Local Boy Makes Good - Thanks to JaguarPC - Anybody Want an Autograph???

**Vin DSL** · 06-26-2003, 10:22 PM

Life is funny, no?

Some of the reasons I moved to JagPC was I needed a MySQL DB, I wanted to convert my outdated HTML site to PHP, and I needed shell access. I couldn't get these things at my last host. I never used a control panel 'til I moved here --- never heard of CMS. I really preferred FreeBSD to Linux, but WTF, you can't have everything, you know?

After I was here a couple of days, I decided to play around with Cpanel. I looked at the autoinstaller and thought, "Hrm... I wonder what this PHP-Nuke is," so I clicked it.

To make a long story short, 2 months later I was invited to moderate at The Disipal Site, internationally recognized as one of the top developers of Nuke themes and 'utilities' on the web. I was recently given 'the keys to the fort' for 3 weeks while the owner was away in England. Yesterday, based of my contributions to product improvement, my 'name' was added to the copyright, as co-author, of the default theme on Disipal's homepage (in Greece), and inducted as a member of the Disipal Development Team.

http://www.disipal.net/

Man, is this a Cinderella story or what???

I feel like I owe a great deal of this to JagPC. If I didn't have a shell account, MySQL, PHP, SSH, phpMyAdmin, et cetera, and if I hadn't clicked that mysterious link in the autoinstaller on Cpanel, I'd probably still be running a kludgey HTML web site.

So, thanks JagPC!!!

**mattsiegman** · 06-27-2003, 11:52 AM

Cool 8)

/me still thinks PHP-Nuke is bloatware

**Vin DSL** · 06-28-2003, 02:13 PM

Yeah, I suppose it is bloated, in the sense that it has (say) 20 features by default and I only use 10 of them, or whatever, but what suite of proggies isn't bloated?

A good example of this would be the multi-language module. PHP-Nuke can be displayed in 25 different languages at the click of a button. How about your site? Maybe you don't care, but for many ppl in the world, if your site is in English, they can't read it. Multi-language support is built into PHP-Nuke and amounts to 'bloat' in many Euro-centric minds, but for International community this is a 'must have' item, not 'bloat.'

PHP-Nuke is just the core engine. The functionality is actually provided by addons, modules, blocks, and so forth. They can be added or taken away. It's like Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Legos, et cetera. You can make it as big or small as you want. So, this is a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.

Despite the fact that I never would have known about Nuke, if I hadn't been hosted here, I know a lot of ppl have formed unfounded biases against it. I'm not trying to prove the case for CMS/Blogs. The 'case' has already been made. They are taking the world by storm. I'm just ahead of the curve, as usual.

IMHO, JagPC should offer a 'Nuke Package.' That is, if I was in charge, I'd set a couple of machines aside and use them for Nuke Hosting. Many web hosts offer these packages:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...uke+hosting%22

Consider this --- if Nuke is bloated, a resource hog, and all the other things ppl think about it --- why do so many web hosts offer Nuke packages with (like) 50MB of drive space, and 1 or 2 MB of transfer? I could easily get by with such a package using PHP-Nuke, and so could many/most Nukers.

While I appreciate JagPC making this all possible, I believe they are really missing out on the hottest trend on the Internet --- catering to the Nuke crowd.

**Raven** · 06-28-2003, 04:53 PM

Frankly I tend to think along the same lines for AOL, PHP-Nuke and FrontPage. It makes things easy when you dont know what you are doing, and as long as you arent concerned with much else then you will be fine working with them. But its good to see that something good can come of something so evil.

Haha. People usually dont start with a lot of knowledge of high tech stuff. You move up and along as you learn. People all have their personal prefrences too!

**Vin DSL** · 06-28-2003, 06:48 PM

Originally posted by Raven
Frankly I tend to think along the same lines for AOL, PHP-Nuke and FrontPage. It makes things easy when you dont know what you are doing...

LoL! Yes, that is one of many unfounded biases against PHP-Nuke. The funny thing to me is, this is usually erased during the installation process.

PHP-Nuke will humble the most experienced webMASTER the first time they use it. This is usually due to some incompatibility with the environment at their web host such as paths that are improperly defined, software that is in need of updating or not installed at all, bad builds, et cetera. However, it also requires a different mindset, which many old-school admins have a hard time dealing with. Once you understand how PHP-Nuke works though, you will find it to be a better way of doing things. I consider a lot of these biases to be born out of ignorance, laziness and prejudice. It's easier to quipp, "They all look the same to me," with a nudge and a wink, than to learn (or re-learn) new and better ways of doing things, even if the result is a more efficient way of maintaining your web site[s].

To those that like to pound out their web site using raw HTML and NotePad, you will find PHP-Nuke isn't a whole lot different. It just takes a while to figure this out. You will still be dealing with HTML, however, PHP and MySQL are the glue that holds everything together, along with a sprinkling of CSS and JavaScript. That's how I ended up being a moderator and product developer on an internationally respected Nuke site, not because I figured out the control panel. If you think this sort of stuff is for beginners, so be it, but you're believing your own B.S. if you think that's the truth...

