How to best get started with phpBB

[RKramkowski]

I've been doing some digging into phpBBbut I still have some questions. I am ready to start a forum using phpBB. I checked out Hostgator (thanks for the info, Lynn) and see that they have php. Does that mean they have pbpBB there already? Or do I upload it and configure it? It also appears to be UNIX based. Is that true?

I haven't gotten through all the info on the phpBB website yet, but is it the best place to learn how to customize it? I've seen too many forums that look virtually identical. Lynn, you've done a fantastic job with this forum! It's one of the best looking and best structured I've seen. Any suggestions on how best to learn how to do it?

If I have a UNIX box here, can I install it locally to do the customizations and learn the ins-and-outs of the program before uploading?

Thanks,
Bob

[Bina Omar]

Hi Bob,

HostGator does not have phpBB already installed. But they have an
installer that will allow you to install phpBB with literally one click of
a button. You will not have to upload and configure the script yourself.

In fact any web host that uses a Fantastico-enabled cPanel system for
their control panel, has this feature.

The only thing is, if I'm not mistaken, the installer will only install the
script into a folder beneath your root folder. Which means you cannot
access it through http://www.yourdomain.com. Instead, it would have
to be at http://www.yourdomain.com/folder/

Can anyone else confirm this fact?

With customizing, phpBB actually comes with several styles that you
can download. Check it out here:
http://www.phpbb.com/styles/demo.php

I, would normally find a style that would almost suit my needs and then
just change the CSS file slightly to really make it fit into my site overall
look and feel.

What can I say, I'm just to lazy to do it from scratch


Hope this helps.

[Lynn Terry]

Thank you for the compliments, Bob

Bina is right. You can install PHPBB through Fantastico in your HostGator account - it's super simple. Once you get it installed, you can customize it and get used to everything before you link to it publicly.

To customize your PHPBB template, you can check out this tutorial. It's where I started, and what I used to create the look you see here: http://www.phpbb.com/kb/article.php?article_id=197

(if it looks overwhelming, you're not alone - I just took it one line at a time )

[robert adams]

[RKramkowski]

Hi Robert,

Is there an advantage or disadvantage to installing it at the root level or any other level?

What is the general recommendation?

Thanks,

Bob

[flensborg]

[RKramkowski]

Thanks for all the advie everyone!

I am now using Hostgator for my hosting. At least on their site, it will allow me to choose directories for the install if I use Fantastico.

I did find out, however that they have 2.0.19 and even though they have a link to upgrade it it to 2.0.20, it doesn't. It goes through the apparent motions but leaves it at 2.0.19.

I also ran into a problem with the admin panel. I had to reinstall the forum software and removed all references, db tables, etc. before doing so. The odd thing was that Fantastico said it installed, but when I looked at the directory structure, it wasn't there! After trying this twice, I finally asked their tech people to step in. Don't know what they did but they got it installed. Problem was that it was still 2.0.19. And further, although I could log in as a user, when I tried to get to the admin panel I got a DNS not found error that I han't gotten before.

The main forum is in an addon domain on their systems. So going to www.mysite.com (not the real name - it's still under construction) brought up the forum as it should. When I clicked on the admin panel, the URL it tried to go to was http://mysite.com/index.html. It lost the www! So of course there was no DNS entry. Their answer was that mysite.com wasn't directed to their site. Of course it wasn't!

Anyway, my very original Fantastico install could get to the admin panel so I knew there had to be more to this. I blew away the entire forum again, deleted the databases, etc. This time I didn't use Fantastico. I got the latest from phpBB and FTP'd the files to Hostgator and did a manual install.

This worked! I now am running 2.0.20 and I can get to the admin panel as I should be able to.

Now it's on to learning how to do mods so the forum doesn't look like the generic forum.

Bob

[calvinchin]

Hi Bob,

I'm using Fantastico to install the phpbb forum. That time the version is
2.0.19.

When I went to the forum admin page, it asked to upgrade to 2.0.20 .

In my Fantastico control, I can see the upgrade link available too.

So I clicked on the upgrade link, and it just did the backup, installed the
new version, that's it.

No hassle, no problem, my forum is running until now.

Not sure the problem of your DNS error. Try to use the IP address to
login the control panel.

[robert adams]