Ninjaboard 
Version
1.1.7 (last update on Jul 27, 2012)
Rating
Compatibility
Reviews
54
License
GPLv2 or later
Non-Commercial
Type
Date Added
13 March 2010
Key features
-------------------
* Totally new codebase takes advantage of modern coding practices for less bugs, higher security, and best of all greater ease of use.
* Codename "Chameleon" auto-skinning engine, adapts the look and feel of your forum to any Joomla! template making it look fantastic without any hacking.
* Powerful permissions system. Create custom usergroups, and optionally assign users to multiple usergroups. Decide who see's what with ease.
* Integrates with Joomla! core. Users, Search, Breadcrumbs, Localization, SEF and more. No more confusing, ugly "do it yourself" solutions like other forums.
* Update Ninjaboard right from the dashboard. Allowing you to keep your site up to date, even when you're on the go.
* Access control over different forums.
* Topic icons by Parthiban Mohanraj (http://bit.ly/Tf9Y), exclusively for Ninjaboard (http://ninjurl.com/PNTWB) .
* Backend fully MooTools 1.2, frontend use jQuery 1.5 to avoid javascript conflicts with templates.
* Clean HTML output, no tables for layout! Switch avatar location or change anything without hacking any templates
* Supports Joomla! html layout overrides. Meaning you can customize at will if you want to. (but it looks so good out of the box no one needs to...)
* Built in converters. Currently supports Kunena 1.6, phpBB3 (bridged) and Ninjaboard 0.5. More coming soon!
* Sample data is optional, and imported on the same screen you import data from other forums. So you can get started right away.
* Multiple settings profiles. Optionally assign profiles to menu items. Meaning you can have multiple *different* forums on one site. No other forum does this!
* Beautiful and intuitive UI. Setting up a forum has never been this simple or fun.
* Customizable dashboard. Two module positions at your disposal for forum stats or notifications.
* Built to take advantage of the new Nooku 0.7 framework.
Chameleon template engine
-----------------------------------------
Ninjaboard comes with a game-changing template engine, which supports a new technique called 'auto-skinning'.
It's capable of blending with any template you install in your site and simply takes on the style of your site.
Unparalleled extensibility
------------------------------------
As a direct result of using Nooku Framework, everything in Ninjaboard's code can be manipulated, extended and changed in any way you want and anywhere you like without hacking anything.
Requirements
----------------------
* PHP 5.2.0 or later.
* MySQL with MySQLi PHP extension. (mysqli means "MySQL improved", gives access to new features in MySQL 4.1 and above).
* MySQL v5.0.41 or later.
* Suhosin users need to add tmpl:// to their protocol whitelist.
Images
It is not in my habit to write negative reviews, certainly not for free extensions but I think an advance warning is in order here. Do NOT install Ninjaboard when you have CD Captcha installed. It made it impossible for me to login to my backend! On their forum I read it is a known conflict... (also provides an answer for people like me who nearly had a panic attack after being denied access to their own site admin ;-) Before installing an extension I usually read the JED reviews, not the product forums... So I hope you will allow this friendly warning to other users. Having said that, I think Ninjaboard looks great and probably works well if you don't have CD Captcha installed. Would be great if the issue can be fixed though, then I will definitely give it another try. I love the clean look and CB Integration (although I didn't get to test it yet)!
Owner's reply
hi oranjegids,
I am sorry that they didn't work together, but unfortunately this is not something wrong with Ninjaboard but with the core design plugin.
1. There are quite a few extensions that when installed alongside the plugin your site dies completely.
2. No other plugin kils your site when installed with Ninjaboard.
This is because of how they try to find out what page they are on, using the JApplication object. However this shouldn't be used in an on after route plugin because (as the errors suggest) anything that sets data to the page header will cause an error.
If they instead replaced line 116 of the plugin :
$appname = $application->getName();
with
$appname = JRequest::getVar('option');
Then none of us would have this problem.
I read the great reviews here but I was unable to even test it on my site as every time I tried to create a menu item for the forum it would lock up my Joomla with an HTML Parsing Error.
I can create menu items fine for other items.
So I tried to go on their forum and post my issued but each time I tried to log into their forum it looped me back around to their home page with no option to simply log in. This was not a good sign.
I can create menu items fine for other items.
