mvnForum FAQ

Cord Thomas

Software Architect
Lupine Information Systems
Revision History
Revision v0.0.105 June 2003cat
Prepared forum FAQ for RC1 - first round

Abstract

This is a FAQ for the mvnForum developed by MyVietnam.net. The latest version of mvnForum can be found at www.mvnforum.com. It is intended as a supplement to the existing mvnForum documenation, to cover questions that keep occurring on the mailing list. PLEASE read this document before your post to the list.


1. General

1.1.

What is mvnForum?

mvnForum is an open source, powerful, easy to use, easy to setup bulletin board (forum) developed following Java J2EE standards and technologies (Jsp/Servlet).

1.2.

What license is mvnForum released under?

mvnForum is a free, open-source project released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

1.3.

Where can I see the update-to-date version of this FAQ?

The lastest version of this FAQ are here

1.4.

Where can I see a list of forum features?

The lastest information about forum features are here

1.5.

Who has developed mvnForum?

The core mvnForum framework is being developed by a group of dedicated Vietnamese developers at MyVietnam.net

2. Installation

2.1.

Where do I get the latest binary installation of the mvnForum?

The latest mvnForum release can be found here

2.2.

Where do I get the latest source code for development?

See these notes for accessing the source via CVS here

2.3.

What databases are currently supported?

The goal is to support ALL major database vendors that supply JDBC drivers that support JDBC 2.0 standards

The following databases are supported and have been tested: MySQL 3.23.51, postgreSQL 7.3, Oracle 8i 8.1.7, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, and hsqldb 1.7.1

2.4.

What Application Servers are supported?

mvnForum can be installed on any Servlet Container which supports Jsp 1.2 and Servlet 2.3.

mvnForum has been tested on the following Application Servers: Apache Tomcat 4.1.7, 4.1.10, 4.1.12, 4.1.18, and Resin 2.1.4

2.5.

What user authentication protocols are supported?

mvnForum supports a realm authentication model, customized authentication model and the typical user name/password authentication.

Here are some links on people's efforts to implement realm authentication in mvnForum

3. Administration

3.1.

How do I add a new Forum to a Category?

Forum categories are top-level groups of forums. An administrator can create categories, add and remove forums from a category and remove categories.

To add a category, from the Administrator's control panel, access the Forum Management page and click on the Add new Category link near the top of the page to load the category creation screen. A category simply has a name and a description. Use a short enough description to give forum users a concise understanding of the types of forums they will expect to find in the category.

3.2.

Should I associate the Admin section of the forum with an easy to identify URL?

It is up to you, but by default, we suggest not doing this so as to minimize users attempts to access the administration site.

3.3.

Can I restrict certain users to specific Forums?

That feature is not currently supported. See the TODO list for the intended inclusion of this capability

3.4.

Can a forum be moderated?

Yes, beginning with RC1, a moderator can moderate all the forums at a site. The plan is to all moderators to be given permission to moderate indiviual forums.

3.5.

What do I have to do to localize mvnForum?

Support a new language in mvnForum is very easy, just translate the file mvnForum_i18n.properties, then change the file name to mvnForum_i18n_.properties. Update the build.xml to support your new locale and/or change the file build.properties to make your new locale as the default displayed language.

3.6.

How do I change the default displayed language in mvnForum?

If you are building mvnForum, just change the file build.properties to the appropriate values.

If you want to change the default displayed language in the binary distribution package, just copy all the files from the subfolder of webapp\mvnplugin\mvnforum\user that contains your preferred language to the webapp\mvnplugin\mvnforum\user. For example, if you want to change the default language to Vietnamese, just copy all files from folder webapp\mvnplugin\mvnforum\user\vi to folder webapp\mvnplugin\mvnforum\user

3.7.

Does mvnForum support Internationalization (i18n)?

Yes. mvnForum uses unicode in the backend, so it supports (in theory) ALL languages.

4. User

4.1.

Can I delete a post I made?

You cannot delete your post unless you are a moderator. However, you can edit your post in a limited amount of time (1 week). If you do want to delete your post, please contact your forum moderators/administrators and tell them to delete it.

4.2.

Can I follow a thread?

At RC1, you are able to follow progress on a thread by creating a Watch for the thread.

4.3.

What sort of files can I attach to a forum post?

At RC1, you are able to attach files, image files are automaticaly displayed in the web post.

4.4.

What HTML tags are supported? How can I add new tags to the list of supported tags?

For the list of supported tags, review the features here

4.5.

What do the icons to the left of each post in the recent thread and forum index pages indicate?

I am sure glad you asked; the icons come in 4 colors and mean this

  • Blue - light - thread

  • Blue - dark - thread with new posts added since your last login

  • Red - light - a hot thread (has had many posts)

  • Red - dark - a hot thread (has had many posts) with new posts since your last visit

4.6.

How does Who's Online work?

mvnForum tracks users who are online in the OnlineUserManager class, implemented as a TreeMap of logged in and anonymous users.

the net.myvietnam.mvnplugin.mvnforum.auth is responsible for managing user sessions which includes removing them from the OnlineUserManager TreeMap when they have changed from anonymous to authenticated (or vice-versa) or timed out their session.

source: mvnForum

5. Development

5.1.

Can i help with development?

This is an open source project initiated by and managed by the talented developers at MyVietnam.net. To inquire about opportunities to help with development efforts, contact

5.2.

How do I change the colors and fonts?

The majority of the styles in mvnForum are defined by a single point of entry for cascading style sheets. Copy the existing style.css file and make the changes you want to.

5.3.

Can I incorporate the mvnForum site in my site?

The easiest way to merge the mvnForum into your existing site is to modify the header.jsp to match your site template.

Examples of existing integrated forums are

6. Suggest new FAQs

6.1.

How can i contribute a FAQ?

If you have thought of a question that is not answered above, email the FAQ Keeper or post a request at mvnForum Development

mvnForum documentation created using docbook.