Starting a New Topic

Browse to the board where you wish to post and click the New Topic button (positioned by default at both the top and the bottom of the board, as shown in the ), which should take you to the Start new topic screen. While this presents a number of options, the two most important are the Subject field and main Message field (not labeled as such, but obvious by its size). So enter your subject and start to type (or paste) your message into the main text area, noting that a message missing either a subject or a body will not be accepted for posting until it has both. If you"re happy with your plain text message, you can then post it by clicking the Post button and/or preview it first by clicking the Preview button, but there are many further available to make things that little bit more interesting.

• Some forums show the navigation tree at the top in a space-saving horizontal mode.
• Some forums may be configured to offer an additional Spell Check button alongside the Post and Preview options.

Starting a New Poll

A poll is basically a topic with an added question and voting options, started by clicking New Poll instead of New Topic. To post a poll it is necessary to fill out the Question field and at least two of the Option fields in addition to the Subject and Message fields required by a standard topic. Further options to configure how many choices the user may vote for, how long the poll should run, whether users can change their votes and what conditions must be fulfilled for the results to be displayed should be self-explanatory.

To offer more than five choices in a poll, simply click Add Option as many times as necessary.

Note that it may also be possible for some users in some forums to add a poll to an existing topic.

Posting an Event to the Calendar

Where this option has been configured (it"s not standard "out of the box"), you can post an event by selecting Calendar from the followed by Post Event from the calendar screen. What you see now is a Start new topic screen with additional fields for the event title, date and target board, which simply add your event to the calendar and create a link back to your post in that board.

Replying to a Topic or Poll

Replying to a topic or poll is basically the same as , but it"s not necessary to enter anything in the Subject field unless you wish to change what"s already there. To vote in a poll, you simply have to select your chosen option(s) and click Submit Vote.

If "Quick Reply" has been enabled, a simple reply field will also appear after the post(s) on a page, but you"ll have to type yours and manually if you choose to use it.

Quoting a Post

To reply to a post by quoting it, you can either click the Quote button for the relevant post and add your own message to the quoted text or click the Reply button followed by Insert Quote from the relevant post in the "Topic Summary" below, but note that:

• Both these options add a link to the original post showing the name of the poster and the date and time of the post, whereas the quote tag simply quotes the relevant post without this additional information.
• You can also retain or add the "author" attribute independently of the full Quote function, as demonstrated in the below.

Modifying or Deleting a Post

To modify a post, click the Modify button and make your changes. Note that most forums are likely to be configured to show the date and time of the last edit, but the administrator(s) may also allow a short period to elapse before this happens.

To delete a post, click the Delete button followed by OK from the Remove this message? box that appears. Some forums may also allow you to remove topics or polls that you start, but the buttons for these are usually at the bottom of the page.

Standard Posting Options

Notify me of replies

Check this to subscribe to email notification for the topic.

Return to this topic

Check this to return to the topic (instead of the message index) after posting (NB you can also set this behavior as a preference in your profile).

Don't use smileys

Check this to prevent certain in your post from being parsed and rendered as smileys.

Attachments

If enabled, this feature allows you to attach files to your posts in much the same way as most email clients, so you simply have to browse to the relevant file(s) on your computer before clicking Post. You can delete your attachment(s) or add more by , but please note that:

• The permitted file types and sizes are set by the forum administrator(s).
• Although most forums are likely to be configured to display attached images as part of the post, it"s not possible to preview attachments so you should always browse to and attach your files just before you finally post your message.

References

SMF Bulletin Board Code

The buttons shown belong to the SMF default theme and may differ from forum to forum.

Well, let's start giving little tips on optimizing and promoting sites (forums) on phpBB. In this case, we will perform a small hack that will help get rid of an external link like " Powered by phpBB ©...". In this publication we will look at 2 ways in which you can do this - a technique for phpBB 3.x.x.

Removing an external link Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group and Russian phpBB support

The first way to remove an external link that says Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group. And so, the easiest way is to delete using the admin panel. We go to the administrative panel, go to the “Styles” menu item, on the left we see the panel where the block in the menu is located, we are interested in the “Style Components” block, and in it “Templates”. According to the standard, in the proposed window we will see the following: prosilver and subsilver2, although there could be others if you installed them. In general, that's not the point. From the proposed set, select the default one. Click on the "edit" button next to the template. Next, a window appears asking you to “Select a template file.” Next, select “Template file” - “overall_footer.html”. The HTML editor appears below. We find the following code: " Powered by phpBB 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group"and just delete it, although you can set your own link and caption."
(TRANSLATION_INFO) " (which is located below, can also be deleted) - this code is responsible for localization, for example an external link with the inscription "Russian phpBB support".

