Jun
29
2009
4

phpBB Weekly #111: WP-United We Stand

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3 Episode (47.3 MB) | Download Episode Chat Log

Episode Duration: 51:40
On this Episode: Douglas Bell (Fountain of Apples), Micheal Cottingham (Techie-Micheal), and John Wells (Jhong)

We’re joined on this episode by John Wells (Jhong), the guy behind the WP-United project, an integration between WordPress and phpBB3. He joins us all the way from Shanghai, China, where it is after midnight during this episode. And, courtesy of the Chinese government, we have a little bit of audio quality fun along the way, along with an unexpected encounter with a cheesy arrangement of “Ode to Joy.”

But I digress. John tells us all about WP-United, including why he started it, some of its history, some of its very interesting features (such as the ability to “blend” WordPress and phpBB elements on the same page), and how an administrator would get it to work. We also discuss a little bit about programming the integration for phpBB2 vs. phpBB3, and compare it to phpBB3′s Hook System which makes other integrations like the RokBridge-Joomla! integration possible.

Then, Micheal takes the opportunity to go over the phpBB Support Toolkit, which just had its first RC release this week. This is sure to be a very powerful and useful tool once it goes final, and we’ll continue to keep an eye on it on this show.

Our last phpBB Weekly Poll was “What would be another feature you’d like to see added to 3.0.6?” There were 35 votes cast, shattering our previous record of 20. Here’s the results:
10 votes (29%) for an “Automatic idiot user filter.”
6 votes (17%) for a “Rocket launcher (David’s suggestion).”
6 votes (17%) for “A front that doesn’t fall off.”
5 votes (14%) for a “Coffee maker. (Take that, Starbucks!)”
3 votes (9%) for “The kitchen sink.”
3 votes (9%) for “Insurance from Paul’s continuous slapping.”
And 2 other votes (6%): “no new features!” and “Nicole Scherzinger”.

Our new poll is “What would be the most likely impact of enabling Quick Reply on your board?” Vote in this poll in the sidebar on the right; this poll will be open until Saturday, July 11.

The MOD of the Week is User Notes/Warnings in Viewtopic by RMcGirr83, and the Style of the Week is AcidTech Tiger by CyberAlien.

And, credits for the closing bonus goes to a Muppet interpretation of “Ode to Joy”.

Remember that there will not be a live episode next weekend due to the 4th of July holiday (in the United States); our next live episode will be on July 11th.

May
27
2009
--

phpBB Weekly #106: No Slap Like a Security Slap

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3 Episode (38.5 MB)

Episode Duration: 42:02
On This Episode: Douglas Bell (Fountain of Apples), Micheal Cottingham (Techie-Micheal), and Paul Sohier (Paul)

Michael and Douglas are joined on this episode by an old friend, Paul Sohier, who is now on a new team: the Support Team. For obvious reasons, Micheal is pleased and Douglas a bit confused, but Paul explains that he’s been working in support longer than he’s been working with MODs, and has been enjoying the change of pace.

The MOD Team, however, hasn’t been standing still. Once again, a new release to talk about: AutoMOD has hit RC-1. Exciting, you bet, particularly since EasyMOD never made it out of beta! While it’s not approved for fully-stable use yet, AutoMOD is about to hit the big time, and we’ll continue to follow its progress over the summer.

Micheal mentions that this old blog post simply identifies possibilities that injections could be created by MODs if the authors aren’t careful–it does NOT list actual injection vulnerabilities in phpBB3! Beware the naysayers!

And for our main topic of discussion, a new phpBB.com blog post discusses the Gumblar and Martuz trojans, two trojans which track down your FTP credentials and then use them to trash your site(s). We go over the blog post and discuss what these trojans do, how they work, and how to keep yourself safe (hint: keep your antivirus definitions up-to-date!). Also be sure to keep regular backups of your site so that if it does get hacked (it may not be your fault if your site IS hacked), you can completely wipe the hacked site and start fresh. If your site has been hacked, use Unmask Parasites to do a thorough check once you’ve cleaned house.

The MOD of the Week is Posting Template by eviL<3, and the Style of the Week is Prospace by spaceace.

Be sure to join us on Saturday, May 30th, for David Lewis’ return to phpBB Weekly and important announcements about this show, as well as Douglas’ post-graduation attempts to stay awake!

