Forum Software Reviews

Hello,

We are very pleased to announce the availability of the "Hooray... new features" phpBB 3.0.3 package. This version has seen numerous stability fixes, performance tweaks and general bugs fixed. Apart from some tiny new features, this version also introduces two major new features: template inheritance and a post-based queue.

Please note that we urge you to update. The versions we currently support here are phpBB 2.0.23 and phpBB 3.0.3. Bug submissions and incident reports for older versions will be closed.

Important changes since 3.0.2:

• [Fix] Correctly set topic starter if first post in topic removed (Bug #30575 - Patch by blueray2048)
• [Fix] Added VST - Venezuela Standard Time (Bug #30545).
• [Fix] Close DB connections in file.php.
• [Fix] Correctly return results for nested cached queries (Bug #31445 - Patch by faw).
• [Fix] Allow export of PM pages greater one. (#33155)
• [Fix] Display coloured username of last poster in list of subscribed forums (prosilver).
• [Fix] Do not jump back to page 1 when hiding member search in memberlist. (Bug #32515)
• [Fix] Correctly limit input of the users location to 100 characters in the UCP and ACP. (Bug #32655)
• [Fix] Sync reports when using the move all users posts tool in the ACP. (Bug #31165)
• [Fix] Remove reported flag from shadow topics when closing reports. (Bug #19765)
• [Fix] Do not show non indexed forums on the search page if they contain no subforums. (Bug #33125)
• [Fix] Stop search bots incrementing topic views. (Bug #32675 - Patch by eviL<3)
• [Fix] Use correct link for post author search. (Bug #32595)
• [Fix] Do not decrease topics counter when deleting shadow topics. (Bug #26495)
• [Fix] Send localised disapproval reasons in the recipients local language. (Bug #31645)
• [Fix] Do not display reported topic icon for shadow topics. (Bug #13970)
• [Fix] Expand shown ban reason in unban screen to fully show long entries. (Bug #16234)
• [Fix] Preserve alpha transparency for created thumbnails. (Bug #16575)
• [Fix] Use correct port delimiter for MSSQL connections in windows. (Bug #16615)
• [Fix] Do not allow setting forums parent to the forum itself. (Bug #18855)
• [Fix] Display assigned rank/avatar for guests. (Bug #19155)
• [Fix] Set secure cookie for style switcher if required. (Bug #19625)
• [Fix] Fix native full text search on postgresql while using excluding keyword matches. (Bug #19195)
• [Fix] Pass S_SEARCH_ACTION through append_sid() in search.php. (Bug #21585)
• [Fix] Correctly handle unread status of subforums (that are not shown on the index) of forums that are shown on the index. (Bug #14589)
• [Fix] Stop users from deleting posts after the edit time has passed or they have been locked. (Bug #19115)
• [Fix] Split posts target forum requires 'f_post' now instead of 'm_split'. (Bug #31015)
• [Fix] Use a distinct log message for shadow topic deletions to differentiate between normal topic deletions. (Bug #34635)
• [Fix] Fix problems with styles using an underscore within the filename. (Bug #34315)
• [Fix] Better return links when deleting topics through the MCP. (Bug #34655)
• [Fix] Add quoting support to PM history when composing a reply. (Bug #34285)
• [Fix] Use phpBB 3.1.x method for storing cached data to prevent PHP bug with our usage of var_export(). (Thanks to Techie-Micheal and HoL for pointing out possible problems)
• [Fix] Check users pm preferences for pm's sent to groups. (Bug #33245)
• [Fix] Do not allow password reminders if u_passchg permission is not given. (Bug #14806)
• [Fix] Implemented strict check for cached user permissions and existing ACL options. This fix makes sure cached permissions are valid, even if they got already cached.
• [Fix] Do not show link to user/group profiles if user has no permission to view the linked page and gets a denied message anyway. (Bug #15088)
• [Fix] Do not display last post link and sort display options for search engines. (Bug #15088)
• [Fix] Make sure users still get notifications if they set to only be notified by Jabber, but Jabber service disabled. (Bug #29715 - Patch by Paul)
• [Fix] Don't show forum subscription link on categories. (Bug #34895)
