Help:
» Introduction
» Frequently Asked Questions
» Contact Support
» System Features
Topics:
» Logging In
» Changing Your Password
» Posting A New Topic
» Sending Private Messages
» Active Topic Notification
» Adding A Watched User
» Adding A Signature
» Using Markup Codes (HTML)
» Using Faces (emoticons)
» Using Icons
Forum Terminology:
» Anonymous User
» Board
» Category
» Poll
» Private Message
» Registered User
» Reply
» Signature
» Topic
|
System Features
- Fast & Highly Scalable - System is capable of handling thousands of simultaneous user requests with
unlimited boards, users and messages.
- Multiple Authentication/Registration Methods -
Detailed Information
- Web Based Administration - All administrative aspects of the system can be controlled via
web based forms by a system administrator.
- Unlimited Boards - The system can contain an unlimited number of boards. Each board can also
store an unlimited number of topics. Large boards are broken down into pages of 25 topics. A registered
user can change this setting to as low as 5 topics per page or 50 per page.
- Category Based Board Assignment - Administrators can assign boards to categories. Categories
do nothing except organize the boards into specific sections. For example, the main board index page uses
these assignments to display the list of boards in a specific order.
- Topic Based Discussions - Topics can contain an unlimited number of replies. Topics are are
sorted for each board by the most recent date a new reply was posted to it. Topics with a large number
of replies are broken down into pages. There is no limit as to how many replies/pages a topic can
have.
- Active Topic Notification - Users can add multiple topics to their active topic
notification list and receive e-mail whenever a new reply is posted to one.
- Watched User Lists - Users can maintain a list of their favorite users. When designating
a "watched user", the user can decide to receive e-mail notifications when that user posts a new
message to the system.
- Private Messaging - Users can communicate privately with other users by sending private
messages. All private messages are stored by the system so a user can later read them.
- E-Mail Notifications - Users can provide up to 2 verified e-mail addresses in which
they wish to receive e-mail notifications for either active topics or "watched user" post
alerts.
- User Profiles - Users have the ability to add detailed information about themselves, which
is viewable by other registered users. Such information includes: real name, sex, age, location, icq
number, short bio and much more.
- Anonymous Posts - System administrators have the choice of allowing anonymous
users the ability to post a message to a board. Anonymous users are those that have not
registered with the system or have not logged in.
- Private Boards - Administrators can restrict any number of boards to multiple users. A
private board invitation tool is also provided so administrators can e-mail potential private board
members.
- Board Moderation - Administrators can assign users to moderate the board system. Moderators
can remove messages, lock/unlock topics, ban users by id or ip address and edit messages.
- Active Topics List - The system allows users to see which topics are active for the
entire system (includes topics from any board on any category).
- Users Online List - The system allows users to see who's accessed the boards in the last
30 minutes. The list is sorted by earliest date a user has visited the system.
- Post Editing - Users can edit their own posts for a limited amount of time. When a
message is edited, there will be a note at the bottom that will display to other users how many
times it was edited and who last edited the message.
- User Search - A user can search for other users by username, first/last name, e-mail or
company name if applicable.
- OS/Platform Requirements:
- Microsoft Windows 2003 Server
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 6.0 (IIS)
- Microsoft SQL Server 2000 w/ SP3
- Latest version of MDAC
- Dual-Processor P4/Xeon servers w/ at least 1 gigabyte of RAM
Although the boards can run on a single machine which runs both SQL Server
and IIS, it is recommended you use at least 2 seperate machines. The system uses
very little SQL Server CPU power, which allows the system to scale outward by adding
more IIS page servers.
- Example Installations:
- Multiple Authentication/Registration Methods:
- Default/Built-in - Users register and authenticate directly on the boards using
the systems default user database (the same database messages are stored in). This is perfect
for sites that don't have an established user database.
- ODBC - Users can register on a different site that stores it's users on a ODBC
accessible data source. The board system will co-register the user upon first use of the
boards and copy over any information that is needed by the system for future authentication
to the boards. The ODBC data source must be visible by the board system in order for this to
work.
- HTTP Coregistration - Similar to ODBC, HTTP Coregistration uses HTTP GET calls
to authenticate/copy user information back to the board system. The foreign user database
must provide a specially formatted response to the board system when a HTTP call is made.
- Windows NT - The board system can authenticate against a network visible NT domain
for it's user database. Just like ODBC/HTTP methods, the system copies user information. However,
the password is not stored for security reasons. Instead, the system generates a random
password after every 5 minutes of access.
- Default+Windows - A combination of Default/Built-in & Windows NT methods. Perfect
for extranet board situations.
|
