phpBB configuration

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asavage
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Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
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phpBB configuration

#1

Post by asavage »

I've gotten away without really documenting what MODs have been applied to the base phpBB2 installation, but two things have convinced me to take the time to document them:

a) The Attachment MOD is going to be a huge change, with tentacles into nearly every file and modifications to the database;

b) The base install needs to be updated from (currently) 2.0.19 to 2.0.22.

With a MODed board, every time the base install changes the MODs have to be re-applied, and each one of the MODs have to be re-investigated to see if they have had updates as well, and if new problems have cropped up or been squashed.

It's a lot of work -- esp. if you want to be doing something else.

With that preamble in mind, here is the list (in order of proposed application) of MODs that are already, or will be in future, applied to this forum software:
===============================================
List of MODs installed for the nissandiesel.dyndns.org phpBB2 forums (proposed)
As of 20-Jan-2007
** = Not installed yet
*** = This newer version not installed yet

** Attachment Mod (pre-MODed files) 2.4.5
** Lightbox implementation 2.0.2
** Not Authorized for Download MOD for Attachment MOD
EasyMOD 0.3.0
EM Version Changer
*** Admin Userlist 2.0.6c
*** Advanced User Search 1.0.2-r2
** keep unread flags 2.0.6
(must run before "Save posts as drafts" mod.)
*** Save posts as drafts 1.0.25
Run included "mod_to_save_posts_as_drafts_to_allow_for_attachments.txt" after this MOD.

*** Rebuild Search 2.4.0a
Search Titles Only 1.0.0

Multiple BBCode MOD 1.4.0c
BBCode Buttons Organizer 1.4.0a
Anchor BBCode 1.0.4 (1.0.1 validated, 1.0.4 is users' MODs to the original MOD, including mine in Dec-05)
*** BBCode StrikeThrough 1.3.0
 BBCode							1.0.3
Font Face BBCode  					1.0.4
Left and Right IMG tags  			1.6.2 (1.6.0 validated + unvalidated MODs)
  Look into creating BBCode buttons for this

userfriendly URL-input while posting  	1.0.0
Update Session on Page Change		1.0.0
Date in backup filename				1.0.1
Faq Manager 					  		1.0.1 (1.0.0b validated)

** Hide Zero Posters						2.0.0 (not EasyMod Compatible)
** VIP Code MOD 1.2.2
  Incorporate code into home page's logo (or perhaps the forum rules page?), write script to update both php file and logo simultaneous, optionally cron it weekly.
===============================================
Last edited by asavage 17 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
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asavage
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Re: phpBB configuration

#2

Post by asavage »

asavage wrote: ** VIP Code MOD 1.2.2
I couldn't wait for the major upgrade, I installed this tonight. It requires that one read the instructions a bit when registering, and look for a "VIP Code" on the Agreement page, and type it in on the Registration page.

Reputedly, this stops all the robot spammers. I've turned off the useless "Visual Confirmation" thing too: the robots can parse the obscured text now, and it just annoys humans.

This should stop, or severely slow down, the fake user spammers we've been getting (about 6-10 per day for the last few weeks).
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asavage
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#3

Post by asavage »

Well, that was sure effective!

We've gone from 6-10 spam robot registrations/day to zero (sample of two days). I enjoy this forum a lot more when I don't have to spent all this time deleting fake users.
Carimbo
Posts: 467
Joined: 18 years ago

#4

Post by Carimbo »

More forum spam reduction ideas here.
glenlloyd
Posts: 640
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Des Moines, Iowa

Re: phpBB configuration

#5

Post by glenlloyd »

asavage wrote:I've turned off the useless "Visual Confirmation" thing too: the robots can parse the obscured text now, and it just annoys humans.
You're right, the obscured text is annoying, especially when it's so obscured that humans can't read it!

sa
97 Jetta TDI, 86 VW Golf D
89 VW Fox diesel, 92 MB 300SD W140

gir - won't the sploding hurt?
zim - silence!
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asavage
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Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
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#6

Post by asavage »

asavage wrote:phpBB3 is almost up to RC1 status . . .
Three hours after I wrote that, I received an email . . .
phpBB3 wrote:We are very pleased to announce the availability of the phpBB3 RC1 package. This is the first release candidate which is meant to become the Gold release if no more bugs or problems arise.
RC1 has official support and an upgrade path to golden code is promised.

phpBB3 gives us file attachments, inline attachments, flash, customizable HTML properties, persistent Unread flags status via databased recordkeeping, and hopefully will protect Moderators better from this kind of misteak.

It won't, unfortunately, allow the Search feature to work on the PMs. Well, something to look forward to.

