• Registered: 2006-11-09
  • Posts: 7

Topic: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

Hello,

I'm new to PunBB and fairly new to website/forum stuff.

I have installed PunBB as instructed and checked that everything is where it should be.

However I can't work out how to set it up once installed. If I navigate to my index page (or indeed any of the pages) they are blank. I've searched all the forums here, but can't find the answer.

The forum should be at http://www.sethamesortho.org.uk/Forums/

Very grateful for any help - I think its just me being thick though ;-)

BW,

Hippo.

  • Smartys
  • Former PunBB Developer
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2004-04-30
  • Posts: 7,844

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

http://www.sethamesortho.org.uk/Forums/config.php
Your config.php file is corrupted wink

  • Registered: 2006-11-09
  • Posts: 7

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

Thanks Smartys,

Very rapid reply, most impressive.

How do I uncorrupt it? Do I edit it or do I reupload a new one? If I reupload, do I need to re-run 'install.php'?

Sorry for so many questions.

Thanks,


Hippo.

  • From: 127.0.0.1
  • Registered: 2001-11-02
  • Posts: 9,167

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

Do any of the variables in your config.php contains singlequotes? If they do, you need to prefix the singlequotes with a backslash. For example, if you're database password is wouldn't, it needs to look like this in config.php:

$db_password = 'wouldn\'t';

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

Rickard's Website

  • Registered: 2006-11-09
  • Posts: 7

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

I can't see any single quotes in the text.

This is the pasted text in my config file (I've removed the password and username).

<?php

$db_type = 'mysql';
$db_host = 'mysqlhost';
$db_name = 'setham';
$db_username = 'username';
$db_password = 'password';
$db_prefix = '';
$p_connect = false;

$cookie_name = 'punbb_cookie';
$cookie_domain = '';
$cookie_path = '/';
$cookie_secure = 0;
$cookie_seed = '6e4e1149';

define('PUN', 1);


This is the error code I get when trying to open the config file in my web browser (Safari).

Warning: Unexpected character in input: '\' (ASCII=92) state=1 in /sites/setham/htdocs/Forums/config.php on line 7

Warning: Unexpected character in input: '\' (ASCII=92) state=1 in /sites/setham/htdocs/Forums/config.php on line 8

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_VARIABLE in /sites/setham/htdocs/Forums/config.php on line 9


I'm afraid it makes no sense at all to me. If anyone can correct this I would be most grateful.

BW,


Hippo.

  • From: Leuven, Belgium
  • Registered: 2005-06-14
  • Posts: 2,653

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

Try reuploading it, I think it's corrupted.

  • Registered: 2006-11-09
  • Posts: 7

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

elbekko wrote:

Try reuploading it, I think it's corrupted.

Did that, still get the same error code messages.

Can't seem to get it working!

Any other ideas? How do I create/repair the config file?

BW,

Hippo.

  • Registered: 2006-11-09
  • Posts: 7

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

I have deleted all the files and databases. I completely reinstalled PunBB. I ran install.php, then copied the code exactly into the config file and uploaded the config file to the root directory of the PunBB installation on my server.

It still doesn't work and I get the identical error messages.

Please can anyone help? Where am I going wrong?

BW,

Hippo.

  • From: Leuven, Belgium
  • Registered: 2005-06-14
  • Posts: 2,653

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

Does your server by any chance do an auto_prepend or something? Then the error could be in there.

What text editor do you use?

  • Registered: 2006-11-09
  • Posts: 7

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

How can I tell if it does an auto_prepend? (What is one?)

I use Txt Edit on the Mac (OS 10.4.8)

I have checked the code created by PunBB at the end of the install (the bit it asks you to copy into the config file) and compared it with the text in the config file on my desktop - looks identical.

No idea whats going wrong?

  • From: Leuven, Belgium
  • Registered: 2005-06-14
  • Posts: 2,653

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

I had it with gedit on Linux: it didn't save it in the right format so PunBB said the file was corrupted (you might be experiencing a similar problem).

Auto_prepend is an Apache directive to automatically add some code to the start of every file. If that's screwed up, nothing works (all gives the same error).

  • Registered: 2006-11-09
  • Posts: 7

Re: Installed PunBB but get blank index page

Sorted. It was indeed TxtEdit causing the problem. I didn't save the file as pure txt only, it included formatting and font/style info in the config file. I only noticed it by using Fetch to view the config.php file on the server and noticing all the font info before the php script. So I deleted it and replaced it with a pure txt file. Works fine now.

Thank you for all your ideas and suggestions.

BW,

Hippo.