Hi,

So I uploaded the uncompressed files as instructed. Which of course come wrapped in a folder. Not being instructed otherwise, I uploaded the entire folder, wondering silently how the server would know how to handle the files.

Item number 4 carries the rather cryptic instruction to “Visit the intended URL of the bbPress site” which I think means to go to the website to which the bbPress files have been uploaded. Which I did.

Then it says that “You will be greeted with the bbPress installer”

Of course this didn’t happen.

Okay, so I figured you must have to remove the containing folder after all. So reupped the files now in unwrapped form.

Having done this a screen did appear which queried for database info. I entered all of that and it said that it “couldn’t establish a connection with the database”.

So I went into godaddy and created a new one thinking perhaps the password was wrong (though I checked it three times).

Maybe this was my undoing: I looked at the Godaddy instructions for installing bbPress. They claim you should edit the bb_config file directly. So I put in the database info for the new database. The sticking point is always the host name which everyone defaults as ‘localhost’. But that doesn’t work with Godaddy. So I pulled the hostname from the Server variables and settings and put that in the quotes. I upped that and….

Now it is saying I have to edit a table prefix which I assume is this line:

$bb_table_prefix = ‘bb_’;

I really have no idea what would go here.

Any ideas??

Thanks for any help.

Jeff

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

Then it says that “You will be greeted with the bbPress installer”

Of course this didn’t happen.

If that didn’t happen, then the host is configured wrong or you visited the wrong URL. You need to figure out where you installed the software. Then you can work on the configuration.

What does the file structure look like, and what is the site URL and bbPress URL?

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

Thanks for your reply.

Well, as I said, I originally uploaded it with the containing folder included. So the server didn’t “see” any of the files. It just read the default page which is a “this site is coming soon” html file.

Once I uploaded without the containing folder the server saw the files and a screen querying for database info appeared.

I’m not sure what you mean by “the” file structure. There isn’t much on the server before the bbPress files are uploaded. I left only the bare bones before uploading bbPress to avoid confusion.

J

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

If you uploaded the files in the folder that was called “bbpress” by default, and it was in your website html root, then it would be accessible at http://www.example.com/bbpress/ and your site, if you have a site, will be at http://www.example.com. Was that not your experience?

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

The only reason you might want to not have the files in a folder of some sort is if bbPress if going to be the basis of the site, the only thing accessible. Otherwise, you want bbPress files in a folder, called bbpress, or forum, or forums, or discussion, or community, or something else.

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

I admit I read instructions very literally. The instructions say:

# Visit the intended URL of the bbPress site

# You will be greeted with the bbPress installer

If the instructions had said: visit http://www.example.com/bbPress/ then I would have done so. I don’t know, perhaps this is what “Visit the intended URL of the bbPress site” means. This is difficult to decipher since, having never used bbPress before, I don’t know precisely what the final (“intended?”) URL will be. I assumed it would just be the URL of the website.

So should I uninstall, reupload with containing folder intact, and access with “http://www. example.com/bbPress/”

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

Yes, bbPress (or other message board software) will be the basis of the site.

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

I don’t want to get into semantics over documentation I didn’t write, but “where do you intend the site to be?” If you want it at http://www.example.com, then put all the files in whatever folder is served when you access that URL; no folder. Since you are having just a message board as the basis of your site, what you have done is correct.

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

If you entered the database username, database password, database name and database server (which is another machine on GoDaddy), what happened then? Screenshot?

You do not need to change the bb_ table prefix at all. And I wonder what text box you’re looking at that has that information in it.

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

I see this error now:

You must specify a table prefix in your bb-config.php file.

Did you edit the file manually? There is a table prefix by default of bb_ – is that no longer there?

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

Well basically I’m just trying to figure out what is going on. My assumption is that, since the server is no longer complaining that it can’t establish a connection with the server, it has done so and it is now onto the next piece of the puzzle. It says:

“You must specify a table prefix in your bb-config.php file.”

I’m assuming it’s referring to this line:

$bb_table_prefix = ‘bb_’;

This does indeed look like something should go there, but I have no idea what. Honestly I don’t even know what a table prefix is:(

It’s the double edged sword of prepackaged software: code is impossible to understand!!

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

Sounds like it can connect fine. But it sounds like the variable name is wrong or something. bbPress doesn’t care what your table prefix is, just that you have one.

