RokBridge 1.0rc6 Released

RokBridge 1.0rc6 Released

Written by Andy Miller Tuesday, 13 January 2009 00:00

Extensions

We are very pleased to announce the biggest and best release for RokBridge to date. This release has been a long time in coming, but I think the wait has been worth it. We've taken a lot of what we learned during the RocketTheme v2.0 release and back-ported those changes to the main RokBridge trunk. The biggest feature of this new 1.0rc6 release however, is the installer. We've developed a new unified installer that allows you to install one Joomla 1.5 package via the regular extensions installer, and that one package contains everything you need to get RokBridge up and running. It automatically installs and publishes the two Joomla plugins, and then provides an interface for you to quickly setup the bridge and install the other elements.

The new RokBridge administrator component allows you to set all the properties RokBridge needs in one location. Also the ability to choose your own location for the bridge and your phpBB3 forum is now a reality. Along with the new control, we've managed to fix many nagging bugs from previous versions.

RokBridge is for testing purposes only! Use on a live site only after thorough testing. We are not responsible for loss of data or other complications or other issues that may arise as a result of this extension. Use at your own discretion!

Changelog

  • Added new all-in-one installer
  • Added admin component for configuration and installation/removal of bridge elements
  • Added phpBB3 patching ability to fix bug in phpBB3
  • Added phpBB3 login "remember me" toggle
  • Fixed issue with changing the bridge location from "forum" to another directory
  • Fixed "Mark All Forums Read" bug
  • Fixed issue with logging off of Joomla admin, logged you out of bridge
  • Fixed UCP problems deleting PMs
  • Fixed UCP problem with saving drafts
  • Fixed UCP problem with adding or removing friends and foes
  • Fixed moderator's quick tools box
  • Fixed issue with latest phpBB3 version 3.0.4 and user profiles

Installation Instructions

NOTE: If you have installed a previous version of the bridge, you should first remove the phpBB3 User and phpBB3 Authentication plugins from your Joomla install. The new component will fail to install properly unless these two plugins are removed cleanly.

Files Needed

Step 1 - Package Installation

Ensure you have the latest Joomla 1.5 installed from http://www.joomla.org (currently 1.5.9). After installation, in your Joomla administrator, install the com_rokbridge-1.0rc6.zip bridge package from the Extensions Install/Uninstall menu item. You should get a message about the successful installation of the RokBridge administrator component, and also the two Joomla plugins being installed.

Step 2 - Bridge Installation

When you visit the RokBridge administrator component in the Components menu, you will see the default configuration screen. The Joomla User Plugin and the Joomla Authentication Plugin should already be installed. The next step is to choose a location for the phpBB3 bridge. This will effectively be the URL by which your community will visit your forum. By default this is set to "forum", but for fun i'll change this to "community". Just update the Bridge Path field in the RokBridge Configuration settings and click the save button for it to take effect.

To install the bridge in this location you have just chosen, simply click on the "Install" link in the Action column of the RokBridge Status section. At this point the bridge files are copied to this directory and the status section should show the bridge installed.

NOTE: If you have a previous bridge installation, you can configure the Bridge Path to point to this existing location. Then you should Remove, and then Install the bridge using the link in the status area to ensure you have the latest versions of the files.

Step 3 - phpBB3 Installation

By default the phpBB3 path is set to "distribution", but you can change this to any location you want for you phpBB3 installation. If you have phpBB3 previously installed (NOTE: must be under the Joomla directory), you can change the phpBB3 Path field to this directory name and click the save button. For example, if you have phpBB3 installed in "phpbb3_forum" directory, change the path to this and click the save button to save your configuration changes. If the path is a valid phpBB3 install, this will be recognized and shown in the RokBridge Status section below.

If you do not have phpBB3 installed yet, grab the latest version from http://www.phpbb.com (currently 3.0.4) and extract into a directory of your choosing under your Joomla install. For example install the phpBB3 forum into <Joomla Directory>/phpbb3. Then point your browser to this directory and follow the installation instructions to fully install phpBB3. If you have any questions regarding the installation of phpBB3, please consult the http://www.phpbb.com website. After you have successfully installed phpBB3, you can enter the directory you used into the phpBB3 Path field of the RokBridge Configuration.

Step 4 - phpBB3 Authentication Plugin

The next process is to install the phpBB3 Authentictation Plugin. Simply click on the "Install" link next to that item in the status area, and the authentication plugin will be copied to your phpBB3 install in the appropriate location. If you do not see an "Install" option in the action column you need to ensure that both the phpBB3 Bridge and the phpBB3 Forum are properly installed. Next you must go to your phpBB3 installation, login to the ACP, and then enable the Joomla plugin from the Client Communications -> Authentication menu options on the front page of the ACP.

NOTE: If you have a previous version of the bridge installed, you may see the phpBB3 Authentication plugin being reported as already installed, you should Remove, and then Install the plugin using the link in the status area to ensure you have the latest versions of the files.

Step 5 - phpBB3 Patch

We've tried extremely hard to make this bridge as unintrusive as possible, however this is one minor bug in phpBB3 that requires a minor code change so that "All Forums Read" works as expected. This last step modifies the phpBB3 functions.php file so that this bug is fixed. phpBB3's update mechanism will see this edit, and it will not cause a problem with future updates. Simply click the Install button to add this bug fix.

Step 6 - RokBridge Menu Item

In the Menu Item Manager for your menu of choice, you can either set up an External Link to your new bridged location, or you can create a RokBridge Menu Item. The RokBridge Menu Item basically acts as a redirect to your current bridge location and is a good option if you plan on changing your bridge location at some point.

Conclusion

That's all there is to it really, you should now have a working and bridged phpBB3 forum. Please post any issues you have on the RocketWerx forums:

http://www.rocketwerx.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=22

There is a known issue that makes this version incompatible with SH404SEF plugin for Joomla 1.5. We are looking into the best way to tackle this issue.