Welcome to the UBB.classic™ Community
Congratulations on choosing UBB.classic™ software, the most widely distributed Perl-based community software on the planet. This Administrator’s Guide will assist you with setting up and maintaining your new community. If you are installing the UBB.classic™ 5 series, please refer to the UBB.classic™ 5 Series Owner’s Manual (available on www.Groupee.com).
Before you do Anything…
Take a moment now to safely store a copy of your software zip file and a record of your license number and password. Should you need to restore your UBB.classic™ in the future, you will need to have the zip file. The license number and password are your keys to the UBB.classic™ Member Area, which is the only place to download upgrades. You received a free year of access to the Member Area when you bought your license!
Where’s my Control Panel?
Once you have the UBB.classic™ software installed on your web server, open your browser and type in your .com address (or equivalent—we’re using “example.com” below, just to show you how it would look). At the end of the address, you’ll need to type in cp.cgi. It will look like one of the following (depending on how your directories are setup):
http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/forum/cp.cgi
OR
http://www.example.com/cgi-bin/ubb/cp.cgi
The control panel will appear just like a web page, but with loads of pop-up/dropdown menus you can use to set up your community!
Where to Get Help
Almost anyone can administer a UBB.classic™ message board, regardless of technical skill or knowledge. However, many of the tasks described in this manual are a little bit more difficult, and you may require professional or volunteer assistance to complete them.
CAUTION: If you are unsure of how to follow the instructions, ask an experienced webmaster to assist you or seek help from Groupee’s Customer Support (see http://www.Groupee.com). When following the instructions, make sure that you go step-by-step and read all notes thoroughly before proceeding.
You can get fee-based professional installations, upgrades, and transfers from Groupee via our website at www.Groupee.com (click on Products>>Professional Services).
You may also wish to visit the friendly community of message board administrators in our online support forums (http://community.Groupee.net).
If you’d like to ask a question of our technical staff, you can reach them using one of the support options at http://www.Groupee.com/support/ubbclassic/ . If you would like to suggest improvements to this guidance document, please feel free to e-mail us at info@Groupee.com. We’d love to hear your suggestions.
Please use caution when attempting the more advanced operations, such as transferring your UBB.classic™ community. If you choose to do this yourself, you are stipulating that you have read the instructions and understand them.
A Word About Tools
In our support forums, you may find references to special tools that Groupee has created to assist you. They are included in your UBB.classic™ zip file, and include the following.
The Move Kit
When you download the UBB.classic™ software .zip file from
the Member Area and decompress it, you will find a series of folders and
subfolders. The Move Kit is a subfolder inside the Help folder. It contains
three files: Ultimate.cgi, forumdisplay.cgi, ultimatebb.cgi, and Readme.txt
(specifically for the Move Kit). You will only need to use this kit if you are
already have a UBB.classic™ community, and you need to forward members from
your old board to your new UBB.classic™ 6.0 board location.
Miscellaneous
Diagnostic Tools
In addition to the Move Kit folder, additional tools are located in the Help directory of your UBB.classic™ software zip file. They include the following:
· Readme.txt with instructions
· hello.cgi – used to check whether .cgi is mapped
· hello.pl – used to check whether .pl is mapped
· ubbclassic_test.cgi – used to check paths and permissions
· pathto.asp – used to help identify absolute paths for NT (not Unix)
ubbclassic_test.cgi and pathto.asp should never be left on the server – always delete them when you are done. They may pose a potential security risk if left on the server
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Chapter 2 |
Use Spider-Friendly URLs
This feature makes your community available (down to the post level) for search engines that use spiders to comb the web for content. When you choose these options, be aware that an increased load will probably be placed on your server, and some spiders can cause enormous load. You can disable this option at any time, should you experience undue resource load.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Primary Settings link.
3. On the General tab, scroll down and click “Advanced Options”.
4. Choose which type of URLs you wish to use (normal, spider-friendly with paths, or short spider-friendly URLs). Review the other advanced options, and check as necessary.
5. Click Submit Changes.
Create a Custom Welcome Message
You can create a special private message for new members. When a new member logs in for the first time, he/she will see a flashing envelope icon at the top of the interface. Clicking the icon will display the member’s profile page, from which he/she can reach the welcome message.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Primary Settings link.
3. Click the Private Message tab. Scroll down and select “Enable welcome PM”.
5. Fill in the subject and body of the welcome message. Note that HTML and UBBCode™ are always enabled for the body of the welcome message, regardless of settings for other PMs. This is because one of the key purposes of the welcome message is to remind users of the board rules, a field that uses HTML.
Configure Email Options
This area allows the Admin to toggle email-related features of the message board, including global email tools, UBBFriend and Mail-to-User, and control the format of emails sent via the board.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Primary Settings.
3. Click the Email tab. Here you can determine which email-related features you wish to allow. If you toggle “Enable Email Features” off, you will be disabling all email-related functionality, including subscriptions for mods and users.
4. Click Submit Changes.
Censor List
If enabled, you may provide a list of words that you wish to censor. Censoring means that the specified word is replaced with asterisks within the message.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Primary Settings.