Expect a completely different look soon, and some teething problems and downtime. Possibly sometime this week.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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asavage
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Posts: 5431
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Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
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#7

Post by asavage »

New game plan: phpBB v3 RC5 is out, which is one step away from Gold, so I spent part of this weekend loading it up and playing with it. It is not as easy to install as v2 and I am disappointed in the install docs in that regard. I'm not crazy about the default theme (skin) named ProSilver either. And some stuff doesn't work. At least it does not seem to require an upgrade to the existing installation of Apache/MySQL/php. So step one is to document for myself how to install this sucker, as it's more than four steps.

unzip pkg to {document_root}/phpBB3

copy {document_root}\phpBB2\templates\subSilver\images\logo_phpBB.gif to {document_root}\phpBB3\styles\prosilver\imageset\site_logo.gif

Add bbCode "[gotopost]"
ACP -> Posting -> bbCodes -> Add
Usage:

Code: Select all

 [gotopost={NUMBER}]{TEXT}[/gotopost]
HTML:

Code: Select all

<a href="/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p={NUMBER}#p{NUMBER}">{TEXT}</a>
Help: "[gotopost=postnum] Link to other posts and/or anchors within the board."



[create dummy empty database]
In MySQL -> "phpBB3_nissandiesel"

[Convert]
* Database server hostname = "localhost"
* [old] Database name = "phpBB2_nissan_ld"
* Prefix for tables in [old] database = "phpbb2_nissan_ld"
* [old] Board path = "../phpBB2"
* "Yes"

[more later]
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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asavage
Site Admin
Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
Contact:

Re: phpBB configuration

#8

Post by asavage »

asavage wrote:** Hide Zero Posters 2.0.0 (not EasyMod Compatible)
In testing on the new server, this MOD seems to work well enough, so I just installed it here. Not that we really need it, but installation adds a field to a database table, and populates it. That'll need to be in the database when I move the data from old to new setup, so it's just easier if I do the MOD to both old and test setups now.

What it does: hides members who have zero posts. If they've signed up but have never posted (or have posted, then deleted their post: post count = 0), they do not show up in the memberlist, and they don't "count" in the tally at the lower left of the main page.

So, we just went from 866 members, to 688 -- the difference are all the folks who signed up but never posted.
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
User avatar
asavage
Site Admin
Posts: 5431
Joined: 18 years ago
Location: Oak Harbor, Wash.
Contact:

#9

Post by asavage »

This is a list of when each backup of the entire phpBB2 tree was taken, and what MODs were installed at the time.

phpBB2-2.0.23-01.zip 08May2013
Initial install, mysql user=xxxxxxxxxxx
EasyMod 0.4.0
Admin_Config_SMTP_Port_1.0.2 (so SSL/Port 537 could be used for email)
User Avatars copied in
\phpBB2\templates\subSilver\images\logo_phpBB.gif (LD28 pic) copied in

phpBB2-2.0.23-02.zip 08May2013
Multiple BBCode MOD 1.4.0c
Anchor 1.04

phpBB2-2.0.23-03.zip 08May2013
Pre_BBCode_1-0-3a
rebuild_search_2.4.0a

phpBB2-2.0.23-04.zip 08May2013
search_titles_only
Date_in_backup_filename_1.0.1

phpBB2-2.0.23-05.zip 09May2013
BBCode Buttons Organizer 1.4.0a
BBCode StrikeThrough 1.3.0

phpBB2-2.0.23-06.zip 09May2013
Font Face BBCode 1.0.4
Faq Manager 1.0.1

phpBB2-2.0.23-07.zip 09May2013
userfriendly URL-input while posting 1.0.0
Update Session on Page Change 1.0.0

phpBB2-2.0.23-08.zip 11May2013
myVIPCode 1.1.3
Added PayPal Donate button code to templates\subSilver\overall_footer.tpl

phpBB2-2.0.23-09.zip 11May2013
Hide Zero Posters 2.0.0
Save posts as drafts 1.0.25

phpBB2-2.0.23-10.zip 11May2013
Admin Userlist 2.0.6c
Advanced User Search 1.0.2-r2
Regards,
Al S.

1982 Maxima diesel wagon, 2nd & 4th owner, 165k miles, rusty & burgundy/grey. Purchased 1996, SOLD 16Feb10
1983 Maxima diesel wagon, 199k miles, rusty, light yellow/light brown. SOLD 14Jul07
1981 720 SD22 (scrapped 04Sep07)
1983 Sentra CD17, 255k, bought 06Jul08, gave it away 22Jun10.
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