Invision Power Board Introduction

Transcription

INVISION POWER BOARD
Administrator Documentation
Version: 2.3.X
Table of Contents
Invision Power Board Introduction ____________________________________________ 4 Introduction___________________________________________________________________ 5 Getting Support ______________________________________________________________________ 5 Conventions Used ____________________________________________________________________ 5 Installation Guide _______________________________________________________________ 6 Requirements ________________________________________________________________________ 6 Uploading the Files ___________________________________________________________________ 6 Permissions _________________________________________________________________________ 7 Running the Installer __________________________________________________________________ 7 First Look _____________________________________________________________________ 9 Front End ___________________________________________________________________________ 9 Admin Control Panel _________________________________________________________________ 10 Tab: Management _________________________________________________________________ 11 Tab: Look & Feel _________________________________________________________________ 11 Tab: Tools & Settings ______________________________________________________________ 12 Tab: Components__________________________________________________________________ 12 Tab: Admin ______________________________________________________________________ 12 Tab: Help & Support _______________________________________________________________ 12 Front-End ________________________________________________________________ 13 Board Index___________________________________________________________________ 14 Categories & Forums ___________________________________________________________ 15 Categories _________________________________________________________________________ 16 Forums ____________________________________________________________________________ 16 Topics ________________________________________________________________________ 18 Add New Topic _____________________________________________________________________ 19 Search _______________________________________________________________________ 22 Members _____________________________________________________________________ 23 Calendar _____________________________________________________________________ 24 Events ____________________________________________________________________________ 24 My Controls __________________________________________________________________ 27 Messenger _________________________________________________________________________ 27 Subscriptions _______________________________________________________________________ 29 Personal Profile _____________________________________________________________________ 29 Options____________________________________________________________________________ 30 Moderator Tools ____________________________________________________________________ 30 Admin Control Panel _______________________________________________________ 33 Admin Overview _______________________________________________________________ 34 ACP Home _________________________________________________________________________ 34 Management __________________________________________________________________ 36 Forum Control ______________________________________________________________________ 36 Users & Groups _____________________________________________________________________ 50 Subscriptions _______________________________________________________________________ 69 Calendars __________________________________________________________________________ 75 RSS Management ___________________________________________________________________ 77 Custom BBCode ____________________________________________________________________ 82 Bad Word & Ban Filters ______________________________________________________________ 86 Attachments ________________________________________________________________________ 90 Look & Feel ___________________________________________________________________ 96 Skins & Templates ___________________________________________________________________ 96 Languages ________________________________________________________________________ 110 Emoticons ________________________________________________________________________ 112 Tools & Settings ______________________________________________________________ 114 System Settings ____________________________________________________________________ 114 Maintenance _______________________________________________________________________ 136 Post Office ________________________________________________________________________ 142 Portal Manager_____________________________________________________________________ 145 Log In Manager ____________________________________________________________________ 145 Task Manager _____________________________________________________________________ 145 Components _________________________________________________________________ 150 Invision Gallery ____________________________________________________________________ 150 Invision Community Blog ____________________________________________________________ 150 AddOnChat _______________________________________________________________________ 150 Invision Chat (ParaChat) _____________________________________________________________ 151 Invision Copyright Removal __________________________________________________________ 151 Admin ______________________________________________________________________ 152 Security Center ____________________________________________________________________ 152 List All Administrators ______________________________________________________________ 153 Components _______________________________________________________________________ 153 Statistic Center _____________________________________________________________________ 155 ACP Restrictions ___________________________________________________________________ 156 SQL Management __________________________________________________________________ 157 Board Logs________________________________________________________________________ 158 Help & Support ______________________________________________________________ 159 Help & Support ____________________________________________________________________ 159 Diagnostics _______________________________________________________________________ 159 Invision Power Board
Introduction
Topics covered in this section:
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Documentation introduction
How to install Invision Power Board
First Look
o Front End
o Admin Control Panel
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Introduction
Welcome to the documentation for Invision Power Board, an award-winning
scalable community building system, which allows you to effortlessly build,
manage and promote your online community.
This documentation is provided to better assist our customers in their
administration of a Invision Power Board Community.
Getting Support
Support for Invision Power Board is available via the following methods,
providing you have an active support license with us for Invision Power Board.
Tickets
Our client area is available at http://www.invisionpower.com/customer/ where you
can submit a support ticket 24 hours a day.
Telephone
Telephone support is available during normal business hours, 9am – 6pm EST
Monday to Friday by calling 1-800-901-5491 or 434-316-7201.
Conventions Used
Several formatting conventions are used throughout this document to indicate
particular types of information you may need to be aware of. Three types of
information box are used:
WARNING
Warning boxes display very important information that you should read.
NOTE
General informative notes, advice and links will be displayed in these boxes.
TIP
Tip boxes will be used to tell you about tips or tricks that might save time or effort.
When you are instructed to click a button, it will be shown like this: Button
Clickable links on the page or label text will be shown in italics: Add New Forum
This shows when you could or should enter text: Enter this text
Menu hierarchies will be shown like this: Top menu -> Sub menu
URL’s will be shown like this: http://www.example.com
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Invision Power Board Documentation
Installation Guide
Installation Guide
Requirements
System Requirements
To install Invision Power Board, your web server must meet the following
requirements:
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PHP 4.3+ (required), PHP 5.0+ recommended
MySQL 4.0+(required), MySQL 5.0+ recommended
You need to have access to at least one MySQL database on your MySQL
installation. The database does not need to be empty since Invision Power Board
can prefix its table names to avoid conflicts.
NOTE
Our documentation assumes you will be installing using the MySQL database driver. If
you have purchased one of our alternative database drivers, such as MSSQL or Oracle9i,
please refer to the documentation provided with those drivers for installation
instructions.
Ask your host if you are unsure about any of these requirements.
General Requirements
You will need to have an FTP client installed on your computer in order to upload
the installation files to your web server. Clients you may like to try are:
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SmartFTP (Windows) – http://www.smartftp.com
Transmit (Macintosh) – http://www.panic.com/transmit
Installing Invision Power Board does not require any programming knowledge;
however a working knowledge of FTP is useful. Consult the documentation for
your chosen FTP application if you are unsure on uploading files and setting
permissions on them.
We will assume you have already downloaded the Invision Power Board zip file
from your client area, and have unzipped it somewhere on your computer.
Uploading the Files
The download package contains all the Invision Power Board files within a
directory called upload/. This, along with the entire contents, need to be
uploaded to your web server and can then be renamed to suit your
requirements.
1
Using the FTP client, upload the upload/ directory that you have extracted
from the zip file. The usual place to upload this to is within the
public_html/ or www/ directory but you should check with your web host if
you are unsure.
2
Once all the files have been uploaded, you can rename the upload/
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Installation Guide
directory to whatever you wish. For example if you wanted to access
Invision Power Board from http://www.example.com/forums/ then you
would rename upload/ to forums/.
Permissions
The final step before starting the installation is to set the correct permissions on
certain files and directories. On Windows servers, this often does not need to be
done – the installer will tell you if you need to do anything. On Linux servers you
will need to change the permissions so that the web server can write to them.
This usually means executing a chmod command to give 777 permissions. You
can do this with your FTP client – see the documentation for your chosen FTP
application for more details.
Folder/File Name
./cache/
./cache/lang_cache/
./cache/skin_cache/
./install/installfiles/
./uploads/
/conf_global.php
chmod Setting
777
777
777
777
777
777
NOTE
Some servers will give a 500 Internal Server Error if you set the permissions on files to
anything higher than 755. If you get this error when changing the permissions to 777,
set them to 755 instead.
Running the Installer
The installation process for Invision Power Board is web based and accessed
through your browser.
1
Launch your browser and access the installer by going to
http://www.example.com/upload/install/index.php where
http://www.example.com is your domain name and /upload/ is where you
uploaded the files (change the name if you renamed the directory).
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You will see the first step of the installer which will tell you if your server
meets the requirements. If there are any problems, you will be instructed on
how to fix them. Click Next to proceed.
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Review the End User License Agreement (EULA) and tick the box if you
agree. Then click Next to proceed.
4
The addresses that Invision Power Board is located at should automatically
be detected and filled in. The Install Directory setting should be a server
path to your Invision Power Board installation, whereas the Install Address
setting should be the URL you would use to access it via a web browser.
Example settings are shown below, but consult your host if you are unsure
what these should be:
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Install Directory - /home/username/public_html/forums/
Install Address – http://www.example.com/forums/
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5
Once you have verified these addresses, click Next to proceed.
The Database Details screen configures the settings that allow Invision
Power Board to communicate with your MySQL database.
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Installation Guide
SQL Host – Unless you know otherwise, leave this set to localhost .
Database Name – Set this to the name of the MySQL database you
will be using for Invision Power Board.
SQL Username – Set this to the SQL username for the database you
entered above.
SQL Password – The password associated with the username above.
SQL Table Prefix – If necessary you can change the prefix of the
Invision Power Board database tables here but unless you otherwise
need to, we recommend you keep the default.
MySQL Table Type - Choose between the MyISAM or InnoDB MySQL
table types. If you are unsure then leave as MyISAM.
Click Next to continue. If you get an error message at this stage, verify that
you entered your database details correctly, and that the database name
you entered has already been created.
The next screen is where you will set up your admin account for Invision
Power Board. This will be the account that you use to access the staff side of
Invision Power Board, so double check the details you enter. Click Next to
proceed.
Invision Power Board is now ready to install. Click Start Installation to
proceed. The install procedure will begin and you will be shown what is
happening. Once completed, click Next to finalise the installation.
WARNING
Do not delete the install directory once the setup has completed as some files are still
needed - it will lock itself after you have completed the installation. However, please
delete the index.php file within the installer directory to ensure security of your
installation. If you forget to do this, the admin area will remind you.
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First Look
First Look
To get started, this section will give you a brief overview of how Invision Power
Board works. Invision Power Board is split into two sections – the main front end
and the admin control panel. The front end is where all the community activity
takes places whereas the admin control panel will be used to manage the
application.
The front end is accessed by going to the URL where you installed Invision Power
Board, for example http://www.example.com/forums/index.php. The admin
control panel is accessed by going to the same URL but with /admin instead of
index.php, for example http://www.example.com/forums/admin/.
Front End
The index/homepage of your Invision Power Board installation has the following
features, which are numbered on the image:
Invision Power Board Index
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First Look
1
Header - Shows the Invision Power Board logo and includes links to Help,
Search, Members list and Calendar.
2
User Bar - When logged in a user bar appears giving you links to your
profile (clicking on your username), log out, the Admin CP (if you are an
administrator), your Control Panel, search for new posts, help assistant, my
friends, and your private message inbox. When logged out, a red box
appears asking you to login.
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Category - Forums can be split into multiple categories.
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Forum - Where topics are posted.
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Forum Statistics - The total number of topics, replies and the last reply
made.
Board Statistics - Shows the currently active users, today’s birthdays,
upcoming events and member statistics.
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Footer - Allows you to change the skin, language and view the low graphics
version of the board.
Admin Control Panel
Once you have logged into the admin control panel, you will be presented with
an interface which is made up of tabbed options at the top, sub section options
on the left and the main content in the middle.
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First Look
Admin control panel index
Tab: Management
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Forum Control – Manage forums, permission sets and multi-moderation.
Users & Groups – Manage members, ranks, user groups, validating
users and custom profile fields.
Subscriptions – Manage payment gateways, packages and transactions.
Calendars – Manage calendars.
RSS Management – RSS Import/Export.
Custom BBCode – Manage BBCodes.
Word & Ban Filters – Manage bad word and ban filters.
Attachments – Attachment types, stats and search.
Tab: Look & Feel
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Skins & Templates – Skin manager, skin tools, skin import/export.
Languages – Manage languages, import language.
Emoticons – Manage emoticons, import/export emoticons.
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First Look
Tab: Tools & Settings
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System Settings – Manage board all board settings.
Maintenance – Manage help files, cache control and recounting statistics.
Post Office – Manage and create bulk e-mail.
Portal Manager – Manage portal plug-ins.
Log In Manager – Manage log in methods.
Task Manager – Manage schedule tasks.
Tab: Components
Many optional components are available to extend the functionality of your
Invision Power Board including gallery, chat and blog components. You can
purchase and manage them from this section.
Tab: Admin
This is the default tab you start in when logging into the admin control panel. It
provides you with an overview of the system, several quick search options and
menu options such as statistic viewing.
Tab: Help & Support
This tab adds tools to help troubleshoot problems with Invision Power Board for
you as the administrator and for Invision Power Services should they need to
assist you.
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Front-End
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Index
Categories & Forums
Topics
Search
Members
Calendar
My Controls
Messenger
Subscriptions
Personal Profile
Options
Moderator Tools
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Front-End
Board Index
Board Index
The index of your IP.Board installation with features numbered on the image:
1
2
3
4
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Invision Power Board Index
Header - Shows the Invision Power Board logo and includes links to Help,
Search, Members list and Calendar.
User Bar - When logged in, a user bar appears showing several links. They
are links to your profile, log out, the Admin CP (if you are an administrator),
your Control Panel, new posts search, help assistant, friends list and your
private message box. When logged out a red box shows asking to login.
Category - Forums can be split into multiple categories.
Forum - Where topics are posted.
Forum Statistics - The total number of topics, replies and the last reply
made.
Board Statistics - Shows the currently active users, today’s birthdays,
upcoming events and member statistics.
Footer - Allows you to change the skin, language and view the low graphics
version of the board.
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Categories & Forums
Categories & Forums
Central to your board are the forums housing topics that users post in.
A visual explanation of forum hierarchy
Using the screenshots above as examples, the forum hierarchy would be:
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Invision Power Services, Inc. (category)
o Company News and Updates (forum)
IPS Company Blog (sub forum)
o IPS Company Feedback (forum)
IP.Board (sub forum)
IP.Gallery (sub forum)
IP.Blog (sub forum)
IP.Converge (sub forum)
Invision Power Board supports an infinite level of sub forums for maximum
flexibility.
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Categories & Forums
Categories
Categories contain all forums and are usually used to group similar forums
together. In the front-end, clicking on a category title will refresh the page to
show only the forums within that category.
Forums
When you click on a forum name you will be taken to a list of the topics within
that forum. There are several features of the forum view page which are shown
in the image below:
The forum view page
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Breadcrumbs – These links show the path through your forum structure to
get to this forum. This example shows the forum name, the category name
and this forum name. You can click on the links to go to any section.
New Topic – Clicking this button (at the top and bottom of the topic
listing) will take you to the new topic screen.
Forum title
Forum Options – Options you can perform on this forum. See below for
details.
Topic - The (clickable) title of a topic
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Categories & Forums
Multi-Moderation Selection – Clicking the small tick box will highlight
this topic for any action you select from the drop menu (see 8)
Forum search – Search only this forum
Moderation Actions – The list of actions available for selected topics (see
6)
Users – List of users currently browsing this forum. Clicking a user will
take you to their profile.
Topic Icons – Each topic has its own icon which will change depending on
the status. This area shows the available icons and what they mean.
Filters – The first drop menu at the top allows you to quickly jump to other
forums or parts of the board. The 4 drop menus below allow you to alter
which topics are displayed and how they are sorted. Ticking the box will
remember these filters.
Forum Options
The following options are available from the Forum Options drop menu. The first
four options are available to moderators only:
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Show All Invisible Topics – If a topic is in the moderator queue
awaiting approval then you can click this to show just these invisible
topics.
Show All Topics With Invisible Posts – Some posts within a topic
may be pending approval so clicking this option will show only those
topics.
Resynchronise forum – This will recount all the statistics and check
to make sure the “Last poster” is correct.
Prune/Mass Move – This will popup a window to allow you to mass
move or delete topics from this forum.
Mark forum as read and return – Will set all topics in this forum as
read and return you to the same page
Mark forum as read and return to board index
Subscribe to this forum – This will send you e-mails when a new
topic and/or reply is made to a topic in this forum, or if a new topic is
created.
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Topics
Topics
Topics contain a list of reply posts from members related to a specific subject,
within a forum. Members read the topic and then add their own replies at the
end. Topics may also contain polls.
The topic view page
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Add Reply/New Topic – Clicking this button (at the top and bottom of the
topic listing) will take you to the add reply or new topic screen.
Topic Title– This is where topic title is displayed for current topic.
Options – Options you can perform on this topic. See below for details.
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Topics
Poster Username – The username of the member who posted this.
Clicking user will expose a drop-down menu of member specific options.
Poster Information - Various profile information about the poster.
Post Info – The IP address and post number (clickable to give you a link
back to this specific post). The moderation selection tick box allows you to
perform actions on certain posts (see 11).
Post content – The content of the post
Poster Buttons – The Top icon returns you to the top of the topic. Clicking
Report will allow you to report the specific post to the moderators.
Post Options – Delete, Edit, Quote or Reply to a specific post. Edit will
give you a quick or full edit option. The quick edit performs the editing inline without any page refresh.
Topic Search – Search this single topic.
Moderation Actions – List of actions available for selected topics (see 6)
Users currently browsing this topic
Add New Topic
Adding a new topic creates a new subject for discussion among members. When
adding a new topic several options are available.
Add new topic title & description
The first two options ask you to provide a title for the topic – this should be
short and descriptive. You can also provide a topic description, this is optional.
Should you wish to create a poll you can do so by clicking Click here to manage
this topic's poll. This will reveal the poll options. You should enter a title for the
poll and then click Add Poll Question to add a poll question. You then click the
Add Poll Choice link to add a response to the question. You can add multiple
responses and by ticking the Multiple choice question option. This option will
allow respondents to choose multiple responses. You can also add multiple
questions.
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Topics
Add new topic main content
Next, enter in the main content for the new topic. The rich text editor allows you
to format your post by changing the text style or adding emoticons.
If enabled by the admin, you can add attachments to topics by browsing your
hard disk and uploading an image. Click Browse to find the file and then click
Upload to save it to the topic.
Additional optional settings are available for the post to enable or disable specific
features such as emoticons and signatures. You can also choose to subscribe to
e-mail notifications of replies to this topic. If enabled then any textual emoticons
that have an icon will be converted to that. E.g. :) to
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Topics
Post Options
As a moderator you can also choose whether to pin, close or pin and close the
topic as soon as it is posted.
You can choose a certain time that the topic will become open to replies and
when it will close.
Finally, you can select a topic icon to appear in the topic list.
You can preview what the new topic will look like by clicking Preview Post and
actually post the topic by clicking Post New Topic .
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Search
Search
By default, Invision Power Board provides you with a simple search system
where you just enter in keywords and choose which forums you wish to search.
However, by clicking the More Options button you can refine your search terms
further to filter by member, date, where the keywords appear and the sorting for
the results.
Example advanced search usage:
Use
Means
apple banana
Find posts that contain at least
one of these words
+apple +juice
Find posts with both words
+apple -juice
Find posts with 'apple' but not
'juice'
apple*
Find posts with 'apple' and/or
'applesauce'
"some words"
Find posts with the phrase
'some words of wisdom', 'some
words' but not 'some noise
words'
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Members
Members
The members list allows you to see all the members of the board ordered
alphabetically. The list shows several pieces of information about each member.
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Display Name
Rating
Rank/Title
Member’s Activity
Member’s Group
Join Date
Number of Posts
Member list
By clicking on a member’s display name, a drop down menu will appear with a
few options, which allow you to interact with that member.
Member list
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Calendar
Calendar
The calendar allows your community to add their own events and birthdays so
that other members can see what is happening in the future. This is useful if
your community meets regularly in person or online (a game clan for example).
Calendar
By default, the calendar displays the current month in the center and the
previous and next months smaller and to the side. You can advance through the
months by clicking the << or >> links at the top either side of the name of the
current month. Each week has a >> icon on the left, which you can click to view
that week in a diary format.
At the bottom of the page you can use the Calendar Navigation to view the
current month or week. The Calendar Jump allows you to select a very specific
month and year to display as well as choosing which calendar to display. You can
set up multiple calendars which different members can have access to.
Events
If permissions are configured accordingly, members can add new events to the
calendar. An event can be:
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Calendar
Single – Only occurs once
Ranged – Occurs over several days/weeks/months
Recurring – Occurs several times at regular intervals
Adding a new event is done by clicking one of the three links in the bottom right
section marked Add New Event.
Add event
The first option is to add a title for the event. This is what will appear on the
calendar view.
Next, a date for the event is required. This will differ depending on the type of
event you are entering – whether it requires a single date, a range or a recurring
date. If the event occurs at a specific time then tick the box marked If this is not
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Calendar
an all-day event, do you wish to specify a 'start' time? and then choose a time
zone and start time.
The next option asks you to choose which calendar to add this event to and
whether you want this to be a public event or one that just you can see. As an
administrator you can see all events and access all calendars, but members will
only be able to access those which they have permissions for.
To further adjust the permissions you can choose which member groups have
access to the event rather than have the permissions inherit from the calendar
permissions.
Next you need to enter a description for the event. The rich text editor is the
same as when you are adding or replying to a new topic.
Finally, you can choose whether or not you wish to enable emoticons in the main
body. If enabled then any textual emoticons that have an icon will be converted
to that. E.g. :) to
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My Controls
My Controls
All members get access to a control panel to allow them to configure their
account and how the forum behaves for them. The control panel is split into
several sections to contain the different options and features. The main page of
the control panel shows a summary of your account and includes a text area
notepad for you to make any notes.
My control panel
Messenger
If enabled, all users can send private messages to each other. These are like emails but internal to your board.
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Compose New Message – Write a new message to a member
Inbox/Sent Items/Saved PMs – These are folders that are created by
default to store your messages. You can add your own folders to organise
your messages.
Empty PM Folders – This will show how many messages are in each
folder and allow you to delete them all in one go.
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My Controls
Edit Storage Folders – You can rename the names of the existing
folders and create new ones to store your messages in from this page.
PM Buddies/Block List – This acts as an address book within the forum
to allow you to quickly send messages to other members or block any
messages from a specific member.
Archive Messages – Because you only have a limited amount of space
for messages (configurable by the admin) you can choose to have all the
messages e-mailed to you in a single file so you can delete them from
your folders.
Message Tracker – When sending a message you can choose whether to
track it or not. This will then show up on this page to tell you if a member
has read the message or not.
Compose New Message
Composing a new message is similar to sending an e-mail. You are required to
enter in the username of the recipient and any members you wish to CC the
message to (one per line). Ticking the Hide CC recipients from others? option
will hide the recipients as if they had been sent as a BCC.
