setting up/running a php message board...

[gonzo]

so i volunteer for a non-profit with a bunch of buddies and communication is VERY difficult. we have been doing it for +3 years and are sick of conference calls and email bombardments. i'm thinking a password protected message board on our website is a good way to go to smooth out the lines of communication...

so i have the php software (i think that is what it is called - same as t-tips & aspectjournal) but i have no idea what to do next - i guess i need to upload it onto the website and then configure it? anyone have any tips? the php site is good and meant to help idiots, but i find it a bit difficult to understand still...

[gonzo]

New Installations

Installation of phpBB 2 will vary according to your server and database. If you have shell access to your account (via telnet or ssh for example) you may want to upload the entire phpBB 2 archive (in binary mode!) to a directory on your host and unarchive it there.

If you do not have shell access or do not wish to use it you will need to decompress the phpBB 2 archive to a local directory on your system using your favourite compression program, e.g. winzip, rar, zip, etc. From there you must FTP ALL the files it contains (being sure to retain the directory structure and filenames) to your host. Please ensure that the cases of filenames are retained, do NOT force filenames to all lower or upper case doing so will cause errors later.

All .php, .inc, .sql, .cfg and .htm files should be uploaded in ASCII mode, while all graphics should be uploaded in BINARY mode. If you are unfamiliar with what this means please refer to your FTP client documentation. In most cases this is all handled transparantly by your ftp client but if you encounter problems later you should be sure the files where uploaded correctly as described here.

phpBB2 comes supplied with English as its standard language. However a number of seperate packs for different languages are available. If you are not a native English speaker you may wish to install one or more of these packages before continuing. The installation process below will allow you to select a default language from those available (you can of course change this default at a later stage). For more details of language packs, where to obtain them and how to install them please see the README.

Once all the files have been uploaded to your site you should point your browser at this location with the addition of install/install.php (please note that if you changed the extension from php, see Section 3.i below, you should alter install.php appropriately). For example if your domain name is www.mydomain.tld and you placed phpBB 2 in a directory /phpBB2 off your web root you would enter http://www.mydomain.tld/phpBB2/install/install.php into your browser. When you have done this you should see the phpBB 2 Installation screen appear.

3.i. Changing the file extension

If the file extension used to execute PHP scripts on your server is NOT .php but for example .php3 or .phtml you should first rename ALL files ending in .php and change the value of $phpEx in extension.inc. In the vast majority of cases this step will be unncessary.

3.ii. Replacing an old phpBB 1.x install

NOTE, you should NOT place phpBB 2 files into the same directory as any previous installation of phpBB 1.x! Create a new directory (or move your old phpBB 1.x out of the way), failure to do this will result in runtime errors.

3.iii. Installing on MySQL 3 and 4, PostgreSQL 7.x, MS SQL 7/2000 (inc. via ODBC)

Before proceeding with installation you should ensure you have a database available. Most good hosting accounts now come with at least one database as part of the basic package although it may need to be setup before first use. Ask your provider for details if you are unsure whether you do or not. If you are running your own server and are unsure how to create a database you should refer to your SQL servers documentation or website, e.g. http://www.mysql.com/doc/, http://www.postgresql.org/users-lounge/, etc.

If your database server is MySQL PLEASE ensure you select the appropriate version from the dropdown box. Do NOT select MySQL 4.x if you have MySQL 3.x (the most common type) installed, if in doubt select MySQL 3.x.

3.iv. Installing on MS Access 2000/XP

Before you install phpBB 2 you need to create a Data Source Name or DSN. The exact way to do this will depend on your hosting provider, if you are unsure you should check with them before proceeding. In general though you should create a System DSN which points to the location where you have stored an unarchived copy of the ms_access_primer.mdb file (this is contained in the ms_access_primer.zip which can be found in install/schemas/). The name you give this DSN will be used during installation. Do not proceed until this step is complete!

Please note that MS Access support is not designed for busy boards. If you anticipate more than one or two users being online at any given time you should upgrade to a more robust server solution.

3.v. Entering required data

Once you have reached the installation page you need to fill out several fields. Be sure to select the right database type! If you do not have or do not know the database name, database server, etc. please check with your hosting provider. For non-ODBC databases the database server is typically localhost but this is NOT universal! If you are using an ODBC based database (such as MS Access or MSSQL via ODBC) you should enter the DSN here (see 2.iv.).

The database prefix allows you to enter a few characters, short name, etc. which all tables used by this installation will be prefixed with. The default (phpbb_) will usually be fine. However if you have more than one copy of phpBB 2 using the same database be sure to alter it or you will receive errors during installation.

The remaining information is personal to you and your site. You will need to enter a username and password for the initial administration account (more administrators can be created later). The server name, server port and script path are essential because all emails containing URLs will use these values. The installer will guess initial values, however they may not be correct so be sure to check them!

Remember that a domain (or server) name does NOT include http://! Enter just the domain name, eg. www.mydomain.tld and NOT http://www.mydomain.tld/. The server port can, in the great majority of cases be left as 80, this is the standard http port. However if your web server listens to a different port because for example port 80 is blocked then alter this appropriately. The script path is the relative path from your webroot where phpBB 2 is installed, e.g. if you install phpBB 2 into phpBB 2/ in your webroot then enter phpBB 2 (or /phpBB 2/) as the script path.

3.vi. Completing installation

Once you have checked all the data press submit. The installation script will create and populate all the necessary tables. It will then attempt to write to the config.php file which will contain the basic configuration data used to run phpBB 2. If the installer cannot write config.php directly you will be given the option of either downloading the file or even FTPing it to the correct location. If you choose to download you should then re-upload the file to your server, overwriting the existing config.php in the process. If you attempt to FTP via the install script you should supply the requested information. Should FTP fail you will be able to download the file and then re-upload as described earlier.

During the installation procedure phpBB 2 will check to ensure the relevant PHP database module is available and will not proceed if it cannot be found. Should this happen be sure to check you have selected the correct database and/or ask your hosting provider for advice.

Do not proceed untill the installation is completed and (if necessary) you have uploaded the config.php file.

[AH]

It's actually quite easy. Do you have anything like msn messenger? I'd be happy to take you through the installation step by step or could even install it on your server if you'd want that.

My msn is suichies@hotmail.com and my mail is bart [at] skizone [dot] nl

[gonzo]

dude! i will send you an email...