Can you email me your bb-config.php and I will look at it first hand? Please don’t edit it first since you might destroy some evidence or something important that was edited. You’ll just have to trust me. I’m not going to do anything evil with your config.

If you don’t want to do that, find someone local who can look at this and see what’s up. It’s probably going to be something very simple that another set of eyes will see.

chrishajer [at] gmail.com

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

In response to your last post, this line is in there:

$bb_table_prefix = 'bb_';

…

Yes this was edited manually ( in a text editor).

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

A table prefix is just one way of having lots of different software packages use one database. Since they might use similarly named tables, like user or post, the table prefix allows multiple packages to use the same database and table name, it just gets this prefix added to the table. So, the posts table becomes bb_posts, or wp_posts in the case of WordPress.

You could change it to chevycamaro_ and then you’d get chevycamaro_post as a table name.

Just don’t use the same prefix for two different software packages. That has a tendency to wipe things out. (The second package you install with a similarly named table will overwrite the first table, if you use the same prefix. Always use a unique prefix. It’s a non-issue for you now with only one software package installed using that database.)

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

The line you pasted here looks perfectly fine. And it’s not giving you a syntax error. Do you have multiple config files, maybe bb-config.php and config.php or something?

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

No I don’t see anything competitive there. Nothing with the word: config. I deleted the original sample from the server just in case.

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

Received the config file. I am guessing that is is actually named bb-config.php. It appears to be correct to me. I’m not certain what is causing your error.

The only time that error should show up is when that variable is not defined. Here’s the code that checks for bb_table_prefix being set:

// Die if there is no database table prefix

if ( !$bb_table_prefix ) {

die( 'You must specify a table prefix in your <code>bb-config.php</code> file.' );

}

So, for some reason it’s not set or not recognized as being set. Are you certain when you moved the files out of the folder that you moved everything? Since you haven’t installed yet, can you save a copy of your bb-config.php, in case you need it, then just upload everything from the bbpress folder that is unzipped from the download onto the html root of your server (probably right where it is now.)

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

The bb-config-sample.php won’t be a problem. bbPress uses that when there is no bb-config.php as a template to create a bb-config.php for you. I’ve always edited the sample by hand and just renamed it. In either case, gone or not is fine.

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

I’m wondering if maybe the godaddy database isn’t configured properly. Even though it’s connecting, maybe the database at godaddy isn’t what the software is expecting.

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

I doubt that. Right now, bbPress gets so far as making sure there is a bb_table_prefix and fails because it cannot see that. It hasn’t gotten so far as doing anything with the database since it has no table prefix to work with.

How about the permissions on the bb-config.php file. Should be 0644, readable by all, writable by owner only, executable by no one. 0644 is safe for all the php files in bbPress.

Do you know what PHP version and MySQL version you’re using?

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

1.Yes, it is called bb-config.php

2. No, I’m not 100% positive I moved everything. 95% positive. But frustration was creeping in so an error was certainly possible.

I’ll probably try reupping everything after a thorough deletion on the server.

But before doing so I want to be sure I understand:

Upload the unzipped folder as is, then access the installer by going to http://www.example.com/bbpress

Correct?

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

Yes, but only if you want your site at http://www.example.com/bbpress – if you want it at http://www.example.com, then just take everything from inside the bbpress folder on your desktop, and upload those files (and sub-folders) no bbpress folder to hold everything. Then, access http://www.example.com and your bbPress installer should come up, assuming index.php is one of the files the web server looks for the server (normally it is, so you should be OK there.)

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

How about the permissions?

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

I couldn’t find anything on permissions. Is this in a file called by the config file?

[@jeffreyw4 Member 15 years, 1 month ago]

Well I just checked all the files in the root directory and they are all accounted for. That said, I could just be tired;)

[@chrishajer Participant 15 years, 1 month ago]

No, it’s a function of the operating system of the web server and the files. In your FTP program it should be available with a right click on the file, or maybe it’s a column that is displayed by the date and filesize.

It should look like this: 0644 or rw-r--r--, on the same line in your FTP program as your bb-config.php. Here’s a sample screenshot of what I’m talking about.

http://www.chrishajer.com/bbpress/permissions.png

They’re called “rights” in this program.

Basically, bbPress needs to be able to read the file.