Forums Suite for OS X/Apache?

dstranathandstranathan
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Hi guys



Does anyone know if there is a "discusions forums suite" available for OS X that would allow me to serve a (simple) forums section on my Apache-based web site? I assume that it could be ran ussing CGI or PHP in OS X, but I'm not sure. I have never neded a discussion forum until now (although I am in AI's every day!)

I want someting cheap and simple. It will be used by 7 of my vendors as a make-shift roundtable discussion area.



Any particular packages come to mind that are cheap and easy to deploy? Or should I just outsource the forums section to a 3rd party?



I currently have 2 OS X servers on the Internet. 1 is a FTP server (runs great) and the other is a web server (Apache), which is mainly a test server.



Thanks?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    bdeasybdeasy Posts: 5member
    Try Phorum (http://www.phorum.org/).



    Only takes a couple of minutes to install. Good administrative features, forum management, etc. Give it a try. Oh yeah, free too...



    [ 06-04-2002: Message edited by: bdeasy ]



    [ 06-04-2002: Message edited by: bdeasy ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 14
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    I can license you a WebObjects based board that we've developed in house. We don't license it as a stand alone install, we make any modifications for your particular deployment environment prior to installation. If you're interested Of course, there are plenty of free ones out there....
  • Reply 3 of 14
    the cool gutthe cool gut Posts: 1,714member
    what does appleinsider use? how much does it cost?
  • Reply 4 of 14
    dstranathandstranathan Posts: 1,717member
    bdeasy-thanks for the link. I have it installed now, but I have minor "cant find database" problems.



    Are there any OS X specific help docs available?



    BTW? What form package DOES AI use anyway??? CGI-based I see...
  • Reply 5 of 14
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    AI uses ultimate bb. It's a little on the pricey side, but they do have a free version. I've had great luck with phpBB. It's fast, free and pretty customizable. Also it's easy to install and administer. I'd stay away from UBB (what AI and MacNN use) because it uses flatfiles for the forums as opposed to a database resulting in a speed hit especially for things like searches. A search on MacNN is an exercise in futility most of the time.
  • Reply 6 of 14
    the_unknown_sourcethe_unknown_source Posts: 33member
    [quote]Originally posted by torifile:

    <strong>AI uses ultimate bb. It's a little on the pricey side, but they do have a free version. I've had great luck with phpBB. It's fast, free and pretty customizable. Also it's easy to install and administer. I'd stay away from UBB (what AI and MacNN use) because it uses flatfiles for the forums as opposed to a database resulting in a speed hit especially for things like searches. A search on MacNN is an exercise in futility most of the time.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I am interested in this, though I have no prior knowledge of UNIX, would you mind helping me out with the installation?
  • Reply 7 of 14
    thunderpoitthunderpoit Posts: 709member
    i am running phpbb right now on my g4. its a very nice forum, although a little quirky to install. the problem u were having before was because you didnt have mysql installed. phpbb also requires this. i dont think i saw a free version of ubb on their site when i was looking for a forum suite. if you want to see phpbb in action, check out <a href="http://thunderpoit.shacknet.nu/fcc-forums/"; target="_blank">my site</a>. it dosent get much as far as hits or posts, it was more of an experiment for me.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    mount_my_floppymount_my_floppy Posts: 913member
    Yes you can host php from your OS X box but you need to edit your httpd.conf file and install php. After that you can start to develop your own forum or use some one else`s
  • Reply 9 of 14
    the_unknown_sourcethe_unknown_source Posts: 33member
    [quote]Originally posted by ThunderPoit:

    <strong>i am running phpbb right now on my g4. its a very nice forum, although a little quirky to install. the problem u were having before was because you didnt have mysql installed. phpbb also requires this. i dont think i saw a free version of ubb on their site when i was looking for a forum suite. if you want to see phpbb in action, check out <a href="http://thunderpoit.shacknet.nu/fcc-forums/"; target="_blank">my site</a>. it dosent get much as far as hits or posts, it was more of an experiment for me.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    As stated previously, I have NO UNIX knowledge, could you please let me know how you installed it word for word?



    [ 06-07-2002: Message edited by: the_unknown_source ]</p>
  • Reply 10 of 14
    thunderpoitthunderpoit Posts: 709member
    hmm, having no unix knowledge might be a problem:/, but here is a great tutorial for both php and mysql, they helped me a lot. <a href="http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/"; target="_blank">http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/</a>;
  • Reply 11 of 14
    resres Posts: 711member
    I've used both phpbb (http://www.phpbb.com/) and xmb (http://www.xmbforum.com/) in the past. They are both free and use MySQL and PHP to provide full featured bbs systems.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    [quote]Originally posted by ThunderPoit:

    <strong>hmm, having no unix knowledge might be a problem:/, but here is a great tutorial for both php and mysql, they helped me a lot. <a href="http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/"; target="_blank">http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/</a></strong><hr></blockquote>;



    I managed to install PHPbb with no UNIX knowledge. Basically, I read the manuals for PHP, MySQL etc, until I knew a little about what they did. You need to install MySQL (there's a package ready for MacOS X, search Google for it) but PHP in installed but not active. PHP's manual is at <a href="http://www.php.net"; target="_blank">www.php.net</a> - there's some info about MacOS X, but much of it is old (Public Beta days). Still worked for me, though.



    Amorya
  • Reply 13 of 14
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    [quote]Originally posted by ThunderPoit:

    <strong>hmm, having no unix knowledge might be a problem:/, but here is a great tutorial for both php and mysql, they helped me a lot. <a href="http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/"; target="_blank">http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/</a></strong><hr></blockquote>;



    I managed to install PHPbb with no UNIX knowledge. Basically, I read the manuals for PHP, MySQL etc, until I knew a little about what they did. You need to install MySQL (there's a package ready for MacOS X, search Google for it) but PHP in installed but not active. PHP's manual is at <a href="http://www.php.net"; target="_blank">www.php.net</a> - there's some info about MacOS X, but much of it is old (Public Beta days). Still worked for me, though.



    Amorya
  • Reply 14 of 14
    l'ermitel'ermite Posts: 24member
    There are some interesting threads (phpBB, Ikonboard, etc.) over at MacNN: <a href="http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=43;t=000411#000002"; target="_blank">1</a> <a href="http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=35;t=000518#000000"; target="_blank">2</a> <a href="http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000758#000001"; target="_blank">3</a>
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