Written by Douglas Bell in: Released Episodes | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Sep
23
2007
--

phpBB Weekly #031

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3 Episode (35.1 MB)

Episode Duration: 1:01:20
On This Episode: Douglas Bell (Fountain of Apples) and David Lewis (Highway of Life)

Douglas returns from picking up around the Bay Area, and after telling an interesting and disappointing story from his excursion (which has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with phpBB3), he takes the reins and very thoroughly goes over the topic of banning. Covered on this show is why would you want to ban users? How do you ban users using phpBB? What are the differences in banning controls between phpBB2 and phpBB3? We also talk about how the phpBB3 warnings system can fit in here and discuss the importance of having set rules and guidelines on your forum, along with a cautionary warning about not getting carried away with banning users. (After all, you want to attract users to your forum, not send them away!) And then, Douglas selects two MODs of the Week which bring some of phpBB3′s enhanced banning functionality within the grasp of phpBB2 administrators. David also gives us the latest lowdown on recent changes to the phpBB teams, including a brand new Support Team leader, and then we announce some of the exciting episodes that will be coming up.

The two MODs of the Week this week are Ban Reasons and Temp Ban, both by eviL<3 for phpBB2. The Style of the Week is Thor by Wizardly for phpBB3.
If you would like to recommend a MOD or Style of the Week to us to be featured on a future episode (subject to our approval), bookmark it on del.icio.us with the tag “phpbbwmod” or “phpbbwstyle”.

Tech Podcast Network phpBB Weekly is a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network. Check them out for other great technology podcasts.

Sep
09
2007
5

phpBB Weekly #029: Guest Yuriy Rusko (Marshalrusty)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3 Episode (47.1 MB)

Episode Duration: 1:22:14
On This Episode: Douglas Bell (Fountain of Apples), David Lewis (Highway of Life), and Yuriy Rusko (Marshalrusty)

David did do one thing for this show when he joined the phpBB teams: he found a bunch of team members who were anxious to be guest hosts on phpBB Weekly. On this episode, we’re joined by guest host Yuriy Rusko, better known on phpBB.com as Marshalrusty, a member of the Support Team.

First off, David and Yuriy talk about the first episode of the new Official phpBB Podcast, which I guess is meant to differentiate it from this podcast. But then, they end up talking about the Official phpBB Podcast so much, including recapping a bit on their talk about the COPA and COPPA laws, that this show effectively is now the phpBB Podcast podcast. :P

However, we do have an interesting discussion with Yuriy about dealing with spam, (including CAPTCHAs and other anti-spam measures), security, and his experiences giving support for phpBB. David also takes a moment to recognize a few of the phpBB team members who have recently stepped down to return to their normal lives, and their many many contributions to the phpBB project.

The MOD of the Week is Font Type BBcode for phpBB2 by Templater, and the Style of the Week is BF Vista Style for phpBB3 by Frost.
If you want to recommend a MOD or Style for us to promote, bookmark it on del.icio.us with the tag “phpbbwmod” or “phpbbwstyle”, and we might feature it on a future episode.

Additional links mentioned during the show:
Marshalrusty’s Preventing SPAM post
Dave Rathbun’s Doctor Blog
Marshalrusty’s Registration Auth Code (RAC) MOD
Info/Application to be a MOD Team Member

Thanks to our sponsor, Audible.com. For your free audiobook, go to audible.com/talkshoe. phpBB Weekly is also a proud member of the Tech Podcast Network.

Sep
06
2007
--

Last-Minute Special Guest Announcement

It’s last minute partially because I just found out about it. What can I say–David’s getting better at organizing this show than I am!

However, I am excited to announce that on this Saturday, September 8th, we will be joined by special guest Yuriy Rusko, better known on phpBB.com as Marshalrusty, Support Team Member and one of the administrators of the phpBBHelp Unofficial Support Forum. If you’ve ever asked a question in the phpBB Support Forums within the last 3 years, chances are that you know who Marshalrusty is. He will be joining us on phpBB Weekly #029 to talk about his experiences giving phpBB support, both before and after he came on the Support Team. And of course, if you join in on the show live, starting shortly before 12 PM Eastern (1600 UTC), he’ll be here to answer your questions!

Again, sorry for the last minute announcement, but I hope you’ll be able to join us this Saturday for this special episode of phpBB Weekly!

Copyright © 2007-2010 phpBB Weekly, some rights reserved under a Creative Commons License. Website powered by WordPress. Theme: TheBuckmaker. Background: Vlad Gerasimov.
Click here to view full copyright/legal attributions.