So I tried to go on their forum and post my issued but each time I tried to log into their forum it looped me back around to their home page with no option to simply log in. This was not a good sign.
Owner's reply
Hi daviator,
I'm sorry you had a sub-par experience with Ninjaboard.
We work very hard to provide top notch support for free, and respond to every issue within 24hrs, and often within just minutes of issues being posted on our forums.
Had you persevered and managed to post on our forums, we would have been happy to help.
I'm sorry you had trouble logging in. Thousands of users log into our website every day, so I'm not sure why your experience was different, but we do recognise that our website is in need of an overhaul and have been working hard on a redesign.
Keep in mind we also have a contact form, which you could have used if the forum login failed.
Also, if all else fails, contact me directly [mark at ninjaforge dot com], and I will see to it that you get the support that you need.
Thanks for the feedback.
- Mark
Because of this forum extension, I no longer have a need for phpbb3. Now, I can do almost everything I need to do with Joomla! alone. It's just a simple yet extensive forum component that does all you need a forum to do. It is also the best looking and best functioning forum extension (I've used them all). There is so much support for this extension from template developers. I use nothing but Rocket Theme templates and their style sheets are just awesome with Ninjaboard. And there are several other template developers that have developed Ninjaboard styles. Besides for K2 and Jomsocial, I've never seen so much 3rd party template support for an extension. That says something about its quality.
NinjaBoard is an excellent forum with a very simple front/back end yet complex code that excels the forum to make it one of the best. The board automatically adjusts it's template to match the style of your website, the user mapping is VERY simple, and it installed error-free on an IIS7 Server 2008 Environment.
While the forum does lack some key administration features on the back-end, the devs are constantly working hard to improve the boards, which are still very early in development.
Overall, if you are looking for a forum component that is very easy to install and very easy to maintain - do not hesitate to install this extension. A++!
While the forum does lack some key administration features on the back-end, the devs are constantly working hard to improve the boards, which are still very early in development.
Overall, if you are looking for a forum component that is very easy to install and very easy to maintain - do not hesitate to install this extension. A++!
I was searching high and low for a quality native Joomla! forum component. I have pretty much tried all of them, yet have serious woes which made me ditch them, or seriously want to. Not with Ninjaboard. The back-end interface is as simple as it should be and no simpler than that. Setting up a multi-category, multi-forum board is a matter of 15 minutes max. The front-end is just amazing. The Chameleon skin succeeds where everyone else failed: it seamlessly integrates with your site.
There are a few rough corners but, in all fairness, not only it is an early 1.0.RC5 but speaking with the developer made me feel absolutely confident that they'll be ironed out very soon.
This is THE forum component, if you ask me. Very well done!
There are a few rough corners but, in all fairness, not only it is an early 1.0.RC5 but speaking with the developer made me feel absolutely confident that they'll be ironed out very soon.
This is THE forum component, if you ask me. Very well done!
Finally, a Forum Component that utilises your own Joomla Template!! I am just putting my website together, and had initially decided on another Forum Component, but then came across Ninjaboard, after that, there was no going back. Have installed it, and even though I'm still finding my way around the settings, etc., I consider Ninjaboard to become a major contender in the Joomla Forum Extensions!
This is my first time to Review any Joomla Extension, so that is certianly saying something. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to more exciting features being developed in the future.
This is my first time to Review any Joomla Extension, so that is certianly saying something. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to more exciting features being developed in the future.
There. I said it. basically, EVERY forum for joomla is a regurgitated PHPBB. this extension is so far beyond that its difficult to describe here. As for the dingbat who gave this 3 stars, are you insane? In its beta state, it destroys every other forum extension.
First and foremost, it BLENDS WITH YOUR SITE's CSS.. Why did it take so long to do this??? Why do all other forums have to look like some lame PHPBB rehash? Why did it take 30 years to figure out that wheels on suitcases were a good idea? Who knows...
Install this extension, and in a few minutes, you'll have the best looking and working forum anywhere. (Of course, if your site already looks like crap, well. YOu NEED TO FIX THAT) if you use a yootheme template (and why on earth are you NOT? Have you SEEN them? Seriously?) it just beautifully morphs into the perfect match for your site without lifting a finger.
Do yourself a favor, if you need a forum, get this one, then smile... alot...