3. Click the Censor tab. Type all words you want censored in this field. Use spaces to separate each censored word. If you type "dog", all words containing the string "dog" would be censored ("dogma", for instance, would appear as "***ma"). To censor more accurately, you can require that censors occur only for exact words. You may do this by placing a censor word in curly braces, as in "{dog}". Signifying "dog" in the curly braces would mean that "dogma" would appear as "dogma", but "dog" would appear as "***". Thus, your censor list may appear as: "cat {dog} {barn} barn". Do not use quotation marks, and make sure you use curly braces, not parentheses, when specifying exact words. Do not put two words in the brackets ("{dog cat}") or leave empty brackets ("{}").
Enabling anonymous email (users send email through the board rather than exposing email addresses)
If enabled, users will have the option of hiding their email address, while allowing registered members to mail them through the board without revealing the recipient's address to the sender. To enable this feature:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Primary Settings.
3. Click the Email tab. Select “Allow Mail-to-User Option”. Click Submit Changes.
Private messages
If enabled, users will be able to start private conversations with each other. You may optionally restrict private message use to Administrators and Moderators, meaning that normal users would be unable to send or receive private messages. To enable/configure this feature:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Primary Settings.
3. Click the Private Messages tab. From this page, you can choose to allow HTML or UBBCode in PMs, and set up a welcome Private Message, with customizable contents.
Configure Search Options
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Primary Settings.
3. Click the Search tab. From this page, you can globally enable/disable the search function, control what level of search can be performed, and configure the search index.
4. Click Submit Changes.
Poll Settings
To enable polls on your board, click Feature Permissions and select “enable polls”.
Once you’ve enabled the polling feature board-wide, you can decide on a forum-by-forum basis whether to allow polls. On the Forum Settings page, under the Permissions tab, you can choose whether to allow polls in that particular forum, as well as who is allowed to create and vote in polls.
IP logging (turning it on and off)
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Primary Settings. On the General tab, scroll down and enable “IP Logging”. You will be able to choose whether you want IP addresses displayed in posts or not.
Note that when IP logging is turned on and displayed, the actual IP addresses of posters are accessible through the public interface. If you choose not to display IP’s, you will need to go into the Member Management area of the control panel and search for a specific member to view his/her IP address.
Enabling the Accelerator
To enable the Accelerator, click Primary Settings. On the General tab, select “enable Accelerator.” Click Submit Changes.
If you have a recent version of PHP installed on your web server, you can enable this optional module, which will result in speed enhancements to your UBB.classic™ community’s performance. We strongly recommend that you enable this feature if possible. (Thank you to Philipp Esselbach for contributing this module.)
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Chapter 3 |
Customize the Colors
1. Determine what colors you wish to use on your forums (refer to the screen shot on the next page for assistance). You will need to know the 6 digit standard color codes.
2. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
3. Click the Styles link.
4. Create a new style, or select an existing style to edit.
5. On the Layout & Colors tab, use the pick lists to select colors for each section of the message board. You may wish to click Save Style periodically, and look at your live site to see the changes made to your interface.
6. Click Save Styles at the bottom of the page.
Need Help Selecting Colors?
Try this handy Web site from Tucows.com:
The screen shot below illustrates how your color settings changes will affect the UBB.classic™ 6.x interface.
Set Site-Wide and Individual
Forum Styles
To quickly apply one style across all forums, you can customize the Standard template, which is already associated across all forums as the default. To edit the Standard template:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Styles link.
3. Select the Standard Style Set and click Edit/Copy style at the bottom of the page.
4. On this page, you can select colors, change fonts, customize graphics, and add HTML headers and footers.
5. When you have made your selections, click Save Styles to submit the changes. It’s a good idea to view your live site to ensure the changes appear as you desired.
Hint: If you create a new style, remember to go back to Style Associations and apply the new style to the desired forum(s). Otherwise, the default style will still be used.
To create your own new style:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Styles link.
3. Click New Style Set. Give the new style a name that you can remember. On this page, you can select colors, change fonts, customize graphics, and add HTML headers and footers.
4. When you have made your selections, click Save Styles to submit the changes. Once you are happy with the new style, remember to go back and apply it to the appropriate forums via the Style Associations tab.
Apply a New Style
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Styles link.
3. Click the Style Associations tab. On this page you can associate new style templates with any of the general pages associated with the UBB.classic™ software, or you can click the Forum Style Associations link to associate the style with specific forums.
Customize the Images
1. Use your FTP program to upload your customized images (in binary mode) to your UBB.classic™ non-CGI directory on your Web server.
2. Enter your UBB.classic™ control panel
3. Click the Styles link.
4. Create a new style, or select an existing style to edit. (If you choose to create a new style, don’t forget to name it before proceeding to the next step.)
5. Click the Images tab. For each graphic you wish to replace, type in the file name for your new graphic (do not include the entire path).
