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Frequently Asked Questions

peregrineperegrine MVP
edited March 2016 in Tutorials

Table of contents for this thread is now below, here

if you had trouble with something commonly asked and want to contribute a question. add to this thread.

then maybe we can create an ordered clickable linkable document for everyone.

if you want to be silent and not have a FAQ - don't contribute, meaning you've got to contribute questions, if you want to see a faq.

you don't have to have an answer to the question - we can supply it. Just supply the common question.

it can deal with anything installation mishaps (e.g. forgot to enable mbstring, view increment counter not working, etc)
or changing time, etc.

here are two to start with...

FAQ

  • 1 How do I change the timezone from utc to a different timezone for users who are not logged in (Guests)?

Vanilla sets the internal time to UTC and then adjusts the time shown to logged in users to match their computer clock.

to enable guest to see a different timezone e.g. if you want guests to set your time zone to Easter Island Time.

$Configuration['Garden']['GuestTimeZone'] = " Pacific/Easter";

see the timezone nearest you.

  • 2 How do I make the yellow icon for "new" discussions appear?

you can add this to the custom.css

.HasNew, .JustNew {
display: inline;
margin-right: 5px;
}

we'll see if new users can contribute Questions - since they are the ones who have the questions.....

I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

Tagged:
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Comments

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    if users added one question at a time and moderator was able to modify the above Table of Contents. we could have an ongoing FAQ with a table of contents that pointed to any questions that were asked.

    some one could answer the question or point to a suitablr link that answers the question. and the moderator could edit the thread. If I had edit capabilties for this discussion only, I'd be glad to organize.

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • BleistivtBleistivt Moderator

    You already mentioned it in your first post, but this came up multiple times:

    • 3 Clicking on a discussion returns a blank page after a fresh install

    Your php install likely lacks mbstring support. Recompile php with the --enable-mbstring option. If you are on shared hosting, contact your hoster about the issue.

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  • GengGeng New

    How do we find out the proper string for the timezone?

    For example, I want to set it to Pacific. $Configuration['Garden']['GuestTimeZone'] = "Pacific"; doesn't work.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    replacement for 1 above....

    - 1 How do I change the timezone from utc to a different timezone for users who are not logged in (Guests)?

    Vanilla sets the internal time to UTC and then adjusts the time shown to logged in users to match their computer clock.

    to enable guest to see a different timezone e.g. if you want guests to set your time zone to Easter Island Time.

    $Configuration['Garden']['GuestTimeZone'] = " Pacific/Easter";

    • How do we find out the proper string for the timezone?

      for various timezone settings see:

    http://php.net/manual/en/timezones.php

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited March 2018

    - 4 How can I translate certain words or change wording?

    see:

    http://open.vanillaforums.com/discussion/26597/tutorial-how-to-change-wording-how-to-change-text-how-to-change-language-how-to-change-locale

    - 5 How do I create a config/locale.php if I don't have one?

    http://open.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/207043/#Comment_207043

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    - 6 How do I add or modify configuration statements?

    if the line already exists, you should modify the right hand side.

    if you see nothing matching the left hand side of configuration, just add the statement anywhere in your /conf/config.php

    also be sure to read:

    http://docs.vanillaforums.com/developers/configuration/

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    - 7 How do I find the version number of vanilla or the version number of a plugin that i am using?

    see this tutorial

    http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/26943/tutorial-how-to-determine-the-version-number-of-vanilla-that-you-are-using-for-your-own-forum

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    - 8 Why should I provide the version number of vanilla when posting a question?

    see this link

    http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/26710/why-adding-your-version-is-more-important-than-ever

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    - 9 Can I plug in my own user system? How do I have a single signin with another site?

    jsConnect uses javascript to allow cross-domain single-signon with another site. This is useful if you have members registered on your site and you don’t want them to have to re-register in Vanilla.

    for further info see:

    http://vanillaforums.org/addon/jsconnect-plugin

    http://blog.vanillaforums.com/help/vanilla-jsconnect-single-signon-on/

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited December 2014

    - 10 How do I allow users to upload files in discussions?

    see: http://vanillaforums.org/addon/fileupload-plugin

    you may also see:

    http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/28532/a-mod-to-file-upload-version-1-8-4-to-make-it-work-with-vanilla

    until a newer version of uploading comes out.

