Guide to installing phpBB and wordpress on NearlyFreeSpeech.NET Web Hosting

My roommate thought it would be useful for me to write this guide so I did and here it goes…

Before we begin I hope whoever is reading this already has some experience with FTP clients and webhosting, plus I hope you are already aware of what phpBB and wordpress are. (But if you don’t and want to know what they are google it)

So I will start off by going through a step by step of getting your mysql setup on your NFSN hosting since that will be the foundation for installing both phpBB and wordpress.
Note: NFSN uses phpMyAdmin for mysql databases management, so that is what we will be using in this guide.

When you first begin using the control panel for your NFSN hosting service you will probably see a tab that says mysql, when you click on the tab you will see a submenu on the right hand side of your window with Create a New MySQL Process then once you create a process you can access the phpMyAdmin using the Open phpMyAdmin link and that is how you will access your phpMyAdmin interface.


Creating MySQL Database:

1. For NFSN you need to start by creating a mysql process which I believe costs $0.01 a day on NFSN. You can call the process whatever you want eg. Mysitesql. Once you have created the process you might have to wait till it becomes activated by NFSN. Waiting… waiting… ok so now you should have a process that is active and ready to be used. Access the mysql process using phpMyAdmin.

2. Now you have to create a database using phpMyAdmin. This will be your actual database for running your blog and forum so pay attention. Create a new database using Create new database menu you can call it whatever you want eg. Wordpress for your wordpress and Pbbforum for your forum but really it doesn’t matter what you call it. ATTENTION! Creating a process in your webhost panel is different than creating databases in phpMyAdmin. You only need one process while you need a database for everything you install, meaning two for this guide.

3. Return to your Home page in phpMyadmin then click on Privileges. Here you will create a new user using Add a New User. Create a username and password; you can call these whatever you want once again. Leave all the Global privileges default before pressing GO.

4. Now go back to the Privileges page and you will see the usernames you have created now you can click Edit Privileges on the far right corner. The link will take you to a page for editing your account, here you will see the Database specific privileges which you will change using the dropdown menu by selecting the appropriate database for either your forum or your blog. Once you edit the Database specific privileges and press GO you will be forwarded to a page with selecting the privileges for the database select all of it and press GO.

5. Now you should have a database with the corresponding username and password.
Eg.
Database name: wordpress
Username: username
Password: password
Database Host: is the process name that you created in the NFSN control panel in step 1 ie. Mysitesql.db

You should have a set for the wordpress and another for the phpBB
Note: You need to repeat the following instructions for making two databases one for your forum and one for your blog.

So now with the databases setup you can install your wordpress or phpBB or BOTH!

Installing Wordpress:
1. You begin by downloading the Worpress package from the site and extract the entire package using winrar or 7-zip or any other extracting program. Keep the structure of the directory.
2. Now you upload all of the extracted folders and files onto your host using your FTP client.
3. Rename the wp-config-sample.php file to wp-config.php then edit it using a .html editor or a .txt editor to change the database details:

DB_NAME
Eg. Wordpress
DB_USER
Username
DB_PASSWORD
Password
DB_HOST
The process name made in the NFSN eg. Mysitesql.db
DB_CHARSET
Probably don’t need to change it
DB_COLLATE
Leave Blank
Don’t forget to save it after
4. Finally you can run the installation script by putting the http://mysite.com/wp-admin/install.php or wherever the installation script is located.
5. Now you can just follow the installation and it will take you through the step.
6. Enjoy… and celebrate!

Installing phpBB:
1. You begin by downloading the phpBB3 or the most current version of the package and extract the entire package using winrar or 7-zip or any other extracting program.
2. Now you upload all of the extracted folders and files onto your host using your FTP client. Keep the structure of the directory.
3. Change the permissions of the config.php to (666 using your FTP permission setting)
4. Change the permissions of the following directories: /store/, /cache/, /files/, and /images/avatars/upload/ to (777 using your FTP permission setting)
5. You can run the installation scrip by putting the http://mysite.com/phpbb3/install/ or wherever the installation script is located.
6. Now you can just follow the installation and it will take you through the step.
7. Change back the permission of the config.php to (644 using your FTP permission setting)
8. Enjoy…