How to Install phpBB

phpBB is one of the most popular freeware pieces of forum software on the Internet. Setting it up can be a hassle if you’re not prepared. Follow these steps to install phpBB on your computer. This eHow assumes you have already downloaded the phpBB install files and unzipped them to a handy location on your computer. You must also have a database in place and a database user account for the phpBB software to access the database.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• internet access
• computer

1. Log in to your website using an FTP client. You’ll need your username and password.
2. Upload the contents of the phpBB2 folder (created when you unzipped the phpBB install zip file to your hard drive) to where you wish the forum to be located. This could be the root directory of your website or a subdirectory.
3. Navigate to the following address in your web browser:
   
   http://www.yourdomain.com/phpbblocation/install/install.php
   
   www.yourdomain.com is your domain name and phpbblocation is the directory in which you uploaded the phpBB files. If you uploaded them to the root directory of your website, then omit that part of the URL, like so:
   
   http://www.yourdomain.com/install/install.php
4. Enter your Database Server Hostname into the text field. This is usually ‘localhost’ (without the quotes). If you run into an error then contact your web hosting provider for the correct hostname.
5. Enter the name of the database you created for phpBB into the Your Database Name field.
6. Enter the Database Username and Password into their respective text fields.
7. Enter the Admin Email Address, Administrator Username and Administrator Password (and Confirmation) values into their respective fields.
8. Click Start Install. phpBB should now set itself up, using the information you’ve provided.
9. Delete the ‘install’ and ‘contrib’ phpBB subfolders, as directed by the website. You’re ready to go!

Tips & Warnings

• You may wish to create a new email address for the phpBB Admin account. That is, unless you want people emailing you at your personal email address.
• Write down your administrator account information somewhere. If you lose the account information you’ll have trouble changing the properties of your forum.
• Keep the directory structure in tact when you first unzip the phpBB install file you download. If you don’t, you won’t even be able to set up your forum.
• Your web host may have non-standard values for the information you have to supply to the phpBB install process. If you run into any errors, contact them to make sure you have the right information.