PHP nuke

PHP-Nuke is an automated web-based news and content management system (or CMS) based on PHP and MySQL technologies. Originally PHP-Nuke was a fork made by the Venezuelan Francisco Burzí of the Thatware portal system. For its installation you need a web server with PHP support (eg Apache HTTP Server) as well as a MySQL database. He is considered one of the pioneers of web2.0 and achieved great popularity among content distributors.

The system is released as free software under the GNU GPL license. Up to version 7.5 it could be downloaded for free from the official PHP-Nuke website; version 7.5 is the first that required a $10 payment. The penultimate version, 8.1, required a payment of $12 to be downloaded from said website. This is permitted under the GNU GPL license (provided the source code is also provided), and the buyer has the right to distribute the source code free of charge. However Php-Nuke has released its new version 8.2 totally free.

Features

PHP-Nuke achieved popularity due to the versatility of its tools that allow a registered user to have a blog, a user-to-user internal messaging service, collaborate with articles for publication and distribution, with prior authorization from a webmaster, customization of some of the elements of the main page of the site, RSS reader and a profile model with a large number of fields.

Modules

The system works around modules that are displayed in a central column, each module is a specialized tool such as a content manager (news), discussion forum download manager, links, fixed content, etc. Each Module can function as a home page, the default home module is News.

Php-Nuke includes the following standard modules:

• Advertising-Maneja ads on the page. Supports images, javascript/HTML and flash
• Avantgo-Provides mobile versions of the 10 news module articles.
• Content-Manage and display fixed contents.
• Downloads- a binary file download handler, both hosted on the site and on external servers.
• Encyclopedia-Manage phrases, words and definitions
• FAQ-Manage frequently asked questions (the FAQ)
• Feedback-contact- An online form to contact the webmaster.
• Forums-Manage the discussion forums for the site. It is based on bb2nuke, which is a PHP-Nuke adaptation of the popular open source phpBB forum.
• Diary-offers a blog to each registered user with public or private entries.
• List of members- shows the list of registered users, as well as a summary of their profile.
• News-Manage news, including future news, to be posted on a specific time and date scheduled. Each item can be assigned to a single category.
• Private Messages-It allows members to send private messages to others on the site.
• Recommend- Send an email that recommends the site to others.
• Search-It allows users to search for their site.
• Statistics-Exhibit summary and detailed statistics of the site, including page views.
• Historical Archive - Provide access to previous articles organized by month of publication.
• Sending news- allows users to send an article to the home page, after authorization from the webmaster.
• Surveys- organizes polls for users posted on the site.
• Top- shows articles, downloads, content and most popular links.
• Topics- shows the items by pre-assigned topics.
• Links- organizes and displays links to external sites by topics.
• Your account shows user options, such as personal information, password, customization of the home page, internal messages, rss fonts, choice of design template to display on the site, etc.

In addition to the standard modules, as it is an open source project, there are countless modules developed by third parties with a wide range of themes.

Blocks

In addition to the modules, Php-nuke has the blocks tool, which are boxes that are located in the side columns (one or two, depending on the design of the template) and in the upper and lower parts of the pages; Various information is displayed in these boxes; such as navigation menus, access forms, calendars, information about the site itself, surveys, advertising, etc. There are also blocks developed by third parties, in addition to the administration section, the webmaster can create personal blocks with multimedia content.

Administrator

Screenshot of the administration section.

The administration section allows webmasters to post articles, manage various site display options, manage modules and blocks, send mass newsletters to registered users' emails, create and delete users, get database backups of SQL data as well as optimize it, create administrators with specific privileges, among other options.

Languages, syndication and adaptability

PHP-nuke supports multiple languages and its design and structure can be customized using the theme system, but major changes require knowledge of PHP, HTML and CSS.

The modules and blocks, as well as the user and site options such as the default design template or footers and censorship modes can be enabled and disabled very easily, in addition to programming the publication and expiration dates of articles and surveys, allowing the site to be updated without the need to manage it in real time.

It also generates RSS syndication services based on articles published in PHP or TXT code. as well as a newsletter distributed by email, as well as an ultra-light version for mobile devices.

User system

The system allows distinguishing between anonymous visitors, registered users, paid users and administrators; in each case, it determines which modules and blocks are visible or invisible, for example, it can be selected that a paid user (who has paid a subscription) does not see the advertising of the site and that he has access to sections that other users cannot see.

Likewise, it has a behavior rating system for registered users called Karma that records the number of participations in discussion forums, or in sending articles, downloads, etc. Likewise, you can negatively rate an aggressive participant by preventing them from posting comments on polls, news, among other restrictions.

Security

Although Php-nuke has some security tools such as user blocking, IP blocking and access restrictions, its security flaws are known, such as database injections, bot attacks that drop multiple messages in the news, forums and surveys with links to sites selling sexual articles, which can lead to the collapse of the site itself and, although such attacks are avoided by blocking the option to post comments in the news and survey modules and disabling the forum Phpbb, has discouraged many users and developers from using it.

Forks

The Php-nuke core has given rise to different forks:

• Dragonfly CMS - based on PHP-nuke 6.5 with the Coppermine photo gallery included.
• LGNuke - 7.6 and with ajax.
• Nuke-evolution - with multiple security arrangements.
• Clean nuke - based on Php-nuke 7.6, a simple content handler.
• RavenNuke CMS - Based on version 7.6, with many security arrangements, modifications, aggregates.
• phpWebSite
• Postnuke - based on version 5.0
• XOOPS - based on PHP-nuke and myPHPNuke
• PNC - Directed to players online.
• Mega-nuke - with aggregates and security corrections
• NPDS (Net portal dynamic system)

Current state

Although it became quite widespread, today this CMS is rarely used and its free version is deprecated. There is talk of the release of a completely new version. A Spanish company bought the brand and would take charge of an improved launch, freed from the traditional layout based on tables and with more variety in the templates. In January 2014, version 8.3.2 was made available for free download, supports SQL 5.3, a redesign of the main page, security integration includes security improvements, integrated in BB2Nuke 2.0.238 forums, significant changes in the system structure and redesign of many of its modules and blocks, as well as code debugging to make it lighter.