Common Craft Blog
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
By leelefever on May 20, 2004 - 11:40pm
I'm looking for some help here folks. I'm looking for a vendor that integrates weblogs and threaded discussion forums into the same environment. This means that members would be able to log into an online community and start a weblog for their thoughts and/or start a new discussion with a group.
The preference is that this vendor also provides these on a hosted basis- meaning that the vendor owns the hardware and everything is browser-based.
Right now, Web Crossing is one that I know can handle this, but I'm hoping to find others too.
Any thoughts?
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
Just wanted to throw our hat into the ring... Our Personal Publisher (www.iupload.com) application is a brandable, hosted blogging application that does incorporate discussions as you outlined, ie, members can get and use a blog to share their thoughts and/or can launch discussions. The application has been used by a number of corporations to empower a self-building, branded community inside or outsied the firewall. One of the larger public communities we've enabled with the platform is Northwest Voice - a community newspaper that has turned their community into journalist. Members submit their articles by either their own blog site (which also get aggregated into the main paper) or by launching a discussion thread.
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
There is an open source LMS/CMS developed at MIT that is now incorporating some blogging features: http://dotlrn.org/. We have used the forum piece of this software and it is my favorite. The blogging piece is still pretty basic but they are working on improving it.
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
Lee, could you clarify what you mean by "integrated"? I ask because there are vendors who have blogs or journals as part of their product, but they are kept separated from threaded discussions. Here are some examples: SlashCode www.slashcode.com Akiva WebBoard webboard.oreilly.com/products/webboard/... Web Wiz Forums (ASP based) www.webwizguide.info/... VBAdvanced (forum and front page time sorted content Mgmt) vbadvanced.com If that's not working, here is a description of that last one: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/... Personally, I think having them in the same install is not enough. Blogs and threaded discussions share a lot in common: discussion starter, date stamps, categories, comments. It's just data. Presenting it as a blog or as a threaded discussion seems (to me) similar to offering threaded *and* linear views of the same discussion. I just took a look at iupload and it's close, really close. But the comments aren't threaded. I'd also like to see trackbacking on a local level *between* discussions/blog posts connecting separate discussions.
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
Thanks a bunch folks! Good stuff- I have some research to do. I'm walking the line between my own expectations and those of the client- so bare with me. Scott, you bring up some particularly good points. I agree that "it's just data" and there are similarities. However, how the tools are positioned within the community makes the difference. In this instance, the blog would be used to chronicle a single person's story over time (or many individuals with individual blogs). Comments would be there, but the goal would be personal story telling. The discussions would be more of a group activity. The way I frame it is that the weblogs talk *to* the community (story telling) and the discussions talk *with* the community. The integration part is pretty complex. I think the client sees a need for integration in the sense that there is one tool to learn, maintain, manage, etc. The integration is an integration of the backend, the engine and structure that drives the site. From my own perspective- and one that will likely be important for the client in the future is the extent to which "integration" means that the two resources can "talk" to one another. Scott, your point about trackback is right on. I think that there is a great opportunity for linking weblogs and discussions together via trackback-style links. When a weblog links to a discussion, a link should appear in the discussion that allows readers to jump to the weblog- and it should be automatic when the link is created. I have the concept working in my workspace right now- just like I describe above. I plan to post about it soon- it's a very recent change. Of course, I'm happy to give folks access to see it at work, just let me know. (/selfpromotion) I'm really into this subject- so don't hesitate to keep it rolling- even if its calling me out. :)
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
This is a great discussion. I remember chatting with you, Lee, about the differences between a discussion board and a blog. I am definitely interested in a sneak peak of what you have in your workspace. I can definitely see some applications for it, as well as offer some feedback.
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
Hey Pete, I'll be in touch soon with login info... Also, I've posted a new entry on this subject called Online Community Tool Integration: Weblogs and Trackbacks.
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
Drupal does exactly this. See http://drupal.org/.
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
I participate in a couple of communities on livejournal.com. It's interesting - you can create a compilation of lj blogs you are interested in ("friends" page), and blog comments are threaded, so conversations can happen following a blog. See http://www.livejournal.com/community/adults_add/120161.html (you will view this with the default layout, which shows them threaded. However, not all of the snazzy page layouts support the threaded appearance, I think). I set it up to get an email notification when someone comments on my blog, or on a comment I made on any blog. Also, I use RSS to pick up changes on the community blogs I follow. ex: http://www.livejournal.com/community/adults_add/ I find lj very convenient and easy to converse on. When I get an email notification of someone's comment, I can use the email itself to create my reply! Not sure if this is the kind of thing you are looking for... hope it is helpful.
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
I am looking for something very similar, and hope someone here can help me: I need to find software that will allow me to create a multiple author blog that has threaded comments, and can provide an RSS feed of new blog posts, and email notification of new replies to comments. Basically I need something very similar to LiveJournal, except that the blog can have multiple authors, and can be hosted on our intranet for confidentiality. And preferably, this software would be free! I keep finding thinhs that do some of these things, but have yet to find something that will do all of these things. Please help!
Vendor Search: Weblogs and Threaded Discussion Forums Together
read this as a starter: http://www.asymptomatic.net/blogbreakdown.htm