The message title is the subject of the message and then you should enter the
body of the message into the rich text editor.
If enabled by the admin, you can add attachments to topics by browsing your
hard disk and uploading an image. Click Browse to find the file and then click
Upload to save it to the message.
Finally, there are two options to allow you to save a copy of the sent message
and enable the tracking to be able to see if the member has read the message.
You can choose to preview the message, send it now or save and then send it at
a later time. If you choose to send it at a later time it will be placed into the
Saved (Unsent) PMs folder.
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My Controls
Subscriptions
Invision Power Board allows you to subscribe to update notifications for both
forums and topics. This will cause you to receive an e-mail when they receive a
reply or a new topic is created.
Subscriptions
Subscriptions you have created will be displayed in a table sorted by date. The
default is to show only topics that have been updated in the last 30 days but this
can be changed from the drop menu on the right beneath the table. There is no
sorting for forums.
There are several types of subscription that you can create. You can change the
type of subscription by placing a tick in the box to the right of each subscription
and then choosing the type from the drop menu and clicking on with selected .
This can also be used to remove the subscription. The types of subscription are
as follows:
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No Email Notification - This option will not send out any email
notification but will retain the topic or forum in your subscriptions panel.
Delayed Emailed Notification - This option will send out a notification if
a new topic or reply has been made and you are not active on the board.
Immediate Email Notification - This option will send out a notification
immediately after a new topic or reply has been made regardless of your
activity.
Daily Email Digest - This option will send out a daily digest showing all
new replies or topics for that day.
Weekly Email Digest - This option will send out a weekly digest showing
all new replies or topics for that week.
Personal Profile
Your personal profile is what appears when other members view your profile. It
includes the personal information about you, that you wish to be displayed. This
section allows you to configure what is displayed.
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My Controls
Edit Profile Information – This provides the options to edit your
birthday; website URL; ICQ, AIM, Yahoo and MSN addresses; location;
and interests.
Edit Personal Portal Information – A personal statement can be added
here. There are also notification and moderation options for new
comments and friends that are added to your profile.
Edit Signature – The signature appears beneath every post you make
and is often used to provide your name, a link to your website or some
form of witty quote.
Edit Avatar Settings – Choose from avatars that are provided with
Invision Power Board or provide your own by linking or uploading it. This
avatar is a small image that appears next to every post you make and on
your profile.
Change Personal Photo – A personal photo can be displayed in your
profile. A photo can be an uploaded or externally linked image.
Change Display Name – In addition to your username, each account has
a display name which is what appears on the board as the poster. From
here you can change it. It will not affect your login username.
Options
These options change the way the board works for you.
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Purchase Paid Subscriptions – If there are paid subscriptions available
then this page will allow you to view and change them.
Manage Your Attachments – Files you upload are recorded here so you
can quickly see (and remove if necessary) what you have uploaded to the
board. Every member has a quota for files they can upload and this page
allows you to manage this.
Manage Friend List – This section gives you ability to manage friend list,
view friends pending approval, and find new friends via a redirect to the
members list.
Manage Ignored Users - This section allows you to set up your ignored
users list. When you add a user to your ignore list, any posts they make
will be masked until you specify that you wish to read them.
E-Mail Settings – This allows you to configure who can see your e-mail
address and send you e-mails as well as default preferences for when
posting on the board.
Board Settings – These are global options which will change the way the
board works. This includes changing your time zone to adjust the time
displayed on the board to your local time; viewing signatures, images and
avatars, enabling the private messaging; and using the fast reply option.
Change E-Mail Address/Password – Update your e-mail address and
password.
Moderator Tools
Administrators and super moderators get access to 3 additional options so they
can perform their moderator tasks easier.
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My Controls
IP Address Lookup
This option will allow you to look up an IP address. There are three options you
can choose:
•
•
•
Resolve IP Address - This option will allow you to look up an IP address
for more information (note, you must enter all 4 parts of the IP address to
use this tool).
Find Posts with this IP - This option will run a search for all posts
associated with this IP address.
Find members who registered with this IP - This tool will run a
search for all members who registered with the entered IP address.
You may enter a wildcard * as the last part of the IP address. For example,
127.*.*.* will match all IP address that start with 127.
127.1.0.* will match all IP addresses that start with 127.1.0.
An error will occur if you attempt to use a wildcard in the middle of the IP
address. For example, 127.*.0.1 will return an error.
Member Lookup Tool
This will allow you to find a specific member and edit their profile. This is useful
if you want to quickly remove a malicious avatar or signature.
Member lookup
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My Controls
Edit member
Manage Announcements
Announcements appear within a forum at the top and can be created and
managed by moderators from this page.
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Admin Control Panel
Admin Control Panel
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Admin Overview
Management
Forum Control
Subscriptions
Calendars
RSS Management
Custom BBCode
Word & Ban Filters
Attachments
Look & Feel
Skins & Templates
Languages
Emoticons
Tools & Settings
System Settings
Maintenance
Post Office
Portal Manager
Log In Manager
Task Manager
Components
Admin
Components
Statistics Center
ACP Restrictions
SQL Management
Board Logs
Help & Support
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Admin Overview
Admin Overview
The administration control panel is the powerhouse behind your forum. This is
where all settings for your board are set up and later edited if necessary.
You can access your admin control panel in two different ways. The first requires
that you simply click the Admin CP link shown at the top of your board when you
are logged in.
User bar with Admin CP link
You can also access your admin panel by going to
http://www.example.com/forums/admin/ (substituting these example values
for your real domain and path) in your web browser.
Enter the username and password that you use to log into your board, and you
will be redirected to the admin control panel homepage.
ACP Home
The home page for the admin control panel provides you with a quick overview
of your forum installation.
1
2
Admin control panel index
Menu Bar – Each section is covered in more detail later in this menu.
Options – You can see here which user you are logged in as, can click to
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Admin Overview
view the front end of your forum and log out.
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Sub Menu – Menu options within the main section selected in the menu
bar are displayed here.
Version Check – Shows whether you are running the latest version of
Invision Power Board or not.
IPS Latest News – The latest news topics from the IPS website are
displayed here.
System Overview – Shows interesting information such as the PHP
version, number of members and the total size of uploads.
ACP Notes - This is a handy notepad you can use to jot down things you
need to remember, or things you want other administrators to see. Enter
some text in the box and click Save Admin Notes .
Quick Clicks – You can quickly search for a member, add a new forum or
perform a PHP function lookup from this form. Enter the search terms into
the box and click Go…
Version History – Shows the last 5 upgrades you performed and when.
Administrators Using the ACP – Shows the currently online
administrators logged into the ACP and what they are doing.
Last 5 ACP Actions – Shows the last 5 actions performed in the ACP and
by whom.
Last 5 ACP Log in Attempts – Shows last 5 login attempts into the ACP
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Management
Management
Forum Control
Central to your board are the forums housing topics that users post in.
A visual explanation of forum hierarchy
Using the screenshots above as examples, the forum hierarchy would be:
•
Invision Power Services, Inc. (category)
o Company News and Updates (forum)
IPS Company Blog (sub forum)
o IPS Company Feedback (forum)
IP.Board (sub forum)
IP.Gallery (sub forum)
IP.Blog (sub forum)
IP.Converge (sub forum)
Invision Power Board supports an infinite level of sub forums for maximum
flexibility.
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When you click on the Management tab, the default screen is the same as if you
click on the Manage Forums link in the sub menu. This shows you all of your
categories, forums and sub forums so you can control them.
Forum management tables
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Tabs – By default forums will be listed in a tiered format where forums will
be listed under their parent categories with the description displayed
beneath. Clicking the Show All tab will list every forum and category in the
system. Clicking it again (it will change to say Show Tiered ) will return you
to the original view.
Category – The category is the parent to which forums belong.
Reorder Categories – When you have multiple categories, you can choose
the order they appear in by changing the value in this drop menu and then
clicking the Reorder Categories button at 7.
Category Options – Create a new forum, edit permissions, edit settings,
delete or show skin options all for this category.
Forum Options – Change the settings and permissions, empty and delete
the forum, set the forum rules, skin options and resynchronise the forum.
Reorder Children – It is not possible to reorder child forums underneath a
forum category from this screen, so to do this, select which category you
wish to reorder the children of from the drop menu and click Reorder
Children .
Add New Category/Reorder Category – Add a new forum or reorder the
categories as described in 3.
Add Moderator – Quickly add a user or a whole user group as a moderator
for the ticked forum(s).
Permission Sets
Permission sets are a matrix of permissions that you set up to define access (or
lack of) to each of your forums. You can create as many permission sets as you
need to. The power of permission sets becomes apparent with the ability to
assign more than one permission set to a particular user. For example, a
member of the "Member" group will have the "Member" group permission set
applied to them. However, if you then wanted to give just that member access
to a forum usually reserved for moderators, you could create a new permission
set that specifies access to the forum then apply both sets to the member. They
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will then have all the usual permissions of the "Member" group, but additionally
have access to the moderator forum. Other members of the "Member" group will
still only have their usual access. Permission sets can be layered in this way to
define many different levels of access as required.
How permission sets layer
NOTE
The important concept to remember when creating permission sets is the positive takes
precedence, i.e. if one set assigned to a member grants access but another denies
access, the user will have access.
You can assign as many permission sets as you like to a user.
For each forum created on your board, you can specify 5 different permissions
for that forum. These are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Show - Will the user be able to see the forum in forum listings/on the
board index?
Read - Can the users with this set read topics posted inside this forum?
Reply - Can the users with this set reply to topics posted inside this
forum?
Start - Can the users with this set create new topics in this forum?
Upload - Can the users with this set upload files to topics in this forum (if
group permissions allow)?
Download – Can the users with this set download attachments to topics
in this forum?
For all permissions, the ability to allow or deny access to it is available.
The permission sets can be viewed by clicking on Permission Sets from the menu
on the left in the Management section of the admin control panel.
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Forum permission sets
The top section houses the permission sets you have already defined, with some
details and controls for each on the right hand side. The first column, in bold, is
the name of the permission set. Moving right, the next column lists which groups
use this permission set as their group set. The third column shows how many
members are using this set. The last column provides a link to a popup menu
which will give you options to preview or edit the set.
NOTE
The third column only counts those members who have had their permission set(s)
explicitly set by an administrator. It will not, for example, count members who use this
set by default if it is their group set.
By clicking the Preview link a window will open that gives you a visual
representation of what access this set allows:
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Forum permission sets
The top section is the preview pane showing the access permissions. Forums
shown in green text can be accessed by this set, while forums shown in red text
cannot. The grey text simply means the category does not use this permission.
This is also shown in the legend below the preview pane. The drop-down box
below the legend allows you to change the type of permission you are viewing a
preview for. For example, if you select Upload from the dropdown box, the page
will refresh to display the upload permissions this set allows in this forum.
Adding a Permission Set
Adding a permission set is simple. From the permission set management page,
Forum Control -> Manage Permissions , enter a name for the new set in the Create
a new permission set section. If your new set will be somewhat similar to an
existing set, you may wish to choose this set in the dropdown box in this
section. This will pre-load the permissions matrix you will see in the next step
with the permissions from the set you specify, making it very simple to work
with similar permissions. Double check the information you have entered, and
click Create to create the set. The management screen will refresh and you will
see your new set listed in the top section of the page.
Now that your set has initially been created, follow the steps for editing a set to
set the permissions for it.
Editing a Permission Set
To begin editing a permission set, simply click the Edit link to the right-hand side
of the set name on the management screen. This will take you to a screen
containing the permission matrix where permissions are defined.
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If this is the first time you have edited this set after creating it following the
above directions, the permission matrix will be empty. However, if you specified
a set to inherit permissions from when you created it those permissions will
already be entered into the matrix ready for you to modify as necessary.
You will notice a section at the top of the screen that allows you to change the
name of the set if you wish; to use this, just enter the new name and click Edit
name .
Down the left hand side there is a list of forums you currently have set up on
your board. Along the top are the 5 permissions you can allow or deny. Begin
defining your set by working your way down the forum list and checking the
boxes relative to the access you want to define.
If the word Global appears in a column, this indicates then when that forum was
created, you chose apply the permission to all sets current at the time, and
future sets. Since the permission is therefore global, you cannot modify it in a
new permission set. If you want to be able deny access to an action in a forum
and the box is labelled as Global, you will need to edit the forum in question and
change the permissions of that forum so that it is not set to apply its
permissions globally.
WARNING
Double-check all of your selections before submitting the information to ensure you are
not accidentally granting access to forums that you do not want this set to access.
When you are happy with your set, click Update Forum Permissions to confirm the
changes.
Deleting a permission set
Invision Power Board only allows you to delete permission sets when they are
not assigned to any users or groups. If it did not do this, you could cause major
permission conflicts or errors by deleting a set that users relied on for access to
forums.
While the set is in use, the far-right column of the management screen will read
Can't, in use. If you want to delete the set, you must un-assign the set from any
users who currently use it and from any groups that currently use it as their
default permissions.
To view which members currently have the set assigned, click the View link in
the third column of the management screen. This will open a new window
containing a list of those users currently assigned this set as well as some
controls for managing the sets assigned to them.
For each user listed, you have the ability to un-assign the set in question, unassign all sets assigned to them, or edit the member. Clicking Remove this set
will un-assign the set from the user and provide a confirmation accordingly.
WARNING
Beware that un-assigning permission sets from users is likely to mean they are not able
to access the forums they usually can. If you are replacing one set with another, it may
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be safer to first create and assign the new set(s), then go back and remove the old set
so as to minimise disruption to your members. Once a set has been deleted it cannot be
retrieved - it must be recreated from scratch.
When the set is no longer assigned to any users or member groups, a Delete link
will appear in the far-right column of the management screen. Clicking this link
will remove the set and update the management screen accordingly.
Create New Forum – Basic Settings
Clicking the Add New Forum link from the left menu takes you to a page that
allows you to create a new forum on your board. There is a wealth of options on
this page, and depending on what sort of forum you are creating some will apply
and some will not.
The first section applies to all types of forum. The forum name and forum
description fields are those that will display to users on the board.
Forum name and description
The next setting is the one that will determine what position the forum plays on
your board. Select an existing forum to make your new forum part of that
hierarchy. The list in the drop-down box is staggered so that each hierarchy is
easily identifiable. If you wish to make a new category then choose the Add New
Category link from the left menu instead.
The final option in this section allows you to select whether you will allow
topics/posts in the new forum. If you are creating a new category, if you choose
not to allow posts and topics it will display as a category, much like how
categories worked on previous versions of Invision Power Board. If you do allow
topics/posts, it will still show as a category for other forums, but users will
additionally be able to click the category name and post in it.
Create New Forum – Forum Redirect Settings
Invision Power Board has a redirect forum feature that allows you to create a
forum that acts as a link to another site or page. This forum will not accept
topics or posts automatically, regardless of other settings you choose.
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Forum redirect settings
The first setting requires the URL of the page you want the forum to link to.
NOTE
You must include http:// in any URL's you enter otherwise the link will not operate
properly.
Switch on the URL redirect is the master switch for this redirect forum. To enable
the redirect this needs to be set to Yes. Setting it to No will turn the forum into a
normal, postable forum.
The final box in this setting is mainly for informational purposes, although it does
allow you to edit the figure if you desire. It records the total number of clicks of
this forum by users.
Example of a redirect forum
Create New Forum – Permission Settings
Invision Power Board allows you to 'tease' users into registering by showing
them a forum exists on the main page but not allowing them to view the
contents of the forum until they are logged in. This is done in the Permission
Settings.
By enabling the first setting in the Permission Settings section of the new forum
page, you can further tease them by allowing them to also view the topic titles
inside of the forum but not actually view the posts in a topic. This is often a
useful feature for encouraging people to register as a member.
The second and final setting in this section allows you to write a custom error
message that will be displayed if a user tried to view the contents of a forum or
topic that they do not have access to due to the 'tease' feature, e.g. 'Please
register today for full access to this forum!'. You may use HTML in this setting,
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although line-breaks are automatically converted to tags. If left blank, a
default 'permission denied' error is used.
Create New Forum – Postable Forum Settings: Options
This section of the new forum page allows you to configure several settings
relating to the features that forums have. The settings here do not apply to nonpostable forums, or to redirect forums.
Enable HTML Posting (where allowed)
If a group has permission to use HTML, enabling this option will allow them to
use HTML in this forum.
WARNING
Unless you implicitly trust every single member that you allow to use HTML, enabling
this feature poses a major security threat.
Enable BBCode Posting
If enabled, users will be permitted to use BBCode tags in posts made in this
forum.
Enable Quick Reply
Quick Reply is a feature that enables users to quickly post in a topic without
loading the usual Add Reply page. The posting box is minimal with no emoticons
or tag buttons (although the raw tags themselves will still appear in the post).
To enable the Quick Reply feature, set this option to Yes.
The Quick Reply box
Enable Polls (per user group option)
If a member group has permission to create polls and this setting is enabled,
users will be able to create new polls in this forum.
Enable Poll Bump
If enabled, a poll vote will move the topic to the top of the list when sorted by
date.
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Enable Topic Rating (per user group option)
If a member group has permission to rate topics and this setting is enabled,
users will be able to rate topics.
Enable Post Count Incrementation
If enabled, a user’s post count will be incremented by one when they make a
post in this forum. Disabling this setting is often useful for 'test posting' forums
or 'spam forums' where you do not want to 'reward' members for posting.
Create New Forum – Postable Forum Settings: Moderation
Enable Posting Moderation
If enabled, all posts made in this forum will be put in the moderation queue,
requiring approval from a moderator before being displayed publicly. Group
permissions may allow certain groups to bypass the moderation queue
regardless of this setting. You have the choice of moderating both replies AND
topics made, ONLY replies (and not topics) or ONLY topics (and not replies).
Email addresses to send new topic awaiting approval notification
If you have enabled moderation in this forum via the above setting, by entering
an e-mail address here you will receive a notification when there are new topics
or replies that require approval. You can enter more than one e-mail address if
required by separating each address with a comma (,). e.g: [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected]
Forum Password
Invision Power Board allows you to set a forum up to be password protected,
preventing access to users unless they know the password. Enter your desired
password here or leave it blank if you do not want to password protect the new
forum.
NOTE
Passwords are case sensitive, so HELLO is different from hello and Hello. Remember
the casing that you use since the password will need to be entered exactly as it was set
for Invision Power Board to grant access to this forum.
Exempt Groups
If you have specified a password for the forum, you can allow members of
certain groups to bypass having to enter it before being able to view the forum.
Create New Forum – Postable Forum Settings: Sorting & Ordering
Default date cut off for topic display
To prevent an excessive number of topics being displayed in a forum, users have
the choice to restrict the topics they are shown by how old the topics are. This
setting sets the default cut-off point for this forum which a user can individually
override if they prefer a different cut-off limit. Selecting Show All will show all
topics in a forum regardless of their age.
Default sort key
Users also have the ability to order the topics displayed in a forum by several
different keys, e.g. they can order topics by age, by the user that posted the
topic, by the number of replies, etc. This setting defines the default sort key to
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be used for this forum, though again, the user can individually override this if
they desire.
Default sort order
Related to the above setting, this option defines the order in which the topics will
display; either ascending or descending. Descending will start from the
largest/newest value and work downwards, while ascending will start from the
smallest/oldest value and work upwards. e.g. sorting by the date a topic was
posted and setting this to descending will show the newest topic first, working
down to the oldest at the end of the forum.
Default sort filter
This defines the default listing option for the forum. For example if you set this
to Hot Topics then only hot topics would be shown when viewing this forum.
Create New Forum – Permission Access Levels
Forum permissions are created based on the permission set system. Each forum
has 5 permissions that you can control. They are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Show Forum - Will the user be able to see the forum in forum listings/on
the board index?
Read Topics - Can the users with this set read topics posted inside this
forum?
Reply Topics - Can the users with this set reply to topics posted inside
this forum?
Start Topics - Can the users with this set create new topics in this
forum?
Upload - Can the users with this set upload files to topics in this forum (if
group permissions allow)?
Download – Can the users with this set download attachments to topics
in this forum?
You can assign any of these permissions to each permission set you have set up
on your board to fine tune the access that users have.
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The forum permissions matrix
Your current permission sets are listed on the left-hand side, with the 5 forum
permissions listed along the top. Work down the permission set list to assign
each set the permissions that you desire.
TIP
Clicking the
buttons will automatically check (+) or uncheck (-) a row/column
of checkboxes. The buttons on the left side will check all forum permissions for that
permission set, while the buttons along the bottom will check all of the checkboxes for
that forum permission for all permission sets. These buttons can save a lot of clicking if
you have a lot of permission sets.
On the left hand side, above your current permission sets, is an entry entitled All
current and future permission sets. This can be thought of as being a 'global'
permission that will apply to all permission sets you have, including future sets
you may create.
NOTE
Be careful when using this global option, since when you create more permission sets at
some point in the future, you may be inadvertently granting access to this forum,
forgetting that this global setting will automatically apply to the new group. Only utilise
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this option if you are sure you want all groups to have these permissions, now and in the
future.
Forum Rules
Once you have added a forum, clicking the options button next to the forum
name on the Manage Forums page will reveal a menu which allows you to set
the forum rules. These rules appear above the list of topics in the frontend.
Forum guidelines
Once you have clicked Forum Rules from the menu, a form will be displayed to
allow you to set up the rules for the forum. You need to give the rules a title and
then can type them into the box titled Rules Text. You can use HTML to format
the layout.
Topic Multi-Moderation
Multi-moderation is an innovative feature that is designed to make life easy for
you and your moderators. It allows you to automatically run a sequence of
moderation actions on a topic simply by selecting the multi-mod from a list
inside the topic. Some of the actions you can perform are:
•
•
•
•
•
Changing the topic title
Opening/closing the topic
Pinning/unpinning the topic
Moving the topic
Replying to the topic
Multi-moderations can be assigned to either individual forums, or board-wide.
WARNING
Actions contained in multi-moderation will override any permission that the moderator
using them has.
Creating and Accessing Multi-Moderations
To begin setting up your new multi-mod click Topic Multi-Moderation in the
Forum Control sub menu of the Management tab then click the Add New button.
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Adding a new topic multi-moderation
Start by entering a name for the multi-moderation. This is the name that will
appear in the moderation drop-down box on your board, so it is a good idea to
name it something that indicates its purpose.
