves contained within sections. And before people start telling me that Joomla 1.6 eliminates "sections" ... yes, I already knew that! :laugh:

Nothing else in Kunena 1.6 will change: users can only post messages (start new discussions/topics or reply to existing ones) if you have defined categories for them. Moderators you can only move messages from one category to another category. But K 1.6 will correct a known problem with K 1.5 that permits moderators moving messages from a category to a section! :woohoo:

The sooner we adopt a consistent terminology, the quicker we will be able to address any new problems we confront. I am sure I will be reminded by you when I use an incorrect term. Be gentle with me (as I will try to be with others) ... I'm a user, too, you know ;)

I know that I have written much about what some people might consider to be a relatively insignificant point, but there are some important fundamentals that I felt required the effort. I thank you for the time you've taken to read this and, I hope, understand the points that I have tried to make.
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13 years 11 months ago #72 by Lady Sharon
oh my I cant wait untill you guys launch 1.6 :D Keep up the good work!!
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13 years 11 months ago #73 by fullstackedpoker
don't get your hopes up, ETA on release is soon. But expect around summer 2011.
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13 years 11 months ago - 13 years 1 week ago #74 by sozzled
Today's preview contains a few screenshots of the new Kunena user profile feature. I've marked a couple of special features (the location of the edit link and the new tabbed dislay) in the following image:



Editing the user profile is done in a similar way to the Kunena configuration settings that I discussed a couple of messages ago. The user settings are arranged in 4 tabbed "panes" as the following screenshots illustrate:
  1. User Account
  2. Profile Information
  3. Avatar Image
  4. Forum Settings
The images shown here are based on a work-in-progress. They are not intended to be an official endorsement of what the finished product will look like, nor do they represent the default values or imply any recommended values, with the finished product. They are merely an illustration of what people may encounter with the new version.
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Last edit: 13 years 1 week ago by sozzled.
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13 years 11 months ago #75 by MarkBoy81
Very neat, I do like it. :)

Just one little question: where's the "moderate user" section?
I mean the part where a user or an IP can be banned and his posts deleted.
In some older screenshot I remember we could find it in the user profile... maybe simply temporarily removed due to work in progress?

I can never congratulate enough with Kunena team. :)
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13 years 11 months ago #76 by sozzled
Good question, MarkBoy81. I'll put together some screenshots tomorrow and post them here.
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13 years 11 months ago #77 by Matias
You cannot moderate yourself..

But that screen is not yet finished and still needs some work to be more useful.
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13 years 11 months ago - 13 years 11 months ago #78 by sozzled
We had an interesting discussion recently - K 1.5.11: 'change username' javascript popup issue - in which an issue emerged that has not been properly addressed for a long time. How do you handle a username change (assuming you allow it) if a user wants to change theirs to one that's already being used?

In K 1.5 this results in an [Javascript] alert and the result is a mess! The alert is unnecessary: there's no real need for a user to "confirm" anything. The following screenshot shows one example of how the situation has been eliminated in K 1.6. The scenario is user test-user3 wants to change their username to test-user2 (which is being used by someone else); after clicking the Submit button, the message at the top of the screen informs the user that their request was not allowed.
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Last edit: 13 years 11 months ago by sozzled.
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13 years 11 months ago #79 by sozzled
Yesterday we were asked about the new moderator's tools that allow you to ban users, delete some or all of user's posts, their signature, avatar image, etc., from the frontend. The following screenshot, taken from a work-in-progress version of K 1.6 shows this new feature.


Obviously, only a person with moderator privileges will have this ability! ;)

The image shown here is taken from a development version of Kunena 1.6. It is not intended to be an official endorsement of what the finished product will look like. It is posted here to give people an indication of what they may encounter with the new version.
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13 years 11 months ago #80 by sozzled
Stay tuned ... we have a few goodies coming your way ... ;)
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