The Modules


Okay, you're probably ready to learn what each of these puppies does for you. Please remember that the list I'm giving you is what you get with a PHP-Nuke 6.9 site that's been upgraded to v7.3 (a fairly common scenario); upgrading from 6.8 might present a different default list, and a fresh installation of 7.3 might yield yet a different list. So just sort of play it by ear. If you ever wonder what a module does, you can try it: Just activate it, make it visible to Administrators only, and then check it out without giving the rest of your users access to it.

So here are the modules. Keep in mind that I devote an entire topic to most of these, so if you're really curious as to what they do or how they work, skip ahead a few pages. Topics 11 through 36 cover modules.

  • Addon-Sample. This is never activated by default, and it doesn't do anything. It's just a sample of how you can write your own modules. Topics 35, "Making Your Own Simple HTML Module," and 36, "Making Your Own Dynamic Module," cover making your own simple modules.

  • AvantGo. AvantGo might make more sense if you check it out at www.avantgo.com. Basically, it's a way to deliver your site's content to users of mobile devices, like Palm and Windows Mobile devices.

  • Content. I like to think of the Content module as a kind of basic document library. You essentially just enter HTML to create individual pages, which are accessible via their own URL. The Content module itself acts as a sort of menu to all of these pages. So if you've got some static content, like a Contact Us page, it should go into the Content module.

  • Downloads. Providing your users with access to downloadable files is easy with this module. You can create categories and individual links. And the cool part is that you don't have to host the actual download files on your site; you can simply link off to files that are located elsewhere on the Internet.

  • Encyclopedia. This module enables you to create one or more encyclopedias, each of which contains an alphabetical, searchable database of definitions and descriptions. If your site deals with a lot of specialized terminology, providing an encyclopedia can help your users figure out those terms.

  • FAQ. You've probably run across this TLA (three-letter acronym) before: It stands for Frequently Asked Questions. The FAQ module lets you create multiple categories for questions and then provide both the questions and their answers. Hopefully, users will check here for answers before sending you yet another e-mail about it.

  • Feedback. If you're interested in what your users think of your site (and who wouldn't be?), this module allows them to tell you. It provides a short form users can fill out to send you their comments on your site.

  • Forums. The Forums module in PHP-Nuke is actually a transported version of phpBB, which is a very popular standalone discussion system for the Internet. Being integrated with PHP-Nuke allows the forums to use the same usernames and passwords as PHP-Nuke, but the "look and feel" of the forums still is distinctly different from the rest of your site. Anyway, the point of the forums is to provide a sort of written conversation area, where users can post messages and reply to them. Everything's organized by categories and topics, keeping the forums easy to use.

  • Journal. Today this module would probably be called a blog, or Web log, rather than a journal, but the intent is the same: a place for users to record their thoughts, rants, or whatever, and share them with the public, if they choose to do so.

  • Members_List. Just as the name implies, this is a simple list of all the members on your site.

  • News. This is the page usually set as your home page. It displays several of your latest articles (which, regardless of their content, PHP-Nuke refers to as news), in descending order so that the newest article is listed first.

  • Private_Messages. This module uses the Forums, really, allowing users to send private messages to one another within your site. It's kind of like a mini e-mail system, and users do have a maximum number of messages they can keep.

  • Recommend_Us. This module allows users to have a preconfigured message (which PHP-Nuke configures, not you) sent to a friend, recommending your site. A potential problem with this module is that it can be used to send spam from your site; most administrators disable it for that reason.

  • Reviews. This module enables you to review books, products, or whatever you like. Users can post reviews, too.

  • Search. As the name implies, this module searches for keywords throughout your site, displaying a list of "hits." Note that this module isn't a terribly robust search solution; if you're serious about having people search your site, you might look into some third-party replacement search modules. Search Google for them.

  • Sections. When you publish a news article (remember, PHP-Nuke considers almost everything to be a news article, although it might just as easily be a story or tutorial or something), you can elect to have it appear in the News module on the home page. The Sections module provides access to all other news articles, allowing users to browse articles that weren't published to the home page.