Next decide which forums this multi-mod will be active in. To make it board-wide
select -- ALL FORUMS -- or select individual forums to make it active only in
those forums.
TIP
You can select more than one individual forum for the multi-mod to be active in.
Windows users hold down Ctrl and click each forum; Mac users hold down Apple and
click each forum.
The next section is where you define exactly what actions this multi-mod will
perform. The first two options allow you to add a prefix and suffix, respectively,
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to the topic title. E.g. if your prefix was (SPAM) , applied to a topic with a title of
"Visit here!" the topic title would then be "(SPAM) Visit here!". The suffix works
in the same way, adding text to the end of the title.
The next setting allows you to open or lock the topic. Below this, you can also
decide whether to pin or unpin the topic (the default setting Leave will not affect
the current topic or pin state).
You are also able to move the topic to another forum if needed. Select the forum
you want to move the topic to, and check the box labelled Leave a link to the
source topic? if you want to leave a Moved link in the original forum.
Finally, you are able to add a reply to the topic. The reply will appear in the
name of the person using the multi-mod at the time. To enable the reply action,
select Yes in the enable options. Enter your reply in the text box. You are able to
use HTML in this reply if you wish. Although the multi-mod will post this HTML as
the reply, moderators will not then be able to go back and edit the raw HTML, so
using HTML here is secure. Below this, check the box to increment the
moderators post count when they use this multi-mod.
Once you are happy with your actions, click Add New Multi-Moderation to set up
the multi-mod.
Once created, your multi-moderation will appear at the foot of topics posted
inside of the forums in which this multi-mod is active. To use the multi-mod,
simply select it from the list and click Go .
Accessing a multi-moderation
Users & Groups
There are many administrative tasks you might wish to perform on member
accounts on your board. Invision Power Board groups these functions together in
the 'Manage Members' section of the admin control panel, found by going to
Users & Groups -> Manage Members .
Finding a member
Before being able to edit a member, you must first find their account. To do so,
you search using the form first displayed on the Manage Members screen.
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Member search screen
The easiest search method is to enter all or part of the member’s username in
the first box or display name in the second box (changing the option in the
dropdown box to the left as appropriate). If you want to choose an individual
member to edit or delete then leave the third Type of Search dropdown box on
the selected value. You can also choose to mass prune (i.e. mass delete)
members; select the Find members to mass prune option if you wish to do this.
To narrow down the results, Invision Power Board also provides numerous other
fields that you can search by. Note that if you use one of these additional fields
to search by, you do not need to use the basic search box if you do not wish to.
The fields available for searching are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
E-mail Address - all or part of the e-mail address
Member Suspended - whether they are suspended or not
IP Address - all or part of the IP address
AIM Name - all or part of their AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) screen
name
ICQ Number - all or part of their ICQ number
Yahoo! Identity - all or part of their Yahoo! Identity
Signature - all or part of their board signature
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Less than n posts - match if they have less than this number of posts
Group - which group they are in
Additionally, three of the fields accept dates to restrict the results by a time
measurement. These are:
•
•
•
Registered between - the date the user registered
Last post between - when they made their last post
Last active between - when they were last active
In the case of these fields, you are able to enter a start date and end date
range. Both are optional, e.g. if you only specify an ending date, Invision Power
Board will search for all matches up to that date; if you only specify a start date
it will search for all matches from that date onwards.
Click Find Member to run the search. If matches were found, you will be shown a
list of them.
Results of searching for a member
When searching for members, the top section of each result provides information
about the member for identification; the bottom section provides controls for
maintaining the member.
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Results of searching for members to prune
When searching for members to prune, a list of members located will be shown.
To delete these members click Complete Member Pruning .
Registration
The usual way that a new member is added to your database is by the user
registering themselves on your forums using the registration page. They can
choose their own username and password and there is no administrator
intervention required (unless new member validation is enabled). However,
there are some situations where you may need to manually register a member
when they cannot do it themselves or when you run a board where you want to
set up certain users manually. For this reason, the admin control panel allows
you to manually create a new member account.
To add a new member manually, go to Users & Groups -> Add New Member in the
admin control panel.
Adding a new member manually
Enter the username, password and e-mail address of the person you are
registering, and choose which member group they should belong to. Doublecheck the information, and click Register Member .
If everything went well you will receive a confirmation message to that effect
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and the new member will be able to log in with the username and password you
chose.
Member Ranks
Member ranks are a fun feature that allows you to create various rankings based
on the number of posts a member has. For example when a member first
registers their rank may be 'Newbie', when they reach 50 posts it may be
'Settled In' and on 500 posts it may be 'Needs A Life' - of course, you are free to
choose whatever rank titles you wish. Member ranks do not serve any purpose
other than displaying in member profiles.
If you have allowed members to edit their member title then the member
ranking text will be replaced with the member title text. Member rankings can be
thought of as the default member titles.
Navigating to Users and Groups -> Manage Ranks in the admin control panel will
take you to the Member Rank management page.
Member rank management
Invision Power Board sets up 3 member ranks by default:
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Newbie - Assigns 1 pip at 0 posts
Member - Assigns 2 pips at 10 posts
Advanced Member - Assigns 3 pips at 30 posts
Member Ranks – Adding
To add a new member rank you need to complete the form displayed at the foot
of the member rank management page.
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Rank title
The title of this rank level as it will appear in member profiles.
Minimum number of posts needed
The number of posts required for the member to be assigned this rank.
Number of pips
The number of pip images that will represent this rank. Alternatively you can
assign a different image to this rank by entering the filename in this box, e.g.
rank1pip.gif . Rank images are uploaded to
style_images/{img_dir}/folder_team_icons. The {img_dir} is the
corresponding directory to the skin you are applying your images to.
Member Ranks – Editing
To edit an existing rank, simply click the Edit link to the right of the rank name
on the rank management page. This will load the editing page which will look
identical to the Add Rank box. The only difference will be the existing data will
be entered in the fields for you already.
To delete a member rank, click the Delete link to the right of the rank name on
the member rank management page.
User Groups
Every member of your board will belong to a user group; as the name implies,
this is a group of users. User groups are primarily used for assigning permissions
but they are often also used to show status on a board, e.g. the difference
between a customer and a member.
NOTE
The terms 'user group' and 'member group' are often used interchangeably; they are
exactly the same.
When Invision Power Board is first installed, it sets up 6 user groups by default:
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Administrators - those that are able to access the admin control panel
and modify board settings, manage users etc.
Banned - Users in this group will not be able to access the board. This
group is used for troublesome members you do not want using your
board.
Guests - This group is assigned to all users that have not registered or
logged in.
Members - The general population of your board; users that have
registered and logged in and are identified by a username.
Root Admin (ROOT) - Administrators in this group are root
administrators. As the board owner, you are a root admin.
Validating - If you have enabled admin or e-mail validation, users will be
placed in this group until their account is validated. It can be thought of as
a holding area.
NOTE
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None of the above groups except Banned and the non-root administrator group can be
removed from Invision Power Board since they are used internally. However, you are
free to edit the group settings (including the group name) as discussed later. The
banned user group is created by default since virtually every board has some form of
banned user group, but it is not required and may be deleted if desired.
The basic permission model with Invision Power Board is dealt with by user
groups. Via user groups, you are able to grant or deny the ability to perform
certain functions. For example, while those in the Admin group are able to use
the admin control panel those in Members certainly are not. User groups are
combined with Permission Sets to build the complete permissions of a user:
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User group permissions - Define what a user can do in relation to board
functions
Permission sets - Define where a user can go on the board
Each user group is assigned one or more permission sets which act as the
default permissions that users in that group are granted (you can override
individual users' permissions by editing a user).
To manage user groups, navigate to the user group management page by going
to Users and Groups -> Manage User Group .
Member group management
Each of the groups you currently have set up will be listed. If you click the group
name, you will be taken to the member list showing all members in this group.
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For reference, if a group has access to the admin control panel or has Super
Moderator permissions, they are labelled as such. There is also a count of how
many members populate this group. Finally, there are options for editing and
deleting the group which are revealed by clicking the button on the far right.
At the foot of the page is a simple form you use for adding a new user group.
User Groups – Adding
To add a new user group, begin by selecting an existing group from the
dropdown list shown on the user group management screen ( Users and Groups ->
Manage User Groups ). The group you select will act as a template for the
permissions you will create in the next step, so pick the group with the closest
permissions to the ones you will shortly assign.
The next screen you will see is identical to that you would see when editing a
group. We will not cover the same procedure twice so continue adding a group
by following the Editing A Group instructions.
User Groups – Editing
To edit a user group, simply click the button to the right of the group name on
the user group management page ( Users and Groups -> Manage User Groups ) and
click Edit Group which appears.
While many settings are exposed on this page, they are split into categories
according to type.
Global Settings
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Group Title - The name of this group, as it will be referred to on the
board.
Use forum permission access - The Permission Set(s) that this group
will use as its default. You can select more than one.
Group icon image - An image that will be displayed underneath the
member’s avatar to indicate which group they are in. Group images are
skin-dependant; that is, if you wish to use a different image for each skin
you have installed, this functionality is available. Enter the URL to the
image in this box. To use skin-dependant images, use the tag
<#IMG_DIR#> , which will be replaced with the directory of the skin the
member is using.
Online List Format [Prefix] - To easily identify users in this group on
the active user list, you can choose to prefix their name. For example, if
you wanted users in this group to display as ":: Dave", you would set the
prefix to :: .
Online List Format [Suffix] - As above, though this is a suffix.
Hide this group on the member list? - If set to Yes, members of this
group will be hidden from the members list found by clicking the Members
link on the board front end.
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Global settings
Upload Permissions
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GLOBAL: Max total file space for uploads in PMs and posts (in KB)
- The amount of disk space assigned to users in this group for uploads in
personal messages and posts. Measured in kilobytes (KB). If you wish to
disallow uploads for this group, leave this box empty.
PER POST: Max total file space allowed in each post or PM (in KB)
– The amount of disk space allowed in an individual post or Personal
Message. This amount should be less than your total file space limit. Enter
0 (zero) or leave blank to not have a per-post/PM limit. If no limit is set,
the total file space limit will still apply.
PERSONAL PHOTO: Max upload file size (in KB) - The amount of disk
space members in this group may use when uploading a personal
photograph, in kilobytes (KB). If you wish to disallow photograph uploads,
leave this box blank. If you wish to limit the dimensions of the uploaded
photograph enter a width and height in the provided boxes.
AVATARS: Allow avatar uploads - Select Yes to allow this group to
upload avatars to your board.
PMs: Allow PM attachments - If enabled, users will be able to attach
files to personal messages sent to other users.
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Upload permissions
Global Permissions
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Can view the board? - If disabled, members in this group will not be
able to view the board (i.e. they will not have access).
Can view OFFLINE board? - If enabled, members in this group will be
able to log in and access the board even if it is taken offline by an
administrator.
Can view member profiles and the member list? - Specifies whether
members in this group are able to view member profiles and the member
list.
Can view other member’s topics? - Specifies whether members in this
group are able to view topics created by other members.
Can use search - Specifies whether members in this group can use the
search function of Invision Power Board.
Number of seconds for search flood control - Specifies the number of
seconds members must wait after searching before being able to search
again. The server load may be adversely affected if members are able to
search without any flood control.
Can e-mail members from the board? - Specifies whether members in
this group are able to use the e-mail functions of Invision Power Board to
contact other members. Additionally, you can specify how many e-mails
users can send per day, and how often they may send e-mails. If you
prefer not to impose limits on e-mailing, leave these boxes empty.
Can edit own profile info? - Specifies whether the user has the ability
to edit their profile information.
Can use PM system? - Specifies whether the user has the ability to send
personal messages to other users.
Max. Number users allowed to mass PM? - Invision Power Board
allows members to 'mass PM' several other users in one go. This setting
defines how many users members are able to PM at once. To disable mass
PMing leave this box blank.
Max. Number of storable messages? - Specifies the number of
personal messages members in this group are able to store in their inbox.
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Global permissions
Posting Permissions
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Can post new topics (where allowed)? - If enabled, when permissions
allow, users will be able to create new topics.
Can rate topics (in forums where allowed)? – If enabled, when
permissions allow, users will be able to rate topics.
Can reply to OWN topics? - If enabled, members in this group will be
able to reply to topics that they have created.
Can reply to OTHER members topics (where allowed)? - If enabled,
when permissions allows, members in this group will be able to reply to
topics that other users have created.
Can edit own posts? - If enabled, members in this group will be able to
edit their own posts.
Edit time restriction (in minutes)? - Specifies the time period in which
a user can edit their posts. If a user tries to edit their post after this
period has elapsed, they will receive an error. Enter 0 to disable this
restriction.
Allow user to remove 'Edited by' legend? - When a user edits a post,
Invision Power Board will add a line at the end of the post indicating to
other users that an edit has taken place. With this option enabled, the
user will be able to remove this line when editing a post.
Can delete own posts? - If enabled, members in this group will be able
to delete their own posts.
Can open/close own topics? - If enabled, members in this group will be
able to open or close (as appropriate) their own topics.
Can edit own topic title & description? - If enabled, members in this
group will be able to edit the titles and descriptions of topics they have
created.
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Management
Can delete own topics? - If enabled, members in this group will be able
to delete topics that they have created.
Can start new polls (where allowed)? - If enabled, members will be
able to create polls in forums (if they have the necessary permissions in
that forum to do so).
Can vote in polls (where allowed)? - If enabled, members will be able
to vote in polls.
Can avoid flood control? - If you have enabled flood control on your
board, enabling this option will allow this group to bypass the restriction.
Can avoid moderation queues? - If you have chosen to enable the
moderation queue for a forum, enabling this option will allow this group to
bypass the queue. If this option is enabled, forcefully placing a member in
the moderation queue will have no effect.
Can add events to the calendar? - If enabled, members in this group
will be able to add events to the board calendar.
Can post HTML? - If enabled, members in this group will be able to post
HTML where permitted. Unless you implicitly trust every member in this
group, enabling HTML posting poses a huge security risk!
Can bypass the bad word filter? - If enabled, posts made by members
in this group will not have their posts censored by the Invision Power
Board word filter.
Posting permissions
Display Name Permissions
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Display Name Change: Limit Days - This is the number of days in
which the number of changes are made. For example 30 would mean that
the user could only change their name X amount of times in a 30 day
period.
Display Name Change: Max changes per X days - This relates to the
maximum number of changes a user can make to their display name
within the X day period set. Use 0 to disallow users from changing their
own display name.
Display name permissions
Moderation Permissions
WARNING
The following settings will grant members in this group access to the core controls of
your board. Ensure you completely trust every member in this group if you choose to
enable any of these!
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Is Super Moderator (can moderate anywhere)? - If enabled,
members in this group will be able to use moderation functions in all
forums.
Can access the Admin CP? - If enabled, members in this group will be
able to access the admin control panel.
Allow user group to post in closed topics? - If enabled, members in
this group will be able to post in closed topics.
Moderation permissions
Group Promotion
Invision Power Board allows you to promote members to a new group when they
reach a certain post count. If you wish to utilise this feature, choose a group to
promote to, and enter the number of posts that will be required to be promoted.
WARNING
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Be careful about the group you promote to. It is not advisable that you promote to
groups such as administrators or moderators. After all, all a member has to do is post
enough posts and they will automatically be granted extensive control over your board this probably is not what you want!
Group promotion
Click Add Group to add the new group to your board. If you have enabled admin
control panel or super moderator permissions, you will get a warning message to
confirm you really want to allow them. If you are sure, click the appropriate
option to continue.
User Groups – Deleting
To delete a user group, click the Delete link from the popup menu to the right of
the group name on the user group management page ( Users and Groups ->
Manage User Groups ). Since Invision Power Board obviously cannot simply leave
members in this group without any user group, you must first choose a group to
move all members in this group to.
Simply select the new group, and click Delete this group to confirm.
WARNING
Double-check the group you are moving members into - you may accidentally move
them to a group with extensive control over your board (administrators/moderators)!
Manage Validating
If you require your members to validate their account by clicking an e-mail link
after registration or you have admin account approval enabled then all accounts
pending validation will be listed when clicking this option.
You can filter the table by:
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All members pending validation
Members who are pending e-mail validation after just registering
Members who are pending admin validation after just registering
Members who are pending validation after changing their e-mail address
Once you have members listed you can mass approve or delete the accounts as
well as resending the validation e-mail by ticking the check box next to each
member and selection the action from the drop menu at the bottom. Clicking on
Process >> will perform the action.
Manage Locked
This section allows you to unlock locked user accounts. A user account is locked
when they submit the wrong password to login based on your configurations in
the ACP Security Settings.
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Any accounts that are locked are listed in the table and you can view information
about each account. You can either unlock the account or ban it permanently by
placing a tick in the box on the far right of the table and then choosing an action
from the drop menu at the bottom. Clicking on Process >> will perform the
action.
Custom Profile Fields
Despite Invision Power Board being feature packed, it cannot accommodate for
every type of board that you might create. For that reason, it provides a feature
called Custom Profile Fields, which allows you to create your own data entry
fields (text boxes, drop-down menus and text areas) for collecting specific pieces
of information from your member base. These fields are highly customisable and
blend seamlessly with the built-in fields. Additionally, they can even be used in
searches for true integration!
The Custom Profile Fields management screen is accessed by navigating to Users
and Groups -> Custom Profile Fields , which will show you the custom profile fields
you currently have set up and some of the settings they use.
Custom Profile Fields – Adding
To begin creating a new field, click the Add New Field button at the foot of the
custom profile fields management screen.
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Add a new custom field screen
Several options are exposed to you, some of them may or may not apply
depending on the type of field you intend you create.
Types of field available
Invision Power Board allows you to create 3 different types of field:
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Text Field - This is a plain, single-line text box, useful where single words
or phrases may be entered.
Drop Down Box - A drop-down box allows a single option to be selected
from a pre-defined list of items.
Text Area - A text area is similar to a text field, but is larger and multiline, so useful where a large bulk of text may be entered.
We will go through each of the options presented on this page. Beside the name
of each option, we will list what types of field it applies to. If an option does not
apply to the type of field you are creating, simply leave it blank.
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Field Title (All)
This is the name of the field, as it will be displayed to the left of field on your
board.
Field Description (All)
This is a short description that is displayed underneath the field title. It would
usually be used to denote whether a field is optional or required, but feel free to
enter any further comment about the field that you would like to make.
Field Type (All)
Based on the descriptions provided in the section above, decide which type of
field you are creating, and select it from the list.
Maximum Input (Text boxes & text areas)
This option limits the length of text, in characters, that can be entered into the
text box or text area.
Display Order (All)
The number entered here will determine the position of this field among the
other fields you may create. 1 is the first field. For example, if 1 was entered
here, it would be the first custom profile field on the form; if 2 was entered (and
assuming you had another field at position '1'), it would be the second field
shown, and so forth.
Expected Input Format (Text boxes & text areas)
This option allows you to define a certain format of data that must be entered
into a text box or text area. In this option, n represents numbers and a
represents letters. For example, to collect a US zip code from the member, you
might allow only the format nnnnn . If the user were to enter abcde, an error
would be returned stating that the value entered does not match the required
format. If you wanted to collect a UK telephone number, you could specify the
format as (nnnnn) nnnnnn , and so on.
Option Content (Drop-down boxes)
This option allows you to define the choices that will be shown in the drop-down
box. The options you enter in this box should be made up of key=value pairs.
Each value that will be listed in the drop-down box must have an associated ID
that Invision Power Board requires to identify the selected option. For example,
to create a drop-down box to collect the gender of the member, you might
enter:
m=Male
f=Female
n=Rather not say
In this example, m, f and n are the keys that Invision Power Board uses
internally, while the drop-down box would have the options Male, Female and
Rather not say listed. Ensure that each key is unique to prevent errors!
Include on registration page (All)
If enabled, the field will be shown as one of the pieces of data collected during
the registration process when a member registers on your board.
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Field MUST be completed and not left empty? (Text boxes & text areas)
If enabled, this field will require an input from the member, i.e. they will not be
able to leave it blank (this does not apply to drop-down boxes because one value
will always be selected).
Field can be edited by the member? (All)
If disabled, members will not be able to edit the content of this field (the field
simply will not display on the registration page/control panel). However, super
moderators and administrators will still be able to edit the content of this field
via their respective control panels.
Make this a private profile field? (All)
If enabled, the content of this field will only be displayed to the member in
question, super moderators and administrators. Useful where information is
collected that is not appropriate for public display.
Make Admin and Super Moderator Editable/Viewable Only? (All)
If this is enabled, the above two options will be overridden, and this field will
only be visible to super moderators and administrators. This option is useful for
creating a field such as 'administrator notes' which allows board staff to keep
notes on a member, without them being visible to that member.
Topic View Format (All)
This option allows you to display the content of this field in the profile
information shown alongside each post a member makes. There are two tags
you can use in this box, {title} , which displays the title of the field as entered
above, and {content} which displays the value entered. If you do not want to
display this field alongside posts, leave this option blank.
To add the new field, double check the data you have entered, then click Add
Field to confirm. The new field will now be listed on the Custom Profile Fields
management screen ( Users and Groups -> Custom Profile Fields ).
Custom Profile Fields – Editing
To edit a custom profile field, simply click the Edit link to the right of the field
you wish to modify on the custom profile field management screen ( Users and
Groups -> Custom Profile Fields). Follow the same process as when adding a
custom profile field, then click Complete Edit to confirm the changes.
WARNING
If you change the type of field when editing, data is likely to be lost. For example, if you
change from a drop-down box to a text box, the key will form the content of the text box
- not the value that would have been shown in the drop-down box. When editing custom
profile fields, be aware that data already entered by members may be incompatible with
the new settings.
Custom Profile Fields – Deleting
To remove a custom profile field, click the Delete link to the right of the field on
the custom profile field management screen. A confirmation screen will be
provided before the field is removed.
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WARNING
If you delete a field, all data entered by members into that field will be lost and is not
recoverable. Ensure you really want to delete the field!
IP Member Tools
The IP Member Tools page ( Users and Groups -> IP Member Tools ) is a simple
interface provided by Invision Power Board for finding out information about a
particular IP address in relation to your board, and conversely, finding out which
IP addresses have been used by a particular member.
NOTE
An IP address is a number that is used to uniquely identify devices over a network, most
commonly over the internet. It can be used to identify visitors to your site because each
user typically has a unique IP which can be used to keep track of the posts they make.