6. Click Save Styles at the bottom of the page.
If you created a new Style Set, be sure to go back to the Style Associations tab and select your new style to be used instead of the default. (Don’t forget to click Update Style Selections.)
Add your Web site’s
Navigation to the UBB.classic™ Interface
You can use the HTML header and footer functions within the style templates to “embed” the UBB.classic™ interface within your existing Web page (using a table):
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ control panel.
2. Click the Styles link.
3. Click Create a New Style Set or choose an existing style from the dropdown and select “edit/copy selected style”.
4. Click the HTML Inserts tab. Insert your Web site’s HTML code into the Header and Footer text boxes, as appropriate. Depending on the content of your HTML, you may need to experiment with how you divide the page.
It is possible to create left and right margins by using header HTML like <table><tr><td>Left Margin</td><td> and footer HTML like </td></tr></table>.
If you have created a new style, remember to go back to each forum and apply the new style to the desired forums.
Configure the Community Directory Features
You can allow your community members to browse and search the entire member list, using the Community Directory feature. Members will simply click the “directory” link at the top right of any page, and see options to browse by member number, display name, or number of posts. You can also allow them to search the member list by keyword or by member status (for example, if they wanted to see the names of all moderators). On the community directory page, you may also enable some fun statistical information, like recent new members, top posters, or a “member of the moment”. The directory is enabled by default, but is only viewable to registered users. To configure this feature:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the General link.
3. Click the Community Directory tab. You’ll see options to enable/restrict access to the directory, choose special statistics content islands to display, allow browsing and/or searching, restrict the search results and displayed results, and choose which member fields are available for searching and sorting. Note that any custom member fields you’ve configured will be available for this search if you wish.
View Recent Visitors Activity
UBB.classic™ allows the administrator special access to recent visitor information, directly from the “Recent Visitors” introduction page (click Admin View). This page allows the Admin to see hidden visitors, guests, and members.
Note: This feature is not accessible from the UBB.classic™ control panel. Also, this feature does not track actions that occur within the control panel.
The information can be viewed several different ways. It can be organized by location (category, forum, or topic), by username, or by IP address. This powerful tool can be useful in determining many things; for example, whether a user has more than one login account (IP view).
Because it can contain so much information, this admin view can appear intimidating on first glance; however, diving in and clicking the links will reveal a wealth of information to the novice and advanced administrator alike.
To enable and configure Recent Visitors:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Display Options>>General.
3. Click the Recent Visitors tab. You’ll be able to set numerous options regarding the display and usage of your recent visitors information.
Creating and editing Wordlets
This feature allows you to easily translate the user interface into another language, or alter the basic wording that the UBB.classic™ software uses by default.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Wordlet Lists.
3. You can either browse a specific Wordlet list, or use the search box to find a particular Wordlet.
When you select a specific list to alter, you’ll see a long list of text boxes. You can alter any of the words within the text boxes and hit “update” to make your changes instantaneously. There are links at the top and bottom of the page that switch between normal view, a view that lists only changed Wordlets, and a list that views only unchanged Wordlets. In the normal and changed view, two boxes are presented side by side – the stock text is on the right, the current on the left.
Obtain random numbers in header for ad servers
If you are running banner ads within your UBB.classic™ HTML header, sometimes you will need a random number to be generated for your header and footer. In order to accomplish this, simply insert the text “UBBrandomX” and/or “UBBrandomY” in the header or footer to get two random numbers per page. Note that the random numbers will be stored in the cached copy of that page. The numbers will be unique to that page, but will not change on subsequent requests if the page is pulled from the cache.
Enable Quick Reply Form
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Display Options>>General.
4. On the Primary tab, expand the “Topic Options” section.
5. Check the box next to “Enable Quick-Reply Form”.
6. Click Submit Changes.
Complete List of Display Options
General Options
Show Contact Us Link
Contact Us Link Type
Contact Us URL
URL to Homepage
Show Homepage Link
URL to Privacy Policy
Show Privacy Policy Link
Restrict Access to Registered Users
Show Member Numbers
Board Character Set
Your Copyright Notice
Groupee Copyright Type (Image or Text)
Popup Window Height
Popup Window Width
Forum Summary Options
Display Member Total
Display Welcome to Newest Member
Forum Introduction
Enable Categories
Show Only Categories
Show Forum Descriptions
Total Posts/Topics Column Options
Last Post Column Options
Enable Moderator Column
Forum Display Options
Default Topic View (Days)
Enable Hot Topics
Hot Topic Minimum Posts
Max Topics per Forum Page
Display “Moderated By” Notice
Last Reply Column Options
Topic Options
Hide User Email Addresses
Max Posts per Topic Page
Enable Jump to Latest Posts
Reverse Topic Order
Enable Printer-Friendly Topic View
Enable Quick Reply Form
Enable User Ratings
Display Signatures
Allow Images in Signatures
Max Signature Length
Author Details Included with Posts
Enable “Report to Moderator” Links
Post/Reply Page Options
Require Users to Log In Before Posting
Enable Post Icons
Enable “Instant UBBCode Block”
Enable Post Preview
Enable Framed Topic Review
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Chapter 4 |
Create a New Category
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Category Settings link.
