1 (edited by pogenwurst 2006-01-28 01:49)

Topic: [FAQ] How do I...?

I hate to sound like a stuck-up jerk, but I'm sick of newbie questions. At the same time, I think said questions are our fault, as many of the most wanted mods cannot be found quickly and easily.

So, inspired by the extensions FAQ, this post aims to provide links to modifications that fulfill common (and not so common?) requests.

Please note: this thread is not meant for technical support questions about the mentioned mods, nor is it meant for mod requests. If you require assistance with a certain mod, please either email its author or reply to the mod's thread here or on Punres.

Please note that the copy of this page on the Punres wiki may at some points be more up-to-date than this post. I'll try to keep the two synchronized, but feel free to point out any discrepancies between them. Also feel free to edit the wiki page as you please.

Extra features

How do I add a basic portal page to my board? Miniportal
How do I add an advanced portal page to my board? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=10544
How do I add a private messaging system to my board? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9035
How do I add an image gallery? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8008
How do I add a calendar to my board? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=6354
How do I create subforums? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8381
How do I add a chatbox to my board? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8174
How do I allow my users to invite others to my forums? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8007
How do I add a wiki to my community? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=7201
How do I add an IRC chatroom to my forum? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=7655
How do I add a cash / bank system? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8988
How do I add a spellcheck to my forums? Add a spellchecker
How do I bridge between my forum and a mailing list? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=10253
How do I allow users to post links to a links page? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=10901
How do I add an arcade to my board? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=10882

Posting, BBCode, & Smilies

How do I add buttons to insert BBCodes and smilies into posts? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=6217
How do I stop my custom smilies from being resized in the post editor? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=60262#p60262
How do I easily add custom smilies to my forum? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=5942
How do I allow administrators to include PHP in posts? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8862
How do I hide text from guests? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=47441#p47441
How do I allow users to include Quicktime or RealVideo in posts? Add quicktime and real video bbcode
How do I allow members to post polls? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=6788
How do I allow members to post attachments? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=7096
How do I allow users to upload images with posts? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8829
How do I prevent double posting? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=11062

Administration, Privacy, & Security

How do I better control the creation / demotion of admins and moderators? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8544
How do I block known spammers from accessing certain parts of my forum? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8941
How do I control access to the userlist? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9520
How do I allow users to login with an alternate name? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9690
How do I track admin activity? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8868
How do I collect board usage statistics? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8025
How do I add additional post moderation controls? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8101

Ajax

How do I quickly preview posts before submitting? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9911
How do I preview topics on forum pages? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9813
How do I insert quote text into the quick reply box? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9295
How do I add a live check of username availablity? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9293

Profile Additions & User Preferences

How do I easily add extra user profile fields? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=11752
How do I allow users to vote on the expertise of themselves & others? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9802
How do I allow users to specify their gender? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=54246#p54246
How do I display a counter of profile views? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9636
How do I allow members to give each other karma / points? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=10162
How do I let users determine how to sort posts? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9831

Appearance

How do I add a header logo? Add a logo to the header via css
How do I add a "Posted by user" icon? Add icon to last post column
How do I make post / reply buttons images? Replace post/reply buttons with images
How do I add online / offline icons next to posts? Add online/offline icons to posts
How do you change post status indicators? Changing post status indicators

Tweaks & Misc

How do I display signatures only once per topic? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=42099#p42099
How do I improve PunBB's new post indicator system? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=6101
How do I display a listing of active topics? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=4160
How do I generate additional RSS feeds? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=6586
How do I add rank / star icons? Add rank icons
How do I add a log in box over the header? Add a login form over the header
How do I provide users with a custom URL with which to refer new users? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=9648

Additional notes:

Please, if you have any suggestions, voice them. I'm still trying to figure out how to best categorize things, and what's likely to be asked and what's not (I can't put every mod in because a) that would be a heck of a lot of work & b) I don't want to overwhelm people and make them skip this post altogether). If you want a change made, either tell me, or if you have the power to, make the changes yourself.

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

2

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Hey, this is great.

Maybe it can added to the Punres wiki?

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Thanks.

I dunno about the wiki. Probably, but I'd like to see what Jansson has to say first. Things would probably need to be re-linked to point to PunRes though. However, that would be nice as that way others could expand and edit it easily.

My idea in posting this here was that the forum is probably the first place that new users are going to visit, and the idea is to catch them before they have a chance to post a question that's answered here. I love PunRes but I don't think it's the first place most people go to get support.

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

This is a very good idea...

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Awesome!

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

You must have been bored smile Nice. Should help people, tho I my self prefer to make all of my mods my self, It gives urm, a bit more satisfaction.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Rickard wrote:

Awesome!

Glad to see you like it.

Ruckus wrote:

You must have been bored

Very bored. I was *doing my homework* ( wink ) at the time, but couldn't concentrate.

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

pogenwurst wrote:

Thanks.

I dunno about the wiki. Probably, but I'd like to see what Jansson has to say first. Things would probably need to be re-linked to point to PunRes though. However, that would be nice as that way others could expand and edit it easily.

My idea in posting this here was that the forum is probably the first place that new users are going to visit, and the idea is to catch them before they have a chance to post a question that's answered here. I love PunRes but I don't think it's the first place most people go to get support.

Looking good smile

Posting it on the wiki would be great and the URLs can be as they are I think. You're right about that newbies doesn't visit the wiki, maybe post a link here to the wiki page?