However some users have a ‘dynamic’ IP which will change every time they log onto the
internet which can hamper any attempts to ban by IP.
IP member tools
To search by IP address, enter all or part of an IP address in the section labelled
IP Multi-tool. When entering part of an IP address you should use the wildcard
character * to represent the unspecified number. You can only use wildcards
from right to left. For example, entering 111.111.*.111 would be invalid. Valid
examples would be 111.111.*.* or 111.111.111.* .
After clicking Show Me! , Invision Power Board will display everything it knows
about the IP address entered, including:
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The hostname that the IP address resolves to (if a complete address was
entered)
Members that used the IP when registering
Members that used the IP when posting
Members that used the IP when voting
Members that used the IP when sending e-mail via the board, and
Members that used the IP when validating their accounts
This information is often useful when troubleshooting account problems, or
locating the source of troublemakers.
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Subscriptions
Although many forums are free, Invision Power Board allows you to set up
elements which you can charge for. Using the subscriptions system you could
charge for access to the entire system, or for special features such as more
message space, avatars and other features.
The system in Invision Power Board is based around packages which, once
subscribed to, will upgrade a member to a certain member group. This means
that you set up standard features on your Members user group but create a new
group or groups which have the extra features and/or permissions for
subscription holders only.
Invision Power Board supports the following payment gateways through which
you can accept payment for a subscription package:
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2checkout – www.2checkout.com
Authorize.Net – www.authorize.net
NOCHEX – www.nochex.com
PayPal – www.paypal.com
Post Service (e.g. Royal Mail)
Protx – www.protx.co.uk
Safshop – www.safshop.net
NOTE
Authorize.Net is not installed by default. To install it go to the Install Payment Gateway
section of the admin panel. This is explained later in the manual.
Manage Payment Gateways
The Manage Payment Gateways option under the Management > Subscriptions
section of the admin panel lists all the payment gateways above and shows the
total number of transactions along with the total current, pending and failed
transaction values. The cumulative revenue is also displayed which, when clicked
on, will take you to a page listing the transactions for that status. E.g. if you
click on the total current value, you will see all current transactions (i.e. those
that are active/successful).
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Manage payment gateways
Setting up a payment gateway
To the right of each gateway, on the Manage Payment Gateways screen, there is
an icon will reveal a popup menu, when clicked, with an option Set up payment
gateway. Click on this to do so.
PayPaypal Gateway Settings
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Gateway Public Name
The name of the gateway as it will appear to your members if they are given the
option of how they wish to make payment.
Gateway Public Description
This is the description of your gateway, viewable by your members.
Gateway Associated Email Address OR associated transaction key
E-mail address or other key associated with the payment gateway. With PayPal
this is your PayPal e-mail address.
Gateway Store / Seller ID
The gateway, store or seller ID associated with the payment gateway. This is
your seller ID with 2checkout.
Gateway auto-completes order via return validation?
If the gateway does not support a return validation method, then make sure this
is off.
Gateway default currency?
This option is for the default currency to use with this gateway.
Activate this Gateway?
If “Yes”, this gateway will become available to your members.
Click Edit Settings when you are done to save the changes.
Subscription Packages
The Manage Packages option will list all the packages you have set up along with
their cost and the number of members subscribed.
Next to each package on the right is an icon which when clicked will reveal a
popup menu allowing you to edit and delete the package, unsubscribe all
members, unsubscribe expired members (and hence demote them from any
group associated with this package) and finally list all subscribed members.
Editing a package is the same as adding so only editing will be covered here.
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Subscription Packages – Edit
Editing a subscription package
Package Name
This setting is to set the name of the package.
Package Description
Enter description to display to members. HTML is allowed in this field.
Subscription Duration
Set how long a subscription to this package will be valid. After you have added a
subscription package you can enable recurring billing for gateways which support
it, see the Edit Gateway Methods section below.
Subscription Costs
Set the cost requirement amount of this subscription, in the chosen default
currency. Do not include currency symbols.
New Member Group
Select the member group that the member will be moved into when payment
has been cleared.
Run custom module on subscription start/end?
The script specified in the box will be run when a subscription is created or
cancelled. This must be located in
./sources/classes/paymentgateways/custom with the name cus_example.php
where example is the value you enter into the box.
Click Edit Package to save the changes.
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Edit Gateway Methods
Once you have subscription packages added, the popup menu when managing
gateways will show an extra option titled Edit Gateway Methods For: [Package
Name]. This will give you extra options specific to each gateway which are set on
a per package basis.
Subscription / Gateway Combo: Product ID
Some gateways require you to define an ID for subscriptions. Enter this here if
this is the case.
Can be recurringly billed for this package using this gateway?
Some gateways do not support recurring billing, but if it does setting this option
will establish a subscription for the package if it is set to expire after a certain
time. E.g. if you set a package to expire after a month, a subscription will be
created for monthly payments.
Can upgrade from this package using this gateway?
If this option is enabled a member can upgrade from this package to another
package by paying the difference between the two prices.
Manage Transactions
If the gateway has been set up to automatically call back to Invision Power
Board then transactions are automatically entered and logged. Otherwise you
can manually add a transaction.
Clicking on Manage Transactions will take you to a page where you can search
for transactions based on payment status, package, expiring time and an
optional query which can include a search for member name, transaction ID,
amount paid and subscription ID.
nage transactions search
Ma
If transactions are found, a table will display them. You can edit each individual
transaction, the fields for which are the same as when adding a new transaction
which is covered below. The table gives useful information about the subscription
and also allows you to mass delete or mass change status on all found
transactions.
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Management
NOTE
Updating the transaction status will complete the transaction and change the member's
user group. For example, if you change the status to 'paid' - this will move the member
into the new group specified in the subscription package. If you change the status to
'failed', 'pending' or 'expired', this will move the member back into their previous group
or the default member group if their previous group no longer exists. If this is not
desired, edit each transaction separately. If the package has since been deleted, the
member group will not be changed.
Manually adding a transaction
Member Name
Enter the name of the member to apply this transaction to. Clicking Find
Members will load the member list in a new window for you to search with.
Package Subscribed
Select from the drop menu the package that this transaction will subscribe them
to.
Previous Group
If you wish to move the member to the group set for this subscription package
when you add the transaction, select their old (current) group from the drop
menu. Otherwise select --Don’t Change Group-- .
Amount Paid
Enter the amount that this transaction is for, in the chosen default currency. Do
not include currency symbols.
Payment Method
The method used to complete this transaction.
Payment Status
The status this transaction will be labelled, upon completion of this entry.
Expires
The date to which this subscription will expire. Leave all the fields blank if you do
not wish the subscription to expire.
Click Complete Entry when you are done.
Manage Currencies
Currencies allow your members to pay for subscription packages in their own
currency which is different from your default currency because the currency you
set as default becomes the currency the subscriptions are based in by default.
The manage currencies section allows you to add new currencies and keep the
exchange rate up to date because when a member selects a currency other than
the default one, an instant conversion is performed based on the values entered
here.
If you chose USD as default, entering a value of 1.00 for a subscription package
means that the subscription package costs 1.00 USD. If you choose another
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default you may want to edit all the subscription values as they will become
incorrect. If you choose another default, you will also want to edit the exchange
values.
TIP
The latest exchange rates can be found on http://www.xe.com.
Installing a new payment gateway
The section Install Payment Gateways will list any gateway modules present but
not installed as well as allowing you to install a new gateway.
To install a new payment gateway module, simply upload the file
class_gw_{name}.php into ./sources/classes/paymentgateways and then
click on the Install link. Modules showing as installed are active and can be set
up from within the Manage Payment Gateways link.
Calendars
Everyone knows what a calendar is. In Invision Power Board it allows you and
any members who have the appropriate permissions to see upcoming events
and add their own either for public or private viewing. You can set up more than
one calendar and have it publicly accessible or only available to certain
members.
The Manage Calendars option in the admin panel will list all the calendars
currently added, which will be the Community Calendar by default.
Calendar Management
Clicking the icon to the right of each calendar in the manage screen above will
reveal a drop menu which gives you the option to:
•
•
•
Edit Calendar – See below.
Rebuild Calendar’s RSS Export – Sometimes the RSS feed becomes out of
date if the cache is not updated for some reason. This allows you to
rebuild the cache file.
Delete Calendar – It deletes the calendar.
Adding a Calendar
Clicking on Add New Calendar will show a screen similar to the edit calendar
screen, which is explained below.
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Editing a Calendar
Clicking on the Edit Calendar link in the popup menu will take you to a screen
which gives you options to configure the calendar as required.
Calendar: Title
This is the title that will appear on the front end as the name of the calendar.
Calendar: Enable moderation
When enabled, all new events must be moderated unless the group they belong
to has the option Avoid Moderation Queue set in the permission set settings
below.
Calendar: Event Limit
When the number of events for a particular day is below this level, the events
will appear listed on the calendar view. If the level is reached a single link will be
displayed instead.
Calendar: Birthday Limit
In the same way as the event limit, if there are more than this number of
birthdays a link will be displayed instead.
TIP
You might say you can never have too many birthdays, but if you prefer not to show any
at all then set this field to 0 and the calendar will not show your member’s birthdays.
RSS: Enable
Enable or disable an RSS feed of all upcoming events which have public display
permissions.
RSS: Forthcoming Days
How many days ahead to show events for in the RSS feed if enabled.
RSS: Export Maximum Events
The maximum number of events to show in an RSS feed.
RSS: Update Frequency
The interval, in seconds, between each update of the RSS feed.
NOTE
The calendar feed is not “live” but is cached and updated every n seconds as set here.
This helps to reduce load on the server but means the very newest events will not
appear in the RSS feed immediately.
Permission: Read Events
Select which permission sets you wish to allow read permissions for this
calendar. If you wish to allow events to be exported to an RSS feed, ensure you
select the Guest Forum Set.
TIP
If you have a lot of permission sets, you can use the tick box labelled Select All Current
and Future Sets to select all the sets in the box.
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Permissions: Start Events
Select which permissions sets you wish to allow access to add new events for
this calendar.
Permissions: Avoid Moderation Queue
Select which permissions sets you wish to allow to bypass the calendar
moderation queue.
Finally click on Save Changes to make the changes permanent.
RSS Management
RSS is a file format and stands for Really Simple Syndication. Specified in XML, it
is a format often used to exporting changing data that can be read by RSS
readers in another format. It is often used on blogs so that you can read posts
made without continually checking the original website.
Invision Power Board provides two options for RSS functionality:
•
•
RSS Export – Invision Power Board creates feeds based on new topics in
the forums. E.g. providing a “latest topics” feed.
RSS Import – Invision Power Board reads external RSS feeds, parses
them and creates a new topic in a specified forum for each item in the
feed. E.g. having the latest world news posted into a forum from the BBC.
RSS Export – Manager
Clicking on the RSS Export Manager link in the left admin panel menu will
display a table listing all RSS export feeds. By default none are created.
RSS Export Streams
Once you have created one, it is displayed in the table. The orange RSS button
provides the link to the actual feed which you will use in an RSS reader.
Clicking the button on the right will reveal a popup menu giving you the option
to edit, delete or re-cache the feed.
NOTE
The feeds are not “live” but are cached and updated every n minutes as set when
adding/editing the feed. This helps to reduce load on the server but means the very
newest items will not appear in the RSS feed immediately. Recaching the feed will
update it with the very latest items from the board.
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RSS Export – Adding
Adding a new RSS export is similar to the form for editing a RSS stream, and is
covered below. From within the RSS Export Manager Table, click on the icon in
the top right to reveal a popup menu. From this menu select Create New RSS
Export Stream to go to Create New RSS Export Stream page.
RSS Export – Editing
Clicking the Edit option from the popup menu on the RSS Export Manager screen
will take you to the edit form.
Editing an RSS stream
RSS Export Stream (Channel) Title
The name you want to give this feed that will appear in RSS readers.
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RSS Export Stream (Channel) Description
Enter a brief description of this feed here, this is required by RSS specification.
RSS Export Stream Image
This field holds a URL to an image, which will appear in RSS readers for this
stream. This is an optional setting.
RSS Export Enabled
Enable or disable this stream.
RSS Export Includes First Page of Topic
This setting toggles whether each item in the feed includes the first post of the
topic.
RSS Export No. Items
How many items (topics) should be included in the feed.
RSS Export Order By Field
How the items (topics) in the feed should be ordered.
RSS Export Sort By
How the items (topics) in the feed are sorted.
Export Topics From Forum(s)
The forum(s) the topics should be exported from.
NOTE
Topics will be exported from the chosen forums only if those forums have Guest read
access enabled.
RSS Export Cache Frequency
How often, in minutes, the cache of the RSS feed should be updated.
NOTE
The feeds are not “live” but are cached and updated every n minutes as set by this
option. This helps to reduce load on the server but means the very newest items will not
appear in the RSS feed immediately.
Click Save Changes to update the feed.
RSS Import – Manager
Clicking on RSS Import Manager will show a table listing all of the RSS Import
streams set up on the board. The page also includes a quick validation box –
enter the feed URL into this and click Validate to check if there are any problems
with the feed.
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RSS Import Management
Once you have created one, it is displayed in the table. The orange RSS button
provides the link to the actual feed which you will use in an RSS reader.
Clicking the button on the right will reveal a popup menu giving you the option
to edit or delete the actual feed. There is also an option to delete the topics
created by the feed, update the feed and validate it.
NOTE
The feeds are not “live” but are updated every n minutes as set when adding/editing the
feed. This helps to reduce load on the server but means the very newest items will not
appear as posts immediately. Clicking on Update will update it with the very latest items
from the feed.
RSS Import – Adding
Adding a new RSS import is the same as editing, and is covered below. . From
within the RSS Export Manager Table, click on the icon in the top right to reveal
a popup menu. From this menu select Create New RSS Import Stream to go to
the Create New RSS Export Stream page.
RSS Export – Editing
Clicking the Edit option from the popup menu on the RSS Import Manager
screen will take you to the edit form.
RSS Import Stream Title
This setting holds the name of this feed. This is for your future reference.
RSS Import Stream URL
The URL of the RSS feed to import.
RSS Import Stream Character Set
The character set of the stream to ensure proper parsing. If you are unsure,
enter UTF-8 .
RSS Import Enabled
Whether or not the import feed is enabled.
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.htaccess Authentication
If you must enter a username and password in your browser to access the feed
tick this box and enter the login details in the boxes which appear. If you are
unsure then in most cases, this is not required.
RSS Import into Forum
The forum, in which new topics for each item in the RSS feed, will be created.
RSS Import Preserve HTML
If yes, raw HTML is preserved - you must have HTML enabled when editing
imported posts or HTML will be removed upon edit. If no, HTML is converted to
BBCode where possible.
RSS Import Poster’s Name
This will post the RSS topic under this person's account. This account must
actually exist.
RSS Import Increment Poster’s Post Count
Increment the post count of the user specified in the box above as if they had
posted a new topic for each RSS item.
RSS Import Add Link to Post
If completed, will add a link to the article source (if available) to the post body.
Entering {url} will place the link. For example you could enter Original source
at: {url} .
RSS Import Topic Open
If set to Yes, members will be able to post replies to the topic (so long as they
have the appropriate permissions for the forum). Otherwise setting to No will
close the topic.
RSS Import Topic Hidden
If set to Yes, the posted topic will be hidden and must be made visible before
members will be able to see it.
RSS Import Topic Prefix
A prefix added to the RSS item’s title for the topic.
RSS Imports Per Go
Sets the number of items imported per update. The more articles the more load
heavy the update will be.
RSS Import Refresh
Checks for new articles every n minutes. Even if you specify a lower value, the
most often a check can be made is every 30 minutes.
Click Save Changes to make the changes to the feed.
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Custom BBCode
You have probably used BBCodes when posting without realising it. They are
tags that somehow transform the text contained within them. BBCodes can be
made up of up to four sections, one of which is required:
•
•
•
•
An opening tag - e.g.: [b] . Required. Signifies the start of the BBCode.
An attribute - e.g.: [color=red] . Usually optional, though required in
some instances. Provides an additional value for the BBCode to use.
The tag content - e.g.: [b]Some text here[/b] . The text that the BBCode
style will be performed on.
An ending tag - e.g.: [/b] . Required, depending on the tag used. Signifies
the end of the BBCode.
Invision Power Board has a variety of BBCodes already built in for adding certain
styles to text. Some of those included are:
Tag
[b] [/b]
Description
Bold text
[i] [/i]
Italicised text
[color={color}]
[/color]
Colored text
Original
Here is some
[b]text[/b]
Here is some
[i]text[/i]
Here is some
[color=red]text[/color]
End Result
Here is some
text
Here is some
text
Here is some
text
The built-in BBCodes that Invision Power Board provides do not cover every type
of formatting that a board might require since each board has its own needs. For
that reason, Invision Power Board allows you to create your own BBCodes,
enabling you to create your own BBCode tags and specify the HTML that
replaces it. They are used in the same way as the built-in BBCodes described
above.
To access the custom BBCode manager, navigate to Custom BBCode -> Custom
BBCode Manager . Your current BBCodes will be listed (along with some of the
others Invision Power Board has already created).
Adding a new custom BBCode
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button in the right-hand column of
To edit your BBCodes, simply click the
the row of the BBCode you want to edit and select
from the list. You
will be shown the same screen you used when adding the BBCode, with the
existing information filled in ready for editing. Follow instructions on adding a
new custom BBCode when modifying these details.
NOTE
Although it is possible, we do not recommend that you modify the custom BBCodes that
Invision Power Board creates for you by default since some functionality of your board
may alter as a result.
To remove a custom BBCode, click the
button found in the same
button. There is no confirmation, so double-check
list after clicking the
your action before proceeding.
NOTE
If you delete a custom BBCode, instances where it has been used will revert to the plain
text entered by the user; i.e. the text will not be formatted as it was previously.
To begin adding a new custom BBCode, navigate to Custom BBCode -> Add New
BBCode .
NOTE
You should have at least a basic knowledge of HTML before attempting to create
BBCodes. If you do not, you may be able to find a pre-existing BBCode style that you
can import from one of the many resource sites that support Invision Power Board.
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The form contains several fields that need to be completed to set up the new
BBCode.
Custom BBCode Title
This is the name of the BBCode you are creating, used for your reference in the
admin control panel and in the BBCode help popup that users can view for
assistance when posting.
Custom BBCode Description
A description of the BBCode you are creating, to be displayed in the BBCode help
popup that users can view for assistance when posting.
Custom BBCode Example
An example of the BBCode usage, again for use in the help popup.
Custom BBCode Tag
This is the actual BBCode tag as a user would type it. You do not need to include
the square brackets in the box, enter only the tag text.
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Use Option in Tag
This option will set an additional value to your BBCode, when the BBCode is
found. An example of this would be setting a color name for a color tag.
Switch Option Around?
Use this if you wish to swap the {content} for {option} (IE when using tags like
[tag={content}]{option}[/tag]
Custom BBCode Replacement
Enter the HTML that the BBCode will be replaced with in this option. In the
HTML, you insert {tags} that get replaced with the values used by the user in
the BBCode tag. Two tags are available to you:
•
{content} - is replaced with the text that was entered between the
•
opening and closing tag by the user.
{option} - is replaced by the option value in the opening tag.
Insert into the editor’s ‘Insert Special’ menu?
This will add your custom BBCode into the ‘Insert Special’ menu of the post
editor.
Enter ‘option’ dialogue text
Enter the help text that will be displayed to user, above the ‘Option’ text field,
when the custom BBCode is selected.
Enter ‘content’ dialogue text
Enter the help text that will be displayed to user, above the ‘Content’ text field,
when the custom BBCode is selected.
NOTE
The Use Option in Tag option must be enabled to be able to use the {option} tag.
When you have entered all of the required data, click Add BBCode to make the
addition.
TIP
The BBCode management page ( Custom BBCode -> Custom BBCode Management )
features a tool that lets you test your custom BBCodes. Simply enter some text in the
box using your tag and click Run Test to see the result of your custom tag.
Importing & exporting custom BBCode
Invision Power Board allows you import and export custom BBCodes that you
and others have created.
You can share the exported BBCodes with administrators of other boards (via
the numerous resource sites that support Invision Power Board), or import lists
that others have created to quickly add new BBCodes to your board.
To import an existing list of BBCodes that you have previously exported or that
you have downloaded from elsewhere, first navigate to the custom BBCode
management screen ( Custom BBCode -> Custom BBCode Manager ). At the foot of
the management screen is the import form.
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Import a BBCode list
Click the Browse button and locate the file you wish to import; it will be called
either ipb_bbcode.xml.gz or ipb_bbcode.xml. Once selected, click Import to
begin the import process.
NOTE
The import process will not overwrite duplicate BBCode entries using the same tag if
they already exist on your board.
If you want to share your custom BBCodes with other administrators (perhaps
through one of the many resource sites that support Invision Power Board) or
simply make a backup for your own use, you can export them to XML format
from within the admin control panel.
To do so, click Export BBCode found at the top of the custom BBCode
management screen ( Custom BBCode -> Custom BBCode Manager ). The export may
take a few seconds to process. Once done, your browser will prompt you to
download the exported file, which you can then share with others!
Bad Word & Ban Filters
Bad Word Filters
Word filters allow you to prevent members from using specified words on your
board. This is commonly used to prevent swearing/cursing, but you are free to
define any prohibited words you wish.
There are two 'levels' of word filter - exact and loose:
•
•
Exact - Will match the exact word that you enter. For example, if you
have defined the word 'hell' as being filtered exactly, only 'hell' will be
filtered; 'hello' wouldn't be filtered.
Loose - Will filter any words containing the word you enter. For example,
if 'hell' is defined as being loosely filtered, both 'hell' and 'hello' would be
filtered.
Bad Word Filters – Adding
To add a new word filter, navigate to the word filter management screen (Word
& Ban Filters -> Manage Badword Filters ). Below your currently defined bad words
is the form for adding new words.
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Adding a new filter
There are 3 fields to complete:
•
•
•
Before - The original text (the bad word you want to filter).
After - The text that will replace the bad word when used. You can leave
this empty; doing so will replace the bad word with 6 pound signs:
######.
Method - Select whether this word should use exact or loose matching.
For the difference between these, consult Word Filters.
When you have completed the fields, click Add Filter to add the new filter.
Bad word filters – Editing
To edit an existing word filter, navigate to the word filter management screen
( Word & Ban Filters -> Manage Badword Filters ). The bad words that you have
previously defined are listed on this page.
