MySQL question?

[Designer]

I'm going to make a website with a forum (phpbb www.phpbb.com) I assume this will use MySQL but to be perfectly honest I hav'nt a clue what it is or how it works so any info you can give, no mater how basic is greatly appreciate. All I know is it's soe form of database and thats prety much it.

I'm pretty new to making website's and everthing else i've done has just been HTML stuff, i've already got another thread asking if it's possible to test PHP and it looks like it is but is there any way I can upload the forum software onto the PC in my sig (which is on a network) and access it from my laptop (also on the network, i'm using the laptop to build the site).

Thanks for any assistance you can provide

[MrAustin]

All things PHP can be tested locally, the caveat being that you must make sure your database tables have the same names when you get around to uploading them onto your live server. Most hosting companies put prefixes on your username and also your table names when it comes to the databases, such as:

With a username of MrAustin, I might be pigeonholed into having a table name of MrAust_members which is most likely NOT what you used when setting up the tables locally since there are not these restrictions placed upon you. Hope that helps clear the air.

[Designer]

Does that mean I could set up (using that PHP triad) the PHP forum on a machine and test it out without having to add anything for the database side of things?

I saw all this talk mentioned of PHP and MySQL and wasn't exactly sure what I needed on my testing machine

[MrAustin]

It depends on how phpbb goes about setting up its tables. It may require you to code in access rights in mysql, and it may not. You can find specifics on the GRANT statement used by mysql to give rights to a new user (you) at http://www.mysql.com

Another free forum is InvisionBoard, and I know that one requires that you know the username and pass to setup the different databases and tables require to track posts.

Since you are new to PHP and MySQL, you might be getting yourself too deep too fast, but hey, some people learn better that way, y'know?

Good luck!

[Designer]

Had some problems with that PHPTriad download, got it but it would'nt install (kept getting a file corruption error) so i'm currently downloading from another mirror (got dialup for the moment, 12MB takes ages). Will have a go as soon as i've got it and post back later.

Thanks for you help MrAustin

[MrAustin]

No probs, let me know if you have any other Q's

[mairving]

Invision Board is moving away from a free board. Currently you can still get a free trial with the following stipulations:

*Absolutely no technical support, including installation assistance, is provided for the free trial download. Technical support is provided for those purchasing the software by email, live chat, and telephone 365 days a year.

*Your forum, although perfectly functional, will display a small notice at the bottom of the page that it is a free trial download.

*Certain advanced features of the software (subscriptions manager, spell checker, chat service, etc.) may not be available in the free trial option as these require additional modules to operate that are only available to licence holders.

*You can purchase a license to Invision Power Board at any time to download addons and request support and the upgrade from the free trial version is quick and easy.

PHPBB is the best free one out there.

[MrAustin]

That's too bad, IB was one of my favorites back in the day. Oh well. Thanks for the update, mairving.