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    - 11 How can I allow users to delete their own posts?

    they can self delete comments with this config option

    $Configuration['Vanilla']['Comments']['AllowSelfDelete'] = TRUE; // allow self-delete of comments.

    However, they cannot delete discussions, since this would allow them to delete other peoples comments in discussion as well, which would not be a good idea.

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • hgtonighthgtonight MVP

    I would think an excerpt and source would be better for a FAQ style discussion.

    Meaning, provide a link of course, but also answer the question without having to go to another page. Right now this discussion just looks like an index to other discussions.

    I have a blank page or a page that says "Something went wrong". What do I do?

    You enable debugging mode by adding $Configuration['Debug'] = TRUE; to your /conf/config.php file. This is called enabling debug mode. Refresh the page. This should display a more detailed error notice. Search the forums for that error notice.

    Search first

    Check out the Documentation! We are always looking for new content and pull requests.

    Click on insightful, awesome, and funny reactions to thank community volunteers for their valuable posts.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    - 13 Is it possible to show the actual text of a new comment in a notification?

    Yes it is a config setting. you can add config statements to /conf/config.php

    which adds text of body, instead of just a link to forum.

    $Configuration['Vanilla']['Activity']['ShowDiscussionBody'] = TRUE; // True includes discussion body text for discussions

    and one for comment body

    $Configuration['Vanilla']['Activity']['ShowCommentBody'] = TRUE; // True includes comment body text for comments

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    - 14 I have an error when trying to upload or change my avatar picture?

    this could be several reasons.

    • your /uploads folder in the forum folder is not writeable and readable by php.
    • the permissions in dashboard for the role does not have profile edit checked.

    • you have a config statement in config.php that prevents it i.e.
      $Configuration['Garden']['Profile']['EditPhotos'] = FALSE; // prevent editing of photos

    • you php is set to prevent file uploads.

    • or the image file extension is not allowed, or the file is too large.

    • or your GD library is not a minimum of GD version 2.

    To test whether your GD is correct

    you can add this script to the root of your forum folder.

    e.g. if vanilla is installed in /forum then create a script called

    /forum/gdtest.php

        <?php 

    if (function_exists('gd_info')) {
    $GdInfo = gd_info();
    $version = $GdInfo["GD Version"];
    echo  "Your Version of is $version"  . "<br>";
    } else {
    echo "GD is not installed, please install it". "<br>";
    }

    then you can go to your forum link

    e.g. http://example.com/forum/gdtest.php

    or you can create a script with phpinfo().

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2014

    - 16 My counts for categories and discussions are not correct. what should I do?

    to recalculate counts ...

    run /dba/counts

    e.g. if your forum is located at http://example.com/forum then

    http://example.com/forum/dba/counts

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP

    - 17 What do I do if someone says run /utility/structure or /utility/update?

    to restructure and rescan database via /utility/structure or to run /utility/update

    e.g. if your forum is located at http://example.com/forum then

    http://example.com/forum/index.php?p=/utility/structure
http://example.com/forum/index.php?p=/utility/update

    or if you use rewrite urls's you could also type

    http://example.com/forum/utility/update
http://example.com/forum/utility/structure

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

  • peregrineperegrine MVP
    edited November 2015

    - 18 How do I reset the default roles? My New or Approved Users seem to get the wrong role.

    EDIT - 2.2 is explained here: http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/comment/235719/#Comment_235719

    you can do this via dashboard/role/defaultroles

    e.g. if your forum is located at http://example.com/forum then

    http://example.com/forum/dashboard/role/defaultroles

    you will see this screen - check appropriate boxes as you wish and click save.

    I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.

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