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Forum.zip

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Forum.zip (49 KB, decompresses to 1.2 MB) can be downloaded by clicking the button below. It is version 0.1 Beta.

Forum.zip will decompress to give you an ASP forum package to run on your web server. A modified version can be viewed in action at the gazeteer.com forum (no longer available).  All you need is a a web host that supports ASP and and a login system. To use it, follow the instructions below. A knowledge of ASP is required to install the forum on your own site.

Gazeteer.com forum

  • Differences between the gazeteer.com forum and the one available for download
    • HTML is off in the gazeteer.com forum but it's on in the one available for download
    • The user interface is different.
    • A login system is already in use
    • The downloadable version contains more comments

System requirements

  • An unzipping program to extract the zip (Windows XP will do this fine)
  • A web server that can handle ASP and Access Databases
  • The ability to upload multiple files onto this server (such as through FTP)
  • The ability to edit files on this server
  • The ability to allow anonymous web users to use ASP to modify the database
  • A login system where user information can be accessed from where the forum is stored
    • If you do not already have a login system, I recommend this one. A modified version of it is used on this site; you can try it out here.

Installation

  • Download forum.zip from this page
  • Unzip the file, but make sure that all files that you are unzip are together in one folder. This is important, because otherwise the links will break.
  • Upload the files to your server, making sure that you enabled the ability for anonymous web users to update the database.
    • If you are using FrontPage, follow these steps:
      • Open FrontPage
      • Go to File > Open Web
      • Find your website, log in and make sure that you have the folder list open
      • In the folder list, find the folder that will be containing all of the forum files, including their own folder, for example, if you choose http://www.example.com/sitex then the URL of your forum will be http://www.example.com/sitex/forum
      • Open the folder on your own computer that you have extracted the forum files to. You will notice that they are all grouped into a folder called 'forum'.
      • Drag this folder onto the folder you chose in FrontPage's folder list
      • You may notice a delay whilst you upload the files.
      • If you are asked to make a database connection, type in any name you like (as long as it is different to other database connections) and click on Yes. The name you chose will not make any difference to how the forum operates
      • If you are asked to put the database in the fpdb folder, click on No.
  • Open the file login.asp in your web editor
    • Edit the file so that it references the cookies that are relevant to your own login system.
    • Do not declare any variables that you did not add yourself, since the file is included in another file, and the variables may be declared elsewhere.
    • Do not add any language declarations such as <%@ Language=VBscript %> since this has already been declared at the top of pageheader.asp
  • Open the file ui.asp in your web editor
    • You will notice that there is already code that checks whether the current user is 'Guest' and if so, presents the option to login. Otherwise, options for account settings and logging out are presented.
    • This file may need changing, to reflect your own login system and so that it links to pages that are relevant to your site.
  • Open the file pageheader.asp in your web editor
    • This file is designed to contain the standard header and footer shown on every page on your site.
    • If you look at the code carefully, you will see that there are two subs: InsertHeader() and InsertFooter() which are called all over the forum before and after a page is rendered.
    • The contents of the two subs can and should be completely changed to match the look and feel of your site. This is the place to add your style sheets, banner ads or whatever else you have on your site.
    • Watch out for statements saying <% =PageTitle %> these should be placed within the title tags and anywhere else on your website where you prominently display the page title.
    • If you do not have the time to completely change this page, you can just edit the lines shown below to make the forum integrate with your site
      • Line 14 - change the default page heading
      • Line 27 - add your style sheet (or just delete the whole line)
      • Line 35 - add your logo
      • Line 92 - link to your homepage
      • Line 187 - link to your copyright page
      • Line 191 - link to your contact us page
    • You may also notice numerous comments, some of which are irrelevant, and some of which comment-out links to non-existent files. These can be safely removed
  • Other files may also need to be looked at.
    • default.asp
      • Do not change line 1 - this references pageheader.asp, which in turn contains the <%@ Language=VBscript %> line. If this line is anywhere other than the top then the forum will not work
    • blank.asp
      • This file can be safely deleted. It is only useful if you want to create a new page without going to File > New in your web editor
    • viewfolder.asp
      • Line 7 - this contains the title that is seen when people first visit you forum. It should be changed to the name of your site.
  • You have now installed the forum software. To visit it, type into your address bar the path of where the default.asp is stored, for example, if the file is stored at http://www.example.com/sitex/forum/default.asp type in http://www.example.com/sitex/forum

