ehku

For websites with forum-based content, which I believe is most of the cases of IPS websites, the idea of having a separate database like IPS Pages does not appear to be a good idea. Besides, I think Pages is beyond the need of most of the websites of this kind (though it still lacks many fundamental or important features, and is not easy to use). On the contrary, the current Portal app is just too simple.
I suggest something in the middle of the two, with the following features: 
Display:
Truncating options to set length, to choose whether to keep the formatting (i.e. rich text). Article thumbnails (generated from images in the post, if no image available then choose a default one). Article management:  To ability to manually modify the displayed articles: remove or re-order/rearrange them (so that old articles can go on top if needed). Currently the list is built from a set of chosen forums, with a predefined order (based either on creation date or on the date of the last post). Category: the ability to define a category for each added article. The ability to remove/add/re-order an article in a category. Permission: which groups are able to manage the list. Moderations action in topics: promote to or de-promote from Portal (can choose category). With these feature, the app does have a database, but it is very simple: just a list of arrays of topic IDs. Each list corresponds to a category, which contains the name of the category and an array of article IDs in this category.    I strongly recommend @Mike John to make a paid app with these features, as a Pro version of Portal. I believe it will be a success. Of course I would be very happy buying it  If somebody else is also interested in this, please let Mike know.   Thanks.

@Adriano Faria When promoting the first post to article, will the other posts be "promoted" to comments as well? I think it's best to have a perfect synchronization between the article and the topic.

@Adriano Faria When promoting the first post to article, will the other posts be "promoted" to comments as well? I think it's best to have a perfect synchronization between the article and the topic.

Do you consider adding that feature to future versions? 

@Adriano Faria When promoting the first post to article, will the other posts be "promoted" to comments as well? I think it's best to have a perfect synchronization between the article and the topic.

A suggestion to @Mike John: The current layout leaves a wide space below the avatar. Although this does not seem to be a problem on larger screens, it should be optimized for phone screen. I suggest Mike to resize the avatar and put it into the title bar. 

 
 
 

A suggestion to @Mike John: The current layout leaves a wide space below the avatar. Although this does not seem to be a problem on larger screens, it should be optimized for phone screen. I suggest Mike to resize the avatar and put it into the title bar. 

 
 
 

Hi @Mike John: It seems that the Portal plugin is not compatible with IPS 4.1.7. Could you please check?

I have always been a portal type of person. I always had to have a portal. Currently, I am using Mike's portal but have thought about creating my own with Pages because I can do more with it. If there was a portal that could do more and have all the features that ehku suggested with the ability to add up to three columns it would be something I would purchase. But I would want to add these columns anywhere I want. For example, if I could add one column on the top, three columns below that, two below that and so on.   

For websites with forum-based content, which I believe is most of the cases of IPS websites, the idea of having a separate database like IPS Pages does not appear to be a good idea. Besides, I think Pages is beyond the need of most of the websites of this kind (though it still lacks many fundamental or important features, and is not easy to use). On the contrary, the current Portal app is just too simple.
I suggest something in the middle of the two, with the following features: 
Display:
Truncating options to set length, to choose whether to keep the formatting (i.e. rich text). Article thumbnails (generated from images in the post, if no image available then choose a default one). Article management:  To ability to manually modify the displayed articles: remove or re-order/rearrange them (so that old articles can go on top if needed). Currently the list is built from a set of chosen forums, with a predefined order (based either on creation date or on the date of the last post). Category: the ability to define a category for each added article. The ability to remove/add/re-order an article in a category. Permission: which groups are able to manage the list. Moderations action in topics: promote to or de-promote from Portal (can choose category). With these feature, the app does have a database, but it is very simple: just a list of arrays of topic IDs. Each list corresponds to a category, which contains the name of the category and an array of article IDs in this category.    I strongly recommend @Mike John to make a paid app with these features, as a Pro version of Portal. I believe it will be a success. Of course I would be very happy buying it  If somebody else is also interested in this, please let Mike know.   Thanks.