Corporate use of Forums and other Social Software

[LordBofW]

The large multi-national corporate that I work for are considering introducing "Social Software" to support the development of communities, i.e. groups with a shared interest, with an expectation that the software will encourage them to interact, collaborate and share knowledge and experiences. Obviously for the greater good of the company

Part of the social software will be a discussion forum.

First question: do any of you work for a similar large corporate that has gone down this route, and did they implement vBulletin ?

This is part of an effort to examine "new ways of working", helping employees to be more efficient in what they do.

However, second question: has anyone had any experience of any reticence on behalf of some individuals to share their knowledge: either from the point of view that they'd prefer personal credit (name in lights) rather than community ownership of information and project outputs, or from the perspective of people feeling threatened if their knowledge is out in the public domain (knowledge is tha bomb)?

Your help appreciated.

[SaN-DeeP]

First question: do any of you work for a similar large corporate that has gone down this route, and did they implement vBulletin ?

we had a custom forum software integrated with LDAP but rarely been used. We have now shifted to Sharepoint Services and I hate the UI

[Jerry]

First question: do any of you work for a similar large corporate that has gone down this route, and did they implement vBulletin ?

Yes, two, before I worked here. One was about 25,000 user base the other was ..... ummm, 75-100,000 ish. Both were LDAP enabled so the existing directory of users was available to vBulletin.

[simsim]

Jerry, can you explain more how the system was setup? AFAIK, vBulletin does not support LDAP authenitication. It is a frequently requested feature though.

[Jerry]

Jerry, can you explain more how the system was setup? AFAIK, vBulletin does not support LDAP authenitication. It is a frequently requested feature though.

I wrote the plugin for LDAP support for the current version of vBulletin, about 6 months ago now I think.

It's given to people who request it with the proviso that I'll support it as long as I get feed back during a test & implementation stage. Any org that is using LDAP is going to test their core systems, or have a BOFH that isn't going to let an application use the directory unless its been proved (in my experience anyway !).

At the time when I was setting those two up, I was working for a massive multinational as just hacked it, then plugged it into the directory.

[SaN-DeeP]

wonderful information Jerry, I assume you might had to change the password authentication for vbulletin or how you might have implemented the same.

[simsim]

I wrote the plugin for LDAP support for the current version of vBulletin, about 6 months ago now I think.

It's given to people who request it with the proviso that I'll support it as long as I get feed back during a test & implementation stage. Any org that is using LDAP is going to test their core systems, or have a BOFH that isn't going to let an application use the directory unless its been proved (in my experience anyway !).

At the time when I was setting those two up, I was working for a massive multinational as just hacked it, then plugged it into the directory.

Very interesting indeed. Was it an ADS?

[Jerry]

Very interesting indeed. Was it an ADS?

Active Directory Server ? Nope, Unix all the way But as long as ADS implements the protocol correctly it should be fine.

[simsim]

Active Directory Server ? Nope, Unix all the way But as long as ADS implements the protocol correctly it should be fine.

Actually I was refering to Apache Directory Server.

I've read it isn't much reliable.

[Jerry]

Actually I was refering to Apache Directory Server.

I've read it isn't much reliable.

I developed against OpenLDAP, and with Apaches reputation for stability I find it very surprising that a directory associated with it would be unreliable, and the fact its written in Java, early days.

It is new, and at RC1, you can't compare it directly to much more mature software, after reading up on it, it looks very promising and I wish the team good luck with it.

[Kaya]

This is great to hear. We are also using vBulletin as an internal company forum to discuss technical issues. Because of vBulletin's lack of LDAP we were recently discussing moving to another alternative. But we would rather stay on this system!!!
I know Jelsoft developers hate to talk about release dates, but when roughly can we expect to see this become part of a stable release?
Will it be in 3.6.x or 3.7 or will we have to wait for 4.0?

[simsim]

It is new, and at RC1, you can't compare it directly to much more mature software, after reading up on it, it looks very promising and I wish the team good luck with it.

Well, that is a considered testimonial. I'll keep an eye on that project. Thanks.

This is great to hear. We are also using vBulletin as an internal company forum to discuss technical issues. Because of vBulletin's lack of LDAP we were recently discussing moving to another alternative. But we would rather stay on this system!!!
I know Jelsoft developers hate to talk about release dates, but when roughly can we expect to see this become part of a stable release?
Will it be in 3.6.x or 3.7 or will we have to wait for 4.0?

Jerry has already developed it but before he was working for Jelsoft. Read post #5:

I wrote the plugin for LDAP support for the current version of vBulletin, about 6 months ago now I think.

It's given to people who request it with the proviso that I'll support it as long as I get feed back during a test & implementation stage. Any org that is using LDAP is going to test their core systems, or have a BOFH that isn't going to let an application use the directory unless its been proved (in my experience anyway !).

At the time when I was setting those two up, I was working for a massive multinational as just hacked it, then plugged it into the directory.

As about releasing an official LDAP plug-in by Jelsoft, I think there's a thread in the suggestions forum that has more information/discussion regarding this, and has been said it's considered, AFAIU.

[Kaya]

simsim: I did not ask any questions about development, still I have the feeling you gave me an answer about it

My question is about release and even though you do not point to a particular thread, I had a look at the suggestions forum and there was no answer to my question about release/release timing...

[simsim]

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161819

[Kaya]

ok, thanks for the link...

But, again, no information about release dates or release planning. I don't think you know the answer to this and I don't think the answer is already written in the forums.
My question was directed at the developers or someone with knowledge.