Usage

  • How the forum works
    • There are four main types of objects in the forum: folders, threads, messages and users. Each of these are given a unique number.
    • Each folder can contain threads and other folders
      • The root folder (the one you see when you visit the forum's homepage) is numbered 0.
    • Each thread can contain multiple messages
    • Each message was written by a user, who may be a guest.
  • How to operate the forum
    • Despite the numerous files associated with the forum, you only ever visit default.asp
    • If you open this page in your web browser, you will see the root folder open. When the forum is first installed, there will be a thread called 'Welcome to the forum'.
    • You can also make your own threads and folders. To do this, go to the folder that will contain the object you want to make, and type in the name of the thread or folder in the text box at the bottom. Then click on either 'Add Thread' or 'Add Folder' to add it. You will see that it is now listed in the folder.
    • When you are in a folder, you can open threads and folders by clicking on their names.
    • When you are in a thread, you can see the different messages in that thread listed in the order that they were posted. The user names of whoever posted each message are listed as well.
    • You can add your own messages to each thread by typing your message in the box at the bottom and pressing Enter. You may use HTML, but only in the downloadable version, not the forum on this site.
  • Moderation
    • There are a number of actions that you can complete with each post. To perform these actions, click on the '...' beside the date of the post that you want to change.
    • This will take you to the 'Change Post' screen.
    • At the top, you will see the post as it looked like before.
    • Then, there is the option to edit the post. This could be used to fix errors or remove bad language
    • Below that, you can move the post by selecting the thread to move it to with the drop down box. If the post is moved, then it will be positioned in its new thread in the order that the messages were posted.
    • Then, there is the option to hide the post. This feature is yet in use for version 1 so do not use it.
    • You can also delete the post by ticking the 'Delete Post' box. Be careful because this action is irreversible.
    • Click the Save button to save your changes or the cancel button if you do not want to make a change. You will be taken to whereever you have moved the post to.
  • Logging in
    • The method used for this may vary greatly depending on the way that the administrator has handled user accounts. However, the following instructions should tell you how the login system is integrated with the forum.
    • At the top right of the screen, there is the user account sticker. This will tell you what account you are logged on as and will allow you to log in or out.
    • If you are not logged in, the word 'Guest' will be shown. Any messages you write will be shown as being written by the account 'Guest'.
    • To login, click on 'Login' on the user sticker. You will be taken to the login page for your website. Enter your username and password on this page.
    • When you return to the forum, you will see your username displayed at the top right hand corner of the page.
    • Whenever you type in messages now, your username will be displayed beside them, along with the type of user that you are. By default, this is 'Member'.
    • You can change settings and log out by going to the relevant links in the user sticker.

What you can't do

  • Forum Version 0.1 Beta is not a finished product. Therefore, there are some features that have not yet been implemented, yet they appear in the database.
  • If you change these settings, then they may appear to have no effect but if you later upgrade to a version of this forum that supports this feature, the setting will take effect.
    • You can't hide posts.
    • Users cannot be blocked.
    • Changing someone's usertype will have no effect.
    • Threads and folders cannot be moved, renamed or deleted.
    • Changing someone's permissions will have no effect. By default, all users can do everything.
    • There is no record for when a thread is created.

Small Print

  • This forum is offered free for you to put on your own website.
  • It is fine for you to remove all references and hyperlinks to Toby, gazeteer and 1site1moment, but you must not include anything that implies that you wrote the software entirely by yourself.
  • You may change it in any way you want
  • Please don't use it for anything illegal
  • I'm not responsible for anything that you do with it
  • If you redistribute it, these same conditions must apply to anyone that you distribute it to.
  • If you need help, please contact me but I'm not obliged to answer your queries

Written by Toby. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Privacy