The J2SMF component allows you to wrap the Simple Machines Forum software into your Joomla website.

Goals and Objectives

The bridge strives to provide either loose or tight integration between the Joomla 1.5 CMS and the Simple Machines Forum. Loose integration means that the forum is effectively wrapped within Joomla. Tight integration means that core features such as user integration, login, and logout are automatically synchronized between the two systems.

Features

In addition to wrapping the forum within Joomla, the bridge also integrates core user functionality. Please note that as of J2SMF Beta 2, these features are still under development.

• Integration of user login and logout, as well as session verification;
• Auto-generation of Joomla User account when a user has registered under SMF, and vice-versa;
• Possible to wrap different SMF installations within a single Joomla site.

Availability

The J2SMF Bridge can be download from the GMITC Forum.

Legal Notice

Although J2SMF is licensed under the GPL and LGPL, there is some debate about whether or not GPL code can mix with non-GPL code. In 2007, the Joomla Project reinterpreted the GPL and raised concerns that non-GPL code may not be legally complient with GPL code. As a result Simple Machines dropped support for the Joomla CMS.

We sincerely believe that most Open and Free Source Software, or FOSS, can interpolate. We respect both interpretations of the GPL and can find no legal precedent indicating that these two great systems cannot work together. To accommodate the different interpretations, J2SMF is distributed with a default and advanced integration script. The default script provides a clean seperation between the Joomla CMS and the SMF software. Additionally, the code that calls the integration script is licensed under the LGPL, a license which is more tolerant of these issues.

If you wish to use tight integration between Joomla and SMF using the advanced integration script, GMITC assumes no responsibilities, expressed or implied, that interpolation between different FOSS licenses are legal. Only the courts can decide this. We do wish for you to be aware of this issue however.

History

The Joomla to Simple Machines Forum bridge was developed in 2007 as GMITC was migrating to the new Joomla 1.5 framework.