3. Click the Add New Category tab.
4. Enter the name of your new Category, and a Category Description if you wish (you may use UBBCode™ or HTML if enabled).
5. Click Submit Changes. It’s a good idea to finish by looking at your live board to ensure the category appears as you intended (remember that it will contain no forums yet).
Create a New Forum
You can either customize one of the default forums that come pre-configured with the software, or create your own new forum. These instructions are for creating a brand new forum.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Forum Settings link.
3. Click the Add New Forum tab. Fill in the forum basics and permissions information. Click Submit Changes at the bottom of the page. It’s a good idea to finish by looking at your live board to ensure the change has been made as you intended.
Note: Forums that aren’t assigned to categories will not show up unless the display of categories is disabled. You can enable or disable category display by clicking Display Options>>General>>Primary>>Forum Summary Options. Scroll down to enable category display.
Creating a forum intro
A forum intro is a small text block or graphic that will appear on the main categories and forums page, beneath the forum title. (Note that this is different from the forum description, which appears at the top of the forum itself.)
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Forum Settings.
3. For the forum for which you wish to create an intro, click the “details” link to the right.
4. In the Forum Introduction box, you can place your desired text and/or graphics. You can use UBBCode and HTML in this box..
Making a forum private
When you create a new forum, you can choose to make it private, or restricted viewing. To do this, click the Permissions tab from the Forum Settings page. You can choose to just restrict who can post new topics or replies, or you can make the forum Private. When a forum is private, there are two different ways of managing access: either through authentication or through a password.
Through authentication: after creating the private forum, go into the Member Management section and find the profiles of the users you wish to grant access. Click the Permissions tab for each user, and use the checkboxes to grant them access to the private forum(s).
Through a password: when you select Private forum in the forum settings, you’ll see an optional password box appear. Choose a password and submit the change. You will then need to distribute this password to any users you wish to grant access to the private forum.
Note that if you switch a private forum to public after it has already been created, its messages will disappear until you switch it back. This is a safety feature so that items posted in confidence aren’t inadvertently made public. If you do wish to move private content to a public forum, the best method is to create a new public forum and move the topics over, then delete the old private forum.
Assign Moderators
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Moderator Settings link.
3. You will see a list of your forums. Add or remove moderators by clicking the “add” or “remove” links for any forum. If you choose to add a moderator, a popup will appear with existing moderator names to choose from, and a search mechanism to find other users.
4. Once you’ve updated the moderators, click Submit Changes.
What Can Moderators Do?
When you assign someone as a moderator, he/she has the automatic ability to close, reopen, move, and delete topics; and edit posts within the forum they moderate. To move a topic from one forum to another, one must only be moderator of the originating forum; it’s not necessary to have moderator rights in the destination forum. A Moderator can also change forum settings for their own forum, prune posts within their forum, perform mass moves (to authorized forums or read-only archives).
Delete a Forum
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel
2. Click the Forum Settings link.
3. Click the Details link for the forum you wish to delete.
4. Click the Delete this Forum tab at the bottom of the page. (Be very careful when doing this…it will delete the forum and all of its topics/messages permanently.)
Delete a Category
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel
2. Click the Category Settings link for the category you wish to delete.
3. Edit the category and click the delete link at the bottom of the edit form. (Note that no data is lost when removing a category; any forums assigned to the category will still exist, but without the category association.)
Re-order forums
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Forum Settings link. In the boxes to the right of each forum name, you can type numbers to order the forums as you wish (the lower the number, the higher the forum will appear in your forum lists).
3. Click Submit Changes, and visit your live board to ensure that the forums have been re-ordered as you desired. Note that numbers are unique per category. You can have forums numbered 1 in two different categories. Both will appear at the top of the list under that category header.
Re-order categories
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Category Settings. In the boxes to the right of each category name, you can type numbers to order the categories as you wish (the lower the number, the higher the category will appear in your category lists).
3. Click Submit Changes, and visit your live board to ensure that the categories have been re-ordered as you desired.
Archiving
Archives do not exist in Version 6.x as they did in Version 5.x. The new archives are simply forums in which new topics and replies cannot be created. To create an “archive” forum:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Forum Settings.
3. Click the Add New Forum tab at the bottom. Name the forum and set the Forum Basics information. Click the Permissions tab and set it so that no users can post topics or replies. (Admins and Moderators will still be able to move topics into the archive.) Click Submit Changes. You now have an empty archive forum. Note that existing forums can also be turned into archives using the same permissions tab.
4. To create the archive, you can import topics from another forum (for example, old informational topics). Click Move Topics and follow the instructions for Mass Move, above, to select the specific topics you wish to archive.
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Chapter 5 |
Enabling avatars
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Profile Settings link.
3. Click the Avatars tab.
4. Click the check box at the top of the page, and if desired, set the additional avatar configuration settings on that page. Note that you can determine which particular groups can use the default avatar set or custom avatars. Click Submit Changes. NOTE: you can also enable/disable avatars for specific users, overriding the group settings, by going to the individual’s profile page, under “Permissions.”
