Using Mods With phpBB2 How to do correctly.

[Houdini 0]

phpBB2 has hundreds of MODs. You can find many of them at phpBB Hacks here. Some of them are good and some of them really are lousy, and basically you really do not know until you download and install them on your site. This topic is how to instal test and use or get rid of MODS that you download.

 

I 'port' MODs from the phpBB2 standalone BBS to the 'ported' version of PHP-Nuke. These MODs are the same in action but have to be modified further to work with the PHP-Nuke database and file structure. There are a couple of important points to be taken into consideration when you are thinking about adding a MOD to your phpBB2 for either PHP-Nuke or phpBB2. Below you will see the best way that I have found to approach the matter.

 

First make a backup of each and every file that is to be modified by the MOD. This can not be emphasized enough. BACK UP any file that you are modifying. Failure to do so could bring your entire site down and this is never a happy thing.

Second If there is any modification or addtition to the database DO that BEFORE you edit the very first line of code. Also make a backup of the database before you actually alter it, you might want to restore it.

Third Develop all your code on your local PC with a real webserver and MySQL or other database (preferably MySQL). If you do not have a server setup on your local PC take some of that music and burn it to CDs or DVDx and the same with games, make room and put a webserver and database on your machine.

Fourth be very careful when editing, even though it is mostly just find a line or lines of code in the file pointed out by the MOD install itself, make sure to carefully follow what it says. Stray comments such as

/this is a comment

will fail because those comments require two // (forward slashes). You are not in a race you are merely editing a file and any typo or other error will result in failure.

Fifth fully test your forums. After you have finished your MOD make sure that everything, and I mean everything still functions like it did before you added the MOD. it is possible for the MOD to work but you broke something else in the process or there is a bug in the MOD itself.

Sixth if the script for the MOD is not what you like or thought it would be then get rid of it. If you followed the very first step of making a backup of your files before you ever started editing and if you also paid attention to the second step and backed up your database before you edited the first file then you shoud be able to recover your forum with ease.

 

If you do not have a webserver on your Local PC then at least have a second copy of your forum with another name on yur webspace and edit that copy and do your testing there, this way if there are problems with the MOD at least it won't kill your working site and if it is popular it might not be much longer if you are breaking it all the time adding MODs. If you have the MOD working properly, you can do one of two things you can rename it to what your site is (let users know that the board will be down and shut the working site down) then rename the working site to anything alse like http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ and then rename your now MODDED site to http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ then reopen your board, this should not take much more than the time involved in goingto the ACP to shut the board down then do the rename the board and then through the ACP just reopen it maybe 1 to 3 minutes.