SMF(Simple Machine Forum) #
Just like MyBB the simple machine forum (SMF) is also a forum builder which is used to build the forum. It helps you to set up your forum in just a few minutes. Its powerful templates put you in the power to fully customize and manage your forum with server-side includes. Using this function you can let your forum interact with each other. SMF is written in PHP and also managed in the MySQL database. It has given all the features that are needed for building forums.
Uses of SMF #
Simple Machines Forum (SMF) is a free application that lets you build an
- online community
- bulletin board
- Forum
System requirements for SMF #
For installation of a Simple machine forum (SMF) you have to full fill some requirements of it.
- Webserver
-
- They have a minimum disc space of 20MB or extra than that. To upload content on it
- The web server must be running on PHP eg. Apache or an internet information server (IIS).
- For apache use version 2.0 or above.
- PHP
- To clean installation of SMF in system minimum requirement of PHP is 5.4.0 or higher
- Database
-
- For installation SMF you can use MySQL or PostgreSQL Database
- MySQL database must have version 4.0.18 or higher.
- PostgreSQL Database must have 8.0 or higher.
Installation of SMF #
To install SMF on your system there are two methods
- Installation using softaculous auto-installer
- Manual installation
Installation using softaculous auto-installer #
For Installation SMF on your Cpanel, you have to follow these steps for installation.
Step1: login to the Cpanel account of your hosting, go to the software section and click on softaculous app installer.
Step2: type SMF in the search box of the Softculous app installer and Press enter installation window will open
Step3: click the install button on the installation window, the new interface will appear.
Step4: in software, set up selects the protocol of your forum (HTTP:// or HTTPS://) and in the domain, name region selects the domain, and in directory select the directory where you want to install.
Step5: In the next step select the board name and also select the Visual verification image to display.
Step6: admin account setup selects the username for your account and password. Also, select the real name of the administrator and type administrator email.
Step7: choose the language of your board.
Step8: in the advance option type the database name, select the automated backup if you want, and click install.
Manual installation #
For installation a simple Machine forum manually you have to perform some steps, the steps are divided into 3 parts
- File configuration
- Database configuration
- Forum configuration
- File configuration
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- Go to the official website of the Simple machine forum in the download section download the latest version of SMF in zip format
-
- Copy the file login the Cpanel, in file manager paste the file in public_html folder and extract it.
- Database Configuration
-
- In the database section click on MySQLDatabase, a new window will appear
- Create the database here by writing the database name and click create the database.
-
- After that add user to the database, to add user to the database create a user in it
- Write username
- Write password, retype password
- Click create user
- After that add user to the database, to add user to the database create a user in it
-
- Give privilege to the user, in the next window click all privilege.
- Forum Configuration
-
- In forum configuration, you have to follow these steps.
- At first, you will see the welcome window from SMF, click continue to the next step
-
- In the next step, you have to configure your database, which gives the name to the database, also add a username and password to the database.
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- After that in the forum setting give the name of your forum, and also URL
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- In the next step, you have to configure the admin account of your forum. Give username of your admin account, type the password of your account, and then retype it. Also, give the email address of your admin account.
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- After all the process you will see the message that congratulations, the installation process is completed.