Is TP and SMF for me?

[G6Cad]

There is this made by our Xarcell yeasterday actually

http://www.tinyportal.net/smf/index.php?topic=9233

[Thurnok]

Don't dispare Sammie, its actually very simple to get a working version of SMF and TP up and running.  The defaults for both are set in such a way, that as long as you do not have certain "special" needs, they will install with settings that work for basically any Host.

There are numerous options within SMF and within TP as well, all accessable via the admin control panel.  These are where you get to have the "fun" part of the installation.  Read the little popup help (by clicking the icon) for each item for a short explanation of what that feature/setting does.  Basically, you are at the point where you are tailoring your SMF/TP install to your tastes.  Have fun with it, try different options and play around with your site to see what those options do.  Remember, the reason SMF and TP are such a desirable choice is because of the amount of options, features, and available mods for feature enhancement they have.

If you run into a snag that you cannot figure out, the TP Team is here to help. 

[sammie99]

thanx, i have come to an issue with trying to make a menu and list the articles in the menu, and the flashchat button code has changed from 1.1.rc3

[Thurnok]

Well, I don't use Flashchat, someone else might be able to help you with that.

As for making menu items that link to articles, it is pretty straight forward.  Of course, you need to make the articles first, create a menu block for your frontpage, and then go in and add links in the menu to them this way:
- Go to your Admin Control Panel
- Create some Articles.  Click Article Manager, set up a title, edit the body of the article, select No to show on frontpage when you are finished, then Send.
- Click Block Manager under the TinyPortal section
- In the center now, you should see the Manage Blocks section with 4 links near the top:  Edit Blocks | Menu Manager | Add MenuItem | Shoutbox  ::: click Edit Blocks.
- If you do not see a menu block listed in the list of blocks already, click the Add left block link.
- you should see numerous radio buttons of block types - select the menublock and click Send.
- You can now put in a title of your choice for your menublock and select what membergroups are allowed to see it (top group of checkboxes).  Do not select any membergroups to be allowed to edit it (the second group of checkboxes).  Leave all the options at the bottom in the pull down controls alone for now, and just click Send.
- You should now be back to the Manage Blocks screen.  Your menu is currently not active.  You can tell this by the "filled in" red circle under the On/Off/Move area for the Menu Block you just created.  To activate it, click the "not filled in" green circle next to it.

You now have created a Menu block.  It will not have any menu items in it yet, but we'll do that next.

- Click Add MenuItem.
- Under Title, put in a title of your choice.  Under Type, select Article.  Under Item, select the Article you want to link to.  Click Send.
- You should now be at the Menu Manager screen, where you can see all current menu items.  You should see your Article menu item at the top of the list.  It is currently inactive.  You can tell this by the "filled in" red circle under the Edit area.  Click the "not filled in" green circle next to it.

You should now be able to see your Article menu item in your menu.  To verify, click the Home link to see your menu.

[Xarcell]

sammie I know how you feel, I went through the same thing. I have to say that TP/SMF is the best.

The only problem I see are 2 things.

1.| TP doesn't have a gallery yet, but is in the works. You can intergrade coppermine though. So you can have a nice gallery software with some extra effort.

2.| Age restriction. You would have to do this manually for each user, or certain users. Unless you can find a SMF mod that puts those of a certain age into certain membergroups for you.

You can still pull it off, and you'll find ALOT more things you'll find userful. I just think those would be your 2 main issues to look into...

[sammie99]

thanx Thurnok i think it have the hang of that now. thats was much more clearer than the Docs to understand anf follow.

Xarcell on my quest of questions, i have been told that there is a Mod for age and gender restrictions being made, the guy just needs help with the last bit of code i understand. on this topic on SMF site.
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=103884.0

so i might get that too soon.

thanx guys
sammie xXx

[Thurnok]

no problem sammie.  I'm pretty sure you will enjoy the system once you start getting familiarized with it.  It really is a joy to test things out with TP/SMF.  I'm still like a kid in a candy store when it comes to that.   

[sammie99]

no problem sammie.  I'm pretty sure you will enjoy the system once you start getting familiarized with it.  It really is a joy to test things out with TP/SMF.  I'm still like a kid in a candy store when it comes to that.   

i'm still having issues with the menu's  i just cant see what i am doing wrong

[Thurnok]

I can take a quick look for you if you like.  Make a temporary user and set it up with Admin access.  PM me the info, and I'll take a quick peek at your menu setup to see what's going on.

[sammie99]

I can take a quick look for you if you like.  Make a temporary user and set it up with Admin access.  PM me the info, and I'll take a quick peek at your menu setup to see what's going on.

you're a star, sent.

if i see how it's done once or twice, then i can follow it,

sammie xXx