Integrating a Forum with osDate
In osDate 1.1.x, phpBB was bundled with the osDate code. The problem with that method is that phpBB is constantly being updated by the phpBB team, so to stay up to date with phpBB, soDate would also have to be constant updated. The osDate 2.x method is to simply provide an "interface" for communication between osDate and any of these forums: phpBB, vBulletin, myBB, and Phorum. If you're a fan of some other forum, you're encouraged to create an interface for the forum of your choice and upload it to the Code Depot for possible inclusion in later releases of osDate.
The first step to forum integration is to install the forum of your choice. We recommend that you install your forum into the /forum/ folder of osDate, preferably into a sub-folder like "phpbb" to help avoid possible file name conflicts.
Then, install the forum independently of osDate. You should refer to the installation documentation for the particular forum that you use for installation instructions. Please note that the forum MUST be installed in the same database that osDate is installed. You should use a different table "prefix". osDate uses "osdate_" by default. If you're installing phpBB, you may wish to use "phpbb_" so that there is no conflict with the osDate tables.
After your forum has been successfully installed, login to the osDate admin panel, and in the "Global Settings", change "Enabled Forum" to the forum of your choice, then set the "Forum path" to the path, relative to the osDate root folder, where your forum root resides.
For example, I have phpBB in the /forum/ subfolder, so my path is "forum/phpbb" (no '/' at beginning or end!).
Finally, ensure that users of the proper membership level can access the forum by clicking "Membership Management" in the left-side admin panel, and ensuring that "Participate in forum" is checked.
Admins and users will now be able to open the forum by clicking the "Forum Management" link (for admins) or "Forum" link (for users) in the respective link panel. Please note that to correctly access the forum, the user/admin MUST access it by clicking on the link, not by directly typing in the forum URL in the browser's address bar.
Addenda
PhpBB is no longer bundled with osDate. You may install any of following Forums as the forum to be used/integrated with osDate.
PhpBB
vBulletin
myBB
Phorum
You must download and install the forum of your choice in your server. Suggested path is osdatehome/forum/forumname, for example osdatehome/forum/phpBB or Vbulletin or Phorum or myBB as the case may be.
It is not mandatory that you use same database of osDate, we strongly suggest to use same database and connection for use of the Forum, unless you have a specific reason not to, like to reduce your server load.
Once you have installed the forum of your choice, you need to integrate this into osDate v2. For this, please do the following:
1) Login as admin
2) Choose
Site's Global Settings
3)
Set the installed forum from the select list.
4) Set the directory name of installation. This should be in relation to the osDate home directory. If you have installed phpBB in osdatehome/forum/phpBB directory, then give the value "forum/phpBB". (Do not add \ or / before or after the value)
You should be through with integration and should be able to use the Forum you installed. User's must have sufficient membership permissions to use the forum, of course, or they will not see the Forum link.