Add custom fields to the profile/registration
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Profile Settings link.
3. On the Standard & Custom Fields page, scroll to the bottom.
4. Fill in the name of your new custom profile field, and use the radio buttons to the right to determine whether the new field is shown and required, just shown, or hidden. If the field is shown and required, the new registering user MUST complete it in order to register. If the field is just shown, then it is optional. You may choose to make a field hidden if you no longer wish to collect that piece of information (this will not delete any previously collected info). Click Submit Changes.
Create/Manage Board Rules
Each community is different, and we highly recommend that you tailor the board rules to which users must agree when registering. You may wish to include rules of behavior, your philosophy for moderation, desired/undesired content for your board, and other useful information in this space.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Registration Settings link.
3. On the Basic Options tab, scroll down to the “Board Rules” text box and type your information. Just beneath the text box, there is an option to force users to re-read/re-agree to the rules any time the rules are altered by you.
Look up member Information
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Member Management link.
3. On the View/Edit Member Records tab, you can create lists of Members using searches by login name, display name, member number, status (Admin, Moderator, Member, Junior Member), access to private forums, email address, number of posts, and more. You can also see a list of all registered users. Note: if you delete a member, you must run the Rebuild & Reindex>>Member Metadata utility.
4. Click Begin Search at the bottom of the page.
Add a User Note
As the Administrator, you can include brief notes about each member, tied to the profile. For example, you could use this area to note if/when the member has been moderated in the past. To write a user note about a member:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Member Management link and use the search tools to locate the specific member you wish to make a note about.
3. In the search results, click the member’s name to reach his/her profile page. On the User Information tab, you’ll see a text box next to “User Notes.” Type your information in the field, and click “Submit Changes.”
Locking accounts/Banning
If you have a user who is not respecting your forum rules, you may wish to remove his/her viewing and posting privileges. This section describes how to remove access rights an individual, and how to prevent a person from re-registering by entering the user’s email or IP address in the ban list.
Note: Banning the existing name alone rather than deleting is the best way to remove a target user. Email and IP bans are more prone to include innocent users and should be the last resort. Another alternative is to use the moderation queue to screen new member registrations instead.
To remove access rights:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Member Management link.
3. Enter the user’s username (or other parameter) into the search box and click Begin Search.
4. When the results appear, use the Action dropdown menu to select “Ban (remove access rights)”. Make sure that you have used the checkbox to select the member you wish to ban. Click Perform Selected Action.
Why would I “ban” someone, and what does it mean?
Sometimes, a member does not respect the rules of the message board, and it becomes necessary to remove his/her right to participate. Banning a user IP address means that he/she can no longer access the message board, either to view or post messages. This process is reversible, in case of error. It is best to ban a troublesome user rather than delete him/her because this prevents re-registering with the same username.
Email Ban Lists
You may ban certain email addresses from registering on your forums.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Member Management link.
3. Click the Ban Lists tab. To ban a specific email, type the full email address (as in, "waldo@example.com") into the Email Ban List text box.
To ban all email addresses from certain domains, such as hotmail, simply type an at-sign followed by the domain name (as in "@hotmail.com") - that will prevent anyone using a Hotmail address from registering.
Put each banned email on its own line (hit the carriage return after each email entry to be banned).
NOTE: Checks against emails are only made during new registrations and when existing users edit their profiles AND edit their email address. This is not retroactive - users who have already registered will not be impacted by the ban unless they edit their profile AND change their email address.
Reverse Email Bans
You may reverse your list of banned email addresses. Instead of the list of emails being banned, registrations will only be allowed from those email addresses. Checks against emails are only made during new registrations and when existing users edit their profiles. This is not retroactive - users who have already registered will not be impacted by the ban until they edit their profile.
IP Bans
You may ban any IP numbers from registering, logging in, and posting.
To ban an IP, enter the IP into the IP Bans text box. You can either use a complete IP number (such as "243.21.31.7"), or use a partial IP number (such as "243.21.31.").
The UBB.classic™ software will do matches from the beginning of each IP number that you enter. If you enter a partial IP of "243.21.31", someone attempting to register who has an IP number of "243.21.31.5" will not be able to register, log in, or post.
Similarly, if you have an IP ban on "243.21", someone registering who has an IP of "243.21.3.44" will not be able to register, log in, or post.
Be careful when you add IPs to your ban list and be as specific as possible. As with the email ban list, put each IP number on its own line (hit the carriage return after each entry).
NOTE: Checks against the IP list are only made during registration, during logins, and when creating new threads or replies.
Reverse IP Bans
You may select 'reverse' banning. This means that only IPs entered in the box may use the forums. All other IPs will not be allowed access. This mechanism is used more as a method to restrict forum usage to only a certain set of users (for example, only employees within a company).
Pruning users (deleting inactive)
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Member Management link. You will see a couple of “pre-built” searches. The first quicksearch is: registered 6+ months ago, posted last 3+ months ago; the second quicksearch: registered 3+ months ago, posted < 5 times.
