Geeklog Forums

1)I continue to be amazed at the skill, effort, and supportiveness of everyone who's worked on GeekLog and related software. 2) General: Often, I have to choose btw. integrating a 3rd party package and a Geeklog-specific plugin. (eg, phpBB vs. GeekLog Forum). Presumably, using the hack will result in a less "integrated" solution and will encumber GL upgrades, but will provide a more mature application. The plug-in will be easier to install, better integrated, easier at GL upgrade time, but perhaps less feature-rich or stable. Do I have this right? 3) Specific: I looked at the wonderful Geekary. Assuming I modify the language file, it seems nearly perfect. But I can't help but wonder---Gallery has been around longer...what do I get with Gallery that I don't get with Geekary? Has anyone compared the two and, if so, do you have a recommendation?

Just some general comments: I don't think plugins need to be less feature-rich than hacks. Most of the existing plugins use only a small portion of Geeklog's plugin API. Only recently have plugins begun to use the full potential of the plugin API. I haven't looked at their implementation, but I think the Forum plugin and the Geekary are two examples of this new generation of "advanced" plugins. Of course, there will always be cases where the plugin API will not be sufficient to integrate third-party applications. But we're working on extensions of the plugin API, so that the need for extensive hacks will diminish. bye, Dirk

Geeklog plugins can be as feature rich as the developer wants. However, there are always tradeoffs between system performance and the need to add yet another new feature. Although a product may have been around for a longer period of time, that does not necessarily mean it's better.

Choosing among different add ons really comes down to personal preference. Although it helps asking others why they would pick one over another, it helps even more if you download and try them out yourself too. I may like certain features that you find no use for and vice versa.

Here are the features in Gallery. Here are the screen shots. This should give you an idea what it offers compared to the Geekary which you've already tried out. There's also a gallery listed on the Geeklog plugin site. I don't know if it's the same one.

I can't offer a personal opinion on these products since I have no need for a Gallery. Some of the other people at my webhost though like Coppermine better than the Gallery. So, there's another one you might want to check out.

For me, I would look at integrated plugins first because I don't want to deal with multiple permission and login systems. If they lack a feature or two I would like, then I'll see if I can add it myself or ask the developer if he would. If I choose a product that is not available as a plugin (which I happen to be doing right now), I'll use it for awhile first to make sure it meets my needs then I'll try to integrate it into Geeklog.