Current filters
Click the Edit link to the right of the word you wish to edit. This will display a
form identical to that used for adding a new filter. For information on the fields
displayed, consult Adding a Word Filter.
When you have made the necessary changes, click Edit Filter to confirm the
changes.
NOTE
Editing a filter will not affect previous instances where it has been applied in posts.
Bad word filters – Deleting
To delete an existing word filter, navigate to the word filter management screen
( Word & Ban Filters -> Manage Badword Filters ). The bad words that you have
previously defined are listed on this page. Click the Remove link to the right of
the filter you wish to delete, as shown above.
NOTE
Deleting a word filter will not affect instances where it has been used in posts.
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Bad word filters – Importing/Exporting
Invision Power Board allows you to import and export the bad word list that you
and others have created to save time and work. Share the generated file with
others to enable them to quickly import bad words you have created, or import
lists others have created to quickly add new bad words to your board.
To import an XML bad word list that you have previously generated or that you
have downloaded from elsewhere, navigate to the word filter management
screen ( Word & Ban Filters -> Manage Badword Filters ). At the foot of the page is
the import form.
Import a bad word list
Click the Browse button, and locate the file to be imported on your computer. It
should be named with ipb_badwords.xml.gx or ipb_badwords.xml. Once
selected, click Import to begin the import process.
NOTE
Duplicate bad word definitions will not be imported if they already exist on your board.
To export an XML bad word list to share with others or to keep as a backup,
navigate to the word filter management screen ( Word & Ban Filters -> Manage
Badword Filters ). Near the top of the page is an Export Filters button.
After a few seconds, your browser will prompt you to download your exported
file, which you can save to your computer.
Ban Filters
Ban filters allow you to specify criteria for IP addresses, usernames and e-mail
addresses that, when matched, prevent a member from accessing a board
and/or signing up with those details.
The ban filter management screen is accessed through your admin control panel
by navigating to Word & Ban Filters -> Manage Ban Filters .
NOTE
These ban settings are usually used in conjunction with the account banning features.
Note that these settings ban any user in any member group if their details match the
criteria entered, whereas the account banning features will ban only a specific account.
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Ban Filters – Adding
To begin adding a new ban filter, navigate to the ban filter management screen
in the admin control panel ( Word & Ban Filters -> Manage Ban Filters ). Your existing
ban filters will be displayed.
Ban control
Enter your ban criteria in the text box at the foot of the page. Select the type of
criteria you are entering (IP address, name or e-mail address) then click Add
New Filter to submit.
Wildcards allow you to specify that part of the criteria can be replaced by any
other value. A wildcard is represented by the asterisk character * .
For example, adding the criteria tom* would ban tom, tomas, tommy, and any
other word that began with 'tom'. Below are three examples of how you might
use wildcards in each of the types of ban:
IP Address: 215.168.76.* - Bans all IP addresses from 215.168.76.0 215.168.76.255
Email Addresses: *@hotmail.com - Disallows all e-mail addresses on the
hotmail.com domain name
Names: *hell* - Disallows any registration of a name containing the word 'hell'
in it.
To delete a ban filter from the ban filter management screen (Word & Ban Filters > Manage Ban Filters ), simply check the box to the left of each of the filters you
wish to delete and confirm by clicking the Delete Selected button at the foot of
the page.
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Attachments
Invision Power Board allows you and your members to 'attach' files to posts.
This is done through a process of uploading the file from your own computer to
the web server on which the forums reside.
Attachments can be any file type you wish providing that file type has been
defined in the admin control panel. Invision Power Board comes pre-configured
with several of the common file types which will be sufficient for most boards.
NOTE
In order to allow members to attach files to posts, their user group needs to have the
required permissions.
To manage the attachment types that have been configured on your board,
navigate to Attachments -> Attachment Types . You will see a list of the attachment
types that currently exist, along with their MIME type and permissions.
Attachment types
Adding a file type
In order to allow members to upload a particular type of file to a post or avatar,
you must first define that file type in the admin control panel. This serves two
purposes; first, it provides Invision Power Board with the information required to
handle the uploaded attachment, and secondly it allows you to prohibit certain
types of type from being uploaded - if you do not want members to be able to
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upload a certain file type, you simply do not add it to the admin control panel
list.
To begin adding a new file type, navigate to the attachment type management
page of the admin control panel ( Attachments -> Attachment Types ). At the foot of
the table listing the current file types is a button labelled Add New Attachment
Type .
Add new attachment type
TIP
If the file type you are adding is similar to one you have already created, select it from
the drop-down list at the top of the form, and click Go . This will pre-fill the following
fields with the values present in the selected type.
Attachment file extension
This is the file extension that comes after the . in a file name. It is usually 3
letters, but in a few cases may not be. When typing the extension in this field,
do not include the period. For example, Microsoft Word documents have a name
in the format of filename.doc. In this example, the extension is .doc, and you
would enter doc in this field.
TIP
To find the extension of a file on Microsoft Windows systems, follow these steps. First,
open Windows Explorer by going to Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Windows
Explorer . Once Windows Explorer has opened, go to Tools -> Folder Options in the
menu bar. Click the View tab, and uncheck Hide extensions for known file types. Click
OK to save the change. Files shown on your computer will now display their full
extension.
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Attachment MIME-type
MIME types are the method by which web browsers recognise types of files and
pass them to the appropriate application to handle. For example, a JPEG image
has a MIME type of image/jpeg. When you download a JPEG image, your web
browser will look at the MIME type, realise that it is an image, and pass it to an
imaging application to handle.
Invision Power Board needs to know the MIME type of the file type so that when
members download an attachment their web browser correctly knows how to
handle it.
The best way of finding out the MIME type of a file type is to run a search on a
search engine such as Google. Additionally,
http://www.utoronto.ca/webdocs/HTMLdocs/Book/Book3ed/appb/mimetype.html contains a list of some of the more common file types
and their MIME types.
When you have found the correct MIME type, enter it into this field.
Allow this attachment in posts?
If enabled, members with permission to upload files (see Editing user groups for
information on upload permissions) will be able to upload this type of file in
posts.
Allow this attachment in avatars/personal photos?
If enabled, members with permission to upload avatars (again, see Editing user
groups for information on enabling the use of uploaded avatars) will be able to
upload this type of file for their avatar.
Attachment Mini-Image
This is a path to the mini icon used alongside attachments of this type (and also
the icon shown next to the file type on the attachment management page). The
attachment images are skin dependant; that is, you can have a different set for
each skin, if you wish. The path you enter in this field should be relative to the
appropriate skin_image/ folder.
By default, each skin_image/ folder has a subfolder named folder_mime_types
that the icons reside in. If you upload your own MIME-type icons to this folder,
then folder_mime_types/image.gif should be entered in this field, where
image.gif is the filename of your image.
When you have filled in all required information, click Add new attachment type to
save the file type.
Editing a file type
To edit an existing file type, click the Edit button found to the right of the file
type row. This will display the same form that is shown when adding a new file
type, but the fields will already be filled in with the existing values.
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For documentation regarding the fields shown, consult Adding a New File type.
Once you have made the necessary changes, click Edit Attachment Type to save
them.
Deleting
To delete an attachment file type, click the Delete button to the right of the file
type row. There will be no confirmation, so ensure you are deleting the correct
file type.
WARNING
Deleting an attachment file type definition will likely break any attachments of this file
type that have previously been uploaded.
Importing/Exporting
Invision Power Board allows you to import and export the file types that you and
others have created to save time and work. Share the generated file with others
to enable them to quickly import attachment types you have created, or import
lists others have created to quickly add new file types to your board.
To import a list, navigate to the attachment type management screen
( Attachments -> Attachment Types ).
Import an attachment types list
Click Browse and select the file from your computer. The file can be either in the
form ipb_attachtypes.xml.gz or ipb_attachtypes.xml. Once selected, click
Import to complete the process.
NOTE
If duplicate entries are listed in the file you are uploading, they will not be imported and
therefore not overwrite the existing definition.
To export your defined attachment types, simply click Export Attachment Types ,
found at the top of the attachment file type list. Clicking the button will begin
processing the download, and after a few seconds your browser will prompt you
to download it.
Attachment Statistics
Invision Power Board allows you to view statistics about attachments that have
been uploaded to your board, including the total number uploaded and total disk
space used.
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Management
To view the statistics, navigate to Attachments -> Attachment Stats in the admin
control panel.
The total number of attachments and the total disk space they occupy are shown
at the top of the page. Below this, the top 5 attachments meeting three criteria
are shown:
•
•
•
5 newest attachments;
5 largest attachments;
5 most viewed attachments.
The statistics page allows you to delete any of the attachments listed. Simply
check the box (found to the right of each row) for each attachment you wish to
delete then click Delete Checked Attachments .
Searching Attachments
Invision Power Board provides functionality for searching attachments that have
been uploaded to your board by numerous criteria. This is useful for locating a
specific attachment and for obtaining a general overview of attachments on your
board.
To access the search function, navigate to Attachments -> Attachment Search in
the admin control panel.
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Search attachments
The search criteria you can specify are self-explanatory. None are required. The
maximum number of results that will be displayed is 100, even if you specify a
higher number in the field Show n results.
The search results page allows you to easily delete any of the attachments listed
in the results shown. To do so, simply check the box to the right of the row of
each of the attachments you wish to delete, and click Delete Checked Attachments
at the foot of the page.
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Look & Feel
Look & Feel
Invision Power Board provides a powerful skin and templates system to allow
you to change the way the forum looks to fit an existing design or match your
own tastes. But templates are not the only way you can customise your forums
– you can provide additional languages and use custom sets of emoticons.
Skins & Templates
The look of a board is made up of a number of components:
• Graphics
• CSS
• Templates
• Wrapper
Collectively, these components are known as a skin. By changing some of these
components, you can make subtle changes such as changing fonts, all the way
up to completely changing the appearance of the board - you're only limited by
the skills you have and the time you can devote to the process.
Examples
The default Invision Power Board skin is created and maintained by IPS and will
continue to be improved and updated with Invision Power Board releases. It is
very clean and neutral and works on a wide range of platforms and browsers. In
addition, it is fully standards compliant. Some skins make small changes to the
default design whilst others create very new and different layouts.
An example of changing the way forums are presented
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An example of a darker skin
When you click the Look & Feel tab, the first thing you will see is the skin
manager. The skin manager is the central location where all installed skins
appear and this is also where they can be managed.
The Skin Manager
Each skin belongs to a master skin from which it inherits its elements. This
works by having defaults in the master skin which each child skin use if you do
not make any modifications. So you could make a change to one file to override
the default value, but have the parent values still take effect for the rest of the
skin. This has the advantage of allowing you to have several child skins which,
should you change a value in the parent skin, will also be updated automatically.
If you make a change to a template in the child skin, only that template part is
stored - other template parts automatically inherit their HTML from the parent
skin still.
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Skin inheritance
There are three reasons why this system benefits you:
Easier updating - Assume you have designed a skin and want to have several
color variations of that skin. You would create the skin, and then create a child
skin for each color you wanted, simply modifying the CSS and graphics as
necessary. A few weeks later, you want to make a change to the HTML
templates of your skins - thanks to inheritance, you only need to make the
change in the parent skin, and all child skins will automatically inherit those
templates.
Reduced storage - Because template parts are only copied when a change has
been made to that part, the storage that a skin requires is significantly reduced.
If you do not make any changes to the templates, then you only need one copy
of the templates for your entire skin collection!
Easier upgrading between versions - When new versions of Invision Power
Board are installed, it should be easier to upgrade your skins. The root skin will
be updated with the upgraded skin templates, and all skins on your board will
inherit these updates, excluding any template parts you have modified.
On the skin manager, each skin has three icons next to it.
Skin icons
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1
2
3
Look & Feel
Used in Forums – If lit, denotes that this skin is set as a forum skin in one
or more forums. To view the forums it is enabled in, hover over this icon to
view the tool tip.
Hidden from members – If lit, this skin is selectable by members from
their user control panel. If dimmed, this skin is hidden from outside the ACP
(useful for development).
Default Skin – If lit, this skin is the default skin on your board.
The final icon on the right is an option menu which will drop down when you click
it. You can tell if an element has been changed by the color of the small square
to the left of it.
The bottom four options allow you to revert all changes to the master/parent
skin defaults, export the skin so you can save a backup or release it publicly,
generate a diff output so you can see what has changed compared to the parent
skin and remove the skin altogether. The other options are explained below.
Board Header & Footer Wrapper
The wrapper exists to contain all the HTML code that makes up the layout of
IP.B. It uses replacement variables to show where certain code will be
substituted in by the template system. This allows you to add your own code
before elements of the layout, such as the board header and copyright notice, or
even remove elements altogether.
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Editing the wrapper
Editing the wrapper is just like editing normal HTML with the head and body
working in the normal way. The replacement variables can be seen as <% NAME
%> where NAME is an appropriate name for the variable. These are self
explanatory and will be replaced with code from style templates when the forum
is actually displayed to the user. To save any changes and go back to the Skin
Manager, click Save Wrapper . To save any changes and reload the editor, click
Save and Reload Wrapper .
WARNING
Do not remove tags such as <% BOARD HEADER %> as this will cause the output of your
board to be missing important elements.
Template HTML
Templates are pieces of HTML that make up each part of Invision Power Board
that you see on screen. When Invision Power Board generates a page to display,
it collects together each template required for that page, inserts the information
it is going to display, then outputs it to the user.
Templates
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Look & Feel
When you choose the Edit Template HTML option from the Skin Manager you will
be shown a list of categories that the templates fit into.
Template categories
A similar system of colored boxes is used here as on the Skin Manager which
show if the category contains any edited templates or not. On the right is a
collection of numbers. The first number shows the number of templates that are
unaltered from the parent skin where the number on the right shows the number
of altered templates. The Internet Explorer icon is a button which, when not
crossed out, allows you to view a preview of the actual front-end element that
the templates in the category affect.
Clicking the name of a category will reveal a pane on the right showing all the
templates in that category.
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Members of the category
Clicking on the name of the template will reveal an editor at the top to allow you
to make changes to the HTML. You can also edit multiple templates at the same
time by clicking the row of the template name of multiple templates, scrolling to
the bottom and clicking on Edit Selected .
The icons next to each template allow you to preview the template as text – i.e.
output the raw HTML – and preview the template within the forum style itself.
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Editing the board_offline template bit
Edit the HTML of the template bit like any normal HTML file. Once you have
finished, you can click Save Template Bit to make the changes.
Template HTML – The Editor
The editor used to make changes to the template bit provides a number of
options. By clicking the Editor Preferences drop down, a selection of options will
be revealed. These options change how the editor and the HTML within it is
displayed. The options include changing the font, font size, font color,
background color and size of the editor. To detach the editor from the ACP
window and launch it into its own, simply click the Float button, located on the
top-right corner of the editor.
On the far right is a button to reveal further options:
•
•
•
•
•
Edit Data Variables – These are the PHP variables passed to the
template when the template is called in the Invision Power Board PHP
code. Generally you can ignore these but if you are adding your own
template bit and wish to access data variables you pass within the code,
you would enter them in here. For example if your code was $html =
$this->skin->some_func( $data ); you would enter $data into this
field.
Edit Cache Settings- See developer documentation for use of caching
template bits in other cache files.
Macro Look-up – You can quickly lookup the replacement macros set for
this skin by entering the name into the search. See the section later about
macros.
Compare Versions – Allows you to compare the current version of the
template to the original version that is default in the parent template.
Restore Unedited Version – If you make an error then you can revert
to the default version by clicking this option.
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•
Look & Feel
View Original Version – Displays the original default version from the
parent template.
Template HTML – Variables
Invision Power Board templates use a number of different variables within the
HTML. Variables are pieces of text that, when sent to the users browser for
viewing, are replaced with some other value that it represents. For example,
when a post is displayed, the appropriate template will be loaded by Invision
Power Board and the post content will replace a variable within that template.
Variables vary from template to template - different templates have different
variables passed to them but any variable under ipsclass can be used in any
template by doing this:
{$this->ipsclass->{varhere}}
Examples:
{$this->ipsclass->ip_address}
{$this->ipsclass->vars['some_setting_key']}
{$this->ipsclass->lang['some_lang_key']}
{$this->ipsclass->session_id}
{$this->ipsclass->md5_check}
{$this->ipsclass->base_url}
{$this->ipsclass->vars['img_url']}
{$this->ipsclass->vars['AVATARS_URL']}
{$this->ipsclass['EMOTICONS_URL']}
{$this->ipsclass->vars['mime_img']}
{$this->ipsclass->cache['some_cache_key']['some_cache_array_key']}
Example:
{$this->ipsclass->cache['forum_cache'][$this->ipsclass>input['f']]['name']}
to print current forum name
All settings are under ipsclass->vars, all language keys under ipsclass->lang
Edit Stylesheet (Advanced CSS)
The majority of the Invision Power Board layout is controlled through CSS which
makes it much easier to adjust colors and fonts to fit into your own
requirements. Invision Power Board provides two options to edit the CSS, the
first of which is direct editing of the entire raw CSS file. Clicking this option will
display an editor to allow you to make changes to the CSS.
You can make use of the Find CSS Usage tool which lists all of the CSS elements
and allows you to see where they are used in templates. You can even preview
what effect the CSS element selected from the drop menu has on templates.
TIP
A guide to which CSS elements control what can be found at
http://www.duggyd.co.uk/css/.
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Edit Colors (Simple CSS)
If you are not familiar with CSS you can use the simple CSS editor to make
changes to colors and other CSS attributes.
CSS easy editor
1
2
3
4
5
Element Name – The name of the element in the CSS file.
Color Box – Enter the HTML color hex code into the box here for the font
color.
Color Preview – Hex codes can be confusing so once saved, the color hex
will be previewed here as the actual color.
Color Picker – If you are unsure of the HTML hex code to use, click this
icon to reveal a color picker which will give you a selection of colors and
generate the hex code for you.
Other CSS Attributes – You can enter any other CSS attributes you wish
to set here. These often include font family and font size configuration.
When you are done, scroll to the bottom and click Edit to save the changes.
Replacement Macros
We mentioned replacement variables in the Header and Footer wrapper section
of which these are similar, except they are global and work within templates
instead. These are in the format of <{name}>.
Click Add Macro to add a new one or Change next to an existing macro. If you
added a key of green_font and a replacement of , each
instance of <{green_font}> would be converted to 
NOTE
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Look & Feel
<#IMG_DIR#> is available to any macro. This is automatically replaced with the name of
the image directory for this skin, defined in the settings (see below).
Settings
Editing your skin settings allows you to configure the components and details for
each skin.
Settings – Basics
Set Title
The name of the skin as it will appear in the admin and user control panels.
Hide from members?
If this option is enabled, it will prevent members seeing/selecting this skin in
their user control panel. This option is useful when you want to develop a skin
before making it public on your board.
Set as default skin?
If enabled, this skin will become the default skin, meaning that any guest or
member that has not explicitly chosen a skin will use this one.
Skin set parent?
This will defines the parent of this skin in terms of inheritance. If option set to No
Parent , this current skin will be a parent skin.
Settings – CSS Options
Cache CSS to Text Files?
If enabled, the skin CSS will be saved as an external file as opposed to being
included in every page accessed. The major benefit of this is users browsers will
cache (save a copy of) the external file meaning it does not need to be
downloaded on every page view. This reduces the bandwidth used.
WARNING
Changing this value will re-cache any cached stylesheet information. Please make sure
that you have synchronized any cache files with the database.
Settings – Image Options
Use image directory?
Define the image directory (or set) that this skin will use. All image directories
are created in the style_images/ folder of your forums.
Use emoticons set?
Defines the emoticon set that this skin will use. Each set resides in a directory
within the style_emoticons/ folder of your forums.
Settings – Set Author
Set author name
The name of the skin creator, which is you if you are creating this skin from
scratch. This will be used for informational purposes if/when the skin is
exported.
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Set author e-mail address
Input for the e-mail address of the skin creator. It is you if you are creating this
skin from scratch!). This will be used for informational purposes if/when the skin
is exported.
Set author website
The website of who created the skin. It is you if you are creating this skin from
scratch!). This will be used for informational purposes if/when the skin is
exported.
Skin Tools
Select Skin Tools from the left menu to reveal several useful tools which can be
used when editing your skin. Invision Power Board caches many files to save
database queries and improve performance but these caches may occasionally
become out of date. Clicking Run Tool will run the script.
Rebuild Master Templates
Use this option to rebuild the master templates that all skins inherit from. You
should also rebuild your skin set caches after using this option.
Rebuild Master Skin Components
Use this option to rebuild the master HTML wrapper and CSS that all skins
inherit from. You should also rebuild your skin set caches after using this option.
Rebuild Skin Set Cache
Use this option to rebuild the HTML, wrapper, macro and CSS caches of this set
and any children.
Update Members Skin Choice
Force members using a specific skin (selected from the multi-select box) to use
a different one instead (selected from the drop menu). This is handy if you want
to delete a skin; then return users to the default skin.
Update Forum Skin Options
Forums can have different skins to like the update members skin choice, you can
change the skin a forum or forums use.
Skin Search & Replace
Invision Power Board allows you to do a simple search of all templates so you
can find a specific section of HTML than you wish to edit. You can enter in a
keyword or a snippet of HTML that you wish to search for and choose a specific
template set to search in. Clicking Search will perform the search.
You can also do a full search and replace if you know what you are looking for.
This can be handy to replace a certain word in all templates, for example.
Search for
Enter the keywords/HTML that you wish to search for in this box. If enabling
regex mode you may enter a regular expression here.
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Replace with
Input the keywords or HTML that you wish the contents of the search for box to
be replaced with. If enabling regex mode you may enter a regular expression
here.
Search in set
The template set you wish to search. The search and replace will only work on
the specified skin set. The parent and master skin sets will NOT be searched or
any replacements made on them.
Test Search and Replace Only?
If yes, no replacements will be made and you will be able to preview the
changes.
Enable 'regex' mode?
If yes, you may use 'regex' in your search and replacements. For example, to
replace all or with 
Search for: <(br)\s?/?>
Replace with: <\\1 clear='all' />
Skin Import/Export
Any customisations you make to a skin can be exported into an XML format to
allow you to release them publicly or keep a backup. Equally, you can import
skin modifications or entire new skins that other people have created. The Skin
Import/Export option on the left menu provides you with tools to do this.
