Creating Communities using phpBB ...

Tried my hand on PhpBB which is a Open Source bulletin board with a very simple to use administrative panel.


PhpBB is written on php scripts on front end and with a database which may be postgresql, MySql, Microsoft Access, MS-Sql etc....




PhpBB Administration Panel Features :

• Easy database backup and restore
• Disallowed usernames
• User authorisation
• Word censoring
• Complete member management
• Emoticon setup
• Optional new post verification
• Extensive ban management, ban by email address, username or single/multiple IP address or hostname
• IP tracking of posts and posters
• Mass emailing of groups and users by the administrator

Lets look at the installation part :

What you will need before installing :

- PHP Support ( I had PHP 5.0.4 )
- Apache Server ( I had Apache-AdvancedExtranetServer / 2.0.47)
- Mysql Server (I had 4.0.15)

All i did was

#urpmi phpBB (to install the phpBB)

This installed phpBB2-2.0.5-1mdk

If you do not have urpmi/yum/up2date/apt-get to pull and install softwares then I would recommend you to click here and download the zip file phpBB-2.0.18.zip

Now untar the same in your webserver's document root path mine was /var/www/html (which is standard)

Now you will have a directory phpBB2 in /var/www/html

change its permission to apache's group, mine was apache so I set it as

#chown -R root.apache phpBB2

Just point your browser to

http://localhost/phpBB2 this will redirect
to
http://localhost/phpBB2/install/install.php

Now Configuring Mysql to use phpBB

Login to Mysql with root user :

[root@mybox sriram]# mysql -uroot -p
Enter password:
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 3 to server version: 4.0.15

Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the buffer.

mysql> create database phpbb;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> grant all privileges on phpbb.* to phpbb@"localhost" identified by 'phpbb';
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)

mysql> show databases;
+-----------+
| Database |
+-----------+
| kplaylist |
| mysql |
| phpbb |
| test |
| tmp |
| wiki |
+-----------+
6 rows in set (0.22 sec)

What I have done here is created a Database name phpbb and added a user phpbb with password for database phpbb set as "phpbb" and given permission to access the database phpbb.

wow too many phpbb's huh !!

Now you can go back to the page that you have opened to install phpbb

and fill the information as follows

Basic Configuration

Default board language: English
Database Type: Mysql 3.x
Choose your installation method: Install


Database configuration

Database Server Hostname / DSN: localhost
Your Database Name: phpbb
Database Username: phpbb
Database Password: phpbb
Prefix for tables in database: phpbb_

Admin Configuration

Admin Email Address: your@email
Domain Name: mybox.sriram.com
Server Port: 80
Script path: /phpBB2/
Script path is the directory untarred in /var/www/html

Administrator Username: admin
Administrator Password: admin123
Administrator Password [ Confirm ]: admin123

Click on Start Install

This should show you.

Welcome to phpBB 2 Installation

Your admin username has been created. At this point your basic installation is complete. You will now be taken to a screen which will allow you to administer your new installation. Please be sure to check the General Configuration details and make any required changes. Thank you for choosing phpBB 2.

That it you are done with phpBB, do not forget to read the FAQ !!!