To JagPC's credit, PHP-Nuke is available for autoinstall in Cpanel (albeit an older version) and it runs perfectly here. That's why I think they should consider offering 'Nuke Packages.' Advertising is dirt cheap on most Nuke support sites. I've seen banner ads on homepages go for as low a $6/mo. I think they could quickly become a leader in Nuke hosting, if they would so desire.

In effect, they are already offering Nuke hosting. What I would suggest is that come up with a Nuke Package. Example: 100MB disk space & 1,000MB transfer, with PHP-Nuke and phpBB preinstalled for $5.00/mo or $55.00/yr. 1 domain & subdomain per account, 1 MySQL DB, 1 FTP account, but no shell account, yada, yada, and yada.

This would draw Nukers to JagPC. Many of them would probably sign up for V100/200 accounts to begin with, once they compare packages --- who knows? It's worth a shot, no?

I know some of you might feel like, "Well, there goes the neighborhood," but if they offer PHP-Nuke on JagPC anyway, why keep it a secret? Moreover, why not encourage it?

**mattsiegman** · 06-29-2003, 01:42 PM

I've used Nuke, I just don't like think feel to it. To me, it feels bloated (but, to me, Opera feels bloated and Mozilla Firebird doesn't). To me, the feel to software is important. Nuke is nice, and back when I used it (version 4 days) it hogged bandwidth, and the admin center had so little documentation, I couldn't figure out what half the features were. (I still don't know what some are)

I might be more inclined to run PHP-Nuke if it wasn't in PHP, because I, personally, hate PHP. I used to be good with it, and I still can write stuff in it, but back when I was working on YaBB SE, I had to quit the team because the code made me sick.... I'm a Perl guy

so I guess some anti-PHP blood is in me.
(BTW: I also think PHP is bloated

too many damned builtin functions.)

Its a matter of preference.

Vin: you type... a LOT....

**Vin DSL** · 06-29-2003, 02:26 PM

Originally posted by mattsiegman
I've used Nuke, I just don't like think feel to it. To me, it feels bloated (but, to me, Opera feels bloated and Mozilla Firebird doesn't). To me, the feel to software is important.

I didn't like the feel of it either. That's why I got involved in the underpinnings. As stated above, PHP-Nuke is the core engine. It is written and controlled by an evil genius greaseball named Francisco Burzi. When you start hacking his code, you are dealing with the devil, and this is NOT a good feeling. That aside, the rest of it is modularized, and hacking the code is basically a matter of figuring out where the author is coming from. To me, this is of great interest; almost a game, e.g. a sport, i.e. fun.

I might be more inclined to run PHP-Nuke if it wasn't in PHP, because I, personally, hate PHP... Its a matter of preference.

Well, if you hate PHP, PHP-Nuke is not for you. It is written in 100% PHP, so you will hate it 100%...

Vin: you type... a LOT....

LoL! I am a rather garulous fellow, aren't I? Some ppl love that --- some ppl hate it. As you said, "Its a matter of preference."

**mattsiegman** · 06-29-2003, 02:44 PM

Deciphering other people's code is a pain in the butt

its nice when you finally get it though...

**Raven** · 06-29-2003, 03:29 PM

Haha... yah perhaps that wasnt the most accurate statement I could have made as far as PHP-Nuke goes. Its a complicated thing without a doubt, and you already know far more than I if you can figure the darn thing out, but I believe that their intentions were to make site management easy. And I am one of those people who "pound out their web site using raw HTML and NotePad".

Cant stand html editors!

**Vin DSL** · 06-29-2003, 06:56 PM

Originally posted by mattsiegman
Deciphering other people's code is a pain in the butt its nice when you finally get it though...

Originally posted by Raven
...Its a complicated thing without a doubt... I am one of those people who "pound out their web site using raw HTML and NotePad". Cant stand html editors!

Not to repeat myself, but maintaining a Nuke site, once you really get into it, is no different than maintaining a HTML web site. You are just adding PHP scripts, Javascript and CSS scripts to the mix, using Notepad, or whatever, as an editor. Personally, I find scripting languages much easier to comprehend than markup languages. Luckily, HTML is kept to a minimum with PHP-Nuke. With scripting languages there are only so many ways to do something. While this is somewhat limiting in some respects, there's enough 'fudge' room to make your site look and act different than everyone else's.

Having said that, if you look on my site, you will see that I have Coppermine Photo Gallery working inside PHP-Nuke. Coppermine is the script from hell. It was designed by a Frog. It took me 4-5 days to get it running right. However, this has been the exception. Most things can be tweaked in a matter of minutes or hours.

CMS is the way of the future, IMHO. Eventually, everyone will be using some form of it --- might as well be assimilated --- resistance is futile. You're just forestalling the inevitable...