phpBB Sucks

Putting it plainly, phpBB sucks. It's not a good alternative for forums unless you make daily backups. For hobby-sites where you can't get automatic backups off your server, it is not a good option. They consistently get hacked. I just lost my forum because of this, but I guess it is also the fault of my hosting service that doesn't facilitate adequate backups.

 

Did you miss this thread Bling

http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=6793&page=5&pp=40

 

Just like anything else, ya gotta keep it updated (my achilles heal too).

 

What version of phpBB were you running?

 

It really isn't a matter of keeping it updated that is a problem. If you have a site as a hobby, you aren't going to check everyday or maybe everyweek. There isn't even a notification service. I can afford vBulletin but I don't want to give that much money for something that isn't used more. ...but ofcourse I may want a forum more than I want that money.

 

I was running .11 before the hack. I might restore it and change the database to read only access(for historical purposes). I am trying to buy a tape restore of the database from just before the hack. Otherwise it's back to October for the forum.

It is such a PITA to upgrade these hosted apps. Maybe that's the real reason I like MS stuff. It's always easy to upgrade and patch and not once have I ever been "hacked".

 

Ack... I'm running .11 now and I did not think there were any known security vulnerabilities...

 

Sorry to hear your bad news as it is a great shame this thing goes on

Well to be trueful its free and like any forum software you need to backup twice a week at least

 

It's probably a good idea to upgrade to .13 just incase.

 

There was a critical update on 27th February to phpBB 2.0.13. I guess if you dont update these critical updates you will eventually get caught out.

 

How can you automate that through a hosted service though? I would love to get daily or weekly backups delivered to me.

 

Well Im on VB and have a script that does it twice a week plus I update manual though mysql once a week as well

Bit of a pain in the arse but call be old fashioned but if Ive done it myself then I know it been done ( if you know what I mean ) Plus doing it manual I can do a table at a time so re install is a lot easier than trying to look at a 30G file

MMM - so Ive been no help to your question but Im sure some other people on here will post the answer --- good luck

 

All versions except for the latest have known security issues.

 

If you want to protect ANY forum, you'd better take the time to make sure it's updated.

And you're wrong, by the way: There IS a notification service. Take the time to go to www.phpbb.com and sign up for it.

 

Post the link. It's not easilty found. You can't subscribe to threads which would have made it easy.

 

Bling go over to their forum and start a thread, Minstrel can't do all your work for you.

 

It's on their Support page at http://www.phpbb.com/support/.

Once you've upgraded to v 2.0.13, you'll also see this right below the basic forum stats on the ACP index:

And what do you mean by

???

Of course you can -- I am subscribed to many. Of course, you do have to register as a member, as with any other forum... which is of course free.

 

My apologies, I have always gone straight to the forum. When trying to search for this information in the forum, it came back with nothing.

Anyway the forum is back up. Unfortunately it is from October. If anybody knows of an easy way to backup an MySQL database on a schedule from a hosted environment, it would be great.

If you want to post at my forums to give me some content, that could be great as well.

 

It depends how big the database is. You can back it up to a subfolder on your site fairly quickly but you may well find it quits without backing up the whole thing if you have a large database and limited space on the server. Or you can download the backup to your hard drive if you have a fast connection or are willing to let it run overnight.

Either way, there is a MOD for scheduling automatic backups I think at phpBB.com although I don't have it installed so I can't tell you how or how well it works.