The Ultimate SMF Handbook - Quick Issue/Online Manual Links

[JBlaze]

First off, let's get the important stuff out of the way.
Let's take a look at some of the guidelines of the forums, shall we?
      Forum etiquette and behavior
      SMF's ban policy and how to appeal it
      Policy Change: User Signatures

Now, a little bit about SMF History and simplemachines.org...
      Introduction to Simple Machines
      Looking back- an interview with Joseph Fung, Jeff Lewis and [Unknown]



This is a quick link reference to all common questions posted in the Support Boards. Most of these links are from the SMF Online Manual. Please use this before posting an issue. Remember, The Online Manual is your friend!

If, for any reason, any of these do not help resolve your issue, by all means, post a support topic!

NOTE: If you should so happen to find other topics/issues that you think should be here, by all means, post them
For common SMF issues posted by members, scroll to the bottom.

SMF Frequently Asked Questions
   This is an index of the most commonly asked support questions. Use it.
      Docs - FAQ

Installing
      Installing SMF

Upgrading
      Upgrade SMF

Converting
      Converting to SMF

Using SMF as a Regular User
      Introduction
      Registering
      Logging In
      Profile
      Posting
      Personal Messages
      BB Codes
      Searching
      Help
      Memberlist
      Calendar

Using SMF as a Moderator
      When to Moderate
      How to Communicate Forum Policy
      Modifying Posts
      Deleting Posts
      Moving Topics
      Merging Topics
      Splitting Topics

Using SMF as an Administrator
   - Main
      Administration Center
      Support and Credits
      News and newsletters
      Package Manager
   - Configuration
      Features and Options
      Server Settings
      Current Theme
      Themes And Layout
   - Forum
      Boards
      Posts and Topics
      Calendar
      Search
      Smileys and Message Icons
      Attachments and Avatars Manager
   - Members
      Membergroups
      Permissions
      Members
      Registration
      Ban List
   - Maintenance
      Forum Maintenance
      Generate Reports
      Forum Error Log
      Moderation Log

Mods and Themes
      Creating Mods and Themes

More Info
   - Under the Hood
      Checking Permissions
      How to use the SMF user system outside of SMF
   - Languages
      Languages
   - UTF-8
      UTF-8 Readme
   - Using SSI
      SSI Readme
   - Wireless Device Support
      Wireless Device Support
   - Manual Installation of Mods
      Manual Installation of Mods
   - Restoring a Database
      Restoring a Database
   - Repair Settings
      What is repair_settings.php?
   - Copyright Information
      Copyright Information

Terminology
      Terminology

FAQ's
   - Administration Questions
      Are administrators able to view their member's PMs?
      As an administrator, can I hide my "newbie" status?
      Can I lock my forum from users, to do some maintenance?
      How do I add images to the board's description?
      How do I add new avatars?
      How do I add/change/remove holidays?
      How do I assign someone as a local moderator in SMF?
      How do I change a person's membergroup?
      How do I create a board for only certain membergroups?
      How do I edit the registration/welcome email?
      How do I integrate SMF into my PHP coded website?
      How do I lock boards without using DENY?
      How do I make the board safer against hacker attacks?
      How do I reset karma totals to zero?
      How do I show the most recent posts on the main page of my website?
      I accidentally deleted my admin account, what do I do?
      What is the difference between disallow and deny in Permissions?
   - Convertors and Tools
      How do I convert from ...?
      I broke my forum! What tool should I try?
   - Credits
      Am I allowed to remove/change the copyright?
      What is the type of license used for SMF?
      Who made SMF?
   - General Questions
      Am I allowed to redistribute a modified copy of the SMF software?
      Am I allowed to redistribute mods?
      Am I allowed to redistribute the SMF software?
      How do I add a new language?
      How do I chmod? / what is chmod?
      How do I know if I can run SMF on my website?
      How do I use FTP? / What is FTP?
      Is SMF available in Italian/French/Spanish/... ?
      Is SMF released under the GNU/GPL license?
      What is a phpinfo() file?
      What should I use, SMF 1.0 or 1.1?
   - Installation Questions
      Installer unable to find langauge files
      What is installer/package manager FTP path?
      Where can I get a copy of SMF?
      Why am I getting all these errors in Windows?
      Why MySQL 4.1.x password won't work?
   - Saving, Restoring, and Moving SMF from a Host to Another
      How do I move my SMF board to a different host?
      How do I restore the database data?
      How do I save my SMF board?
      How do I save the database data?
   - Support Questions
      How can I get my problems solved faster?     
      How do I ask support questions the smart way?
      Im getting a "Board doesnt exist" error when I try to post a new topic.
      Is help available in Italian/French/Spanish/... ?
      One of my members forgotten his/her password. How can I retrieve it?
      What types of support are available?
      Why aren't my members getting emails sent from the forum?
   - Theme Questions
      How do I set the forum width?
      How do you add custom tabs to the Core (default) theme menu?
      What does the notice saying that im running an illegal SMF install mean?
      Why am I getting borders around images?