Somebody give the guy who gave this 3 stars a pair of glasses. The install is perfect, simple, and makes all the sense in the world. and Mysqli is TOTALLY SUPERIOR to Mysql.. get over it. evolve. retract your inaccurate rating so this extension has the 5 stars it deserves.
enough said. Thanks ninjaboard dudes... FANTASTIC job. Can't wait to see future versions.
First and foremost, it BLENDS WITH YOUR SITE's CSS.. Why did it take so long to do this??? Why do all other forums have to look like some lame PHPBB rehash? Why did it take 30 years to figure out that wheels on suitcases were a good idea? Who knows...
Install this extension, and in a few minutes, you'll have the best looking and working forum anywhere. (Of course, if your site already looks like crap, well. YOu NEED TO FIX THAT) if you use a yootheme template (and why on earth are you NOT? Have you SEEN them? Seriously?) it just beautifully morphs into the perfect match for your site without lifting a finger.
Do yourself a favor, if you need a forum, get this one, then smile... alot...
Somebody give the guy who gave this 3 stars a pair of glasses. The install is perfect, simple, and makes all the sense in the world. and Mysqli is TOTALLY SUPERIOR to Mysql.. get over it. evolve. retract your inaccurate rating so this extension has the 5 stars it deserves.
enough said. Thanks ninjaboard dudes... FANTASTIC job. Can't wait to see future versions.
I will try to make this short: I love Ninjaboard.
Love the way you can set up a complex forum within minutes. Love the way the backend assists you with a clever and deeply logical structure. Did I mention yet that I love the interface? Good. Because I love the interface. Having dealt with other forum software before and having tried not to get too overly mad about them (and not the good kind, more like the "mad hatter" kind), this is like coming to a soothing spa where they play this sweet music and bring you your favorite drink even before you asked for it. And then you wonder whether they will ever stop massaging your feet.
Ninjaboard blows every single other Joomla Forum software out of the water without even breaking a sweat. When I got my hands on one of the first betas, I immediately regretted ever having set up another forum software. (To my defense: Ninjaboard wasn't around then.) My move over the years, through SMF, Joomlaboard, then Fireboard, then phpBB is finally over - Ninjaboard is here to stay.
To some of the other reviews: Yes it needs mysqli. Yes it requires you to install the nooku framework. But you know what you get for that? A formidable extension that is fit for the future years. If you don't like that, then Ninjaboard cannot make you happy.
As for the somewhat lacking documentation: I didn't even check for documentation. Everything just works precisely how you would expect it to work. And give the guys a break - it's still beta software and for that, it is simply STUNNING.
Love the way you can set up a complex forum within minutes. Love the way the backend assists you with a clever and deeply logical structure. Did I mention yet that I love the interface? Good. Because I love the interface. Having dealt with other forum software before and having tried not to get too overly mad about them (and not the good kind, more like the "mad hatter" kind), this is like coming to a soothing spa where they play this sweet music and bring you your favorite drink even before you asked for it. And then you wonder whether they will ever stop massaging your feet.
Ninjaboard blows every single other Joomla Forum software out of the water without even breaking a sweat. When I got my hands on one of the first betas, I immediately regretted ever having set up another forum software. (To my defense: Ninjaboard wasn't around then.) My move over the years, through SMF, Joomlaboard, then Fireboard, then phpBB is finally over - Ninjaboard is here to stay.
To some of the other reviews: Yes it needs mysqli. Yes it requires you to install the nooku framework. But you know what you get for that? A formidable extension that is fit for the future years. If you don't like that, then Ninjaboard cannot make you happy.
As for the somewhat lacking documentation: I didn't even check for documentation. Everything just works precisely how you would expect it to work. And give the guys a break - it's still beta software and for that, it is simply STUNNING.
I love the ease of use and flexibility in this forum extension! By far the most revolutionary board for Joomla today, I can't wait for production release!
The redesigned backend interface looks just sexy and is really fun! Tons of tiny details. Go, download NB and try it out. Just for the UI experience look to the usergroup mapper. The user management is unique, and integrates instead of syncs. Last but not least there are the forum converters. Converters, IMO with the best converter UI I look to date in the J! market.
From the developer point of view, the codebase was reduced drastic compared to the old 0.5 NinjaBoard code. Built from scratch and on top of Nooku Framework, it is a pleasure to read NB code. Far away from spaghetti code like in other forum solutions for J!.
