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To Create a New Forum |
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1. Enter New Forum ID |
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 Forum ID is case sensitive. |
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 Forum ID needs to be unique (different than any previously created Forum). |
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 Only Letters and numbers, with no spaces or special characters, are allowed. |
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Usually this is an abbreviated version of the Full Forum Name. |
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Example: "WCON2000" for "Web Conference 2000". |
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2. Choose whether you want to load setting from any existing Forum from the Load Settings pull-down menu |
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 When creating the first Forum, [None] is the only choice available. |
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 [None] is selected by default. |
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It will load panFora default settings to the new Forum. |
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This is to ensure that all the necessary directories are created in a correct structure and your Forum runs properly. |
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 Choose to load defaults from an existing Forum to copy all specially customized directory settings from the existing Forum |
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Please refer to Advanced Mode for information on changing the default settings. |
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Tip: Select the [None] option, unless you are an advanced user. |
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3. Click  |
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 The Creating Forum form is displayed in the Editing Frame. |
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Important: |
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 It is not enough to click the Submit button to create a new forum. |
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 You need to complete the [Adding Forum] form in the Editing Frame |
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and click the Submit button in order to Create a new Forum. |
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Loading panFora default settings [None] |
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1. Edit Forum Title by retyping into the Forum Title text field. |
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 You must enter a Forum Title. |
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 Forums will not be created if the field is left blank. |
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However, the title does not need to be unique. |
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All the Forum's directory structure is pre-entered by default. |
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2. To edit any of these defaults, check the [Advanced Mode] checkbox. |
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 The Form updates to allow editing. |
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Please refer to the Advanced Mode editing. |
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Important: |
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 Do not make any edits unless you are an advanced user familiar with your server configuration. |
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Loading settings from Existing Forum [Advanced Mode] |
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Review and modify, as needed, any of the pre-filled Forum configuration information. |
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 Do not make any edits unless you are an advanced user familiar with your server configuration. |
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Forum Title |
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1. Edit Forum Title by retyping into the Forum Title text field. |
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 You must enter a Forum Title. |
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 Forums will not be created if the field is left blank. |
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However, the title does not need to be unique. |
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Forum Directory (absolute) and Top Level URL (absolute) |
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1. Edit the directory paths by retyping into their respective text fields. |
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 [Forum Directory] (absolute) is the directory path where the Forum's data will be stored on the server. |
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 [Top Level URL] (absolute) is its respective URL that corresponds to the location within the web document root space as accessed through the web server. |
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Important: |
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 As panFora System Admin, you must be sure that the web server process (with its associated user/group id) has write privileges to create the directory specified in [Forum Directory] (absolute) . |
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Photo Directory (absolute) and Photo URL (absolute) |
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1. Edit the directory paths by retyping into their respective text fields. |
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 [Photo Directory] (absolute) is the directory path where the Forum's user photos will be stored on the server. |
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 [Photo URL] (absolute) is its respective URL that corresponds to the location within the web document root space as accessed through the web server. |
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 For most installations [Photo Directory] and [Photo URL] are subdirectories of [Forum Directory] and [Top Level URL], respectively, with the name [Photo]. |
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Mailing List Directory (absolute) |
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1. Edit the directory path by retyping into their respective text fields. |
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 [Mailing List Directory] is the directory path where the Forum's mailing list files will be stored. |
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 Mailing list files are generated from the email address data collected from user data in the Forum, aggregated by Forum groups. |
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 These mailing list files are used in posting notifications and announcements, and are compatible with the sendmail program. |
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Authentication Method |
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1. Select the appropriate User Authentication Method. |
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 Choose one of the two user access authentication methods below: |
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a. [Cookies]: The default, and most flexible authentication method available. |
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panFora uses HTTP protocol cookies to save and validate user login information. |
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panFora, itself, manages all aspects of user login/logout and Forum access. |
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b. [Apache/NCSA]: The "basic" authentication as implemented by the Apache or NCSA web servers. |
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The web server software, external to panFora, performs user validation for access control. |
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Note: panFora will create and manage the ".htaccess", ".htpasswd" and ".htgroup" files. |
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These files are located in the Forum Directory (absolute). |
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Forum Default Type |
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1. Select the appropriate Forum Default Type. |
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 Choose one of the three types below: |
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a. [Private]: The default and most restrictive type, denies Guest Access, |
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denies Anonymous Posting and denies User Self Registration. |
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b. [Public - Read Only]: Allows Guest Access but denies Guest Posting. |
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allows Anonymous Posting and allows User Self Registration. |
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c. [Public]: The most open type, allows Guest Access and posting, |
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allows Anonymous Posting and allows User Self Registration. |
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Note: |
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Selecting a Forum type, automatically sets the above user access attributes for the new Forum. |
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You may later edit any of these settings, in the Forum General Configuration. |
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Assign a Forum Administrator |
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As part of the Forum setup, you must assign a Forum Administrator. |
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The Forum Administrator operates all Admin features from within the Forum Administrator web interface. |
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The Forum Administrator |
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  Edits Forum Configuration, Color Scheme and Layout |
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  Defines Users and Moderators' capabilities |
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  Defines user group memberships, and discussion topic organization. |
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The default permissions for this user are Read, Write, Moderator and Admin. |
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By default, he is also the Primary Forum Administrator. |
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In addition to the responsibilities above, the Primary Forum Administrator |
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  Is the main contact to the Forum. |
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Important: |
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 By default, the form is pre-filled with the panFora System Administrator information. |
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Please make the appropriate changes, if necessary. |
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 By submitting the information below, the first user is entered into the Forum User Database |
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Forum Administrator Basic Data |
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1. Enter/Edit UserID |
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2. Enter/Edit New User Password |
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3. Enter/Edit User Email Address |
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4. Enter/Edit User First Name |
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5. Enter/Edit User Last Name |
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6. Click to submit your changes. |
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A confirmation message will be displayed stating that the new forum was created successfully. |
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 The primary Forum Administrator will receive an email |
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with his account information (UserID and password), |
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the Forum's URL and the Administrative Interface URL. |
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The Next Step |
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You may now continue to create new forums or proceed to Edit the newly created Forum attributes. |
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