Your own Forum 

The online forums of PCQuest at http://forums.pcquest.com

uses phpBB-an easy to setup, Web-based forum. PCQLinux 2005 bundles this package and in this article we go through setting it up. 

Note: PCQLinux team has modified the original phpBB package to include the attachment mod-a patch that allows one to upload files to the forum. 

Installation





If you didn't opt to install phpBB during the installation of PCQlinux 2005, you can do it by installing the RPMs after the installation. Install the RPM named MySQL-shared-compat-4.0.23-0.i386.rpm, php-4.3.9-3.i386.rpm and php-mysql-4.3.9-3.i386.rpm found in the directory PCQLinux/rpms on CD 1 of PCQLinux 2005. Install the RPM named phpBB-2.0-11.i386.rpm found in the directory PCQLinux/RPMs on CD 3 of

PCQLinux. 

Besides these RPMs, you will also need to install MySQL database server. Refer to the MySQL section in the article Connect Java Web apps to Databases also in this story to install and set up

MySQL. 

We need to create a database named phpbb (say) in MySQL. Create the database by issuing the following:

mysqladmin -u root -p create phpbb

When prompted, supply the password that you had set up for the root MySQL user. Next issue: 

mysql -u root -p

After supplying the MySQL's root password, you will be shown a mysql prompt. At this prompt, issue the following.

grant all on phpbb.* to phpbbuser@localhost identified by 'secret'

A full-fledged live running forum at http://forums.pcquest.com

The above statement creates a user named phpbbuser with access to the phpBB database. Substitute secret with your preferred password. Next we come to setting up phpBB. Start Apache server by issuing 'service httpd start'. Launch a Web browser (Firefox or Konqueror) and key in the URL

http://localhost/phpBB2 



For database name, type in phpbb. For database username and password, type in phpbbuser and secret respectively. For Admin Username and Password, type in admin and a preferred password, to log in as administrator to set up phpBB (see below). Click on 'Start Install' button and on the subsequent page, select the option that says 'Just send the file to me and I'll FTP it manually'. Click on 'Download Config'. Copy the downloaded config.php file to the directory
/var/www/html/phpBB2. 

Next, key in the URL http://localhost/phpBB2/install/mod_table_inst.php

in the Web browser. Change to the directory /var/www/html/phpBB2 and delete the directories named install and contrib. Again launch the URL

http://localhost/phpBB2 in the Web browser and you should be greeted by the phpBB forum. 

Set up the forum





In the 'Log in' section, type in admin and the corresponding password (specified earlier for phpBB admin user) and click on the 'Log in' button. On the subsequent page, click on 'Go to Administration Panel'. You will be shown the administration panel for phpBB. From here you can set up and configure all aspects of the forum. Under the section 'General Admin' (on the left), click on Configuration. Here you may like to change the site name and description from the default. Make sure you select 'GMT + 5.5 Hours' if you are setting up the forum for audience in India. 

Create the forums





The way the forums are created in phpBB is that first you create a category and under each category you create one or more forums. Referring to

http://forums.pcquest.com,  'pcqlinux' is a category and 'All about PCQLinux 2004' and 'PCQLinux 2005' are the forums set up under the this category.



This facility allows us to logically club more than one forum having similar discussion. Click on Forum Admin> Management and go ahead with creating categories and forums as per your requirement. You may like to delete the test category, which is there by default. 

Set up forum permissions 





PCQuest forums have been set up in such a way that:

• Non-registered users can view all posts and reply, but cannot post
• Only registered users can post, besides viewing, replying and editing (editing pertains only to their own posts) 
• Only a moderator can delete and post polls (voting facility)
• Only an admin can post a sticky (always on top) message
• Only an admin can upload files 

The administration panel of phpBB gives an intuitive control over all aspects

To set up such permissions, click on Forum Admin>Permissions. Select a forum from the drop down and click on 'Look up Forum'. On the subsequent page, select REG, from the drop-down menu, for Post and Edit. Select MOD for Delete and Poll Create. Select ADMIN for Sticky and Post Files. Click on Submit. 

Create moderators





A moderator is supposed to have privileged access to the forums assigned to him. To create a moderator we first need to add a user who will be made a moderator subsequently. For this, go to

http://localhost/phpBB2/ and click on Log out . Then click on Register on the subsequent page. Click on the hyperlink to agree to the agreement terms. On the following page, fill in the username (say shekhar), password and other details. 

After a successful user creation, click on the Log In. Login again as admin and go to the administration panel (as explained before). Click on User>Permissions. Fill in shekhar in the text field and click on Look up User. On the subsequent page, select 'Is Moderator' from the drop down against one or more forums. Click on Submit, which will designate shekhar as the moderator of the forum(s). 

With this, we are through with setting up a usable forum. Now registration. Users can register with the forums by browsing the URL http://

-of-PCQLinux-2005-machine>/phpBB2 and clicking on the register link. 

You can expose the Linux machine to the Internet and have an audience across the Internet-like the PCQuest forums. Keep a watch on

http://www.phpbb.com/mods/  for numerous additions (like the attachment mod) to extend the phpBB functionality.