Please let me start by saying how happy I am that my computer can run PHP software. In particular, the bulletin boards made by the open source programme PHPBB2 work much better than the EZBoard system I gave up on a few months ago. Still, it has some problems that only regular users or administrators can understand. If you want to start your own message board community, read on for some tips on how to make PHPBB2 work best for you.
On Memorial Day in 2005, I woke up to a rude surprise. Even though it was a national holiday in the U.S., I used that day to get some behind-the-scenes work done that I had been putting off. You see, a holiday isn't the same when you work for yourself. It ends up being a day when your phone probably won't ring as much. This gives you a better chance to catch up on all the little things you need to do to run a business, like paying bills and keeping records. Okay, I digress.
On that special day, the EZBoard message board system was completely turned upside down. EZBoard said that hackers broke into their whole system and brought the house down. Thousands of boards were affected and put at risk overnight. Now here's the catch: forum managers, like me, couldn't back up their sites. So, what was lost was probably gone for good or would take many weeks to get back using backups that were pieced together. We relied on EZBoard as a backup, and when their system went down, we all had to pay for it.
The choice was then made for me. A few days later, I got the PHPBB2 software and went straight to work.
As open source programmes go, PHPBB2 was free and had pretty good instructions. The Aviation Employment Board and the Corporate Flight Attendant Community, two sites I wanted to set up, already had separate web pages hosted by a company that could support a database. This MySQL database would run the site and store important things, like all the information about the members.
People who have been working on building, maintaining, and promoting PHPBB have put up a lot of detailed information online that can be viewed and/or downloaded. I found that the well-made Flash videos that walked me through the installation process were the most helpful. Without them, I don't think I would have been able to figure it all out. In this case, it's true that a picture is worth a thousand words.
In addition to the software itself, PHPBB2 also comes with a separate file that makes switching from EZBoard to PHPBB2 faster. Messages from the old board are moved to the new board by this EZBoard converter. It was only partially successful, which could have been because the EZBoard site was hacked. Still, what I was able to move over was helpful, but it didn't include member files because EZBoard had locked and keyed that important information.
It took me about eight hours to download everything, follow all the instructions, convert what I could from EZBoard, lay out the new site, and make some more design changes. At the end of that time, a board that worked well was set up. The next day, I contacted all of my current EZBoard members and told them about the switch. I also put notices on the old site about the switch. Most of my group members were very understanding when they realised that we had to make the switch.
PHPBB2 has been a big improvement in every way. Still, it could use some improvements. Luckily, many of these improvements are made automatically when the software is updated or through "mods" that a forum manager can choose.
Without going into too much detail, here are some things I've noticed about PHPBB2 that are helpful to know before using it:
Only a Little Help
You can read a lot of information online, and there are also forums that are run by volunteers. At the same time, the moderators have a lot on their plates, and their responses sometimes sound like they are getting annoyed. Of course, that could have something to do with all the N00B questions, many of which are answered somewhere on the site. I think you should spend a lot of time reading before you post a question. Look at the forum for questions and answers that are similar to the ones you asked.
Updates that are hard to digest Get on the mailing list of the forum manager to make sure you know about every change as it happens. Some changes are easy to make, while others are harder. If you change anything on your site, you only need to do a "patch" update. Everyone else will choose "changed files only." If you choose "changed files only" and have mods installed, you could lose them all. Let's just say that I've already been through that!
AOL Quirks Some members, especially those with AOL accounts, have trouble signing up. It seems that the confirmation code doesn't always show up when members sign up [you don't have to have it turned on, but it stops fake sign-ups], and sometimes AOL users get kicked off when they're logged on. A small programme called "sessions" keeps track of everyone's visits by looking at their IP address to see if there is a match. Of course, AOL changes I.P. addresses in the middle of a session, which is why a lot of the time is spent booting. From a PHPBB2 point of view, the fix in question is not recommended because it puts your security at risk. I've told some members to leave AOL, especially if they can't find a way to make it work on their end.
"Back Ups" (b>/b>) It's easy to use the administration panel, but backups don't always work. Error messages are common, so another option is to back up through your web host. In the administration panel, you can choose whether or not members can email each other (which is not a good thing to do), how long their signatures can be, whether or not posts will be deleted automatically, and a lot more. In fact, PHPBB2 has many more features than EZBoard, which has a lot less to offer.
There are other forums besides PHPBB2, and one popular one is vBulletin, which is also written in PHP. vBulletin uses great forum software that picks up where PHPBB2 stops. Many of the changes that aren't part of PHPBB2 come standard with vBulletin. This means that a webmaster doesn't have to do as much work behind the scenes as he does with PHPBB2 to customise his site.
So, why not use vBulletin instead? For many, it's just the price. You can lease a vBulletin licence for $85 for one year, or you can buy one for $160. After the first year, updates cost an additional $30 per year, and custom support can cost anywhere from $30 for one month to $300 for one year. So, vBulletin can be a big cost to carry if you have a small forum that doesn't make much or any money and you need extra help. There are some paid forums with similar costs, but there are also some free ones. EZBoard is not free, but the cost to get started is very low. But your renewal fee is based on how much bandwidth you used in the last 30 days, and for some forum managers, that could be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to well over a thousand dollars.
So, why then choose PHPBB2? Well, one big reason is language packs. This open source code works with forums in 59 other languages besides English. PHPBB2 is available in many native languages, from Afrikaans to Vietnamese, Arabic to Russian, French to German. This has become a great way for people with very little money to talk to each other without spending any money. It seems like PHPBB2 is very proud of this fact, and I have to say that I am too.
As I write this, I am updating my two websites to the newest version. Since Christmas is coming up, I am also looking at different Christmas-themed templates for my flight attendant site. I have chosen a "Merry Christmas" board with snowflakes falling down. This template, which looks like it was made by a pro, is also free.
I plan to keep using PHPBB2 with all of its quirks by continuing to help our growing community of forum managers around the world. Each of us has helped shape this very important piece of open source software in our own way. It's not perfect, but it's been a lot of fun and helped me learn more about the open source movement.