3. Click one of those links and the search will automatically begin.
4. Once you have your results, use the Action dropdown menu to delete the inactive users. Note that you need make sure the “select” checkboxes are checked in order for the action to apply properly.
You can use this same mechanism to delete other groups of users (not just inactive). For example, if you wanted to delete users who have been banned, you could use the Advanced Search Options to create your own list to prune.
Checking the registration queue
Note: if you wish to pre-screen/approve new member registrations using the registration queue, you must first enable it by clicking Registration Settings and checking the first option on the Basic Settings page.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Member Management link.
3. Click the Registration Queue tab. You will see a list of pending registrations on this page (if there are any). From here, you can approve, decline, or keep in the queue any of the new member registrations. You can also choose whether to email approved or declined members, and delete declined member files if you wish.
4. When you are done screening the new registrations, click Update Queue.
Emailing members
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Member Management link.
3. Use the search form to build the list of specific members you wish to email. For example, you may wish to email any members who registered since a certain date. Click Begin Search.
4. Once your search is complete, use the Action dropdown box to select email. (Make sure you choose whether you want all members in the search results or just the once you’ve selected with checkboxes.) Click Perform Selected Action.
5. Choose whether you wish to export the list of email addresses or send an email directly from the control panel. Click Generate Emails.
6.
If you choose to export the list, you will be able to choose how
you receive the exported list (via browser, file, or email). You can also
choose the format of the exported list. If you choose to send the emails
directly, this will bring up a simple email form where you can enter the
contents of your message. You can use HTML, but remember to select “raw HTML”
at the bottom of the page. Click Begin Sending Mail. You will see a
confirmation message once the emails have been successfully sent.
Note: Remember that users may opt
out of receiving emails from you, and thus an exported email list will not
contain those members who have opted out.
Find a member’s email address & change it
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Membership>>Member Management link.
3. The most direct route is if you have the member’s User Number. If you fill that field and search, you will be taken directly to their user profile edit page. If you don’t have the User Number, you can also find the user by searching any of the other parameters on the search page.
4. Once you have the search results, you can click the member’s username link to reach the user profile edit page. From here, you can alter the email address. Click Submit Changes.
Send a member their password
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Membership>>Member Management link.
3. The most direct route is if you have the member’s User Number. If you fill that field and search, you will be taken directly to their user profile edit page. If you don’t have the User Number, you can also find the user by searching any of the other parameters on the search page.
4. Once you have the search results, you can click the member’s username link to reach the user profile edit page. Click the bottom right tab that says “Send Password”. You will then see a confirmation message that the password has been sent.
Set User Custom Titles
UBB.classic™ has two ways available for you to give users custom titles. One
way is to assign special titles that automatically appear as a user posts more
messages in your community. The second way is to assign a special custom title
to an individual user; for example, “Groupee President”. If you are using both
methods, the individual custom title will override the automatic title.
To set up automatic user custom titles:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Profile Settings Link.
3. Click the User Titles tab. Use the boxes to assign minimum numbers of posts to your custom titles. For example, if you have a minimum post count of 5 associated with a title of “Newbie Member,” any user who posts at least 5 messages on your board will automatically receive that title, which is shown beneath their display name on the boards. You can assign up to 20 different custom ranks using this system. Note that Administrative Titles and unique Custom Titles override the Member Title Levels for certain users.
To set up a unique custom title for a specific user:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Member Management link.
3. On the View/Edit Member Records tab, use the search function to locate the member to whom you wish to give a custom title.
4. Click the hyperlinked name of the member in the list to open the member’s profile page.
5. In the “User Custom Title” box, place the desired text or graphic. Any graphic must be referenced with HTML like:
<img src=”urltographichere.gif” alt=”graphicname” />.
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Chapter 6 |
Close, Move, or Delete a Topic
1. Go to your UBB.classic™ community interface, and find the topic you wish to close, move, or delete.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
3. Click on the “close,” “move,” or “delete” icons at the center of the bottom toolbar. (If you click the “move” icon, you will be prompted to select the forum to which you wish to move the topic.)
“Feature” a topic (make it
sticky)
A “featured” topic is one that remains at the top of the topic listing regardless of the date of the last post. This is usually used for announcements, news, or other items that require ongoing visibility. To “feature” or “unfeature” a topic:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ main forum page.
2. Go into the forum that contains the topic you wish to feature.
3. Click the topic you wish to feature, and scroll to the bottom of the page.
4. Click “Feature Topic”. The topic will remain at the top of the topic listing until you click “Unfeature Topic”. If there is more than one featured topic in a forum, they are displayed in order of the topic’s initial creation, with the most recent one at the top.
Create or Edit a Content Island
A content island is a box that displays selected information from your message board. For example, you can use a content island to show new topics or posts in your forum(s), recent visitors for your board or for a forum, or latest registered and approved members. To create a content island:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click the Content Islands link.