  • Statistics. This is an interesting module to check out, even if you don't make it available to your users. It shows things like the Web browsers used to visit your site and other statistical information.

  • Stories_Archive. As stories grow older and rotate off the home page, this module gives a convenient way to access them by month. All the stores you post in July 2005, for example, will be available through this module, neatly categorized under July 2005.

  • Submit_News. Users may have something to contribute to your Web site, and this gives them a way to do it. You get to review and approve (or deny) anything users submit before it shows up on your site.

  • Surveys. Polls and surveys can be fun, and this module lets you set them up and lets your users respond to them, leave comments about them, and so forth. Note that users can also post a poll in association with a message in the Forums, which makes this module a bit redundant. However, surveys in this module can also appear in a block on every page of your site, giving them more exposure.

  • Top. This cool module displays the Top 10 for your site, including the top 10 most-read stories, top 10 users, and a plethora of other information. Might not be as interesting to your users as to you, but you never know. Keep in mind that, as the administrator, you can access even "inactive" modules, meaning that you can check out your site's "top 10" without giving your users the ability to do so.

  • Topics. News articles (remember, everything is "news") are organized by a fairly complex system of topics. This module provides access to those topics, allowing users to browse your articles fairly easily.

  • WebMail. This module, which has been discontinued in newer versions of PHP-Nuke, provides access to a Web-based e-mail system within PHP-Nuke. Note that the Preferences option on the Administration menu previously was used to configure WebMail; since the module is missing from newer versions of PHP-Nuke, you can no longer configure it. A replacement standalone module available for download (check www.phpnuke.org) has its own Administration Menu icon, but, for the most part, users weren't using this module, which is why it was discontinued.

  • Web_Links. You can use this module to maintain a database of Web links, all nicely categorized, that might be of interest to your users. They can submit new links, which you must approve before they're posted to the site.

  • Your_Account. This all-important module provides users with account-management options, such as the capability to update their site profile, change their password, and so forth.

Phew. That's a lot of modules. And that's not nearly the half of it; as you'll read in some of the later Topics (32, "Adding the NSN Your Account Tweak," through 34, "Adding the Amazon.com Module," come to mind), you can add more modules simply by copying their files to the correct location in your site, and there are oodles and oodles of modules out there for you to try. Hop on over to www.phpnuke.org, the official PHP-Nuke home page, and you'll see what I mean.

As a quick aside, I should point out that the author of PHP-Nuke maintains a PHP-Nuke Club, over at www.phpnuke.org. By joiningwhich costs about $10 per monthyou'll have access to the latest version of PHP-Nuke (when a new version comes out, it goes into the club, and the previous version becomes publicly available). You'll have access to discontinued modules, in case you want to use them with a newer version of PHP-Nuke. The Club also includes some themes, graphics, and all sorts of stuff. You can find more modules at www.nukescripts.com, along with many other sites; try searching Google for "PHP-Nuke Modules," and see what comes up.

Sidebar . FAQ

What modules should I use?

Figure out a small number that is appropriate for your site's content and audience. Don't overwhelm everyone (and yourself) by choosing every single module that you can; pick the ones that make sense, and add more later if it makes sense to do so. For example, if you eventually want to have a FAQ, but you don't have any content for it right now, don't enable that module. Do so only when you've got something to put in it, so it doesn't sit there all empty and lonely in the meantime.

I don't understand the Webmail module. Why would I use it?

Search me. I've always turned it off, and PHP-Nuke doesn't even come with it anymore, so I don't think it's been a real hit with PHP-Nuke users.

What's the point of the Top and Statistics modules?

Bragging rights, mostly. They do provide useful informationsee the individual topics on those modules within this bookbut your site users aren't likely to do much more than glance at these modules very occasionally. Feel free to turn them off; as the administrator, you'll still have access to them and the information they provide.




    PHP-Nuke Garage
    PHP-Nuke Garage
    ISBN: 0131855166
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2006
    Pages: 235
    Authors: Don Jones

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