The second way to remove an external link that says Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group. This method is similar, but we connect to the site via Pratacol ftp. Go to the following path styles/template_name/template/overall_footer.html. And we edit the same code that we edited above. If you change the code, do not forget to set the UTF encoding - this way, “crackers” (squares and other incomprehensible symbols) may appear in place of the anchors.

SMF Mods are very important to every simple machine forum powered bulletin board as it lets you add features and customizations to your forum without losing them to core forum software updates and/or change of theme.

Simple Machines Forum (SMF) being an open source software has got thousands of Modifications (Mods) to meet the need of every discussion board owner or even developers.

Being a long time user of the SMF forum software, I have decided to list out 50 of the very best Simple Machines Forums Modifications (SMF mods) that really matters.

It should be useful to every forum owner. I also made my list so large to be able to serve tech, entertainment, community, gaming or even religious forum administrators that are on the look for best SMF Mods to install.

We separated our list of “ top 50 best SMF mods that matters” in parts, navigate through the list by using the titles below.

Really Important Modifications (Mods)

Seriously, the needs of every forum differs depending on the targeted audience and users, this is my reason for separating this part from the entire list as I wouldn’t recommend as much as 50 SMF mods for a single forum.

This part is limited to mods for core SMF forum owners needs such as:-

• Security.
• Search engine optimization (SEO).
• Preventing spam posts and spam registrations.
• Ads and payment system integration.
• Mobile friendliness and etc.

1. Misc Anti Spam

Combating bots registration in any forum to the webmaster is just as important as keeping the forum itself. A forum left to the mess of robots and spammers will hardly see the light of the day.

Some forums are already sent to oblivion by not implementing a measure to completely prevent spam bots registration. This is my reason for placing this mod at the very top of my list.

Misc Anti Spam smf Mod prevents machines and automated bots from gaining access to your forum. It uses.

2. Anti-Spam Links

After fighting spam bots registration, it is important to , they can be as messy as these bots at times; hence the need to implement an automated police to use the sledgehammer on them.

Anti-Spam Links Mod for SMF gives you control over who post links in your forum space. Having this mod active will turn out to be the best thing to happen to your boards as forum link spamming will be reduced to zero.

In my opinion, it is a must have smf mod for busy forums.

3. Optimus Brave

Now that the bad guys are taken care of, it is time to really face Search Engine Optimization (SEO); a factor that will determine how far your forum will go in the long run.

Optimus Brave Mod for SMF takes care of every options needed to give your forum a good shape in the eyes of google and other tops search engines around.

Opimus brave mod for SMF is one of the most used modification for and works flawlessly for modern-day search engine optimization. It is one of the only few SMF mods with access to sitemap and robots.txt editor.

4.Custom Action

Now that your forum is ready to go viral, you need to create some landing pages such as; privacy policy, forum rules, terms, contact page, custom pages and all that.

Custom Action Mod for SMF makes it pretty easy to create custom HTML, BBC and PHP pages. It is also a great option for those not planning to use any portals mod.

It is light-weighted smf mod that works really well on busy websites and without adding much load to the server.

5. Tapatalk Integration

This is 2014, either you are implementing a responsive design or using apps for those accessing your forum via mobile devices.

Tapatalk Integration Mod for SMF makes it very easy for you to create mobile application for those browsing your forum with phone. There’s app for android, iPhone, blackberry and other top mobile operating system out there.

11. Wireless/RSS amount displayed

The mod makes it very easy for those using SMF default mobile view and/or other similar Wap2 mods to take full control of the number of post shown to their mobile users.

It also gives you full control over the number of RSS feed displayed; with it you can easily change your displayed RSS feed from 5 to something more convenient. [download link]

12. Related Topics

Related Topics Mod for SMF can greatly improve the number of time guests (referred by search) and users spend on your forum by suggesting related topics to them.

It is also great for reducing bounces. The only down side of this mod is being heavy for forums running on a very weak shared server hosting environment. [download link]

13. SA Facebook Integration

Facebook is now used by almost 30% of the entire world population above 13 years. Providing an option to sign up to your forum using Facebook makes it even easier for more people to join.