4. Click Add New Content Island. Choose the type of information you want within your content island and click Next.
4. You will need to give the island a name, and set some basic parameters. You have several output format options, which are explained in some detail on the screen. The options include styled or unstyled HTML as Javascript or an include file, and RSS syndication files. If you’re unsure of which option to choose, the default is styled HTML as Javascript, which should work in most situations. Click Create Island.
5. In the resulting page, you will see the code ready for you to include in your website HTML page.
Note: If you choose styled HTML, the content island will take on the colors/style that you choose, to go with one of your pre-set board styles. If you choose unstyled HTML, then you will need to select the colors and style using CSS.
See the help doc “Applying Styles to your Content Islands” for additional tips:
http://www.Groupee.com/support/ubbclassic/content_island_css.html
Mass Move
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Move Topics.
3. From this page, you can determine exactly which topics you wish to move, by date, user number, or forum. You can also manually select topics from a particular forum if you wish. Once you’ve build your parameters, click Build Topic List.
2. In the resulting list, you can exclude any topics from the action using the checkboxes. Click Save Changes. Once you’ve done that, you will be prompted as to whether you wish to continue. If you choose to continue, the action will take place, and a rebuild script will run automatically before the action is complete.
Mass Prune
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Prune Topics.
3. From this page, you can determine exactly which topics you wish to delete. You can also manually select topics from a particular forum if you wish. Once you’ve build your parameters, click Build Topic List.
4. In the resulting list, you can exclude any topics from the action using the checkboxes. Click Save Changes. Once you’ve done that, you will be prompted as to whether you wish to continue. If you choose to continue, the action will take place, and a rebuild script will run automatically before the action is complete.
Import Content
If you are transitioning to UBB.classic from another message board product, you can use the UBB.classic Import utility to transfer your old member data, forum information, and posts. Note that styles and other settings are not imported. We currently support imports from UBB.classic (6.7.0, 6.7.2), UBB.threads (6.4), vBulletin (2.x and 3.0.x), Invision (1.3), and phpBB (2.0.x). Please note that all imports are made best-effort only. We make no guarantees about the quality of the imported data.
In order to import data to UBB.classic, you must provide an import file or files from the product from which you are exporting data, and a YAML spec file from http://www.Groupee.com/yaml/. You then upload this import via ftp to the NonCGI/importexport directory of your UBB.classic, log into your Control Panel, and click the “Import/Export” link, and follow the prompts. For more detailed instructions read below.
Creating the Import File: From MySQL Database
For products that use a MySQL database, you can create this import file either via the command line or via phpMyAdmin (a MySQL management program that is available with most web hosting plans). You would not do both of these; they are separate options that may be available to you.
Creating the Files Via phpMyAdmin
1. For each table supported by the Import utility, you will need to export that table as a CSV file. Visit the phpMyAdmin control panel, click on each table, and click on the “Export” tab.
2.
Make the following selections:
For Export Options: CSV Data
CSV Options:
|
Fields terminated by |
, |
|
Fields enclosed by |
“ |
|
Fields escaped by |
“ |
|
Lines terminated by |
\r\n |
|
Replace NULL by |
NULL |
|
Put fields names at first row |
unchecked |
Check ‘Save As File’ and name the file “__TABLE__”, make sure that compression
is set to ‘None’.
The files created by this process must then be uploaded to your UBB.threads imports directory. Be sure to transfer the files in ASCII mode.
Creating the Files Via the Server Command Line
1. Create the data files. You must have the appropriate access on your server to write files and read from your MySQL database.
2. Type this command (replacing the words in <> with your actual data).
mysqldump –u <user> –p –t -T <output directory> --fields-enclosed-by='"' --fields-terminated-by=',' <db_name>
3. Rename the tables supported to name.csv from the .txt suffix.
Creating the Import File: From UBB.classic
Important: The export feature from UBB.classic is only supported in UBB.classic Version 6.7.0 and version 6.7.2 or higher. Version 6.7.1 contains a bug that prevents the export option from working as expected.
To perform the export, choose the Import/Export menu option in the UBB.classic control panel, and follow the prompts. This will create the necessary CSV files in your UBB.classic server’s NonCGI/importexport directory.
The contents of this directory must then be downloaded and uploaded to your UBB.threads imports directory. Be sure to transfer the files in ASCII mode.
Notes about Imports:
The import process will import all data that is available in the import file set into your UBB.classic community. Be careful – if you perform an import multiple times, multiple copies of categories, forums, and posts will be created. Multiple users with the same user name will not be created.
If there is a forum product that you wish to import from that we do not currently support, please visit our support forums and let us know. We will consider your request for future releases, though we do not promise support for all products.
We can also provide information on creating your own YAML import files. Please open a support ticket for more information.
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Chapter 7 |
Open or close board for maintenance
This one is easy! From the main page of your UBB.classic control panel, click the “Close Board” link. Once you’re ready to reopen, simply toggle it back to “Open Board”. The toggle will completely open or close the board; if you need to have the board only open for admins, or you wish to customize the closed message:
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Primary Settings. On the General tab, you will see radio buttons to change the board’s status. Note that you can have the board open only for administrators. This is useful if you are doing maintenance or customization, and you wish to check your changes before they are made public. Just beneath this option, you will also see a text box in which you can customize the board closed text.