Skin Export
Because skins are made up of various elements, you need to export them
separately. The three elements that need to be exported are the templates,
images and replacement macros. Invision Power Board provides three tools to
do this. With each one, you choose which skin you wish to export the elements
for and then click the Export button. You will then be presented with a download
box to prompt you to save the files to your computer.
Skin Import
Again, there are three options to import the three aspects of a skin – templates,
images and replacement macros. However, there are several options to you
when importing the files.
Firstly, you can upload the file from your computer. This is done by clicking the
Browse button to launch a dialog which will allow you to locate the file on your
computer. The second option is to upload the file to your Invision Power Board
root directory and then enter the filename into the field.
Once you have provided the location of the file, you click on Import to upload the
file and import it into your Invision Power Board installation.
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Skin Differences
If you wish to import a new skin into to your forum and want to see what
changes will be made, you can use the skin differences report tool to effectively
run a test of the import process to see what will be changed.
Clicking Skin Differences from the left menu will take you to a page to upload
the new skin XML file. Here you should enter a name for the report and then use
the Browse button to locate the ipb_templates.xml file on your computer. You
can also tick an option to skip all new/missing template bits. This is handy if you
are comparing an old skin file against a new version of Invision Power Board
because new template bits may have been added that are not in your old skin.
Click Import to run the difference report.
Skin Remapping
This section allows you to force a skin set to be used in conjunction with a URL.
The URL is searched against administrator defined search strings to set an
override skin set.
Title
Set a simple user-defined title to identify the skin remapping within the ACP.
Type
This setting establishes one of two query matching methods. If set to ‘Contains’,
IP.Board will search the URL string the occurrence of search string anywhere
within the URL query; and if found will remap to the selected skin set. If the field
is set to ‘Is Exactly’, the URL query must be an exact match of the search string
to be successfully remapped.
URL
This field contains the string to compare against the URL query string. The query
string for example is everything after the question mark in the URL. The query
string from the URL shown below is ‘showforums=1’.
Example: http://localhost/forums/index.php?showforums=1
Skin Set
Select which skin will be used with query string match.
Easy Logo Changer
If you do not wish to make major changes to the skin and just want to quickly
adjust the logo shown in your forum you can use the easy logo changer to
change the default Invision Power Board logo to your own.
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Easy logo changer
Apply to which skin set?
Select the skin you wish to replace the logo on from the drop menu. You may
have different skins that you wish to use the same or different logos on. If so,
you will need to upload the logo for each one.
URL to new logo
If the logo is already online then you can provide a full URL to it. Alternatively if
it is uploaded on your web space you can provide a relative URL to it instead.
Upload a new logo
Alternatively if the logo is on your computer, click Browse to locate it.
Click Complete Edit to make the changes.
Languages
Invision Power Board is fully multi-lingual and allows your forum to use multiple
languages based on user preferences. The languages section of the control panel
allows you to manage the languages installed including the ability to import
language sets created by other people, create your own language set and modify
existing sets.
Clicking on Manage Languages will provide an overview of the languages
currently available in your installation of IP.B.
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Manage languages
By default English is installed as the default language. Clicking the Edit link will
allow you to change the name of the language set and alter the actual phrases
within the language set.
Each language set is split into multiple files relating to the section of Invision
Power Board they are used in. You select which file you wish to edit from the
drop menu and then click Edit this language file . You will then see a list of all the
language variables on the left which are replaced by the phrase in the box on
the right when used in templates and code. Make any changes you wish in the
boxes on the right and then click Edit this file .
Creating a new language set works in a similar way to editing an existing set.
You base a new language set off an existing one by selecting it from the drop
menu. Then click Create new language set. You will be taken to another page to
allow you to enter in your author information and set the name of the new
language set. Form here you can see all the language files in the set just as if
you were editing it as explained above. You then set the value for the phrases.
Once you have created a new language set you can force all members to make
use of it by swapping one language with another. However, this is not
recommended unless you are updating to a new version of the language as
members will probably have set the language that suits them best. In addition,
you will now see a link next to your new language in the table at the top of the
page to set it as the default language for all new members and guests.
Finally, you can export the language set into XML format to give to other
Invision Power Board users. Click the Export link next to the language set in the
table to do this.
If you are importing a new language from the Import a Language link on the left
menu then you can browse for the language file on your computer by clicking on
the Browse button. Alternatively, if you have uploaded the file to your Invision
Power Board root directory then you can enter the filename into the box. Finally,
choose a name for the new language set and click on Import XML Language Set .
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Emoticons
Emoticons are used continually on the internet to allow expression of feeling,
emotion or as a replacement for body language such as facial expressions. It is
difficult to effectively portray facial expressions through text communication and
that is where emoticons come in! Invision Power Board supports the use of
custom emoticons but comes with 26 standard icons.
Emoticons are managed through the Emoticon Manager link in the admin panel
and exist within emoticon folders.
Manage emoticons
The folder name is a link which will take you to a list of all the emoticons in that
folder. The pen icon on the right indicates the Invision Power Board is able to
write to the emoticon directory and so you can add new icons to this folder. This
is done by browsing to the icon on your computer by clicking one of the Browse
buttons in the table below. You can upload up to 4 icons at a time and they will
be placed into the folder you select with the Upload tick box. In the screenshot
above there is only one emoticon folder so the only option is to upload to that
folder, which is why the tick box is greyed out.
The two counts indicate the number of icons in the folder on disk and the
number assigned to the group. Clicking the option drop menu will reveal several
options including the option to rename the folder, manage the emoticons within
it and to delete the folder. You can create a new folder by clicking the option
button in the table header.
Manage Emoticons
All the emoticons are listed in a grid showing the actual icon, a button to delete
the icon from Invision Power Board and the textual representation of the
emoticon. A selection of emoticons appear next to the post box in the front end
and when clicked can be inserted directly into the text. Only those emoticons
with the ‘Clickable?’ option ticked will appear in that box and can be inserted
directly. All others are available by clicking the Show All link. All emoticons have
a textual version which will be converted to the image when entered by the user
when replying to a topic or writing a new post. For example:
:) will be replaced by
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WARNING
You may not use the character " in the emoticons code section.
Import/Export
Many Invision Power Board users create their own emoticon packs which they
distribute for others to use. If you create your own set of emoticons you can also
export them and release them for others to use as well as import packages that
you have obtained.
Click the Import/Export Packs link from the left menu to do this. Exporting
consists of selecting which pack to export and then clicking on the Export button.
To import you select which group (or folder) or create a name for a new group to
import the pack into. If any emoticons already exist then you can choose to
overwrite them or not. Click the Browse button to locate the emoticon pack on
your computer and then click on Import to complete the action.
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Tools & Settings
Tools & Settings
The Tools & Settings tab of the ACP provides access to additional features of
Invision Power Board that you might want to make use of such as the post office
with which you can send e-mails to all your members. It also provides access to
the configurable options built into IP.B.
System Settings
The System Settings left menu provides a link to View All General Settings which
will show you a category table of the different settings available to you. Each
individual setting belongs to a specific group to make it easier to find, but you
can also use the search box in the table head to find a specific option you are
looking for.
Settings
Clicking on the category name will show all the settings in that group and allow
you to edit them. On the right are several icons which are normally used when
editing and managing a settings group you have added yourself. The first
folder/pen icon allows you to edit the category - you can change the name,
description and keyword as well as hide the settings group from the settings list.
The next icon will delete the group and the third icon recounts all the settings
within that group. The final icon allows you to export the settings.
Importing new settings is done by using the import box at the bottom of the
page. You can either upload a settings file from your computer by clicking the
Browse button or specify the location of the settings XML file relative to your
Invision Power Board root directory.
When making changes to any settings, change the value in the field on the right
and then click Update Settings at the bottom of the table to save the changes.
Settings – Board Guidelines
This section allows you to maintain your board guidelines. If enabled, a link will
be added to the board header linking to the board guidelines.
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Show link in header to guidelines?
Enable or disable the link in the board header to the guidelines.
External http:// link to guidlines page?
Provide a link to external guidelines or enter them into the text editor below.
Title to use in header?
This option allows you to specify the title to use in the header.
If not using external link; guidelines/rules text
If you did not enter an external link, the actual text to display. HTML is enabled.
Settings – Board Offline / Online
Use this setting to turn switch your board online or offline and leave a message
for your visitors.
Turn board offline
Disables your forum so that only members who are explicitly allowed to bypass
the offline message can see it.
The offline message to display
The message to display to visitors when they visit your offline board.
Settings – Calendar & Birthdays
This section will allow you to set up the board calendar and its related options.
Show birthdays on the main calendar view?
If set to yes , the calendar will show the number of birthdays for that day.
Show Today's birthdays on the board view?
If set to yes , this will show the day's birthdays on the board index view.
Auto hide when no birthdays to show?
If set to yes , this will remove the Today's Birthdays block from the board index
when there is none to show.
Show forthcoming calendar events?
If set to yes , this will show forthcoming calendar events on the board index
view.
Auto hide when no events to show?
If set to yes , this will remove the forthcoming calendar events block from the
board index view if there are none to show.
Show forthcoming events from today to [x] days ahead
Controls how far into the future events are shown on the forthcoming events
block on board index view.
Start Calendar on Monday?
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The default behaviour for the calendar is to start the week on Sunday. By setting
this to yes , you will start the week on Monday instead.
Starting year for calendar Year drop down box
This applies to view calendar / post event.
Year end limit for Year drop down box
This applies to view calendar / post event. Example: if the current year is 2002
and you enter 5 the last choosable year is 5 years later, so 2007.
Settings – Cookies
This section allows you to set the default cookie options. Cookies are small text
files saved to your visitor’s computer to store information that can be retrieved
by IP.B. Usually you do not need to alter these settings unless you have multiple
Invision Power Board installations or experience problems.
Cookie settings can be changed if the board cookies are not being stored
properly or conflicting with other software or Invision Power Board installations
on your domain name.
Cookie Domain
The domain name for the cookie to be set for. This is usually your domain name.
You can use .example.com to set a global cookie where example.com is your
domain name.
Cookie Name Prefix
A value to be prefixed to the cookie name. If you have multiple installations of
Invision Power Board on the same domain you should set this differently on each
one.
Cookie Path
Relative path from domain to root Invision Power Board directory. E.g. if your
domain is example.com and your Invision Power Board installation is at
example.com/forums then you would enter /forums in this field.
Settings – COPPA Set-up
This section allows you to comply with COPPA. Enabling COPPA on your board
will require children under the age of 13 to get parental consent via a faxed or
mailed form. More information is available at
http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/coppa1.htm
Settings – CPU Saving & Optimization
This section allows certain features to be limited or removed to get more
performance out of your board.
Allow custom profile field info be used in TopicView?
If set to yes , this will add a LEFT JOIN onto the custom profile field table.
Cache calendar and birthdays?
Not recommended if your board is not visited daily.
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Tools & Settings
Cut off for active user display [in minutes]
If a user does not perform any action in this time period, their session will end.
Storing Read Topics in the Database
Enter how many days you wish to store read topic information for. For large
busy boards we recommend keeping it to around 7 days to prevent a large slow
database table. The task manager will prune back this table to keep it
manageable. Enter 0 (zero) to not store read topic info in the database but store
it in a cookie instead.
Update Topic Views Immediately
If enabled, the topic views counter will be updated as one loads a topic. If not
enabled, the topic views will be written to another table and the topic views
updated every 6 hours. This will significantly reduce overhead on the topics table
if you have a very busy board as it overcomes the write lock initiated when the
topic counter is updated.
Mark topics a user has posted when displaying a forum?
This will display an icon showing which topics a user has posted in when they
view a forum.
Remove Users Browsing this forum feature?
This will save 1 query per forum view
Remove Users Browsing this topic feature?
This will save 1 query per topic view
Show Active Users
Displays active users on the forum index.
Allow users (where allowed) to use search?
Enables/disables the ability for users to use the search feature.
Show Board Totals?
Show the statistics and totals for the board on the forum index.
Server Load Limit
Set this limit so that when it is reached, the forum is disabled until the load goes
below the limit.
Print HTTP no-cache headers?
This will stop browsers caching pages The setting Print HTTP Headers? found
under General Configuration needs to be enabled for this setting to have any
effect.
Cut search post to [x] characters
Refers to when returning search results as posts. Leave blank to return full post
with proper formatting.
Show short forum jump list?
This will remove sub-forums from the drop down list - useful if you have many.
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Tools & Settings
Settings – Date & Time Formats
This section contains the date and time formats used throughout the board.
Native Server Time Zone
The time zone that the server time is set to.
NOTE
If you have chosen the correct time zone and the clock is an hour out, this is because of
daylight savings time and your members can correct this by editing their Board settings
via their User Control Panel.
Server Time Adjustment (in minutes)
You fine tune the server time. If you need to subtract minutes from the server
time, start the number with a –
Short time format, Join date time format, Long time format
These time formats use the PHP formatting syntax. The letters are replaced with
the appropriate date representation. See www.php.net/date for a full list.
Use relative dates?
Would use today and yesterday in posts / last post info.
Relative time format
{--} Will be replaced with today or yesterday. This allows you to add a time in,
as is set by default.
DST Auto Detection
When daylight saving time auto-detection is enabled, your member's profiles will
be automatically updated with the correct time.
Settings – E-Mail Setup
This section will allow you to change the incoming and outgoing email addresses
as well as the email method.
Board incoming email address
This is the email address that all incoming mail is addressed to.
Board outgoing email address
This is the email address that all mail appears to come from.
Mail Delivery Method
If PHP's mail() is not available, choose SMTP. If you are unsure, please ask
your web host and then enter the SMTP access details into the fields below.
PHP Mail Extra Options
Add additional options when using the mail() function. For example
[email protected] will force a From header.
Settings – General Configuration
These settings control the basics of the board such as URLs and paths.
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Tools & Settings
Board Name
This is the name of the board. It is used as the first link in the navigation menu
and throughout the site.
Website Name
This is the name of your website. If this and Website Address is filled in, your
website address and name will appear on the board above the header by default.
Website Address
This is the URL to your website. If entered, it will appear on the board above the
header by default.
Upload URL
The URL to your uploads/ directory.
Path to upload/ directory
The path to the upload directory you provided the URL to above.
NOTE
You would only ever need to change the upload path or directory if you needed to move
the location of this folder outside of your forum root directory.
Caching PATH
It is recommended this setting is left blank. If entered incorrectly, for forum may
be inaccessible. This is useful for specifying a path for the Invision Power Board
written files (skin_cache/, style_avatars/, style_emoticons/,
style_images/) when dealing with load balanced/clustered servers. If you enter
a path, please ensure that it ends with a trailing slash.
Document character set
Enter the document character set for all HTML pages.
Image URL
This can be left blank. This can be used if you wish to serve images from a
different server or when using clustered servers. Please ensure that you use a
trailing slash and that it starts with http(s):// if entering a URL.
Print HTTP Headers?
Some NT installations will require this to be turned to No .
Type of auto-redirect
This is for quick no-page redirects. Choose the option best suited to your
server's OS.
Remove 'Thanks....' redirect pages?
If set to Yes , this will remove any Thanks.... redirection pages used to provide
feedback to the user on their last action and will simply redirect without showing
this page.
Debug level
This controls the debug information shown at the footer of your board.
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Tools & Settings
Disable GZIP encoding?
GZIP enables faster page transfers and lower bandwidth use however some
servers are not configured to allow it. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzip#Other_uses for more information.
Enable SQL Debug Mode
If set to Yes , add &debug=1 to any page URL to view the SQL information.
Use Safe Mode Skins?
This setting is automatically set during installation but you can override the
setting here if you wish. Safe mode skins do not cache to PHP files and uses the
database exclusively.
Number Formatting
You may choose which character to separate thousands from hundreds
(e.g.: USA & UK use a comma).
Decimal Separator
Character used to separate decimals in numbers.
GD Version
GD is an embedded graphics library in PHP. Most recent PHP installations come
with GD2 which offers improved image functions. If you get errors by setting this
to GD2 , then simply choose GD1 . Find out more about GD in PHP at
http://www.php.net/image and GD itself at http://www.boutell.com/gd/.
Settings – IPB License Settings
This section will allow you to edit your Invision Power Board registered license
settings.
IPB Registered License Key
This is the IP.Board registration key not your customer code or client center
password. To get your key, log into your client center at
https://www.invisionpower.com/customer and click on Invision Power Board
under Your Purchases.
WARNING
Do not remove or edit this key unless you know what you are doing.
Display registered to line?
If enabled, you can optionally add a Licensed to line at the bottom of your
board. Who it is licensed to is controlled in the Show as licensed to... setting
below.
Settings – IPB Portal
These settings enable you to enable or disable Invision Power Board Portal and
control the options Invision Power Board Portal offers.
ENABLE IPB Portal?
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Tools & Settings
If Yes , Invision Power Board Portal can be accessed via index.php?act=home
IPB Portal Page Title?
This will appear in between the <title> elements on the page.
Date format for articles
This time format uses the PHP formatting syntax. The letters are replaced with
the appropriate date representation. See www.php.net/date for a full list.
Show User / Guest Info Box?
If Yes , Invision Power Board Portal will show a box with the guest’s information
displayed.
Show search box?
If Yes , Invision Power Board Portal will have a search box available to the user.
Enable skin selection choice dropdown?
If Yes , Invision Power Board Portal will allow user to select a skin type from the
Skin Selector.
Show Site Navigation Menu?
If Yes , Invision Power Board Portal will display a box marked Site Navigation.
Site Navigation Menu Links
If Show Site Navigation Menu? is Yes , Invision Power Board Portal will display
links input into the box.
Show Affiliates / Favoured Sites box?
If Yes , Invision Power Board Portal will show a box with the content input into
the setting in the IP.Board Portal section labelled “Show Affiliates / Favoured
Sites” box content.
Show Affiliates / Favoured Sites box content
If Show Affiliates / Favoured Sites box? is Yes , Invision Power Board Portal will
show the input in this box. This is used to input html to display affiliates and
favoured sites.
Settings – Log Pruning
Controls to determine which (if any) logs you wish to regularly prune.
Settings – News Set-up
This section will allow you to specify the forum you wish to export news topics
from.
Settings – Personal Message Set-up
This section allows you to control the global PM options.
Allow BBCode in messages?
BBCode is the [tag][/tag] format used to format text and apply other effects.
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Tools & Settings
Allow HTML in messages?
If set to Yes , your members will be allowed to use HTML in their personal
messages.
WARNING
Unless you implicitly trust every single member that you allow to use HTML, enabling
this feature poses a major security threat.
Max. number of messages to show per page when viewing message list
The default is 50.
Unblockable PM Groups
Members will not be able to block private messages from members in the
selected groups. You may select more than one.
Override Inbox Full Error
Members in the selected groups will be able to send private messages to other
members, even when their inbox is full.
Settings – Search Engine Spiders
This section will allow you to set up and maintain your search engine bot spider
recognition settings. Spiders and bots are the same thing and “crawl” your forum
adding links into their owner’s search engine. For example Google crawls sites to
find out about new links and etc that it then adds to its index.
Enable the search engine spider recognition?
If set to No , this feature will not be activated and all the settings below will have
no effect.
Log all spider visits?
If you are under heavy attack, switch this off as it may put a little extra load on
the SQL server as it attempts to insert new data rows.
Treat spider/bot as part of which group?
This is useful as you can specify group settings for a bot group which can restrict
access to certain areas, etc.
WARNING
It is important that you never give spiders or bots access to a group which you would
not want unregistered Guests being able to view. It is generally suggested that, if in use,
spiders use the Guest group.
Force spider/bot to use skin
This is useful as you can create a lite optimised skin for your spiders to use to
reduce bandwidth and increase the depth of the bot crawling.
Show spider/bot in the active users list?
If set to Yes , the name of the spider/bot will appear in the active users list.
Show spider as anonymous
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Tools & Settings
If set to Yes , this makes all spider bots anonymous and they can only be seen by
administrators.
Spider Bot User-Agent
Use this section to list which search engine user-agents you would like to be
treated as a search engine visit along with a human name for the online list in a
bot=Human Name format (one per line). For example
googlebot=Google.com
Settings – Search Set-up
This section contains settings for the Invision Power Board search system.
Type of search to use?
This option will be set to the most efficient for your system. FULLTEXT is the
more advanced but only supported by later versions of MySQL. The setting
description will also indicate whether FULLTEXT is available. You can find out
more at http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/fulltext-search.html
Default Search Mode?
By default all searches are done in simple mode with simple matching of queries
against results. However, you can change this to default to the more advanced
searching which allows more refined search results.
NOTE
This setting will only take effect if using full text searching.
Minimum search word length
Prevents the user from searching for any terms shorter than this value,
which defaults to 4.
NOTE
This setting will have no effect if using full text searching.
TIP
If you are running a programming forum, be careful not to place to large a limit. Many
common search terms require 3 letters for which the 4 letter default is not appropriate,
for example PHP or SQL both contain 3 letters.
View New Posts: Block Forums
Select the forums you do not wish to search for new posts when using either the
Get active topics or View new posts links. You may select more than one.
Settings – Security and Privacy
These options allow you to adjust the security and privacy options for your
board.
Registration Terms & Rules
The content of this section will be displayed before a member can register a new
account. It is HTML Enabled.
Enable Script/Bot Flood Control?
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Tools & Settings
This setting forces user to input a random code when registering and changing
email address, e.t.c. to prevent bots from spamming the forms.
Guest Posting Bot Control
Do you wish to require guests who post (where allowed) to input a code to
confirm their post?
Allow dynamic images?
If Yes users can post scripted image generators that are PHP/CGI scripts
designed to look like an image. This is used for random signature images, etc
but can allow users to write malicious scripts which can interfere with the board.
Enable X_FORWARDED_FOR IP matching?
If enabled, this will check the X_FORWARDED_FOR headers to match the user's IP
address. This is useful in a intranet situation if the REMOTE_ADDR will be the same
across the network. It will also help maintain AOL sessions but can be abused to
forge incorrect headers to report an incorrect IP address. If unsure, leave off.
Lost Password: Password Method
Allows you to choose the password method you wish to use from a drop down
menu. The two options are to Email Random Password to the user or Allow User
to Enter New Password.
Member’s log in key: Expiration
This setting controls how long a member’s log in key, used in cookies, can be
used. It is advised that a member’s log in key expires weekly if not used. This
increases the security of your board by exposing log in data for a week limiting
the time frame a hacker would have to use the key if stolen.
Member’s log in key: Reset upon each log in?