For a designer, NB is also a dream. Chameleon is not just another marketing buzzword. It is the new auto-skinning template engine that really saves you time, looks good and just works on your site - with any template for joomla.
And with the coming Anahita, JomSocial and CB integrations, things can only get better!
The redesigned backend interface looks just sexy and is really fun! Tons of tiny details. Go, download NB and try it out. Just for the UI experience look to the usergroup mapper. The user management is unique, and integrates instead of syncs. Last but not least there are the forum converters. Converters, IMO with the best converter UI I look to date in the J! market.
From the developer point of view, the codebase was reduced drastic compared to the old 0.5 NinjaBoard code. Built from scratch and on top of Nooku Framework, it is a pleasure to read NB code. Far away from spaghetti code like in other forum solutions for J!.
For a designer, NB is also a dream. Chameleon is not just another marketing buzzword. It is the new auto-skinning template engine that really saves you time, looks good and just works on your site - with any template for joomla.
And with the coming Anahita, JomSocial and CB integrations, things can only get better!
This is a VERY nice looking forum and best of all it blends in with my template. I'm going to wait though, there are a few problems and because I want to wait for integration with jomsocial. But this forum is very very nice.
This forum is pretty nice! Chameleon really does blend with your template so no more designing your website around your forum template. The front end is very clean and probably the best looking forum I've seen so far.
The back end is a work of art. You can't beat the one click updates!
It's in beta so it's not ready for a production site just yet but I still give it a excellent review for everything that is working. Plus the forward thinking of chameleon.
I'm a relative novice with joomla but I can't figure out why anybody would care if the system gets changed to mysqli. I couldn't tell any difference on how everything work.
Keep up the good work.
The back end is a work of art. You can't beat the one click updates!
It's in beta so it's not ready for a production site just yet but I still give it a excellent review for everything that is working. Plus the forward thinking of chameleon.
I'm a relative novice with joomla but I can't figure out why anybody would care if the system gets changed to mysqli. I couldn't tell any difference on how everything work.
Keep up the good work.
installation procedure very strange and obligation to change in the operation of the site for example using mysqli! all this to use nooku? joomla framework that is not enough to develop a good forum component?
Owner's reply
Hi fleureac,
I'm not sure why you posted a question about the code here as a review, but thanks for taking the time to try Ninjaboard.
To answer your question: yes, the Joomla framework is certainly good enough to develop a forum. If you want such a forum, there are at least 5 others to choose from listed right here on the JED.
We however, wanted to create something exceptional. A forum better than any other. To do this, we turned to the Nooku Framework. Nooku reduces our codebase by 80%. That's 80% less bugs, 80% less security vulnerabilities, 80% less code to manage, and 80% more time at our disposal to focus on revolutionary new features.
The Nooku framework uses MySQLi because it is better than MySQL. The "i" stands for "improved" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySQLi . It gives a higher level of security to the mysql connection. SQL injections are for instance impossible to do in MySQLi in the old-school "no filter for the &id=" variable since the API's MySQLi provides us prevent the possibility of run two queries like that. In fact, as of PHP 6, MySQLi will replace MySQL as the default connector. To put it plainly, MySQLi is the future.
If you would like to discuss this further, please don't hesitate to visit our forum.
Thanks again for using Ninjaboard.
First of all: People don´t forget this is a early beta version and not a stable. I can´t understand why you give a bad rating on it.
I have check the beta3 and I love it. Okay, there a some bugs and some stuff is still not ready but that isn´t a stable version and it is normaly.
The Ninjaboard backend ist the best what I see in last time and I am sure that the ninjaboard is on the way to the best (and first native[!!] Joomla! 1.5+) forum solution for Joomla!
Check the templating system and you´ll love it too, the configuration is intuitive and simple to use and many more. I looking forward to the stable version. Really good job Stian & Team.
kind regards,
yannick
I have check the beta3 and I love it. Okay, there a some bugs and some stuff is still not ready but that isn´t a stable version and it is normaly.
The Ninjaboard backend ist the best what I see in last time and I am sure that the ninjaboard is on the way to the best (and first native[!!] Joomla! 1.5+) forum solution for Joomla!
Check the templating system and you´ll love it too, the configuration is intuitive and simple to use and many more. I looking forward to the stable version. Really good job Stian & Team.
kind regards,
yannick
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