Simple Machine Forums (SMF) Photo Gallery Installation and Setup

Been playing around with Simple Machine Forums (SMF) — it’s a cool forum software that’s robust and well-supported by an active online community.

For those who are unaware of this software, SMF is a free open-source forum application that can be installed on web servers. In contrast to paid software such as vBulletin and Invision Forums, SMF is available for free.

I didn’t want to shell out any money for vBulletin, so this will suffice. If it grows, I might have to migrate the forum to vBulletin though. Each vBulletin license is USD $160, but well worth it — it’s the holy grail of forums!

Summary of New SMF Features:

* * Database abstraction - with support for PostgreSQL and SQLite planned alongside that of MySQL.
* * Automatic installation of packages into themes other than just the default.
* * Email templates to simplify customization of forum emails.
* * Moderation center including post, topic and attachment moderation - to allow approving of user content before it is made public.
* * User warning system.
* * Additional group functionally including group moderators and requestable/free assignable groups.
* * WYSIWYG editor to provide an intuitive user interface to those users not familiar with BBC.
* * Permission improvements such as group inheritance and permission profiles to further reduce the complexity of the permissions system.
* * File based caching for a performance increase on all forums regardless of whether an accelerator is installed.
* * Mail queuing system to stagger the sending of emails to improve performance on large forums.
* * Advanced signature settings to allow the administrator of a forum to more tightly control the contents of users signatures.
* * Personal messaging improvements including ability to automatically sort incoming messages and a variety of display options.
* * Improved upgrade script with better timeout protection and simpler user interface.
* * Custom profile fields to enable administrators to add additional member fields from the administration center.
* * User configurable posts and topics per page; an improved calendar interface.
* * Option to allow guests to vote in polls.

Installing SMF

Installation of SMF is a breeze! I only had to make sure that I had a database created, but other than that, SMF’s installation wizard guides you through everything, and tries to fill in whatever it can find out first. Pretty nifty!

Installing a Custom SMF Theme

SMF supports custom themes, and there’s a whole bunch of themes available at the SMF Theme Site, all for free! I found some that I really liked there, and installed them.

Installation of SMF themes is fairly straightforward. You’ll need to upload your theme files to the SMF themes directory, and then install them using the link in your Admin panel. After which, you have to remember to reset your forum’s default theme to that if you’re only planning to have one look for your forum.

Installing SMF Photo Gallery

I got the lite version of SMF Gallery and installed it. Installation of a SMF package (or SMF mod) is not that straightforward because packages only install to the default SMF theme. I installed a custom theme, so I had to manually create the link to the photo gallery.

This means that you need to edit the custom theme’s index.template.php file. To get to that, go to your Admin menu, click on Configuration >> Themes and Layout >> Modify Themes.

Then look for this line of code:

// the [member] list button

Found it? Mine was in the code block beginning from line 463. You’ll find a small chunk of code following that line, and right after that, paste the following code, and you should now see a link that says “Gallery” on your forum!

// the [SMF Gallery] button
if ($context['allow_smfgallery_view'])
echo'<td align="center" class="maintab_' , $current_action == 'gallery' ? '2' : " , '">
' , $txt['smfgallery_menu'] , '
</td>';

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Toastmasters Table Topic Ideas for Impromptu Speaking – Favourite Food

Surely everyone has their own favourite food – so make a Table Topic session out of it! Try have table topics such as “Most memorable meal”, “Least favourite food”, “Favorite food” , “Worst meal”, “Strangest place ever eaten”, “Strangest food ever eaten”.

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Synchronise 2 Laptop and Desktop with Unison Free Synchronization Software

I have a laptop and a desktop, and one of the problems that I faced was to get my files synchronized. I work on my desktop while I’m at home, and on the go, I rely on my laptop. However, I need my files to be the same on both laptop and desktop.

In the past I used to do a manual sync with rsync, but now I’ve just discovered Unison and it solves the pain of synchronization, because unlike rsync, Unison works both ways. With Unison, I can set it so that any files that I change on my laptop will get synchronized with my desktop, and vice versa.