SA Facebook Mod for SMF do not only make it easy to create a Facebook registration option for your forum but also adds Facebook comments, Facebook likes and other Facebook related features. [download link]

14. Pretty Url

Almost every other CMS out there has an option for this, using SMF doesn’t mean you should piss of your users by forcing them bookmark a topic they would like to visit again.

Pretty Url Mod for SMF makes your url easy for both human and search engines to relate fine with. [download link]

15. Social Media Sharing

We couldn’t handpick the best here as there are two awesome choices to add pretty looking social media sharing buttons to every of your individual forum post.

17. SMF Likes Lite

This is a great mod for modern forum owners, adds an ajax powered like button to your forum post. Great for entertainment forum owners that might just prefer to give a thumb up instead of replying to post.

It is very similar to the official Facebook like button. It also integrates well with SMF by allowing the admin to set necessary permissions. [download link]

Very Useful Mods

Another part of our top 50 SMF Mods that matters will have to do with mods that aren’t extremely needed like the first two parts above but are really essential to the growth and overall development of your forum.

You can as well fix this list up together with the second part of our list ‘cos they are just that important too. It provides some enhancement that can really make your forum to stand out from the rest.

19.Registered Links

Registered Links Mod for SMF encourages guest to join your forum by masking every link on your forum with a “register or sign” warning. [download link]

20. NoFollow All Links

Best for forums that has little or no moderation, automatically adds the rel=”nofollow tag to all links contained within the forum post. Use with caution as could be bad SEO-wise for any regular forum. [download link]

21. SEO and XML Sitemap

If you aren't already comfortable with the SEO backup provided by Optimus Brave Mod, SEO and XML Sitemap Mod for SMF can further improve the performance of your forum in google and other search engines. [download link]

22. SMFShop

Makes the forum a lot more fun by rewarding users with coin money each time they make valuable contribution in the forum. The money can be used to purchase stuff from the forum. [download link]

23. Contact Page

Makes it very easy to add a professional contact form to any SMF powered forum. [download link]

24. SMF Gallery

Adds a beautiful gallery system to smf without tweaking any theme or core files. [download link]

25. Tagging System For Topics

Gives your forum a complete tagging system just like we have in vbulletin, makes it very easy for your users to add individual tags when creating new post on the forum. [download link]

26. Cumulus Congestus

Adds a little extra feature to your forum by creating a tag cloud of popular topics on your forum. [download link]

27.Download System

Great for tech, gaming, music, video and apps forum. It adds a complete download system to your SMF powered forum. [download link]

28. Activity In Profile

Tells you what a user is doing either from the profile page or who is online list. [download link]

Mods for Layout Features and Customization

This part of our list includes awesome modification that will normally add amazing features, look, layout and glimmering touch to the appearance of your forum.

From brilliant colours, awesome CSS styling to Ajax and Facebook related features; we did our best to handpick this part of SMF mods that are great for customizing the layout and overall appearance of your forum.

29. Ultimate Profile

Makes your forum look a bit lively and real by adding social features like you have on Facebook and other top social networking platforms.

Users can receive comments, customize their profile page with HTML & CSS and all that. [download link]

30.Default Avatar

Makes your forum beautiful and consistent in look by adding a default profile image to every of your users. [download link]

31. Smart Pagination

Adds a custom styling to the default SMF pagination with nice CSS tweak. [download link]

32. Vbulletin Style Board Index

Makes your forum index appear a bit different by styling the post / topic area to look similar to that of vbulletin powered discussion boards. [download link]

33. cbi v0.5 (Custom Board Icons)

Helps you customize the default icons on your forum theme. [download link]

35. Add & Create Social Media Icons To Profiles

This Mod makes it easy for all your forum users to add popular Social Media sites to their Profile, it comes with the icons too. [download link]

CMS Alternatives to Wordpress and Joomla: Top 10 Free, Secured Options for You

40. ENotify

A fantastic mod that allows you to view incoming pms or new replies without refreshing your page. It looks like Facebook notifications and uses JGrowl for the user interface. [download link]

41. Send Locked Topics to Bottom

Adds some decency to your individual boards by moving locked topics to the bottom. [download link]

Other SMF MOds Worthy of Notice

We will like to finalize our list of top 50 SMF mods that rocks with under-listed ones. They aren’t bottom of our list ‘cos they are worthless but to differentiate it from other really top modifications in our list.