Manually Unsubscribe Members
from Topic
Sometimes, due to resource usage, or other issues, it becomes necessary to unsubscribe members from a particular topic. To do this, go to the UBB.classic™ public interface, to the topic in question, and click the “edit post” icon in the initial post of the topic. Scroll to the bottom, and uncheck the notification boxes next to the members you wish to manually unsubscribe. Click Edit Post to complete the operation. You may wish to let the members know when you take this step, so they know why the notifications have stopped.
Clear Cache
This operation is done “behind the scenes” automatically by the software, on a page-by-page basis usually. You should not perform this operation manually unless you are asked to do so by an Groupee Support rep.
1. Enter your UBB.classic™ software control panel.
2. Click Clear Cached Pages. On the resulting page, you will be able to select specific caches you wish to clear.
3. Click Clear Cached Pages.
Rebuild & Reindex (forum stat files, search index, member stat files)
UBB.classic™ uses a series of files ("metadata"
files) to store frequently requested data about members and topics within a
forum. From time to time, the information stored in these files may drift out
of sync, resulting in occasional errors.
You should not need to rebuild these data files unless directed to by an error
message or Groupee support.
To rebuild the metadata files, click Rebuild & Reindex, and choose the specific files to be rebuilt.
This same mechanism can be used to rebuild the search index (see the Rebuild Search Index tab on the same page).
Upgrading
In order to upgrade your UBB.classic software, you need to follow the specific upgrade instructions available at the Groupee website:
http://www.Groupee.com/support/ubbclassic/install.html
Once you’ve uploaded the necessary new files, and you return to your UBB.classic control panel, you will see an Upgrade button. Click the button, and a script will run to complete the process.
When the Upgrade function runs, you may receive an error message. If a file is not uploaded properly, or is missing, you will receive a specific message containing the missing filename.
NOTE: This feature does not automatically download and install updates. This feature only reduces the number of steps you need to perform while upgrading.
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Chapter 2 Appendix A |
This Appendix offers some practical advice on increasing the security of your UBB.classic. Some of these instructions apply only to advanced users (where noted).
If you are unsure of how to implement these changes, do not attempt them without expert help. Groupee does not offer customer support for modifications to the standard installation.
Locate the Members' Directory
outside the Web Root
Wherever possible, locate the members' directory where a browser cannot access it from the Web. For example, it can be located next to rather than inside the www-root directory. However, this solution is not available on all servers. Under no circumstances should this directory be located in a public place.
Obscure the Name of the Members'
Directory
If you must locate the members' directory within the Web directory structure, change the directory name to an obscure one (i.e., a name containing both numbers and letters like "Mem8UyR"). Do not make this change until you have the UBB.classic completely set up and have tested all functions using the regular members' directory name. When you have your UBB.classic working properly, change the name of the members' directory. Visit your control panel, you will see the initial setup screens. Continue through the setup process under you reach the members directory, on that screen you’ll need to update the path. All other paths will be remembered from the existing setup. Once the paths have been set, you can enter the control panel, etc.; you do not need to register a new Admin account.
Lock Your Paths
Create an empty file, naming it "vars_pathlock.cgi", then upload it to your variables directory. This will prevent accidental changing of your paths via the control panel, which could break your board. This function also forces admin logging to be enabled, and will prevent the board from being set up if your paths change, for example.
Create a Dedicated Admin User
You may wish to create an administrative account that you use only for the UBB.classic Control Panel. If you have the COPPA age checking enabled, you can hide the Admin account from the Community Directory by selecting the Under 13 checkbox in the user profile.
You should also update your own admin account. Change passwords regularly. From time to time create a new temporary administrator and use that account to delete yourself from the system. Then re-register your name and use the temporary admin login to make yourself an administrator again. This will make it much harder for someone to guess your member file number.
Use Common Sense
Do not post highly sensitive personal or financial information. Never use the same login information for UBB.classic as you do for FTP access to your site. If you are sharing server space, realize that it is not very hard for someone to guess your directories and browse files.
Speak with your server administrator about other ways to secure your directories while maintaining read, write, and delete access for the UBB.classic Perl scripts.
Apply .cgi Mapping to the
UBB.classic Directory
The mapping for .cgi may already be added to the entire Web site. If it is not, apply it to your UBB.classic NonCGI directory and all subdirectories, as well as your Members directory if it is not outside the web root. This will prevent people from browsing the data files.
Use an SUID or CGIWrap program (Advanced
UNIX Users Only)
The default UBB.classic has wide-open permissions to accommodate the widest range of servers. You may set the scripts to run under your own name with an SUID or CGIWrap program. Then permissions for data files need only be 700 and others will not be able to read files. You can also change the basic umask settings for the account in order to block the chmod command. You may need to use root access to chown -R or chmod -R existing files. Be sure to test your UBB.classic after each change to confirm functionality.