Web design service - CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCING PHPBB 225 Add a
CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCING PHPBB 225 Add a theme to your board: You can use the basic color and CSS controls in the theme administration system to make basic changes to your board s appearance, or you can install entirely new templates for even further customization. Additionally, phpBB permits you to modify the source code to all its templates, allowing a nearly unlimited level of flexibility. If you wish, phpBB permits you to export your finished themes to a file for release purposes. Set up the rank and file: You can set up a list of rank milestones for users to reach when they reach certain post counts. Additionally, you can assign special ranks to certain users if you desire. Manage every facet of a user s profile: You can edit any user s profile in its entirety, activate their accounts, disable their ability to send private messages, and much more. You can set permissions on a specific user if you wish. Ban offenders and make sure they don t return: phpBB offers banning of specific users, IP ranges, e-mail addresses, and e-mail domain names. You can disallow special names, such as admin, if you wish. phpBB s Security Features Security on your message board should be paramount. phpBB provides many features to assist you in tightening your community s security to keep miscreants out. In Chapter 10, I will go into further detail on how to secure phpBB. For now, I ll give you a brief introduction to phpBB s security features, which include the following: Visual confirmation: phpBB s later releases come bundled with a visual confirmation system, which aids as a deterrent against automated registration bots that use your member list as ad space for shady web sites that are interested in increasing their search engine placement. Humans should be the only people using your forums, and visual confirmation helps in ensuring that is the case. Selectively enable HTML: If you wish to permit the usage of HTML in forum posts, you can at least disable certain tags (such as