Authoring/Development - Tools of the Trade: phpBB

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What is phpBB?

phpBB is an open source bulletin board package. It allows you to create your own virtual community on your Web site, complete with user administration, story posting, messaging, comments, pools, and more. It uses PHP and MySQL and therefore requires an Advanced or higher account at pair Networks.

Important Notes: Versions earlier than 3.0.1 are subject to several security vulnerabilities. We recommend that all customers using phpBB upgrade to the latest version.

Preparing to Install

Several simple steps are required to install phpBB into your account. You will need to have an active SSH session to the pair Networks server where your account is hosted as well as an active Account Control Center session. You should have the SSH and ACC session logged into your account.

Database Setup

First, you will need to setup a MySQL database to use with your bulletin board. Please follow these steps to set one up from within the Account Control Center (ACC):

1. Log into the ACC (https://my.pair.com)
2. Select Advanced Features
3. Select Database Administration
4. Select Create New Database

For the database name, we recommend entering "phpBB" into the textbox. This way, your database will be named USERNAME_phpBB. You can leave the rest of the options at their default values and select "Add Database". Please be sure to write down the Database Name, Database Server, and the Full Access Username and Password. You will need this information later on.

Please note that anywhere you see "USERNAME", you should substitute the username of your own hosting account.

Setting up phpBB

In your SSH session to the server, enter the following command:

cd /usr/www/users/USERNAME/MAPPEDDIRECTORY/

Please note that where you see "MAPPEDDIRECTORY", you should substitute the name of the directory to which your domain is mapped in your account. You can find this directory by following these steps in the Account Control Center (ACC):

1. Log into the ACC (https://my.pair.com)
2. Select Domain Name Management
3. Select the domain name you wish to use with phpBB
4. The directory to which this domain is mapped is designated by the field "Domain Mapped:"

Next, enter this command into your SSH session:

cp /usr/local/pair/phpBB/phpBB-3.0.1.tar.bz2 .

*Please note that you must include a space after "tar.bz2" and before the final period of the command. The period indicates that you are copying the script into the current directory.

Enter these commands into your SSH session:

tar -xjf phpBB-3.0.1.tar.bz2
chmod 705 phpBB3/config.php

Final Installation

To complete the installation of the phpBB package on your site, visit the following Web site address in your Web browser, replacing "EXAMPLE.COM" with your own domain name. This will access the phpBB configuration script:

http://www.EXAMPLE.COM/phpBB3/

In the "Basic Configuration" section, please make sure that the "Database Type" is set to "MySQL" and the "installation method" is set to "Install".

In the "Database Configuration" section, enter your Database Server, Database Name, Full-Access Username, and Full-Access Password as they were recorded earlier in this tutorial. You can leave the "Prefix for tables in database" setting set to the default value of "phpbb_".

Finally, in the "Admin Configuration" section, you will need to enter in your e-mail address as well as choose a username and password to administer your bulletin board with. You can leave the "Domain Name," "Server Port," and "Script path" settings at their default values. Lastly, click "Start Install" and the next page should prompt you to "Finish Installation." You will now be able to view your bulletin board at the following Web site address:

http://www.EXAMPLE.COM/phpBB3/

Cleaning Up

In your SSH session to the server, enter the following commands:

rm phpBB-3.0.1.tar.bz2
rm -r phpBB3/install/
rm -r phpBB3/contrib/
chmod 705 phpBB3/config.php

Customizing phpBB

Since everything is set to default values in phpBB, you will want to log into the admin panel at:

http://www.EXAMPLE.COM/phpBB3/admin/index.php

http://www.EXAMPLE.COM/phpBB3/

To learn more about the capabilities of phpBB, or to perform more advanced tasks, please start at the phpBB Homepage. You may also consult our user community newsgroups for assistance.

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