Support/Comments for SMF Forum Integration

If you get MODx working right at GoDaddy, would you please write a wiki article. I think it’s a bit tricky there, but entirely doable.

Well, Modx is working great on godaddy. I have two different sites going with it great. I just can’t figure out what my base path is to complete the module configuration for the smf integration. . My accounts are basically like $4.00 a month, these are not the free ones you have ads on. If anybody could lend me some advice I sure would appreciate it.

Joel Logan

Whatever I try, I keep getting the error "Unable to load SMF settings. Please make sure that the SMF path ’’ was entered correctly".

I’m using modX 0.9.5 and SMF forums 1.1.2 (latest version). Both are functioning perfectly.

In the module configuration I’ve tried the following values for the parameters:
CMS base url = / and Forum base path = /forum/
CMS base url= /subdomains/dsov/httpdocs/ and Forum base path = /subdomains/dsov/httpdocs/forum/
CMS base url= hxxp://dsov.betaalbaresite.nl/ and Forum base path = hxxp://dsov.betaalbaresite.nl/forum/ (http instead of hxxp of course)

I even tried the solution of this thread: http://modxcms.com/forums/index.php/topic,6676.msg58785.html#msg58785 but nothing seems to work.

Can’t figure out why this is not working. 

Can anyone help me to solve this problem?

*Edit*
Found the solution. The path I typed wasn’t complete. It had to be /home/vhosts/betaalbaresite.nl/subdomains/dsov/httpdocs/

If I had looked into the configuration settings of the modx manager, I would have known. So, sorry for asking

Just like to say I didn’t think it was a stupid question - it helped me find my forum path!
Thanks

Anyone notice that the SMF session times out after 120 minutes (or whatever you change in the SMF Connector) but the modx session seems to last indefinitely (as long as the browser session is still active). This is causing an issue with synchronization -- the user gets redirected to the modx login page when attempting to access the forum but yet the modx login page indicates that the session is still active.

Quote from: gravyface at Mar 28, 2007, 01:06 PM

Anyone notice that the SMF session times out after 120 minutes (or whatever you change in the SMF Connector) but the modx session seems to last indefinitely (as long as the browser session is still active). This is causing an issue with synchronization -- the user gets redirected to the modx login page when attempting to access the forum but yet the modx login page indicates that the session is still active.

I hadn’t noticed this. However, in previous SMF/CMS mash-ups, session handling was generally one of the more prominent issues. I have some Great projects that really need to use the SMF Connector + MODx, only I haven’t had very much luck with this implementation. The instructions/code appear to be somewhat outdated as far as referenced SMF/MODx versions are concerned.

If only I could harness the same power modxcms.com/forums has... What’s the secret, lots of custom configuration?

I’ve discovered that if you set $db_persist = 1 in Settings.php, it seems to prevents the "smf_sessions table does not exist" error. You can repeat the error by accessing yoursite.com/uri_to_smf/ directly. If you request it again, it seems to work fine. To repeat, just delete the session cookies (helpful if you have FF and the Web Developer extension) and request it again.

I’m not exactly sure why, although it seems to be related to the db_query function (Subs.php) and how the db_connection is possibly cached from MODX and being "piggybacked" by SMF so that if you have the same db/user/pw on the same host, SMF might be "hijacking" a persisted MODX session. However, this is unconfirmed speculation -- I’m too nauseous from sifting through the awful SMF code to go any further without first taking a Gravol.

As for the login synch prob I reported, since being sidetracked with the smf_sessions table error, I have not tried to reproduce it. I did just notice that you can set the login duration on the modxcms.com forum and since they’re using SMF, I should be able to remove that option from the user interface and set it to be the same as the modx session ("forever"). However, I’m not sure if the forum session is set once the user requests /forums/index.php or if both sessions are set when the user logs in to modx. If it’s not really set until they request the forum page, then it will never be in synch (for instance a user could login to the modx site and wait 20 minutes before going to the forums).

<rant>What some bright spark needs to create is a forum library ala PEAR or whatever -- just a transparent API of function calls to handle the basic forum threading -- instead of all these nasty, brittle synch hacks. I’m not trying to diss SMF Integration’s efforts -- its actually one of the better ones I’ve seen and a necessary evil, unfortunately -- but it shouldn’t have to be this way. Nobody thinks of interop; it’s like these forum and gallery developers are living in their own little worlds. </rant>

Quote from: pixelchutes at Mar 28, 2007, 03:07 PM

If only I could harness the same power modxcms.com/forums has... What’s the secret, lots of custom configuration?

As far as I know Modxcms.com doesn’t use the SMF Module. It’s just using the SMF SSI capabilities. Look here http://www.simplemachines.org/community/ssi_examples.php

Quote from: gravyface at Mar 28, 2007, 01:06 PM

Anyone notice that the SMF session times out after 120 minutes (or whatever you change in the SMF Connector) but the modx session seems to last indefinitely (as long as the browser session is still active). This is causing an issue with synchronization -- the user gets redirected to the modx login page when attempting to access the forum but yet the modx login page indicates that the session is still active.

Haven’t yet used the Brigde long enough to encounter that problem...but what if you enter a very high "logged in time" in the SMF Module configuration?

Quote from: gravyface at Mar 29, 2007, 12:59 PM

I’ve discovered that if you set $db_persist = 1 in Settings.php, it seems to prevents the "smf_sessions table does not exist" error. You can repeat the error by accessing yoursite.com/uri_to_smf/ directly. If you request it again, it seems to work fine. To repeat, just delete the session cookies (helpful if you have FF and the Web Developer extension) and request it again.

I’m not exactly sure why, although it seems to be related to the db_query function (Subs.php) and how the db_connection is possibly cached from MODX and being "piggybacked" by SMF so that if you have the same db/user/pw on the same host, SMF might be "hijacking" a persisted MODX session. However, this is unconfirmed speculation -- I’m too nauseous from sifting through the awful SMF code to go any further without first taking a Gravol.

I will try that! This error is really driving me nuts

Quote from: gravyface at Mar 29, 2007, 12:59 PM

I’ve discovered that if you set $db_persist = 1 in Settings.php, it seems to prevents the "smf_sessions table does not exist" error. You can repeat the error by accessing yoursite.com/uri_to_smf/ directly. If you request it again, it seems to work fine. To repeat, just delete the session cookies (helpful if you have FF and the Web Developer extension) and request it again.

I’m not exactly sure why, although it seems to be related to the db_query function (Subs.php) and how the db_connection is possibly cached from MODX and being "piggybacked" by SMF so that if you have the same db/user/pw on the same host, SMF might be "hijacking" a persisted MODX session. However, this is unconfirmed speculation -- I’m too nauseous from sifting through the awful SMF code to go any further without first taking a Gravol.

You probably have the same user/pass for both the modx-db and your smf-db. Changing one of them will probably solve your problem.

Quote from: Bogie at Sep 16, 2006, 03:53 PM

Okay I got the link in the menu but now the issue is getting the forum wrapped in the site. I used the Content >> add weblink. Is there another way to do it to wrap it inside my side or is it template edits I need to do. Thanks in advance.

can anyone shed som light on this for me also, I am having trouble displaying my smf forum as if it were just another page in the CMS

any help is appreciated