Off the Top of My Head

Interview: Ins and Outs of phpBB and Forum Management

The next interview in our series is with Joe Hayes (Better known as mdvaldosta on the Digital Point and other forums), an avid phpBB user and supporter. He has developed a few dozen phpBB forums, and currently owns four, one of which can be seen at Offtopicz. He has been using phpBB software since shortly after version 2 was released.

First of all, why phpBB?
phpBB has become very popular, mainly because it’s free and easy to use. Webmasters also have a very large and friendly support forum from which to receive help with installation and modifications, making phpBB an excellent choice for beginners.

What are the advantages over something like vBulletin?
Cost mostly, vBulletin is an extremely high quality software with excellent support and is written for serious webmasters. phpBB seems to be directed more towards those wanting something simple and functional for their friends or as a support forum on a product site. This isn’t to say that phpBB should be counted out for serious forums, only that it takes some modifications and coding to bring it up to par with the likes of vBulletin.

There is often a lot of buzz about security issues, how do you protect yourself?
Protection is simple, stay up to date. As with any open source script, the code is right there for all to see – including potential hackers. The vast majority of forums getting hacked are running old versions with exploits just a Google search away.

What are your favorite modifications for phpBB?
Wow, there are so many. The ability for users to attach photos and files is a big one, so the attachment mod is important. Webmasters wishing to receive search engine traffic should remove session ID’s for guests and consider some other seo mods as well. Customization is important, you can find hundreds of templates available for download directly from the official phpBB website. I also highly recommend the eXtreme Styles Mod, as it really speeds up phpBB forums by caching the templates.

If you could suggest just one modification to be added to the full version and supported, which would it be?
Most definitely the attachment mod as mentioned above. It’s considerably more difficult to install than phpBB itself as it requires file edits. Considering it’s the most widely requested modification, it doesn’t make much sense for phpBB to come without it.

What are the negative points?
The software comes pretty much stripped down. Much of the functionality that admins and webmasters desire has to be installed as mods. Considering phpBB has a lot of novice webmasters, the task of editing files becomes quite daunting. Then, by installing those mods it becomes even harder for those webmasters to keep the software up to date. Since phpBB isn’t updated with plugins, and the default installation has been modified, you can no longer simply replace the existing files with the new versions. This requires yet even more file edits and is one of the reasons so many installations fall out of date.

Just in general, what’s the most important ingredient in growing a forum in the beginning?
Having an active forum from the start is the key getting really big. The forum owner needs to spend a lot of time creating content and conversation to kick things off. Traffic on an existing domain or referrals from another website is a good way to do that. Simply setting up a forum with the attitude ‘If you build it, they will come’ just will not work. Nearly all forums die before they ever come alive.

Is the strategy any different when it comes to maintaining that membership?
I think so. Moderation is key here, as the atmosphere in the forum needs to match the member demographics. By providing a positive atmosphere and preventing member bullying you can ensure your users are happy. This is a fine line to walk though, because over moderation is also a member concern.

How do you deal with spammers, automated ones in particular?
Ah, you ask an excellent question. Right now auotomated spam is of the biggest problems and it’s getting out of control. I’ll share this solution, which I’ve been using successfully for quite some time. The vast majority of spamming software doesn’t actually go through the process of filling out a form and clicking links, by putting another variable in the form (use a random one), you will prevent these. Also, removing the website link from the registration form will prevent those that do get by from getting a memberlist link.

What is your preffered style of moderation?
Light. I don’t care to moderate posts unless it’s spam. I’ve try sticking to the motto that ‘moderation is the key to moderating’. Your members don’t want their posts edited, and affording them that freedom when at all possible is a courtesy and show of respect in a way.

What is the best source of income for a succesful forum?
Well, if your creating a forum for income – your making a poor choice. Forums never make much money, and even throwing annoying ads everywhere you can you still won’t generate much income. Forum members most certainly will develop ‘ad blindness’ because their there everyday. Trying to cover hosting costs on a descent sized forum shouldn’t be a problem, but having the illusion that you’ll make a bunch of money will only leave you open for disappointment.

Back to phpBB, where do you see it going in the future?
phpBB3, aka Olympus, has been in development for some time now. It includes many feature upgrades and integrated mods from phpBB2, like the attachment mod and more. Upon the release of this latest version (it’s still in testing), phpBB won’t be very far from the functionality you get from something like vBulletin.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 24th, 2006 at 9:29 am and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.