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Jansson wrote:

You're right about that newbies doesn't visit the wiki, maybe post a link here to the wiki page?

Good idea, done!

Jansson wrote:

Posting it on the wiki would be great and the URLs can be as they are I think.

Ok, will do, though probably not today (I'm kinda busy and I'll have to learn a bit about operating the wiki).

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

A question that I've seen get asked from time to time.

Posting, BBCode, & Smilies:
How can I stop my smilies from being resized in the post editor? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=60262#p60262

It is in one of the other linked threads but is 50 or so posts deep.  There is another reference to this on the punRes wiki but it refers to /include/parser.php

Just my 2 cents.

Mark

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

CableGuy wrote:

Posting, BBCode, & Smilies:
How can I stop my smilies from being resized in the post editor? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=60262#p60262

Thank you. I've seen it asked quite a bit too.

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

pogenwurst wrote:
Jansson wrote:

Posting it on the wiki would be great and the URLs can be as they are I think.

Ok, will do, though probably not today (I'm kinda busy and I'll have to learn a bit about operating the wiki).

Ok, after several months ( tongue ), it's finally on the wiki (actually it has been for a little bit now, but I forgot that it was): http://wiki.punres.org/index.php/Freque … ifications

If you see any modifications that should be on it, then edit it as you please (that is, after all, one of the main points of a wiki). I'll try to add things myself as they pop up and keep an eye on the wiki page in order to sync it with this one.

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

13 (edited by D9r 2006-04-26 19:00)

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

1. Which mod should be used for splitting posts off into a new topic?  In other words, which is the current version of the 'split-topic' mod?
2. Is there a mod for merging 2 topics into 1 topic?
3. Are automated registration scripts a problem?  Should I use something to make sure only humans register, like image verification or a simple question like, "what color is an orange?"

Later:
OK, I see the answer to the first 2 questions (I assume 'Move Post 1.1.1' is the one to use).  Sorry, I was impatient and missed it the first time reading your list:

How do I add additional post moderation controls? http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8101

http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8101
http://www.punres.org/files/projects/pr … 9/mod.html
http://www.punres.org/viewtopic.php?id=541
http://punbb.org/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=63385 - Move Post 1.1.1 (I saw this earlier and guessed it was the one to use but wasn't sure)

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

1. I'm not sure so I'll let an author tell you!
2. Does http://www.punres.org/desc.php?pid=222 do the trick?
3. That's what Version 1.2.11 was for. Click 1.2.11 in the announcement for more info.

HTH,
Andrew

15 (edited by D9r 2006-04-26 19:09)

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

'Merge posts'
This mod allows to merge your message with last message in a topic if it was yours

Thanks, that's close but not exactly what I'm looking for.  As an admin I'd like to be able to merge any topics, not just ones that I post myself.  I think 'Move Post 1.1.1' will do the trick.

3. That's what Version 1.2.11 was for.

I thought Version 1.2.11 only prevents a flood of automated registrations - that it still allows the first registration but after that no more are allowed from the same IP for an hour.  So the automated registrations would still happen, just not as much.  Or did I misunderstand?

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

So the automated registrations would still happen, just not as much.

True, I guess I just figured the flood of new registrations would all happen at once so they'd get stopped after one if that was your concern. I would guess 'Image Verification' would work if you were concerned about it.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

D9r wrote:

So the automated registrations would still happen, just not as much.

Yes, but if you are able to hinder their registrations by only allowing one registration per IP per hour, you obviously have their correct IP address, so you can just ban them.

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Thanks for the FAQ.
As a newie, first thing I looked in this FAQ was:
"How do I install a mod?"

Maybe this question can be answered here or in the wiki: http://wiki.punres.org/How_to_install_a_mod

Thanks
Oliver

http://tinymailto.com/oliversl <-- my email after a captcha

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

How do I change the colours of the skin? I need dark grey background, red links etc to go with my current site.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Change it in the CSS files.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

change the post status icons.

PunRes wiki post

~James
FluxBB - Less is more

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Dr.Jeckyl wrote:

change the post status icons.

PunRes wiki post

Is that a suggestion for the list?

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

When I go on

How do I add a basic portal page to my board? http://punres.org/doku.php?id=tutorials:miniportal

I get this message:

No input file specified.

sad
can anybody help me/fix it etc...???

I'm from Germany, so my english might be wrong sometimes. Sorry!

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

Therminator007 wrote:

When I go on

How do I add a basic portal page to my board? http://punres.org/doku.php?id=tutorials:miniportal

I get this message:

No input file specified.

sad
can anybody help me/fix it etc...???

Uggh I forgot to update this...

I'll get it fixed soon... meanwhile the page in my sig should have the correct link.

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.

Re: [FAQ] How do I...?

pogenwurst wrote:
Therminator007 wrote:

When I go on

How do I add a basic portal page to my board? http://punres.org/doku.php?id=tutorials:miniportal

I get this message:

No input file specified.

sad
can anybody help me/fix it etc...???

Uggh I forgot to update this...

I'll get it fixed soon... meanwhile the page in my sig should have the correct link.

Ok, everything should be fine now. Thanks for the tip-off.

pogenwurst wrote:
Dr.Jeckyl wrote:

change the post status icons.

PunRes wiki post

Is that a suggestion for the list?

Added, thank you for the tip-off as well.

Looking for a certain modification for your forum? Please take a look here before posting.