Complete Newbie To Forum Installation

[newtoallthis]

I have registered two domain names and arranged hosting through GC Solutions (thank you to the guys on the hosting board who advised me).

Setting up a forum is completely new to me and I'm hoping that you folk will help me out.

My goal is to get working a default theme smf forum (to serve those who have an interest in a particular town in the UK) complete with DokuWiki (or similar) and photo gallery capability. The forum will be fronted by a .com domain and I would like its sister .co.uk domain pointed to it. Both domains are registered at www.1and1.co.uk/. I also want the front page changing to form a narrow block (possibly on the left) which will contain sections 'forum latest posts', 'gallery latest' and a 'shout box'.

This is where I am up to so far. I'm still waiting for the .com to be flagged as 'ready' although the .co.uk is active. I have downloaded and installed File Zilla onto my PC have also downloaded smf_1-1-12_install.zip. If the consensus is that smf_2-0-rc5_install.zip is a better way to go, then that's fine too. Also got SimplePortal_2.3.3.tar.gz.

I've been given new nameservers by GC but am awaiting the .com to go live.

If there is any documentation on here that you think I should read as being particularly relevant please let me know.

If I then hit problems, I'll post back.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Illori]

i would suggest you read Installing SMF then browse the bridges/portals board for the bridges you may need. keep in mind that some bridges are somewhat complex and you may want to setup a test install to play with that until you get it working then merge it with your live forum.

[newtoallthis]

Thanks. Have read the install notes intro. Will check out the rest later.

This gallery http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=473 looks interesting.

Also, I would like to integrate Dokuwiki with SMF or would consider an alternative.

Still waiting for the .com to be activated. 

[newtoallthis]

Both the .co.uk and .com addies were flagged as ready earlier this afternoon.

I've changed the DNS settings on the .com site to those supplied by GC Solutions and I've pointed the .co.uk site to the .com using the 1and1 control panel. When DNS records have been changed I've read that it takes about 24 hours for the changes to propagate and take effect.

In the meantime, based on the description in my first post regarding what I'm trying to achieve, would you recommend me to use SMF 1.1.12 or SMF 2.0 RC5?

[Illori]

it is a personal decision which you go with RC5 should be pretty stable, 1.1.13 is stable as well.

[newtoallthis]

it is a personal decision which you go with RC5 should be pretty stable, 1.1.13 is stable as well.

Thanks. I appreciate that. I really do respect the views of yourself and others and will make my decision based upon the responses I receive to this thread.

[Illori]

just like which theme someone likes, some people will say they like 1.1.13 better then 2.0 others will say 2.0 is the best and they dont like 1.1.13. install both test them out and pick which you like better.

[newtoallthis]

Since there appears to be strong feeling on which version to go for, I spoke to an acquaintance who is running SMF2 RC2 with no apparent problems. Assuming SMF2 RC5 to be no less stable or buggy, I think that's the way I'm going to go.

[newtoallthis]

Have watched a number of SMF install tutorials on YouTube and have read the upload and install guidance on here http://docs.simplemachines.org/index.php?topic=5. Hopefully, later today, I will be doing this for real on a GC Solutions server.

All of the YT tutorials use an FTP client to upload the forum software to the server, but GC offer a file manager. Presumably, I can use this as an alternative to create a 'forum' directory and to upload the software?

Secondly, all of the YT tutorials refer to the setting up of a MySQL database. Having looked through the guidance on here, I can find no reference to the need to do that. Am I missing something??

Any tips on achieving a smooth upload and installation would be very much appreciated.

[Illori]

you need a mysql database or you have no forum as all the data is stored in the database. if you are unsure of how to set it up put in a support ticket and i bet GC will help you with no problem.

[newtoallthis]

I have opened a MySQL database and saved the user and password details.

I have started using the host's file manager to upload the unzipped install files. Do these files need placing back in their original folders when they have all been uploaded? E.g. do the files .htaccess and index.php require replacing into the folder attachments?

[Illori]

each file that is in a folder MUST be in that folder when extracted.

[newtoallthis]

Right. Sorted the upload and extraction into a 'forum' folder in the public_html directory.

Have changed all necessary permissions to 777.

Have launched http://www.yourdomain.com/forum/install.php in my browser (Opera) and got the message:-

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /forum/install.php on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Help please.

[Illori]

are you sure that is the correct path to where the install.php file is located? can you try setting it to 755 and see if that works?

[newtoallthis]

Have attached an image of the file structure.

I also tried changing the install.php file permissions to 755 but the result is the same.

[Illori]

ask your host to verify your file ownership please.

[newtoallthis]

Have asked the question and am awaiting a response. Thanks.

[newtoallthis]

Contacted my host (GC Solutions - good guy, recommended) who resolved the issue. Don't know what he did but I managed to get access to install.php and the forum is now online. Thanks to all who helped.