phpBB questions-looking for a forum

chriswyatt86 · Post by **chriswyatt86** » Sun May 13, 2018 7:12 pm

I am looking for forum software. I have looked at hostgator, and phpBB and have questions to be sure it fits my needs before getting a host or a board.

1. Forum would have a lot of file upload/downloads. Larger files from 1meg to 6or7 meg. Mainly jpg/png files but also would have to be able to up/down a propitiatory file (cwr) so would have to include that format as well.
Is file size or file format a problem ??

2. Since the files are mainly like photos, when posting showing it at a full size (not just thumbnail), to be able to show the quality is important.
Is that available on the posting of the file ?

3. There would be several levels of members. Admin(2) full control, Moderators -3 levels of various levels of control,guests- probable 2 or 3 levels of access that can be set at each category or sub categories. Also if NOT logged in, there would only be 1 category/topic that can be viewed. The rest would be hidden/not visible.
Is this possible ?

4. And just a, would like to know. Is it possible to add code that prevents, or at least asks, that the bots,google etc not scan your board ?

5. I see a lot of styles/themes here, and looks like good instructions on setting the style. Does it matter, or is it best, to install the style before you actually configure the categories etc, or should you have it all set before adding the style.

Thank You

Post by **KevC** » Sun May 13, 2018 7:20 pm

1 - The file format is not a problem as you can create new attachment groups that allow new suffixes.
Size is often dependent on the host. Many set a limit of 2Mb per upload. You would have to negotiate directly with the host to increase that.

2 - Attachments can be reduced to a thumbnail or you can turn that off. Embedded images are automatically limited t the page width but you can right click > view image to see it full size.

3 - yes. You can set multiple levels of permissions and assign the abilities you want to specific groups and then put those users in those groups. You can set the guest group to 'no access' for any of the forums if you don't want visitors to see anything.

4 - Built in You can set the bot group to no access as well

5 - It doesn't matter. The style 'overlays' the layout so you can add it at any point and it will still have the same layout of forums and categories regardless of when you add the style.

chriswyatt86 · Post by **chriswyatt86** » Sun May 13, 2018 7:23 pm

Thank you so much, that pretty well covers the 'got to knows'
thank you again

chriswyatt86 · Post by **chriswyatt86** » Sun May 13, 2018 7:35 pm

About the max file size.
I went to hostgator, and under php settings you can NOT change.
It shows under post max size and upload max size ----- It shows 64M (maximum)

Am I correct in reading that as 64meg ?

Post by **KevC** » Sun May 13, 2018 7:40 pm

Yes but I would double check with them before signing up to a specific hosting deal with them. If you do a search on here for '2mb maximum' you'll find an awful lot of people that believe they have bigger limits than they really do.

chriswyatt86 · Post by **chriswyatt86** » Sun May 13, 2018 7:42 pm

I will, and thanks again.