If Yes , each successful log in process will reset the member's auth key which is
used in cookies as a password. This will make it impossible to remain logged in
on more than one computer.
Session Expiration (in seconds)
Removes inactive sessions over the limit you specify. The lower the number the
less chance of a session being hijacked.
Match user's IP Address during session validation
If Yes , the IP address of the user must match the one stored in the sessions
table for security. Only use No in an intranet environment where many users
share the same IP address.
Match user's browser during session validation
This further reduces the risk of session hijacking and tampering but it does mean
that a user will have their session terminated if they use another browser at the
same time.
Lock user account after how many failed login attempts
How many failed login attempts should a user be allowed before the account is
locked? Set to 0 to disable.
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Tools & Settings
Reset failed login attempts after how many minutes
Reset the login attempts after how many minutes? Set to 0 to not reset failed
login attempts until a successful login occurs.
Automatically unlock account?
If an account is locked due to failed login attempts, do you wish for the account
to unlock after the defined time period has passed since their failed login
attempt? Setting this to No will require you to manually unlock accounts under
the Management tab.
Use secure mail form for member to member mails?
Hides the email address from other users and prevents email harvesting bots
from gathering your members email addresses.
Allow images to be posted?
Advanced programmers can force images to run as scripts. Invision Power Board
can limit this attack. However, this should only be disabled as an extreme
measure.
Allow flash movies in posts and avatars?
Flash has a built in scripting language which may compromise security. As Flash
becomes more advanced, the chances of it compromising your board will
increase. We recommend you leave this feature set to No .
Remove the ACP link from the board
If ‘yes’, the ACP link will not be displayed in the board header. This is useful if
you rename the default ‘admin’ folder.
Characters allowed in usernames
If this is set, Invision Board will ensure all usernames only contain characters in
this list upon registration. Another restriction to this option is to allow only
alphanumeric usernames. To do this use: a-zA-Z0-9
Error Message to Display
If you specify the characters allowed in usernames, and a user tires to register
with a name that has invalid characters, what error message should be
displayed? Tip:You can use {chars} to show the characters allowed.
New registration email validation?
Make an administrator manually preview all new accounts or make new users
validate their email address. If User then Admin validation is selected, the user
receives a validation email. On successful user validation, the user is entered
into the administration approval queue.
Remove incomplete registration validations after [x] days
This will automatically remove all unvalidated members after the number of days
you specify. Enter 0 to not automatically remove unvalidated members.
Get notified when a new user registers via email?
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Tools & Settings
This will send an email to the board incoming email address as defined in the
email setup settings when a new user successfully registers on the board.
Force guests to log in before allowing access to the board?
If set to Yes , any guest must either log in or register before they can view the
board.
Disable new registrations?
If set to Yes , this will not allow any guests to register an account on your board.
Remove chr(0xCA) from input?
Can be used as a 'hidden' space to emulate registered names - but can cause
problems in non Western character sets.
Disable Report this post to a moderator link?
Removes the ability for your members to report a post.
Reported Post Notifications sent to
This setting will allow you to determine where you want reported post
notifications to go? Private message or e-mail.
Flood control delay (in seconds)
Make users wait before posting again. Can be left blank for no flood control and
does not apply to members which belong to a group that can bypass flood
control.
Allow users to browse the Active Users list?
If set to Yes , members and guests where allowed will be able to determine the
whereabouts of each other on the online list. Topics and forums that the viewer
does not have permission to see are not shown.
Disable Anonymous Login
Do you wish to disable members' ability to login anonymously?
Disable root admin group viewing anonymous online users?
Anonymous users have an asterisk after their name.
Disable root admin group viewing online users IP address in online user list?
Display IPB version on your site?
Do you wish to display the version of Invision Power Board you are running in
your copyright footer?
Settings – Subscription Manager
These settings control various subscription manager features.
Show subscription packages when registering?
If enabled, the subscription packages will be shown in the registration page and
the registering member will be able to select one.
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Force every member to require a subscriptions package
If enabled, the member must choose a package upon registration to proceed
past the validating group and current members must purchase a subscription to
view the board.
Member group to use after registration but before package purchase?
If you require that every member purchases a subscription, choose a group to
move the member into once they have validated their registration prior to
purchasing a subscriptions manager package. Members in this group will see the
Purchase Subscriptions page when logged in and if they do not already have a
package.
Settings – Topics, Posts and Polls
These options control various elements when posting, reading topics and reading
polls.
Number of topics per forum page
Enter the number of topics to display on the page from the forum before
pagination occurs.
Remove excess exclamation/question marks in topic titles?
If enabled, will remove the excessive exclamation/question marks from topic
titles. For example: “This!!!!!” -> “This!”
Number of rating votes required to show
The number of actual rating votes needed before the topic's rating value is
displayed.
Stop shouting in topic titles?
If enabled, will stop all capitalized topics. For example: “CLICK HERE” -> “Click
here”
Number of posts needed to make a ‘hot topic’?
This setting controls the number of posts need to make a topic a ‘hot topic’,
which will change the icon for that topic to the specified ‘Hot Topic’ icon.
Topic prefix for PINNED topics
Will prefix topics that are PINNED by a moderator with the specified text.
Topic prefix for MOVED topics
Will prefix topics that are MOVED by a moderator with the specified text.
Topic prefix for POLLS
Will prefix topics that are POLLS with the specified text.
Topic Title Max Length
Set the maximum topic title length allowed.
Number of posts per topic page
Enter the number of posts to display on the page from the topic before
pagination occurs.
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Outline View: Number of posts per page
This controls how many posts are shown in the threaded tree per page. This
helps to reduce server overhead on very large topics.
Default Topic View Mode
Selects the default topic view mode from 'Outline', 'Standard' and 'Linear Plus'.
Ignore Users: Protected Groups
The members of each of the groups selected will not be able to be ignored.
Order posts within a topic by
This setting will display a drop box allowing you to choose whether to display
posts within a topic by “Post ID” or by “Post Date”
Order posts within a topic by
This setting will display a drop box allowing you to choose whether to display
posts within a topic by Ascending or Descending order.
Max. no. emoticons per post
Limits the number of emoticons allowed in a single post.
Max. no. images per post
Limits the number of images in a single post.
Max. size of post (in kilobytes [kb])
Sets the maximum limit of a posts size in kilobytes.
Max. height of posted Flash movies (in pixels)
Limits the height of flash movies in posts, when using the [flash] tags where
allowed.
Max. width of posted Flash movies (in pixels)
Limits the width of flash movies in posts, when using the [flash] tags where
allowed.
No. characters to word wrap on?
Prevents long unbroken words which distort tables. 80 - 100 is recommended
No. emoticons per clickable table row
The clickable emoticons box is shown in the full posting form page.
Max. Number Quotes Per Post
Use this to stop multiple quote embedding which can cause some browsers to
hang or crash.
Merge member's concurrent posts
When a member posts twice within n minutes, once after the other in a topic
they will be merged into one post. Enter the number of minutes to capture
concurrent posts. Enter 0 to not use.
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Stop Quote Embedding?
This will remove any quoted text when quoting a post that contains quotes.
Valid postable image extensions
Defines which images are allowed in [img][/img] tags.
Seperate with comma (gif,jpeg,jpg)
Use URL Filtering?
If you would like to filter urls based on your blacklist or whitelist settings, enable
this. URL filtering allows you to explicitely allow (whitelist) or deny (blacklist)
links in topic posts (images and urls).
Which filter do you wish to use?
If you have enabled the url filtering, do you wish to use your blacklist or
whitelist? You may only use one or the other.
Whitelist Settings
You can specify here links that you explicitely want to allow. You may use * as a
wildcard. One per line.
i.e.: http://www.yourdomain.com*
http://*.google.com/*
Blacklist Options
You can specify here links that you explicitely want to disallow. You may use *
as a wildcard. One per line.
i.e.: http://*.somedomain.com*
http://competitor_domain.com*
Show uploaded images in post as images?
If set to "yes", any image attachments in a post will be shown as the image and
not as a downloadable link. Set this to yes to allow members to position their
image attachments in the post using the [attachmentid] tag.
Show thumbnail of attached image?
If the above option is set to "yes" to allow image attachments to show as the
image select this option to show the attached image as a thumbnail which takes
up less space and can be quicker to load.
Attachment Image Thumbnail Size [width]
If both ‘Show uploaded images in post as images?’ and ‘Show thumbnail of
attached image?’ options are set to "yes", you can define the maximum width of
the thumbnail. If attached images are smaller than the dimensions set here,
they will not be shown as a thumbnail.
Attachment Image Thumbnail Size [height]
If both ‘Show uploaded images in post as images?’ and ‘Show thumbnail of
attached image?’ options are set to "yes", you can define the maximum width of
the thumbnail. If attached images are smaller than the dimensions set here,
they will not be shown as a thumbnail.
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Guest names [prefix]
This is for when a guest posts with a members name, it allows for a visual
difference to prevent confusion. It prefixes the name input by the guest with this
text.
Guest names [suffix]
This is for when a guest posts with a members name, it allows for a visual
difference to prevent confusion. It suffixes the name input by the guest with this
text.
Allow [IMG] and [URL] tags in polls?
If enabled, allows BBCode [IMG] and [URL] to be used in polls.
Max. Poll Questions Per Poll
Enter the maximum number of questions you wish to allow your members to
create in a single poll.
Maximum number of poll choices allowed?
Limits the number of choices allowed to be entered for a poll.
Allow members to view the results of a poll without losing their vote?
If enabled, members will be able to view the results of the poll, before voting.
Otherwise, a null vote will be cast.
Allow poll creator to vote in own poll?
If set to "yes", the poll creator will have the option of voting in their own poll.
Allow poll creator to make "poll only"
Do you wish to allow posters who create polls to be able to disallow replies to
the poll?
Numbers of hours to keep open the ability for topic starters to attach a poll to
their topic
This option does not affect administrators or super moderators.
Allow members to use Rich Text Editing?
If 'yes', members using IE 6, IE 7, Mozilla, Opera and Firefox will be able to use
Rich Text Editing (WYSIWYG).
Post Editor's Width
The width of the Rich Text Editor (WYIWYG) / Standard Text Editor when
composing a new post. "px" and "%" allowed.
PM Editor's width
The width of the Rich Text Editor (WYIWYG) / Standard Text Editor when
composing a new Personal Message. "px" and "%" allowed.
Settings – Trash Can Set-up
The trashcan is a special forum in which topics are moved into instead of being
deleted.
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NOTE
Once a topic or post is already in the trash can forum, if deleted, there is no way to
recover it. The trashcan forum functions, similar to the Recycle Bin on your computer.
Enable Trash Can
If set to No , this feature will not activated and the settings below will be ignored.
Designate which forum to use as the trash can?
This is the forum which deleted topics are placed in. No special read/write/reply
permissions are applied - please set up as if it were a normal forum.
Use trashcan for ROOT administrators?
If set to No , they will be able to delete as normal.
Use trashcan for normal administrators?
Use trashcan for global moderators?
Use trashcan for forum moderators?
Settings – User Profiles
This section allows you to adjust your member's global permissions and other
options that affect their accounts and usage of your forum.
Allow members to choose skins?
If enabled, members will be allowed to choose a skin from the installed skins.
Disable group prefix/suffix formatting
This will allow you to globally disable the group prefix and suffix from formatting
member names
Number of posts a member must have over before allowing them to change their
member title?
Enter the number of posts needed for member to edit their own title or enter 0
to disable completely.
Maximum length (in bytes) for the location field entry
Maximum length (in bytes) for the interests field entry
Maximum length (in bytes) for user signatures
Allow HTML in signatures?
If enabled, this allows the use of HTML in signature.
NOTE
This is NOT recommended unless you trust all your members who can add a signature.
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Allow BBCode in signatures?
Default editor type for members
What should the member's default editor type be when they register?
User selectable posts per page dropdown contents
Separate with a comma, 'Use forum default' added automatically
Example: 5,15,20,25,30
User selectable topics per forum page dropdown contents
Separate with a comma, 'Use forum default' added automatically
Example: 5,15,20,25,30
Auto prune all topic subscriptions if the topic has no replies over [x] days
Leave this setting blank or enter 0 for no auto prune limit.
Automatically subscribe to every forum
Please choose which user groups you'd like to automatically be subscribed for
email notification of new topics (not replies) in every forum available to them.
This means that members having a selected PRIMARY group will be emailed
every time there is a new topic and they are not online to view it.
NOTE
This will only send the email to those who have chosen to 'Allow emails from the
administrators'.
Allow the use of avatars?
Allowed avatar image URL extensions
Separate extensions with comma. For example: gif,jpg,jpeg,png
Allow users to use remote URL avatars?
Max. file size for avatar uploads? (K)
Sets maximum file size for avatar uploads in kilobytes
Maximum avatar dimensions
Set the maximum avatar dimensions (WIDTHxHEIGHT), in pixels.
For example: 90x90
Default sizes for gallery avatars?
Set the default sizes for gallery avatars (WIDTHxHEIGHT), in pixels.
For example: 90x90
Number of columns for the avatar gallery?
Allowed photo URL extensions
Separate extensions with comma. For example: gif,jpg,jpeg,png
Disable IPB auto sizing large photos/avatars?
This will ask the member to input their dimensions
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Allow GUESTS to view signatures?
Allow GUESTS to view posted images?
Allow GUESTS to view user avatars?
Allow "Display Names"
If enabled, the member can choose a "Display Name" that is separate from their
"Log in Username". This is REQUIRED when using non-internal authentication
methods.
Prohibit Display Names from selecting Log In names
If "yes", one is not able to choose a display name that is the same as another's
display name OR another's log in name. If "no" one is not able to choose a
display name that is the same as another's display name only.
Use 'classic' mode profiles?
If 'yes', the new profile portal will be disabled and the classic profile mode
(IP.Board 2.1) will be used instead.
Allow members to rate each other?
If this is set to 'yes', members will be able to rate other members from their
profiles.
Settings – Warn Set-Up
This section will allow you to set up the warning system. This allows you to issue
warnings to members if they break your rules or for any other reason. Invision
Power Board can keep track of the warning level and impose sections upon
warned members.
Enable the warning system?
If set to "no", the warn system will not be used and all warn levels will be hidden
from view.
Minimum Warn Level
Minus numbers allowed. If using minus numbers, we recommend that you do not
use the graphical blocks and percentage but use the 'rating' mode as 'warn
mode' will not take into account a minus start number. Members always start
with a zero warn level when registered.
Maximum Warn Level
Protected Groups
Groups that cannot be warned you may choose more than one.
Allow all other non-protected groups to see their own warn level and reasons?
If set to "yes", members will be able to see their own warn level and the reasons
for their warnings.
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Allow warnings to continue once the minimum or maximum has been reached?
Type of visual indicator?
Controls which type of warn level meter is displayed.
Moderators can ban via warn panel?
Applies to those moderators allowed to use the warning system. Admins can ban
via the warn panel, by default.
Moderators can mod queue members via warn panel?
Applies to those moderators allowed to use the warning system. Admins can
mod queue members via the warn panel, by default.
Moderators can remove post rights via warn panel?
Applies to those moderators allowed to use the warning system. Admins can
remove post rights via the warn panel, by default.
Number of times per day moderators can warn a single member
Global Moderators can ban via warn panel?
Administrators can ban via the warn panel, by default.
Global Moderators can mod queue members via warn panel?
Administrators can mod queue members via the warn panel, by default.
Global Moderators can remove post rights via warn panel?
Administrators can remove post rights via the warn panel, by default.
Number of times per day a global moderator can warn a single member
Add new general setting
If you are working on a modification for Invision Power Board or wish to create a
new setting for some other reason, you can do so by clicking the Add New
General Setting link from the left menu. This will load a form that you can use to
add a new setting.
Setting Title
The name of the setting as it will appear in the ACP.
Setting Position
The position the setting will appear in when listed when viewing the settings.
Ordering works numerically and ascends in order. So a value of 1 will be placed
higher in the list than a value of 10.
Setting Description
A description of what the setting is/does for use when displayed in the settings
list.
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Setting Group
Here, you specify the group that you wish the setting to be located within. If you
wish to create a new group, use the Start Setting Group option explained below.
Setting Type
Settings are configured by the admin and so you must choose which type of field
you wish to display. A text field is suitable for text input but you may want to
limit the options to yes or no, in which case you would select the Yes/No Radio
Buttons .
Setting Key
Settings are accessed in the code and in templates by using their setting key.
Enter a value here for the key you wish to use. This should be lowercase and
should not include spaces to maintain the standards Invision Power Board uses.
Setting Current Value
The value the field will have, as soon as it is edited. This field is updated the
value is changed by the admin.
Setting Default Value
This is the default value the field will have if not set a value by the admin.
Setting Extra
If you chose a drop down menu from the Setting Type then you need to enter
the values in here. They should be in the form of key=value with a new one per
line. For example
php=PHP
mysqp=MySQL
ror=Ruby on Rails
Raw PHP code to eval before showing and saving?
You may wish to do some checking or execute some PHP code before the field
value is shown/saved, which you can do here. When the value is being shown
the variable $show will be set to 1 and when being saved the variable $save will
be set to 1. You can access the key and value with variables of the same names
- $key and $value.
Start Setting Group
If you do not wish to use one of the existing setting groups and want to create
your own, enter the name of the new group here or leave it blank if you have
selected an existing one. If you enter the name of the group in this field, this
setting will the first in the group.
End setting group?
If you want this setting to be the latest setting in the group, enter the group
name into this field.
Optional Help Key
Enter a help key here which will display a help link to the user.
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Make a default settings (cannot be removed by user)?
Some settings cannot be removed by the user, select this option to set this for
the new setting.
Add this option into the settings cache?
This will store the value of the setting in a cache rather than retrieve it from the
database on every page load.
Maintenance
The Maintenance section of the left menu allows you to keep your forums
running smoothly once they begin to grow.
Manage Help Files
Help is available to members from the help page at /index.php?act=Help.
Help
The content of this section is controlled from this part of the admin panel.
Admin management of help files
Each help file is called a topic and has a title and description, as well as the
actual help content itself. Clicking Edit will show the existing help topic and allow
you to edit the content using the rich text editor. Clicking Remove will get rid of
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Tools & Settings
the selected help file. You can also reorder the topics changing how they appear
on the help page itself. This is done by choosing the new position from the drop
menu on the far right next to the topic in the table, and then scrolling down and
clicking Reorder at the bottom.
Finally, you can add a new help file by clicking Add New Help File from the bottom
of the table.
Cache Control
Introduction
Invision Power Board caches many items from the database to save on queries.
These caches are stored in the ibf_cache_store. Invision Power Board uses a lot
of relatively static, yet site-specific and configurable, data during page
execution. An example of this would be the forum data – while it changes, and is
dynamic, the forum structure itself does not change form page to page.
To counter-act resource issues, IP.Board caches relatively static data so that is
odes not need to address server individual tables on each page load. This article
explains the methods IP.Board can cache this data, and how you can configure
these methods. Included is also a brief overview of how you could create a new
caching class, should you find it necessary.
If you decide to use an alternate cache class, after enabling it you may wish to
log into your ACP and rebuild all of your caches under Tools & Settings, Cache
Control. Click the button at the top right of the header, and click Rebuild All.
Database Cache (Default)
By default in IP.Board 2.2 (as occurred in IP.Board 2.1) Invision Power Board
serializes and caches it's data in the ibf_cache_store database table. One query
is used when the page first starts to load to pull the specific 'cache store' keys
that it will use during page execution. No changes are necessary to use this
cache method.
If you find that this database table repeatedly 'locks' (using MySQL) you can try
setting this database table engine to InnoDB to attempt to prevent it from
locking when multiple users are accessing the same data.
Disk Cache
If you find that your ibf_cache_store still locks after setting the table type to
InnoDB, you can use the disk cache method if you prefer. In order to use this
cache method
1) You cannot be running under safe_mode
2) Your ./cache folder must be CHMOD 777
When the method is enabled, IP.Board will create and write to files in this folder
to pull the cache data it requires. While profiling the cache methods available in
IP.Board, this method was found to be the slowest, and as such it is not
recommended to use disk caching unless necessary.
To enable disk caching, open your ./conf_global.php file in a text editor. Find
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<?php
And add after this line of code
$INFO[‘use_mmcache’] = 1;
Turck MMCache will cache the data into memory cutting access time drastically.
Outside of IP.Board's support for cache storage, Turck MMCache also caches php
code in a compiled state, reducing php execution time of scripts. More
information about Turck MMCache can be found here.
Eaccelerator
Eaccelerator is probably the most popular cache engine installed on shared and
dedicated servers presently. Eaccelerator is a branch off of the original Turck
MMCache software, and performs in the same manner as the original Turck
MMCache. If you login to your ACP, click on PHPINFO, and search for
"Eaccelerator" you may find it is already installed.
To enable IP.Board's support for eaccelerator, open conf_global.php and find
<?php
add after this line of code
$INFO['use_eaccelerator'] = 1;
More information regarding eaccelerator can be found here
XCache
Xcache is another common PHP caching engine with shared memory API
support. Xcache, like many other cache engines, will store the php opcode
preparsed, and like eaccelerator will give you API's available to store data
directly in memory. If you login to your ACP, click on PHPINFO, and search for
"Xcache" you may find it is already installed.
To enable IP.Board's support for xcache, open conf_global.php and find
<?php
$INFO['use_xcache'] = 1;
More information regarding xcache can be found here
MemCache
Memcache is a distributed memory object caching system with the intended
implementation designed to reduce load to the database by storing data that is
accessed consistently in memory. IP.Board can utilize memcache just as it
utilizes Eaccelerator, or the database directly.
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Tools & Settings
To enable IP.Board's support for memcache, open conf_global.php and find
<?php
and add after this line of code
$INFO['use_memcache'] = 1;
$INFO['memcache_server_1'] = "SERVER ADDRESS HERE";
$INFO['memcache_port_1'] = "SERVER PORT HERE";
WARNING
It is important to configure the server address and port when adding this information to
your conf_global.php file.
Additionally, IP.Board can support up to two additional memcache slaves. If you
have more than one memcache server, you can configure up to two more by
adding
$INFO['memcache_server_2'] = "SERVER 2 ADDRESS HERE";
$INFO['memcache_port_2'] = "SERVER 2 PORT HERE";
$INFO['memcache_server_3'] = "SERVER 3 ADDRESS HERE";
$INFO['memcache_port_3'] = "SERVER 3 PORT HERE";
APC (Alternative PHP Cache)
APC support is provided as well. It is a free and open opcode cache for PHP and
is the free alternative to Zend accelerator.