• [Fix] Display a message if no topics or forums are selected when unsubscribing. (Bug #34855)
• [Fix] Mark/unmark all links in UCP now select/unselect both subscribed topics and forums.
• [Fix] Increase board topic counter when splitting topics. (Bug #32125)
• [Fix] Display profile icons when viewing a topic, or PM when only the jabber icon is to be visible. (Bug #34755)
• [Fix] Do not send PMs with warnings if the user cannot read PMs or they are disabled. (Bug #30815)
• [Fix] Correctly convert Niels' Birthday MOD to the date format used in phpBB3. (Bug #32895)
• [Fix] Parse BBCode lists of type square, circle and disc. (Bug #35295)
• [Fix] Round the displayed percentages in polls. (Bug #32375)
• [Fix] Disable mass e-mail when e-mail is disabled. (Bug #27385)
• [Fix] Display coloured poster username of queued posts displayed on the front of the MCP.
• [Fix] Moderators can only see reports/queue/logs from forums they can actually read. (Bug #31085)
• [Fix] Correctly display topic when start parameter is equal to the number of posts.
• [Fix] Correctly display topic in MCP when start parameter is equal to or greater than the number of posts. (Bug #30525)
• [Change] No longer allow the direct use of MULTI_INSERT in sql_build_array. sql_multi_insert() must be used.
• [Change] Display warning in ACP if config.php file is left writable.
• [Change] More restrictive chmod to new files being created. (phpbb_chmod() function mostly by faw)
• [Change] Set headers to allow browsers to better cache attachments (Mylek pointed this out)
• [Change] Hide parameters if they equal the default in viewforum/viewtopic (Bug #31185)
• [Change] Various improvements to group listings (Bugs #32155, #32145, #32085, #26675, #26265)
• [Change] Set headers for IE 8 in file.php
• [Change] Do not count queued posts to user_posts.
• [Change] Allow setting birth year to current year.
• [Change] Do not use the topics posted table when performing an egosearch.
• [Change] Log the forum name that topics are moved into.
• [Change] Automatically add users/groups to the PM recipient list, if entered or selected.
• [Change] Reply to PM now includes all previous recipients and not only the original sender.
• [Change] Make topic selection for merge less confusing by removing unneeded controls. (Bug #21925)
• [Change] MCP topic view checkboxes now default to unchecked.
• [Change] Adjust language key "SPLIT_AFTER" to make the action clearer.
• [Change] Add links to the post and forum when viewing a report from the MCP. (Bugs #33795, #33805)
• [Change] Remove NUL-Bytes directly in request_var() for strings and within the custom DBAL sql_escape() functions (MSSQL, Firebird, Oracle) (reported by AdhostMikeSw)
• [Feature] Allow limited inheritance for template sets.
• [Feature] Allow hard disabling of the template editor.
• [Feature] Allow setting custom language path through $user->set_custom_lang_path(). $user->lang_path now also do not include the user language, but only the path.
• [Feature] Ability to define nullar/singular/plural language entries
• [Feature] Ability to mimic sprintf() calls with $user->lang() with the ability to correctly assign nullar/singular/plural language entries.
• [Feature] Added the possibility to force user posts put in queue if post count is lower than an admin defined value. Guest posting is not affected by this setting.
• [Feature] Added 'max_recipients' setting for private messages. This setting allows admins to define the maximum number of recipients per private message with a board-wide setting and a group-specific setting.
• [Feature] Added new permission setting for sending private messages to groups. Now there are two permissions to define sending private messages to multiple recipients and private messages to groups.
• [Feature] Allow specific connection to different server for jabber functionality by providing a valid JID as username. This also allows the use of talk.google.com as jabber server with gmail.com JIDs. (Bug #14989)
• [Sec Precaution] Stricter validation of the HTTP_HOST header (Thanks to Techie-Micheal et al for pointing out possible issues in derived code)

