Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Comments
FAQ Table of Contents.
What do I do if I see the image that states "Something Has gone wrong". See here
Why should I provide the version number of vanilla when posting a question? See here
What are some basic troubleshooting steps? See here and here
Clicking on a discussion returns a blank page after a fresh install See here
How can I change the css to change colour/font etc? See here
I don't know css or how to change it. See here
How to change order ( position ) of items in side panel, modules and How to change order of menu items. See here
How can I translate certain words or change wording? See here
How do I make pretty urls and how do I change .htaccess See here
Can I plug in my own user system? How do I have a single signin with another site? See here
How do I find the version number of vanilla or the version number of a plugin that i am using? See here
How do I create a config/locale.php if I don't have one? See here
How do I change the timezone from utc to a different timezone for users who are not logged in (Guests)? See here
How do I add or modify configuration statements? See here
Is it possible to show the actual text of a new comment in a notification? See here
How can I allow users to delete their own posts? See here
What do I do if someone says run /utility/structure or /utility/update? See here
My counts for categories and discussions are not correct. what should I do? See here
How do I reset the default roles? My New or Approved Users seem to get the wrong role. See here
How do I change text formatting? e.g. BBCode, Markdown and Html See here
How do I allow users to upload files in discussions? See here
How do I change the maximum size for file uploads, pictures, etc ? See here
**I have an error when trying to upload or change my avatar picture? ** See https://open.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/219555/#Comment_219555
How do I alllow other file extensions allowable for upload? e.g. I want to allow uploads of mp4 files. See here
How can I stop spam (or at least reduce it) and report it? What about stopping Spam Applicants? See https://open.vanillaforums.com/discussion/comment/220830/#Comment_220830
How do I allow users to flag or report posts and receive an email notification that a post has been flagged. See here
Where is the official documentation for vanilla forums? Why should I read it? See here
I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.
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.
You already mentioned it in your first post, but this came up multiple times:
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.My themes: pure | minusbaseline - My plugins: CSSedit | HTMLedit | InfiniteScroll | BirthdayModule | [all] - PM me about customizations
VanillaSkins.com - Plugins, Themes and Graphics for Vanillaforums OS
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.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 10 How do I allow users to upload files in discussions?
see: http://vanillaforums.org/addon/fileupload-plugin
you may also see:
I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.
- 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.
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.
- 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 discussionsand one for comment body
$Configuration['Vanilla']['Activity']['ShowCommentBody'] = TRUE;
// True includes comment body text for commentsI may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.
- 14 I have an error when trying to upload or change my avatar picture?
this could be several reasons.
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
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.
- 15 What do I do if I see the image below that states "Something Has gone wrong".
We've run into a problem and are unable to handle this request right now.
Please check back in a little while.
In order to reveal full descriptive error messages:
add the following configuration statement to conf/config.php
$Configuration['Debug'] = TRUE;
if you see
$Configuration['Debug'] = FALSE;
change it to
$Configuration['Debug'] = TRUE;
Remember to remove the config statement or change it to FALSE, when you are done.
Start a NEW discussion on this site with your version number and the exact error message you got, and what you were doing when you got it. if you want help solving the issue
Do not post your error message in this thread please.
also see: http://docs.vanillaforums.com/developers/troubleshooting/
I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.
- 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.
- 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
or if you use rewrite urls's you could also type
I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.
- 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.
- 19 I changed my role and permissions settings in vanilla 2.1.5. Can someone tell me the default settings for all the roles on a fresh install.
here they are.
Admin role
Moderator Role
Member Role
Applicant role
Unconfirmed Role
Guest Role
I may not provide the completed solution you might desire, but I do try to provide honest suggestions to help you solve your issue.