To enable IP.Board's support for APC, open conf_global.php and find
<?php
$INFO['use_apc'] = 1;
More information regarding APC can be found here.
Creating your own cache engine library
While we are not aware of any other third party cache engines available, if you
wished to create a module to access one (such as custom in-house caching
engine), two steps would need to be taken.
•
Modify ipsclass.php method init_cache_setup() and add code similar to
the following
require KERNEL_PATH.'class_cache_memcache.php';
$this->cachelib = new cache_lib( $this->vars['board_url'] );
$this->cachelib->connect( $this->vars );
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Point this to the name of the file you locate under ./ips_kernel (see the next
step)
•
Create a new class to place in ./ips_kernel to support your cache library.
This will be custom-developed to support your application, however here
is a basic template with all the methods called from IP.Board
/*
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------| Invision Power Services Kernel [Cache Abstraction]
| Invision Power Board v<{%dyn.down.var.human.version%}>
| =============================================
| by Matthew Mecham
| (c) 2001 - 2005 Invision Power Services, Inc.
| http://www.invisionpower.com
| =============================================
| Web: http://www.invisionboard.com
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------| THIS IS NOT FREE / OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| > Core Module
| > Module written by Brandon Farber
| > Date started: Friday 19th May 2006 17:33
|
| > Module Version Number: 1.0
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
/**
* IPS Kernel Pages: Cache Object Core
* -- Memcache Cache Storage
*
* Basic Usage Examples
*
* $cache = new cache_lib( 'identifier' );
* Update:
* $db->do_put( 'key', 'value' [, 'ttl'] );
* Remove
* $db->do_remove( 'key' );
* Retrieve
* $db->do_get( 'key' );
*
*
* @package
IPS_KERNEL
* @subpackage Cache Abstraction
* @author
Brandon Mecham
* @version
1.0
*/
class cache_lib
{
var $identifier;
var $crashed
= 0;
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var $link;
function cache_lib( $identifier='' )
{
// Object constructor if necessary
}
function connect( $server_info=array() )
{
// Connection/ error-checking/ initialization routine
}
function disconnect()
{
// Disconnect routine, if necessary, otherwise leave blank
}
function do_put( $key, $value, $ttl=0 )
{
// Puts data in cache
}
function do_get( $key )
{
// Retrieves and returns data from cache
}
function do_remove( $key )
{
// Removes data from cache
}
}
?>
If an error is encountered during the library setup, set $this->crashed = 1 so
that IP.Board will know not to access it throughout its execution.
Note
IPS will not install or support any third party cache engine libraries - you (or your host)
must install any cache library (such as eaccelerator or memcache) and ensure it is
operational. During troubleshooting, if we determine the cache engine itself is the fault
of any issues, we may disable it to verify as such.
Note
IP.Board only caches skin set data, and the data in ibf_cache_store - it does not cache
all content
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Recount & Rebuild
As with caches, statistics can become out of date and may need to be rebuilt.
The Recount & Rebuild section allows you to do this with the following:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
General statistics
o Total topics and posts
o Member count
o Last registered member
o Reset of “most online” statistic
Forum statistics
o Topic counts
o Post counts
o Forum last poster
Topics statistics
o Reply count
o Attachment count
o Topic starter
o Topic last poster
Post content
Useful if you have changed a lot of emoticons or the emoticon paths.
Usernames
Useful if you have recently converted or changed member's names.
Post counts
Attachment thumbnails
Attachment data
o Filesize
o Location
o File extension
Orphaned attachments
Orphaned avatars
Orphaned photos
Most of these options have an x per cycle value. This helps to prevent time outs
by only executing a certain number of queries per page load.
Clean-Up Tools
Generally these are only needed once when moving members, upgrading or
importing. Click Run Tool next to the tool you wish to use.
Post Office
A situation may arise where you wish to e-mail some or all of the members on
your board. This may be to announce changes, prompt members who have no
posts to get posting or send out instructions to moderators. Invision Power
Board provides a “Post Office” tool which allows you to do this.
If you have a large number of members it becomes difficult to send out e-mails
to them all without having the PHP execution time out. To solve this problem
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Invision Power Board enters messages into a queue system and sends them over
a period of time. This helps to spread the load on the server and prevents script
timeouts.
Send a new message
To send a new message, click the Create New Email link from the left menu.
Start new bulk email
The first section of the page that is displayed requires you to enter a subject for
the message and then customised the e-mail content. As with HTML templates,
the e-mail content allows you to use replacement variables. These look
something like {member_name} and when the message is sent they will be
replaced with the appropriate value. The available variables are provided at the
bottom of the page in a table headed Quick Tags.
Quick tags
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Invision Power Board allows members to opt out of any e-mails from you and by
default this option will be used to choose whether members get messages or
not. However, Invision Power Board allows you to override this and send
messages to every member.
You can use HTML within the e-mail content but if you do so you must tick the
box under the Mail Sending Options.
Filters
You must choose who to send the message to and the filters box allows you to
do this. You can send only to members within a specific group and provide
further additional filters to:
•
•
•
Send to members with a certain number of posts
Send to members who last posted a certain number of days ago
Send to members who join a certain number of days ago
When entering a value for each of these you can choose whether the filter will
include members with a value greater or less than the value you enter from the
drop menu.
Click on Preview to see what the message would look like if it was sent to you.
When you are ready to send the message, click Proceed… to continue. The
message will be entered into the queue and sending will commence.
Manage Bulk Mail
All messages that you send will be viewable in the Manage Bulk Mail section
which also shows you how long it took to complete the send job. If any errors
occurred during the send process then they will be logged in the E-Mail Error
Log, accessed by clicking on View E-Mail Error Logs from the left menu. This is
covered in more detail in the Admin – Board Logs section of the documentation.
NOTE
The bulk mailer sends in batches to keep your server’s mailer from being overloaded. To
send the batches, there must be activity on your forum. If there are no visitors for an
extended period, the email may be delayed until there is activity.
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Portal Manager
The portal system built into Invision Power Board has several plug-ins which can
be controlled from this section. By default the following plug-ins are installed and
available:
•
•
•
•
•
Calendar
Displays a mini calendar for the current month
Gallery
Shows Invision Power Gallery information on the portal
Online Users
Shows the current name and number of online users
Poll
Shows the selected poll
Recent Topics
Shows IP.Board recent topics with topic's first post
Each plug-in has a menu icon on the right which, when clicked, will reveal at
least one option – View Exportable Tags. Upon clicking View Exportable Tags, a
popup window will appear showing the replacement tags that can be used in
templates. The tags will be substituted with the actual content from the plug-in
when a user views the portal.
Poll
The poll plug-in requires you to specify a poll to show. This should be an existing
poll on your board. After clicking the Edit Settings link from the menu button,
you need to provide the full URL to this poll so that the poll items can be
extracted.
Recent Topics
This plug-in requires you to specify where to get the latest topics from and how
many to show. After clicking Edit Settings from the menu button, you will be
presented with several options. The first is to choose from which category and or
forum(s) to factor into the recent topics feed. You can select multiple forums and
categories.
Finally you need to specify how many recent topics you wish to get and display.
Log In Manager
This subject is covered in the IP.Board Developer Documentation.
Task Manager
Certain functions such as sending forum/topic digest e-mails are usually only
carried out once per day, or at a certain regular interval. A well known system
on Linux that handles this is the crontab. This allows you to schedule specific
commands to be executed at certain times. Windows also has a similar system
but to ensure compatibility with as many systems as possible, Invision Power
Board has its own built in cron emulation functionality called the Task Manager.
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WARNING
Do not delete the tasks that IP.Board sets up by default! Doing so will mean several
statistics on your board will fail to update, and your database will start filling up with
expired sessions and subscriptions.
The task manager is invoked when the board is accessed and any tasks which
are due at that time, or in the past, are executed.
Scheduled tasks
The task manager shows you all the tasks that are scheduled to be run, a brief
description of what the task does, the next time it will run and the interval that
the task will be run at.
TIP
If your board is not very active these tasks may not be run when they are supposed to
be. If this is the case then you can get a command line to paste into your crontab file
and have executed. This is accessed by clicking on the small icon to the left of the red
icon for each task.
TIP
If a task has not run for some time or you wish to execute a task immediately you can
click the red icon for each task to execute it right away.
NOTE
A task lock is put in place while a task is executing to prevent it from being run more
than once. This is useful if a task is going to take some time to complete. You can
remove a task lock by clicking Unlock Task from the menu button on the far right.
Adding/Editing Tasks
Adding a new task can be done by clicking the Add New Task button at the
bottom of the page. You can edit a task by clicking Edit Task from the menu
button on the right. The screen for adding and editing tasks is the same.
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Editing tasks
Title & Short Description
These values appear on the admin page explained previously.
PHP File to Run
You need to enter the filename (including the extension) of the script that will
execute the task. Make sure that the script is uploaded correctly to the
sources/tasks/ folder, or the task will fail. The code within this PHP is what will
actually be executed when the task is run.
Time Options
This configures when and how often you want the task to run.
•
•
•
•
Task Time: Minutes - choose Every Minute to run each minute or a
number for a specific minute of an hour.
Task Time: Hours - choose Every Hour to run each hour or a number for
a specific hour of a day.
Task Time: Week Day - choose Every Day to run each day or a week
day for a specific week day of a month.
Task Time: Month Day - choose Every Day to run each day or a month
day for a specific month day of a month.
Enable Task Logging
This will write to the task log each time the task is run.
WARNING
Not recommended for tasks that may run every few minutes otherwise your log will
quickly increase in size.
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Enable Task?
If you are using the cron system on your OS then you should probably not have
the task manager run it too. Use this option to disable this task.
Task Key
This is used to call a task where the ID of the task might change.
Task Safe Mode
If set to Yes, this will not be editable by admins.
Task Logs
If a task has been set to log all runs, it will appear in the task log.
Last 5 tasks run
The task log displays which task was run, when run, and the result. By default
only the last 5 tasks run are shown so beneath the list are several filtering
options to allow you to view logs only from a specific task and configure how
many entries to see.
Finally, you can clear the task log based on a specific task or on how old the task
entries are.
Timing
The timing of tasks can be quite confusing for people unfamiliar with task
scheduling in general. Wherever a dash - appears, this indicates the task will run
at every unit of time (e.g. if a dash appears in the minute column, the task will
run every minute). If a number is specified, then the task will only run when that
unit of time is equal to the value specified (e.g. if the minute unit is set to 12,
the task will only run on the 12th minute).
The easiest way to understand the timing system is by example:
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4 examples of timing
Example 1
In example 1, the only value specified is Min, which is set to 59. Therefore, this
task will run every day of the week, every day of the month and every hour on
the 59th minute, i.e. hourly.
Example 2
Example 2 has specified a value for the hour and minute. Bear in mind that the
values are based on 24 hour time. Both values are set to 0, so therefore this
task will run on the 0 minute of 0 hours, every day of the month and every day
of the week, i.e. at midnight every day.
Example 3
Only the hour value is specified in this example, so therefore the task will run
every day of the week, every day of the month and every minute of the 12th
hour (midday).
Example 4
This example is somewhat similar to example 2. The hour and minute are both
specified as 3 and 0 respectively, so the task will run at 3.00am every day.
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Components
Components
Components are large plug-ins that can be purchased from Invision Power
Services and installed and integrated into your copy of IP.B. Available
components can be viewed, ordered and installed from the Components section
of the admin panel and include the following.
The available components are managed from the Admin tab of the admin control
panel.
Invision Gallery
Invision Gallery is a fully featured, powerful gallery system that is easy and fun
to use! It plugs right into your existing Invision Power Board to create a
seamless browsing experience for the users of your forum.
Since Invision Gallery is a plug-in for Invision Power Board, it uses the same
templating and language system! This allows you to create a look for your
gallery that matches your forum without having to learn a new set of tools. The
administration features are also found right in your Invision Power Board ACP,
which means you can manage both your gallery and your forum in one
convenient location.
Invision Community Blog
Invision Community Blog is a powerful blogging system that will plug straight
into your Invision Power Board. Allow your members to create their own
individual blogs. Invision Community Blog is a comprehensive system with a
very easy to use interface.
As Invision Community Blog is an add-on module to Invision Power Board, it
uses the same templating and language system! You can easily match the look
and feel of your site with the same tools that control your Invision Power Board.
In addition, your members will be able to manage their blogs using the familiar
Invision Power Board User Control Panel. Administrators will find the Invision
Community Blog features conveniently located in the Invision Power Board ACP.
AddOnChat
The addonChat service provided by addonInteractive is a Java-based chat
room service than can integrate with IP.Board using the included component.
We provide the integration component as a convenience for our customers
looking for a live chat solution for their IP.Board forum community. As such, we
cannot provide technical support for its operations. If you purchase the
addonChat service, please direct all technical support using the addonChat
technical support area or contact addonInteractive directly. This service can be
obtained at http://www.addonchat.com/affil.php?id=167760.
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Components
Invision Chat (ParaChat)
ParaChat Chat offers a full array of hosted Java chat services, and chat server
software, to suit your needs - and your budget. Our customers choose featurerich ParaChat to enable real-time communication on their own web site for a
host of applications, including corporate interaction, moderated events, distance
education, visitor retention, market research, customer service, dating and
romance, entertainment and family fun.
Invision Copyright Removal
Normally you are not allowed to remove the credit line rights from the templates
of your forum. However, if you purchase the rights you can use this component
to automatically remove them from your board. You will be provided with a
removal key which you should enter into the box when requested.
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Admin
Admin
The home page for the admin control panel provides you with a quick overview
of your forum installation.
Security Center
The Invision Power Board Security Center is a centralized repository of security
tools and settings. Your IP.Board installation is checked and suggestions are
made on how to improve the security of your board.
- Simply to inform user of a way to increase security, but is not required.
- Warning logo is displayed to provide notice that setting or tool’s status
needs to be run to help the risk of potential security threat.
- Ensures setting is set or tool has been run in a manner to limit potential
security threats.
IPB Unauthorized File Checker
The IP.Board unauthorized file checker will check your IP.Board installation for
suspicious files. It also displays how long since your last check.
IPB Executables Deep Scan
The IP.Board deep scanner will pick out and list every single executable file in
your installation. It also displays how long since your last scan.
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Admin
Remove ACP Link
IP.Board can remove the "Admin CP" link from the board's header. This is useful
when renaming the default 'admin' directory. It also displays who the link is
visible to.
Rename the ‘admin’ directory
The default 'admin' directory can be renamed to make it hard to find. It also
informs you whether the directory has been renamed or not.
Disable Dynamic Images
IP.Board can stop dynamic images being posted on your forums. Dynamic
images pose a security risk ask they allow JavaScript to run. It displays whether
it is currently disabled or not.
Enable the Stronghold Cookie
IP.Board can store a stronghold cookie in the user's browser which is used when
automatically logging in to prevent successful cookie theft. It will display
whether the cookie is currently enabled or not.
List All Administrators
This section shows a list of all members that have access to your ACP. There is
also a feature allowing you to edit each member.
Components
This screen allows you to edit the components (where allowed, some are locked
by default), disable components and add new ones.
Registered components
You can enable and disable a component by clicking on the tick (which will be a
cross if it is disabled). The icon on the right provides options to edit, delete and
export a component.
Adding a new component
Click the icon in the top right of the table of components to reveal an option
called Register New Component. Click this to continue.
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Admin
Adding a new component
Component Title
This is the title for this component. It is used only on the main components
screen in the ACP to identify this component.
Component Version
This is an optional field to determine the version number of the component. If
you plan on releasing your component for others to then you may wish to add a
version number to make it clear which version is being used.
Component Description
This is a short description about the component that is also only used when
listing components on the main component page in the ACP.
Component Author
As the name suggests, this field is reserved for the name of the author of the
component.
Component Home URL
This input field is for the URL to the homepage for the component. This may be a
website that you have created to sell the component, or offer it for download for
free.
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Admin
Component ACP Menu Data
The components system allows one to add a menu dynamically in the ACP under
the Components tab. This simply means you can manage your ACP menu for the
component without having to edit the ACP PHP files. When you click on Add new
menu item the following options will appear.
•
•
•
•
Menu Text - This is the content of the link shown in the menu. For a link
that allows one to edit settings, “Settings” may be appropriate.
Menu URL - This is the ‘custom’ part of the URL. The system
automatically includes the main ACP URL and unless you select to have
this “Menu Redirect” to another part of the ACP, you only need to enter
the code= part. This will be picked up in the module code and the relevant
function loaded.
Menu Perm Bit - This is the permission key used in the ACP Permission
Restrictions Settings.
Menu Perm Bit Lang - This is the language string used in the ACP
Permission Restrictions center.
You can add multiple items by clicking the add link several times, and remove
the item by clicking on Remove Menu Row.
Component Board Header URL
This is the URL to the public facing part of the component. In nearly every case,
you will need to use
{ipb.base_url}autocom=xxxxxx
Where xxxxxx is, is the component key that is used to name the component
module files. This component key is entered in the Component Section Code
field.
Component Board Header Title
This is the text of the Board Header URL. When the URL and title are complete,
the component link will be added automatically to the board header, next to the
“Search, Calendar, Member”, etc links.
Component Section Code
This is the section code which loads the appropriate file. Each component code
must be unique and be exactly the same as the filename of the component_*
files (minus .php).
Click Register New Component to save the new data.
Statistic Center
Numbers can be both interesting and useful to the maintenance of IP.B. Invision
Power Board provides you with a selection of statistics, which allow you to see
different activities relating to your board. For each of the options in the statistics
center, results will be filtered by the following selections:
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•
•
•
•
Admin
Date the statistics should start from
Date the statistics should end at
Time scale to show the statistics for
The sorting of the results
Statistics filtering
When you click Show , the statistics for the range you selected will be displayed.
ACP Restrictions
When you add a member to the Administrators group they will automatically get
access to the entire admin panel. This is usually fine but you may want to grant
access to only a certain section. You can do this using the ACP Restrictions
option.
Clicking on Manage Restrictions will show a page with no users listed. To begin
you need to click the menu button on the right of the table to reveal the option
to Find and add administrator. You will now need to enter in the full display
name of the member (who must belong to the Administrators user group) and
click Proceed >> .
ACP Restriction Permissions
The user will now be shown in the table on the manage restrictions page and
will, by default, be unable to access any part of the admin panel. You need to
click the menu button next to the user and click on Manage member’s
restrictions to set what the user is allowed to access.
A window will appear with a similar layout at the top to the main admin panel.
The top tabs mirror the tabs available in the control panel and each have a
switch with a green tick and red cross. Clicking one of these will set the
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Admin
permissions for that tab – the green tick allowing access and the red cross
denying access.
Clicking on the green tick will reveal further options to allow you to configure
permissions for each section of that tab. Again, you use the tick and cross to
allow or deny access to that section.
Permission settings
Some sections may be split down even more into functions for that section, for
example being able to perform add or delete actions. When you are satisfied
with the permissions, click on the small white X in the top right of the window to
save and close it.
SQL Management
SQL is the language used by Invision Power Board to query the database that
stores all the data required for your installation. Invision Power Board provides
several tools that you can use from the admin control panel to maintain your
database.
SQL Toolbox
This lists all the tables that belong to Invision Power Board and allows you to:
•
•
•
Show all rows in the table
Export the contents of the table
Perform maintenance tasks on them. This is done by ticking the box next
to the table name, scrolling down and selecting the action from the drop
menu and clicking on Go . The available options are explained at
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/table-maintenance-sql.html
SQL Back Up
You can back up your database using this tool. The default options will suit most
uses and the backup can be generated by clicking on Start Back Up .
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Admin
WARNING
Only use the backup tool for small databases.
SQL Runtime Info, SQL System Vars, SQL Processes
This will show the current MySQL runtime information which can be handy when
debugging problems.
Board Logs
The board logs are stored for your reference to help track down errors or
problems. By default the last 5 log entries are shown but you can show older
entries by using the search options at the bottom of each page. The available
logs are as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Moderator Logs
Admin Logs
Email Logs
Email Error Logs
Bot Logs
Warn Logs
ACP Log In Logs
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Help & Support
Help & Support
This section gives you quick access to the Invision Power Services support
system to get help when you need it as well as some useful diagnostic and
security tools.
Help & Support
With all these options, the window in the center will update and change.
•
•
•
•
•
Submit Support Ticket - get a direct, personal response from an IPS
support technician. To use this you must have an active support contract.
IP.Board Knowledgebase - Find answers to common questions.
IPS Beyond – This is the official resource site created for and by IPS
customers. No content on this site is endorsed nor supported by IPS.
Contact Us – Various contact details for IPS including open times.
Feature Suggestions/Bug Reports – Help improve Invision Power
Board by submitting any suggestions or bugs you find.
Diagnostics
These are typically used by IPS support technicians to find problems with your
board but some may be used by yourself to solve problems without needing to
get in touch with IPS. These include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
System Overview – This section allows you to check various system
variables and system processes.
Version Checker – Find out if you are running the latest files for your
version. Running different version files can produce unexpected results.
For example, a version 2.1 file is not compatible with a version 2.0 file. If
any files are listed in red, it is recommended you upload fresh copies of
those files.
Database Checker - If you are missing necessary database tables, or
columns in those database tables, you will see database errors (or missing
data) when browsing IP.B. Use the links or queries provided to remedy
any missing columns or tables.
Database Index Checker - Database indexes help your database engine
work more efficiently with the data it hosts. If any of the indexes are
missing, it can cause your site to run slower than it should. Use the
appropriate links or queries to fix any indexes reported missing.
File Permissions Checker - Certain files and directories must have the
proper permissions set on them in order for Invision Power Board to
properly write data to your disk. On Windows, you should ensure the files
have "Read/Write" permissions, while on Unix/Linux you should ensure
the files are chmod 777.
Whitespace Checker - If there is any whitespace before or after the PHP
tags in files used by IP.B, it can result in blank pages or malformed HTML.
If any results are returned you should open those files and delete the
extra spaces or line breaks at the beginning and/or end of the file.
Anti-Virus Scan - This diagnostic tool will scan writeable directories for
unexpected PHP files and alert you to them. If you placed the file there
purposefully, ignore the warning. If you did not, it is highly recommend
you delete and/or rename the file while investigating how it got there.
Page 159 of 159

Invision Power Board Introduction

Transcription

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