phpBB3 Club Styles
Maelstrom February 2011 phpBB3 Style
Maelstrom, the February 2011 release, illustrates the elegance of merging a complex style infrastructure, with a dynamic, and flexible feature set.
The style features animated header background images, configurable to be cross-fading or scrolling, whether in the horizontal or vertical axises. This, in combination with the diverse number of module variations, create a perfectly designed sandbox to develop a beautiful forum.
Features and Screenshots
- Animated Background Images
- Scrolling Forum Modules
- 31 Module Variations - Over 250 Combinations
- 8 Preset Styles
- Fusion Menu
- Many Module Positions
- JS Form Styling
- RokNavMenu exporter support
- Integrated RokBB3 Administration module
- 3 Customizable layout options
- RTL Support
- FF3.5, Opera, Safari 4, IE7,8 Compatible
- Limited IE6 Support
- W3C XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
Scrolling Modules
Maelstrom includes basic version of Scrolling Modules. The entire module contains two new components for displaying new and unanswered posts.
RokBB3Administration
Maelstrom offers a wide array of layout configurations for displaying your content. Powered by our flasghip product - RokBB3 administration module, you have full control over your forum layout such as color variations. font settings, menu options and much more. Everything is fully configurable with just a few clicks.
Installation - RokBB3
Note: RocketTheme phpBB33 styles require at least phpBB3 version 3.0.7 in order to function properly. Installing styles on lower versions may cause serious problems for your forums.
Downloading the necessary files
- RokBB3 administration module (rokbb3.zip) This package contains the administration module which helps you configure the look and feel of your Maelstrom style with ease.
Installing RokBB3 for the first time (fresh install)
Upload all the necessary files to your server. To be able to do that, you will need a ftp client or shell access. You can use also use server management software like cPanel. You may wish to ask your hosting provider if any of those exists. If yes, you can unzip your file directly onto the server. If you don't have shell access or any server management software installed, you need to unzip rokbb3.zip on your hard drive and then do the upload. Here is the file list:
- menunav.php goes to → phpBB3 root directory
- rokbb3.php goes to → phpBB3 root directory
- adm/style/acp_joomla.html goes to → your_phpbb3_root/adm/style/
- adm/style/rokbb3_mods folder goes to → your_phpbb3_root/adm/style/
- includes/acp/acp_joomla.php goes to → your_phpbb3_root/includes/acp/
- includes/acp/rokbb3_mods folder goes to → your_phpbb3_root/includes/acp/
- includes/acp/info/acp_joomla.php goes to → your_phpbb3_root/includes/acp/info/
- language/en/mods/acp_joomla.php goes to → your_phpbb3_root/language/en/mods/
Log into the phpBB3 Administration Control Panel. Change the following settings:
- General → Server configuration → Load settings → Recompile stale style components to Yes
- General → Server configuration → Security Settings → Allow php in templates to Yes

Just in case Purge the cache in General tab. After emptying cache complete following steps:
- Go to the System → Module Management → Administration Control Panel.
- Select General in the Module management list.
- At the bottom, type ROKBB3 then press the "Create new module" button.
- Make sure "Module enabled" is selected.
- After module creation, enter the newly created category called ROKBB3.
- Now we can add Maelstrom and other templates for configuration. There is a list at the bottom right, where you can select the module. Scroll down for Maelstrom to add it for configuration.
- Press "Add module"
- Repeat last two steps with "Global Configuration" module.
- After adding it. Press "Enable" button to make the module active.
- Now go to the "General" tab at the top. At the bottom of the modules there is a ROKBB3 category. You can now select the Maelstrom template and configure it's options.

Don't be worried concerning the installation process as we only need this operation to be executed once. After that, to upgrade RokBB3 we will be only replacing files and adding new templates to RokBB3.
Updating RokBB3 to Maelstrom support
If you installed RokBB3 recently (for example with older templates), you will need only to replace files with newer ones. Here is the list:
- menunav.php goes to → phpBB3 root directory
- rokbb3.php goes to → phpBB3 root directory
- adm/style/acp_joomla.html goes to → your_phpbb3_root/adm/style/
- adm/style/rokbb3_mods folder goes to → your_phpbb3_root/adm/style/
- includes/acp/acp_joomla.php goes to → your_phpbb3_root/includes/acp/
- includes/acp/rokbb3_mods folder goes to → your_phpbb3_root/includes/acp/
- includes/acp/info/acp_joomla.php goes to → your_phpbb3_root/includes/acp/info/
- language/en/mods/acp_joomla.php goes to → your_phpbb3_root/language/en/mods/
Complete the following steps:
- Log into the Administration Control Panel and go to the System tab.
- Select Module Management and Administration Control Panel under it. Now enter "General" category on the Module Management list.
- Enter "ROKBB3" category and add Maelstrom from the list on the right by pressing "Add module" button.
Press the "Enable" button to make the module active. Go to the "General" tab at the top of the Administration Control Panel and scroll down to ROKBB3 group. You will see the newly added RocketTheme phpBB3 style.

Installing RocketTheme Maelstrom phpBB3 Style
Downloading the Style Files
- Maelstrom Style (rt_maelstrom_phpbb3.zip) This file is the style package you will use to install Maelstrom into phpBB3.
- Maelstrom Source PNGs (maelstrom-phpbb3-sources.zip) This package contains the Adobe Fireworks source PNGs for making modifications and customizations to the images in the style. You will need Adobe Fireworks in order to fully utilize the Source PNG files.
Installing style
Installing Maelstrom phpbb3 style is simpler - but similar to the RokBB3 installation requires server access. You can access your webserver by using FTP client , shell access or such solutions like cPanel and others.
- Upload Maelstrom (rt_maelstrom_phpbb3.zip) to the server. Unzip it in folder "styles" (by using cpanel or shell access) located in your root phpbb3 installation directory.
- If you don't have shell or cpanel, unzip rt_maelstrom_phpbb3.zip on your hard drive and then do a ftp upload into styles folder. Remember to preserve folder structure. Directories like "maelstrom" must be uploaded into the root "styles" folder.
- Log in into the phpbb3 Administration Control Panel.
- Select Styles tab.
- Maelstrom is at the bottom.
- Install style and set as default.