I don’t use this feature, but Unison has versions for the Linux and Mac platforms as well, and allows you to synchronize with different OS-es. So if you’re using a Mac desktop and have a windows laptop, and work with Linux at your workplace — no problems!

The great thing about Unison that it can work over SSH too, so you don’t have to be physically near your other computer — you can be lounging at Starbucks with your laptop, and synchronise your files over the public Wi-Fi connection.

And just in case you might have different synchronization needs from time to time, don’t worry, because Unison also has support for profiles. These syn allow you to create configuration files that can set preferences on different directories and files. Comprehensive documentation on profiles is available on the Web site.

All in all, Unison can be extremely useful and quite powerful. It doesn’t take the blind-sync approach by default, but allows you to determine what files to sync, if any, and in what direction. Using profiles, you can largely automate things to suit your situation.

Click here for the official Unison website.

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Toastmasters Table Topic Ideas for Impromptu Speaking - Sayings and Quotes

One proven Table Topics idea is to have slips of paper with a saying or quote written on them. The table topics speaker has to explain what the saying or quote means to him/her. Do remember to check that your saying or quote will be easy to understand and talk on – try to avoid esoteric and abstract quotes that may be confusing.

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Toastmasters Table Topic Ideas for Impromptu Speaking - A Long Story

Instead of having just a handful of table topic speakers, why not involve your whole club? Try having a group story where everyone takes part in the story by contributing a line or a paragraph to the story. Start at one end of the room and progress to the other end.

You can choose to have this timed, or not. Either way, it’s a great opportunity for everyone to practice speaker, including those members who are always too shy to go for the conventional table topics sessions.

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The Increasingly Connected World - The Power of Mobile Technology

I’m going to make a prediction - just like how the mobile phone has penetrated our lives, the laptop is going to do so as well.

Make no mistake about it - all the signs are there - people are going to get connected. With mobile broadband getting cheaper as well, and free wireless hotspots popping up all over the place, you’re going to see people opening up their laptops everywhere you go.

With this trend, gone will be the days where people walk aimlessly around the place, or sit around watching life go by. People are going to start doing work anywhere and everywhere they go. If you thought that life got busier; if you thought that the line between work-life and leisure-time got fuzzy; then you will need to adapt quickly, because all that is only going to get even more pronounced. Heck, even this post is typed out while I’m on my commute back home, and I’m not the only one of the bus using a laptop.

New social networks like Facebook will emerge, only that they’ll incorporate a strong use of mobile technology - finding out where you are, and where your friends are. With everyone “on the grid” all the time, you’ll start to see people with increasingly powerful smart phones as well, and a spike in location-based services.

How cool would it be to have your friends (all pre-approved, of course) able to tell your current location? You’d be able to discover who’s in the area. Parents will also be wanting to use this service to keep track of their children. Give their children a mobile phone, and they’ll never be out of touch - every parent would want to do so.

Miss someone? Wish someone was by yourside? With mobile wireless broadband, it’s so easy to talk to another person over the Internet through your laptop. You can even make a video call, or hold a video conference, and not just converse, but be able to see the opposite parties as well. Just how far away can you be, if you can open up your laptop, and instantly be connected with your loved ones, seeing them just like how you would in person.

Technology Trends:
1. Cheaper, even free mobile broadband so you’ll always be connected.
2. Proliferation of cheaper, and better performance laptops and smart phones.
3. Increasing lifespan of batteries. Think of day-long laptop battery life, so that chargers need not be carried around anymore.

I believe it will take as fast as 8-10 years to see all this well-established and in place, and it would be something that I’d look forward to seeing.

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Toastmasters Table Topic Ideas for Impromptu Speaking - Years of Our Lives

One Table Topic Idea could be to bring little pieces of paper with certain year numbers on them. The idea is to get the Table Topics speaker to come out, pick a year and talk about something that happened in the year, or something that they were doing during that year.

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