Please refer to the changelog for a complete list of fixes since 3.0.2:

http://www.phpbb.com/support/documents. ... &version=3

A short explanation of how to do a conversion, installation or update is included within the provided INSTALL.html file, please be sure to read it.

Minimum Requirements

phpBB3 has a few requirements which must be met before you are able to install and use it.

• A webserver or web hosting account running on any major Operating System with support for PHP
• A SQL database system, one of:
  
  • MySQL 3.23 or above (MySQLi supported)
  • PostgreSQL 7.3+
  • SQLite 2.8.2+
  • Firebird 2.0+
  • MS SQL Server 2000 or above (directly or via ODBC)
  • Oracle
• PHP 4.3.3+ (>=4.3.3, >4.4.x, >5.x.x, >6.0-dev (compatible)) with support for the database you intend to use.
• getimagesize() function need to be enabled
• These optional presence of the following modules within PHP will provide access to additional features, but they are not required.
  
  • zlib Compression support
  • Remote FTP support
  • XML support
  • Imagemagick support
  • GD Support

The presence of each of these optional modules will be checked during the installation process.

Security

Security issues found should be reported to our security tracker in the usual way.

Available packages

If you experience problems with the automatic update (white screens, timeouts, etc.) we recommend using the "changed files only" or "patch" method for updating.

With this release, there are five packages available.

• Full Package:
  Contains entire phpBB3 source and english language files.
• Automatic Update Package:
  Update package for the automatic updater, containing the changes from previous release to this release.
• Changed Files Only:
  Contains only those files changed from previous versions of phpBB3. Please note this archive contains changed files for each previous release.
• Patch Files:
  Contains patch compatible patches from previous versions of phpBB3.
• Code Changes Package:
  Package contains changes to the following sections: Language changes, prosilver style changes and subsilver2 style changes.

Select whichever package is most suitable for you. As a tiny guide we recommend the following methods based on the requirements:

• For a new installation you should use the Full Package
• For updates of boards without modifications you can basically use the Automatic Update Package (guided udpate) or the Changed Files Only package (manual update).
• For updates of boards with modifications you should use the Automatic Update Package. If you are confident with patch files and patching you can use the Patch Files Package.
• Style Authors and Translators may use the Code Changes Package to update their styles or language packs directly.
• International Support Teams may use the Patch Package in conjunction with the Code Changes to better support users having problems with conflicts or specific code sections.
• If you are a hoster/provider, you may want to use the Patch Files Package to update all of your client installations.

Please ensure you read the INSTALL and README documents in docs/ before proceeding with installation, updates or conversions!.

Download Locations

You can of course find this download available on our downloads page.
We use sourceforge.net for hosting our downloads. If you have problems downloading from there, our packages are also available at Ohloh.

Download/Documentation

• phpBB Downloads
• phpBB Projects page @ ohloh
• phpBB Projects page @ sf.net
• phpBB3 Documentation
• phpBB3 support forum
• phpBB3 bug tracker
• phpBB3 Coding Guidelines
• phpBB3 Sourcecode Documentation
• phpBB Code Forge

Have fun with the release,
the phpBB Team

NeoThermic has stepped down as the Support Team Leader and Marshalrusty has been promoted in his place. NeoThermic has done a great job leading the team through the transition from phpBB2 to phpBB3. We appreciate his efforts. He will continue to be on the Support Team.

You may discuss this announcement here: viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1279765

This past week we have adopted three new management positions within the phpBB Teams that we hope will better prepare us for the future. These management positions will run the project along side the Team Leaders with equal power. The Team Leader's group has been renamed to the Management Team to better describe these people since the new positions won't lead any teams. These positions are Business Manager, Operations Manager and Website Manager.

The Business Manager will oversee all business related aspects of phpBB. His first task will be to found a non-profit organization for phpBB to give us more power and protection of copyrights and other assets. He will ensure that all rules and regulations corporations have are being followed. This position will be filled by ChrisRLG.

Do not worry. PHPBB HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE FREE! We will never charge any amount of money to use phpBB. We are creating a company to ensure that phpBB will always remain free and will be better able to serve the community by having sufficient funds for events, server hardware, and in the future possibly employing people. More information on the company will be provided at a later date.

The Operations Manager will work primarily within the existing teams. If a task doesn't fall within the jurisdiction of a Team Leader then the Operations Manager will be in charge of the task. Most of the time Team Leaders need to focus on their teams and don't have time to deal with other issues. This is where the Operations Manager will step in. He will be the liaison between teams and ensure information is flowing properly. He will organize meetings of the Management Team. Team Leaders will still be in charge of their teams. This position will be filled by wGEric.

The Website Manager is not a new position. We used to have a Website Team. Since each team has been taking care of their respective sections of the site the Website Team has never had any members. We decided to remove the Website Team and change the title of the Website Team Leader to Website Manager. He will continue to coordinate between all of the teams to ensure the website is working smoothly and following the style guide correctly. dhn will continue to serve in this position.

