I've always found integrating systems to be the biggest ball-ache that ever existed. You have to share sessions, relate data etc. it's a total pain.
My opinion is that you'd build the solution with one 'system'... Laravel for example. It makes so much logical sense this way. For a system you are mentioning, it's no easy journey... You've proabably under quoted! But control over the whole Eco-system is always the better route.
I'm not 100%, but I doubt there are many Laravel developers that use it to Intergrate systems by 'Lego-ing' them together in this way.
Hope it helps.
I'm not aware of any package that can provide the functionnality you're looking for. I maintain a forum package that is easily integrable in any project made with laravel, but it's more like a simple phpbb than stackoverflow.
The best way to get exactly what you want is to code it yourself. Maybe you can provide it to the community as a standalone package. If you make it customisable enough, it can be wonderfull for all of us.
Anyway, maybe have a look at https://github.com/atrakeur/laravel-forum if it can provide the functionnality you are looking for. DISCLAMER: it's my own project.
Hope it helps
I couldn't agree more about trying to connect 2 separate projects together. I have tried doing this for clients, and it can be a real pain. As the sessions and such are do different. Usually the roles and APIs for the projects have completely different mechanism for managing user meta data.
you should try to begin from scratch. As your app grows, you'll probaly can control it well and avoid any conflict/ bugs (in case of integrating systems together like laravel + magento + vbulletin).
should start with a simple shopping cart, then a simple discussion board. :).
@greentornado The fact that you referenced Magento as something to combine (much less use), is scary to me. Have you ever used that thing? Have you ever had to deal with the performance problems and the oppressive code within it? Dear lord never again for me.
@pthurmond Do you know of any alternative to Magento when you need the flexibility. Everything I've looked at was severely lacking. No complex or configurable products/bundles, no complex cart rules, lots of problems with tax-calculations (especially with non-US shops), no easy way to handle multiple stores in one backend, the list goes on.
Have you ever had to deal with the performance problems and the oppressive code within it?
What do you mean by oppressive? I hate their pseudo-namespacing and unclean MVC approach (business-logic in the models), but it's not that hard to handle. They've got an exhaustive event system so that you can hook your stuff in pretty much everywhere.
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