41. Board Viewers

Simply an ideal mod for large forums and entertainment related fora with much activities. You can easily see how many users and guests are in a particular board from the homepage. [download link]

42. Hide Images from Guests

Reduces bandwidth as well as encourages guests to join the forum by hiding images from them till they either register or log in to the forum. [download link]

43. Google Tagging

Strengthens the keyword of your forum by logging incoming google searches and listing them as tags. [download link]

44. Invitation Message In Your Face

Encourages guest to register on your forum by reminding them they aren’t members yet. [download link]

45. Reason For Editing Mod

Adds a reason for editing a post that will be inputted when you edit a post. [download link]

46. ​​PM Auto Responder

This important mod allows users to automatically send an Auto Response that will be sent to sender. Moderators can also use it to automatically warn users to stop asking for help privately. [download link]

47. Fake Topic Views

Can’t tell why most entertainment forum owners love this mod; maybe it actually makes their forum look popular by faking the number of views upward. [download link]

48. Advance Fake Users and Guests Online for SMF

Indirectly increases the number of new registrations on forum, simply making it look busy through increasing numbers of Guests, Hidden Members as well Fake Registered Members. [download link]

49. reCAPTCHA for SMF

Used to be a great option for fighting spam bots registration in the past but has lost much of its potency over the years. Still yet, it is one of the better SMF mods for combating spam and bots registration on simple machine forums.

50. bXk WapMod

Another awesome option for making a better Mobile View or Wap2 Forum. It perfectly complements our SMF mods list as it tends to bring a better option to those that prefers a stand-alone mobile site to responsive designs.

How to Install SMF Mods

Installing smf mods is as easy as installing the SMF software itself. All you need do is walk through the following steps carefully or watch the video attached below for a more visual approach to installing smf mods.

1. Download the SMF mod you wish to install: You can download it directly from the SMF mods site by saving the zip archive mod package to a known folder on your computer’s active desktop.
2. Log in to your SMF forum’s dashboard using the admin details.
3. Click on the admin button from the navigation tabs.
4. Locate and click on the link named Main from the left side of the window and select Packages .
5. Pick the download packages option and scroll down to where you have browse and the other options.
6. Click on browse next to package to upload and find the smf mods zip package already downloaded in the step1 above.
7. Click on apply mod and use the install now button to complete the smf mods installation.

Over to you

I have taken my time to list out the top 50 SMF Mods that rocks, I have been doing a lot with SMF recently and can assure you that the mods (the first part mostly) will be very valuable to your forum.

Do not forget to share and also feel free to drop your questions, difficulty with SMF modifications and other tips that could help with understanding and working with SMF mods.

Everyone knows that I simply cannot live without Joomla, but, in my opinion, there is no good forum for components. That's why I work with forum engines. One of the new ones that I just recently started using is Let's start a new SMF category with hopefully useful stuff. We start small, and as beginners it’s very useful.

First steps in search engine optimization Simple Machines Forum: removing copyright and external links

Let me make a reservation right away that I only work with smf 2 and this article will relate specifically to this version of the free forum engine.

And so, regular readers know how much I don’t like to put “10” external links to the official websites of engines, including forum ones. That is why, first of all, we remove the copyright and as many as 4, attention 4 external links of the form " SMF 2.0.2 | Simple Machines | SMF © 2011 | XHTML"! To do this, connect to the site via FTP forum/Themes/ name of your theme/ and edit the file index.template.php. Naturally, at the very bottom there is a code (about line 330) that displays external links that we don’t like so much. Therefore we delete: "

Let's start right away with the main script code:

#!/usr/bin/perl

# which-forum.pl script
# (c) 2010 Alexandr A Alexeev, http://site/

use strict;

# commented lines - for rigor
# if the task is to collect engine statistics, leave it as is
# if you make a list of forums - uncomment

my $data ;
$data .= $_while (<> ) ;

# check how much was Powered by phpBB without a link in the footer
print "phpbb \n"
if ($data =~ /]+href="[^"]*http:\/\/(?:www\.)?phpbb\.com\/?"[^>]*>phpBB/i or
# $data =~ /viewforum\.php\?[^""]*f=\d+/i or
$data =~ /phpBB\-SEO/i or
$data =~ /) ;
print "ipb \n"
if ($data =~ /]+href="[^"]*http:\/\/(?:www\.)?invision(?:board|power)\.com\/?[^"]*"[^>]*> [^<]*IP\.Board/i or
$data =~ /]+href="[^"]*http:\/\/(?:www\.)?invisionboard\.com\/?"[^>]*>Invision Power Board/i or
$data =~ /