We will add more management positions as we grow and find we need them. We hope that this structure will allow us to grow even more with as few growing pains as possible and ensure that we continue to operate in a productive manner.

You may discuss this announcement here: viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1269405

As of today I have resigned as Modifications Team Leader. You will still see my elephant around as I take a different role with phpBB. More details on this will be announced at a later date.

It is my pleasure to announce evil<3 as my successor. He is an excellent author and has a good heart (despite his name). He has excellent goals that, in my opinion, will help bring the Modifications Team and community together to provide the best experience we can for everyone.

You can discuss this announcement here: viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1266345

Hello,

After a great amount of feedback from the MOD Community, the Modifications Team is pleased to announce the new Junior MOD Validator team.

The purpose of the Junior Validators will be to assist the Modifications Team with the validation process of MODs submitted to the MOD Database -- starting immediately. We have asked a few well known MOD Authors who are very knowledgeable of the phpBB.com MOD Database, Validation Policies and Validation Process.

If you would like more information about the MOD Junior Validators, or would like to apply for such a position, please visit the following page for more information: http://www.phpbb.com/mods/junior-validators/ Please make sure you read the requirements before applying.

We hope that this change will cause modifications to be validated in a more timely fashion as well as boost the efficiency of the MOD validation process. We also hope that this will give the MOD authors a more inside feeling of our validation process.

You may discuss this announcement here: viewtopic.php?f=71&t=1252165

Thanks
The phpBB Modifications Team

In an effort to encourage user organised events, we have added a phpBB Events and Meetings forum to the "Non-support Specific" category on this board.

The forum's primary purpose is assisting members of the community in planning and announcing local phpBB focused meetings. Potential organisers will use the forum to measure community interest in their area, ask for assistance and invite users to their events. Potential attendees will use the forum to search for meetings in their area and to communicate with organisers. We also hope that the forum will be used to share summaries, photos, videos and impressions with the rest of the community.

For more information, please see the Events and Meetings Introduction and Guidelines announcement within the forum.

Thank you,

- The phpBB Team

Hello,

As you are possibly aware, we recently experienced an issue with a particular group of users sending illegitimate private messages to a number of users. We have taken note of this situation and have handled it accordingly. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thanks,
The phpBB Team

MODX 1.2.1 is now available. It fixes some minor issues and adds a few new features to the XSL. There were no changes to the XSD (the install instructions written in XML).

Changes

• Collapsible MOD History - The MOD history section can often times get pretty long, which can be annoying to scroll through in order to get to the actual installation instructions. Thus, now when there is more than one entry, the MOD History section will now be collapsed, hiding the content until you click "Show >>".
• Linked Files to Edit - The files listed under the "Files to Edit" section are now linked to their appropriate sections within the installation instructions, so clicking on one will jump you down to the correction section.
• Collapsible Edit Sections - Each edit section can now be hidden by clicking the "<< Hide" link which follows each section. When installing manually, this could help you keep track of which edits you have completed.
• Merged information sections - The Disclaimer & Other Notes sections have been merged into a single section, as has the License & English Support.
• Moved Author Notes - The Author Notes section has been moved up into the About This MOD section to make it more visible.
• Different Shortcut Keys - The shortcut keys have been changed from the UP/DOWN ARROWS to the LEFT/RIGHT ANGLE BRACKETS (<,>) and w, x so that the ARROW KEYS would retain the default functions in the browser.

You can view the changes on our sample MODX file.

You can find documentation and other files in our MODX resource centre.

You can discuss this announcement here: viewtopic.php?f=71&t=1190915

Hi,

No, not a wiki product by the phpBB Group. I am pleased to announce the addition of a wiki for syndicating code documentation and content at http://wiki.phpbb.com/.

This wiki is a place where you can share your experience with the codebase of phpBB3. Anything related to code documentation, modding/styling tutorials can be added there. Please note that we currently only allow registered users to edit/add pages.

What it is not

The wiki is not meant to be a general documentation of how to use phpBB3. It doesn't describe how to register, post new topics, etc. - this can still be found within our user documentation.

The MOD Documentation available at phpbb.com will be slowly moved to the wiki over the next weeks.

The phpBB Teams.

