Sammie, I can't be bothered to argue about semantics with you, but it strikes me as amusing that you seem to take offense with my post. Perhaps you fit the stereotype I portray?

It is also amusing that you feel the need to defend against my opinion, if it is as wrong as you say - it would not need defending - remember - some things are better left unsaid (see previous post).

This is just my opinion, to which I am entitled (freedom of speech etc etc...). I have mentioned no names in my post, see more I haven't directed it at anyone, it is simply my impression of the boonex community and products. I have tried to put across that it CAN work on a shared server, and that it doesn't need any form of black magic to get it going - it simply needs someone who knows what they are doing and access to be able to set up / change the server as necessary. (with XSL / DOM / whatever is necessary)

My post is actually trying to be positive about the product, and dispel some myths that seem to perpetuate here.

The irony of your post is that you have just proven beyond all doubt, that what I have posted about thread hijacking and useless comments is very much true - well done and thank you for the live example.

Now, as you have decided to hijack this thread, and attack me in a personal nature (about how little I know and how I talk 'out of my ass') I could spend some time posting some of your misguided advice, picking holes in why it is incorrect, and make you look very silly in front of your peers

But, I don't really have the time, I have a business to run. Plus I would say that you have already done a pretty good job of that yourself.

All I will say, is that just because you rent some server space - it does not make you an expert.

As I said before - 'It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.'

Anyway, back to some constructive criticism...

I think the 20 user threshold quoted is incorrect, and a bit ambiguous. 20 users can be a problem for some shared 'home / family' type hosting packages, these packages are throttled and generally will cause a problem with high server loads, the bandwidth and transfer is usually capped normally will find this out pretty quickly.

There are some shared packages where this is not a problem - it just needs a little more research. That said - most hosts will happily swap you over to a dedicated hosting package if your traffic starts to become a problem - after all it means more revenue for them.

If you're setting up a site and you expect very high traffic (or are hopeful that your site will take off in a big way), it's probably better to sort it all out initially and just go with the dedicated package to start off with.

But this is true of any site / code - not just dolphin.

And if someone wants to step up and say that dolphin is more bandwidth hogging than x/y/z code then I will simply say that if this is true then it is poorly written - the maximum amount of data being exchanged in the average web page should be approximately the same (streaming media excepted of course).

The use of Ajax can increase overheads, as a portion of the code needs to be loaded client side for it to work, but there is always a balance between loading all of the code to the client and loading only that which is necessary. This can be further minimised by retaining some page loads and also clever (read reuseable) coding.

Regarding paying for Dolphin(sic) This would be fine provided that they sort out their support. The support is my biggest gripe.

I haven't yet paid for the add free version yet, although I would like to get rid of the ads - I just can't see what value I get for nearly $1000. IMHO When I part with my money it stops being a free product and starts being the paid product that you mention - with any product I expect a certain level of support, I do not see that here.

My expectation would be at least a trouble ticket system for paid up users, I'm not saying it has to be 24 hour, live response, just somewhere that you can get a definitive answer to your questions and not have to suffer the kind of misdirection that can happen in the forums.

Houstonlively, I agree with the script kiddie / noob user problem, I suffer this all the time (I am a coder by profession and have written a number of open source apps). However, this is part of the internet today, these same kiddies will be the next generation of coders that take products like dolphin to the next level. Not everyone has the patience (or time) to deal with them, but they should given courtesy at least.

I constantly see people who do nothing but take from the internet, people who have learned most / all of their skills online (I bet there are plenty who frequent the forums here) but never contribute back into the web. This is why I write open source apps - it helps me balance my kudos points - I do it because I can and hopefully it helps someone else in the process.

Remember the internet is the worlds biggest and best resource and knowledge-base, but it is only as good as the information that is put into it.

DM