How to create a forum
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Forum Tutorial
I am going to walk you through how to create your own forum in approximately 10-15 minutes using our hosting package. This particular tutorial uses a package called "PHPBB" - a bulletin board that is free to use and is scripted in PHP. It should be noted that you can also install another forum using the Fantastico feature of our Control Panel, namely:
- SMF Forum
Who should read this tutorial
I have aimed this tutorial at novices in the web development arena. Experts will be able to install other forum software manually, the Fantastico method is for those who really don't want to get their hands dirty with fast setup time.
What are forums? Why are they useful?
Extracted from Wikipedia:
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site. It is the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system. From a technological standpoint, forums or boards are web applications managing user-generated content.
In simple terms, forums are online discussion boards. Each registered user is able to leave messages and reply to messages that others have already left. 'Threads' or 'discussion topics' are created by a user prompting a discussion on that particular topic.
A simple out of the box forum can be set up in as little as 5-10 minutes using Fantastico. The developer may then wish to spend time customising the look and feel. Webmasters who own forums need to be wary of spammers who constantly use forums to advertise products and link back to their own web site.
Create your own Forum
Step 1 - You'll need a hosting account!
Before you can do anything, you'll need some web space in which to install the blog. Forums vary greatly in size depending on popularity. Choose a domain with your hosting plan, and wait for your details to be emailed to you (this usually occurs within a couple minutes of signing up).
Step 2 - Log into your cPanel
Navigate to www.yourdomain.com/cpanel and login using the username and password provided to you from us by email. Your cPanel page should now look something like this:-
Step 3 - Find Fantastico
Go to Fantastico (look for and click on the logo that looks like the one illustrated below)
Step 4 - Install your Blog
You should now see a screen similar to the one shown below, with scripts that you can install on the left hand side of the screen. Look for the Title 'Discussion Boards' and the link to 'PHPBB' beneath it (circled in the screenshot below):
You will now see a screen that tells you how much disk space is required, and whether you have an existing installation on your web space. Click "New Installation" and you should be greeted with a screen similar to the one below. Enter the relevant information into the text boxes:
Now click on the "Install PHPBB" button.
It will now tell you the name of the database and the user that will be created for the blog along with the directory path for the installation. Simply click "Finish Installation".
You now have a Forum!!!
To view your forum, go to www.yourdomain.com/yourforum(where yourforum is the directory within which you installed the blog).
For more information on the PHPBB software, please go to [PHPBB.com]