Modification pre validator open for public usage

After some time of development and internal testing we've decided to open our MODification pre validator, abbreviated to MPV, for public usage.

MPV is similar to mEAL, a tool you were able to use in the past to test MODs before submission to the MOD Database. MPV will return basic problems and make sure you use the latest release of MODX.
MPV will pick out basic problems with your MOD and give you feedback on these. If you submit your MOD with basic problems that MPV highlights we will deny the MOD within the first 24 hours, as per our Insta-Deny policy. If you don't receive a deny notification your MOD will be fully validated.

To test your MOD with MPV simply visit http://www.phpbb.com/mods/mpv/ and follow the instructions. You will receive a report from it after a few seconds.

If you find any bugs or problems with MPV, please report them to our website bug tracker.

You can discuss this announcement here: viewtopic.php?f=71&t=1149945

The phpBB MOD Team

It has now been one month since Londonvasion 2008, the first ever live phpBB conference. As promised, the entire public event was recorded for distribution to the community. We welcome you to share the experience with us by watching the recordings and participating in the Londonvasion discussion topic.

The Londonvasion registration page has been replaced by a page of links to the videos and photo albums. The entire conference has been broken up into 14 videos of varying lengths in order to make the file sizes more manageable. You can stream the videos from Vimeo, or downloaded them in your choice of format.

If you have additional photos that you wish to add to the page, please PM me.

Thank you and enjoy

The phpBB Team


Permanent links to the page:
http://www.londonvasion.com
http://www.phpbb.com/londonvasion/

MOD Authors Convention, 30 August 2008

Like last year, we are going to have have a MOD Author's Convention in 2008. It's been a bit delayed due to Londonvasion, but now we're ready.

The MOD Author’s Convention is an opportunity for all MOD Authors to meet up and also talk to the phpBB MOD Team. The Convention will take place in the #phpbb-mod IRC channel (freenode) on the 30th of August 2008. It's your chance to ask questions, bring suggestions and discuss ideas for the future of modding!

To give everybody the chance to participate, we’ll be having time slots with different topics spread over 24 hours. You don’t have to ask your question during the specific slot, but we’ll try and keep the overall discussions within those topics. There are two 2-hour time slots for each topic, in order to accommodate participants in different timezones. You can use TimeAndDate.com to calculate your local time. Each timeslot is linked to TimeAndDate so you can determine your local time for that session.

Discussion Topics Time Slots
00:00 to 02:00 UTC, 12:00 to 14:00 UTC: Intro, Feedback, Suggestions, and the future of Modding
02:00 to 04:00 UTC, 14:00 to 16:00 UTC: MODX, Packaging
04:00 to 06:00 UTC, 16:00 to 18:00 UTC: Modding for phpBB3, best practices
06:00 to 08:00 UTC, 18:00 to 20:00 UTC: MOD Documentation, Wiki
08:00 to 10:00 UTC, 20:00 to 22:00 UTC: MODDB, Submitting, Validation Process.
10:00 to 12:00 UTC, 22:00 to 24:00 UTC: Open Modding Discussion

Like last time, you can use this Java applet provided by freenode. For more information about IRC, go here.

We’re hoping to see you there!
The phpBB MOD Team

The ability to subscribe, via email, to MOD and style updates has been added to the MODs and styles database. When you subscribe to a MOD or a Style you will receive an e-mail notification when the MOD or Style is updated.

To toggle your subscription status, click the "Subscribe" or "Unsubscribe" link on the MOD or Styles overview page as appropriate.

If you find any bugs or problems with this feature, or in any other part of the MOD or Styles databases, please report them to the website bug tracker.

If you would like to make a feature request or just have feedback for the MODs and styles database, you may do so in this topic.

- The MOD and Styles teams.

Hello

As part of the discussion at Londonvasion, it was determined that the layout of the discussion forums on phpbb.com was in need of revision.

To this end, we have made changes to the discussion forums. The 2.0.x discussion forum has been locked; this will remain read-only. The 3.0.x discussion forum has been renamed phpBB Discussion and has now moved to the new “Non-support specific” section.

The change has been made to ensure easier phpBB discussion topic creation, as now you do not have to choose between two similarly named forums, there is just one.

You are able to discuss this announcement at:
viewtopic.php?f=64&t=1104365

Thank you,
phpBB Team