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How to Install SMF Forum PHP Software on Your Server
Edited by Nitsua, Glutted, Nicole Willson, Eric and 12 others
SMF is a high quality forum php software. SMF can be found here: http://simplemachines.org/
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Steps
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1If your afraid of doing it for yourself you can go by a professional.Ad -
2Go to http://simplemachines.org/ -
3Click the download tab. -
4Download SMF 1.1.4 full install as a .zip file, or the latest version of SMF (each later version is more secure). -
5Extract the contents of the compressed file using a program such as Winrar. -
6Go to http://www.free-webhosts.com/free-mysql-database.php for a list of free hosts. and select one.You should really have a paid host as they offer better support. -
7To upload the forum software to your web host, you can use FTP. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is one of the quickest and easiest ways to upload a file from your computer to a webserver. Although there is an FTP client built into Windows, most people prefer to use a third-party FTP client program, such as SmartFTP. -
8Set up your FTP-client so you can use it to transfer files to your web-host. To do this, you will need to know the host address, username, and password for your FTP account. Usually your web host will provide you with this information. If the client software asks for a 'port' number, use 21, as this is the port most commonly used for the FTP protocol. -
9Copy all the files in the SMF folder that you extracted earlier to the main directory of your host. -
10Go to your website, you should be directed to the installation page. If not, add install.php to the end of your site's address. -
11Follow the directions in the installation. -
12You can now go to the SMF website to look for themes and modifications for your forum.Ad
Tips
- If you go to "my network places" (similar to "my computer") you can click "add a network place" follow the steps and examples in "my network places".
- Make sure you have a mysql database! It is required.
- You can download add-ons for your forum from the SMF website.
- If you have a webserver set up on your own computer then you wont need the FTP Client or the Webhost and instead of FTPing the files you can just copy and paste them to your servers document root.
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Warnings
- Although the most recent version of SMF has no public exploits available for it, you should still take caution, especially when installing third-party modifications. You should also always ensure that you are running the most up to date version of the forum software.
Things You'll Need
- An FTP client, you can use this to upload the SMF forum files to your website.
- A web host.
- MySQL database, this is where all the posts and member information will be stored.
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