How to Use The phpBB ACP
Today, I wish to help you learn how to use the ACP, with the phpBB Forum Software. I will be covering a few items that I think you would like to know how to do, if you are having issues with creating certain things through the ACP.
If you scroll down to the bottom of your forum, you should notice at the bottom of the page, what states "Administration Control Panel". When you click on the link, it will ask you to re-authenticate yourself. This is used to prevent unauthorized access to the ACP, and as a login page to the ACP.
Just type your username and password you used to login into the forum with. After you have logged into the ACP, you will be taken to the the homepage of the phpBB ACP.
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http://i.imgur.com/mz5UQDU.png
I am going to start off first, by explaining the essentials in the "Board Configuration" section. Starting off, you are in the homepage (or index) of the ACP. Under the Board Configuration section of the sidebar, click on "Board Settings".
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http://i.imgur.com/RIxYLMw.png
In Board settings, I want to focus on three sections. If you have not already done this, I strongly recommend you do. Enter your site name, site description and leave the "Disable Board" box ticked No unless you are doing maintenance. After you have done this, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click submit.
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http://i.imgur.com/91dKgwe.png
I am now going to explain how you can add Forum's and Categories. At the top, you should notice a tabbed menu. Find and click on "Forums". Below is a screenshot if you are not sure what to click.
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http://i.imgur.com/7O9mOz5.png
By default when creating the forum, you start off with 1 category and 1 forum. You should go and edit your category first. Click on the green cog to edit it. Once you have clicked the green cog, you need to edit the forum name and nothing else, then scroll down to the bottom and click save. Once you have done that, pay close attention for the next step.
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http://i.imgur.com/BsvyHpZ.png
Now, it will not say "Your First Category" anymore, it will say whatever you decided to named it. So, click on that white button and go down to "Your first forum" and click on it.
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http://i.imgur.com/Hx9Lduc.png
Remember, this forum is in the category you just named, so you will need to click "Edit" and that will take you a page which gives you the option to edit the forum. After you have done this, edit the Forum's Name to something that you like. The parent forum is the forum or category that this forum is a child board to. So, click the category you want it to be under. As for copy permissions, leave it for now because you are just editing the title at the moment.
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http://i.imgur.com/Sw74U1F.png
Now you have 1 forum and 1 category named to something new. You probably want to add more now. To do this, it is rather simple. On the side, click "Manage Forums" and then create a new forum/category and click go.
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http://i.imgur.com/MSZnx60.png
For a category, just edit the Forum Type to Category, and leave the Parent Forum at none, because it is it's own Parent Forum. Finally, when you get to the copy permissions from section, copy the permissions from the first category you had edited, so to give people the ability to see it. Also, ignore the description for the category, as it is not needed. Once you have done the above, scroll down to the bottom and click submit.
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http://i.imgur.com/UB0jbOe.png
If you are going to create a forum, follow these steps. For the forum type, select forum. For the Parent Forum select the category you want the forum to be listed under. You also need to copy the permissions from the first forum you had edited earlier. Finally, you will need to add a description for the forum, for the forum you are adding. After you have added a description, scroll to the bottom and click on submit.
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http://i.imgur.com/F9Zx6MB.png
I am now going to explain how to add staff members to your forum. You need to click on the "Users and Groups" tab. Once you have done this, you will notice on the left side "Mange Groups". Click on this.
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http://i.imgur.com/7O9mOz5.png
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http://i.imgur.com/3wOTnTs.png
Let's say you want to add a global moderator to your forum. You will need to find the Global Moderators group in the list and click on "Members". This will allow you to manage the members of this group.
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http://i.imgur.com/6wQhJPf.png
So, you have clicked "Members". Now you need to scroll down and you should notice a "Add Users" section. To add a member, write the username of the member in the box, and make sure you have the "Set as Group Default" box ticked and then go ahead and click submit.
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http://i.imgur.com/e9ydytV.png
Thank you for reading! I believe I have covered the basics of the phpBB ACP. I hope I helped some of you out today and I hope you now know how to use the basics of the phpBB ACP!
