Yeah, you can use the blog to do this, but a much easier and flexible way is with a creative tab, and make sure you have a wysiwyg editor that will not strip code!

Hello there

I have a site which my goal is to create a "myspace" if you will on the Mambo platform


I am looking for other open source people to help

If you are interested and capable please drop me a note.

rob@zapfoo.com
maybe we can work something out

Do a search here on how to make a creative tab. Once you've added the creative tab, your members can build a profile using html code, just like they would build a web page. With careful creation of your template(s) and positioning of the tabs, you can get to the point of a myspace-looking profile page if you want. Since the majority of web users don't have a clue how to code html though, you'll have to either write a good tutorial for your members or give them a menu that will link to webpage code sources and tell them how to paste it into the wysiwyg editor. And as I said in an earlier post, choose an editor that will not strip code -- most do! You can easily embed video codes, layout codes and anything else you want with a creative tab.

Myspace has tons of coders and web gurus that work on the site 24/7. (I think most CB'ers like me are an army of one;-) They also are tied in with the music industry and other web content suppliers that help make profile-building and multimedia integration easy. Your best bet is to start experimenting with creative tabs and template, module and menu layouts. Take the time to learn how to build and edit a template. This makes it very easy to change things as your site evolves, rather than being stuck with the default template that came with joomla. (The "rhuk_solarflare" and other common templates are not condusive to a great profile page. When I think profile, I think real estate, as in you want your member to have as much of the screen devoted to his stuff as you can. Stuffing his profile in the middle of a 3-column template might not be so optimum.)

Myspace got huge because it made web page creation easy for computer illiterates. Now it is way too big to be managable, and is not a good place for kids as there is no delineation between the adult community and the kid community. (The beauty of CB is you control who joins and can boot anyone who doesn't follow the rules.) It will always have more bells and whistles, but we can duplicate quite a few of them with Cb. There are also quite a few bells that we have that they will never have, like multiple galleries, forums, and some pretty neat components and modules. The bottom line is that as long as your site gives people a reason to visit, you really don't need all that crap

Good tip on the creative tab. I'll definately be pursuing that today!

I'm still pretty new to Joomla and CB. Aren't most wysisygs ole drop targets? Couldn't the basic formatting be done in Word and then C&P'd to the wysiwyg? Also, if you're using a wysiwyg, wouldn't you really just want a tutorial that showed them how to use the wysiwyg with a link to www.w3schools.com if they want to get all advanced with their html?

Most of the wysiwyg editors are variations of one or two core programs. The first few I tried insisting on stripping code, even if i had set the code parameters in the admin section. I stumbled on FCK editor which works well for my needs. There's a couple of new, more robust ones out there that I haven't tried but probably will do the job.

You're right about the tutorial. Most of the problems with these editors is that they are kind of intimidating for the novice. What makes myspace so easy is that they provide menu buttons to add content to your profile -- no wysiwyg required.

My site uses a clunky workaround where I have a special menu with code links that only appears when a member goes to edit his profile. It would be optimum to have a way to automatically post the copied code into the profile and bypass the editor -- the way myspace works. For now though, they are stuck with the editor to paste the code. With a site that caters to teens -- teens who have the patience of a flea -- this method is a detriment. Many joined early on before I had implemented this feature, got frustrated by the difficulty of the editor, and left. Some of the kids are pretty clever with using codes and have built some pretty cool profiles, but my own kids keep telling me I have to make it easier...

One of these days I'll get around to figuring out how to make adding content a snap. There's a million ways to skin a cat with CB, you just have to be willing to experiment!

Hello,

I just recently updated my CB installation to the latest release...
I followed the steps - I restored the old configuration file.

Now any user who has entered html code into text area fields - instead of showing visual output of code, it's showing the actual code.

Is this an upgrade bug?
How can I fix this?
Can I revert to previous installation?