Feature List
      Feature List

What's New with 1.1.x?
      Whats new with 1.1?
      Why am I getting this message that the copyright message missing?
      Difference between Upgrade and Update packages

SMF Language Strings
      SMF Language Files

Common SMF Issues
      Retrieving Membername from SMF Session
      Is it possible to enlarge menu buttons?
      Private category/forum administered by a user
      How do I keep bots from crawling board?
      A banned spammer registered - how?
      How To Enable/Disable eval()
      More to come...

[tyty1234]

Great handbook Blaze!
This deserves to be stickied!

[JBlaze]

Great handbook Blaze!
This deserves to be stickied!

It can still use some adding-on to

[Adish - (F.L.A.M.E.R)]

You Stole my idea..!! 

j/k

[JBlaze]

You Stole my idea..!! 

j/k

I'm sure you will get over it

[Blinker]

Yep sticky this baby. Nice Effort JBlaze.

Also put a link to it as a posting announcement on every reply - "Have You Checked The Handbook?"

Not sure if this version of the forum does it natively (I don't think so), but I use this mod http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1484

Edit: I forgot that this forum doesn't use any (or many) mods.

[JBlaze]

Yep sticky this baby. Nice Effort JBlaze.

Also put a link to it as a posting announcement on every reply - "Have You Checked The Handbook?"

Not sure if this version of the forum does it natively (I don't think so), but I use this mod http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1484

Edit: I forgot that this forum doesn't use any (or many) mods.

Thanks

[kat]

Damned good work, JB!

[JBlaze]

Damned good work, JB!

Thank you, thank you very much [/elvis]

[booty]

thanks jblaze, this is great, makes it so much easier for newbies like myself to learn and find all the informaton to cover all the basics plus some, all your hard work is much appreciated, so huge thanks,

[JBlaze]

thanks jblaze, this is great, makes it so much easier for newbies like myself to learn and find all the informaton to cover all the basics plus some, all your hard work is much appreciated, so huge thanks,

No problem. Thats why I'm here

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

[evil mode]
Hard work, phew!

All from one drop down
A few clicks, and where there
[/evil mode]

But seriously, a good idea

[JBlaze]

[evil mode]
Hard work, phew!

All from one drop down
A few clicks, and where there
[/evil mode]

But seriously, a good idea

Shhh... someone might find out

[Yigal]

Lol, I knew that's where it came from!

[Adish - (F.L.A.M.E.R)]

Anyah you finally got it stickied! Congo!!!

Can i please mark this solved..!

[shadow82x]

Great handbook and reference, JBlaze!

This will be really helpful for some newcomers.

[Yigal]

*marked solved

[Kill Em All]

Glad to see someone took the time to type all that out/copy and paste(ah what a great tool). 

[Adish - (F.L.A.M.E.R)]

Glad to see someone took the time to type all that out/copy and paste(ah what a great tool). 

[JBlaze]

LOL

And to all the "thank you-ers, you're welcome