How do I backup my forums?
July 14, 2007
The recommended method is listed below; this is not the only method but it's what tends to go the fastest (especially with larger forums). We only recommend using the built in "backup database" tool as a last resort as it'll take forever to run on even a moderately small forum.
Please Note: MySQL File Creation times, Compression Times, Extraction Times, and Download Times will vary based on Server Resources, Database and Archive size, and Internet Connection Speed.
MySQL Backup in Unix or…
Please Note: MySQL File Creation times, Compression Times, Extraction Times, and Download Times will vary based on Server Resources, Database and Archive size, and Internet Connection Speed.
MySQL Backup in Unix or…
How do I configure Avitars for my forum?
July 11, 2007
Navigate to the Avatars Configuration (CP -> Membership -> Profile Settings -> Avatars Tab) and select the options you wish to have enabled:
[*]Allow Remote Avatars? - Do you want users to be able to link to avatars from "off-site" locations (their own site, other peoples sites, free image hosts, etc)?
[*]Allow Stock Avatars? - Do you want users to be able to utilize the "pre-installed" avatars on your server (Generally located in image/avatars/)?
[*]Allow Uploaded Avatars? Do you want user…
[*]Allow Remote Avatars? - Do you want users to be able to link to avatars from "off-site" locations (their own site, other peoples sites, free image hosts, etc)?
[*]Allow Stock Avatars? - Do you want users to be able to utilize the "pre-installed" avatars on your server (Generally located in image/avatars/)?
[*]Allow Uploaded Avatars? Do you want user…
How do I stop leachers from linking my content?
July 1, 2007
One quick and easy trick in Apache to block users from leaching your images (or other files) from your web space is with mod_rewrite; the rule I'm going to share with you today will block image leachers and file leachers from raiding your bandwidth.
Each site you wish to add will have its own line, and will be prefixed by "RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !"
Blocking Image Hotlinkers .htaccess entry:
# Start UGN Specific Hosts #
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !38.99.95.240 [NC]
RewriteCond %{HT…
Each site you wish to add will have its own line, and will be prefixed by "RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !"
Blocking Image Hotlinkers .htaccess entry:
# Start UGN Specific Hosts #
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !38.99.95.240 [NC]
RewriteCond %{HT…
How do I customize my moderator permissions?
June 30, 2007
The Control Panel in 7.x has an option in the Moderator Settings (CP -> Moderator Settings -> Moderator Permissions) which allows you to customize your moderator permissions on a user by user basis.
The available options are as follows:
Is Moderator (are they a moderator?)
Moderated Forums (how many forums do they moderate? (this is a set field and is not an option as it tallies the forums they're set to moderate))
Lock Topics (Can they lock topics?)
Move Topics (Can they move posts to ot…
The available options are as follows:
Is Moderator (are they a moderator?)
Moderated Forums (how many forums do they moderate? (this is a set field and is not an option as it tallies the forums they're set to moderate))
Lock Topics (Can they lock topics?)
Move Topics (Can they move posts to ot…
This is quite simple to do in Apache with your .htaccess file (if you don't have a .htaccess file in your web root, you can add one).
The following is what I use on my site to accomplish this:
# Allow Re-Writing
RewriteEngine on
# Redirect non-www URLs to WWW
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^site.tld$
RewriteRule ^(.*) http://www.site.tld/$1 [QSA,L,R=301]
Simply replace "site.tld" with your domain on the two lines that it's mentioned, insert into your .htaccess file, and upload to your s…
The following is what I use on my site to accomplish this:
# Allow Re-Writing
RewriteEngine on
# Redirect non-www URLs to WWW
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^site.tld$
RewriteRule ^(.*) http://www.site.tld/$1 [QSA,L,R=301]
Simply replace "site.tld" with your domain on the two lines that it's mentioned, insert into your .htaccess file, and upload to your s…
Search Engine's seem to get "stuck" on my site...
June 22, 2007
There are various places in which search engines can get stuck, such as the calendar (as it increases indefinitely); there are some robots.txt entries that you can add such as:
robots.txt
User-agent: *
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=calendar
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/calendar
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/calendar.html
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showday
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showday
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showday.html
Disallow: …
robots.txt
User-agent: *
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=calendar
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/calendar
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/calendar.html
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showday
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showday
Disallow: /forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showday.html
Disallow: …
How do I BLOCK search engines?
June 22, 2007
Well, there are several options if you're in the boat that you want to block Search Engines from crawling your forums all together.
A good "first step" is to disable SE Friendly URLs, myself I don't like doing this, it's much easier on the eyes and the urls look ugly.
Please note however that this will NOT block search engines, it'll simply make it more difficult for them to crawl your content; so it's not an end-all be-all suggestion.
If the Search Engine respects robots.txt standards,…
A good "first step" is to disable SE Friendly URLs, myself I don't like doing this, it's much easier on the eyes and the urls look ugly.
Please note however that this will NOT block search engines, it'll simply make it more difficult for them to crawl your content; so it's not an end-all be-all suggestion.
If the Search Engine respects robots.txt standards,…
This issue is caused when the referrer variable in your browser is blocked and unable to be read by the UBB software; this is an issue with a security application on your computer; it can be several things, including:
1. Internet Security Suites, such as Norton Internet Security.
2. Firewalls, such as Zone Alarm
3. Virus Scanners
4. You may be posting from a site which is not in your "allowed sites" list (multiple domains, viewing from a non-www variant of your forum, etc); you can…
1. Internet Security Suites, such as Norton Internet Security.
2. Firewalls, such as Zone Alarm
3. Virus Scanners
4. You may be posting from a site which is not in your "allowed sites" list (multiple domains, viewing from a non-www variant of your forum, etc); you can…
Post Options
May 31, 2007
Sticky Posts vs Announcements:
An "Announcement" shows at the top of ALL forums, whereas a "Sticky Post" shows at the top of SPECIFIC forums (ie, where their posted).
Markup:
Using BBCode - Parse BBCode, this includes the [ b ] (bold), [ i ] (italics), [ u ] (underline), etc. tags in your post.
Using HTML - Parse HTML code (not recommended for standard "users")
Using HTML and UBBCode - Parse both HTML and UBBCode in your posts.
Without HTML and UBBCode - Post with plaintext, no HTML or U…
An "Announcement" shows at the top of ALL forums, whereas a "Sticky Post" shows at the top of SPECIFIC forums (ie, where their posted).
Markup:
Using BBCode - Parse BBCode, this includes the [ b ] (bold), [ i ] (italics), [ u ] (underline), etc. tags in your post.
Using HTML - Parse HTML code (not recommended for standard "users")
Using HTML and UBBCode - Parse both HTML and UBBCode in your posts.
Without HTML and UBBCode - Post with plaintext, no HTML or U…
When does the public see beta releases?
May 31, 2007
Typically major revisions (7.1 to 7.2, 7.2 to 7.3, etc) have a beta period; typically minor revisions (7.1 to 7.1.1, etc) are minor bug reports and don't require a beta period.
Typically the testing period of a beta is as follows:
1. Received by the Private Beta Group and tested for several weeks until bugs can be ironed out.
2. Pushed here at UBBCentral for user testing for several weeks until any bugs can be ironed out (typically a week or so with no bugs will be classified as successful)…
Typically the testing period of a beta is as follows:
1. Received by the Private Beta Group and tested for several weeks until bugs can be ironed out.
2. Pushed here at UBBCentral for user testing for several weeks until any bugs can be ironed out (typically a week or so with no bugs will be classified as successful)…