Structuring Forums : a Herculean task ?

Trying, for too long, to follow minibb instructions on how to create a structure of forums, after many vain attempts, even this script (99% copied from minibb notes) didn't work :

<?php
$clForums=array();
$roForums=array();
$poForums=array();
$userRanks=array();
$regUsrForums=array(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12);
$mods=array();
$forumGroups=array(1,3,7,11);
$forumGroupsDesc=array(
'blablablaA',
'blablablaB',
'blablablaC',
'blablablaD
);
?> (NDLR : that's "line 15")
---
It claimed that there is a "Parse error: parse error, unexpected $ in ../bb_specials.php on line 15"
--------
> Question : What's the cause, and what should be done to settle it ?

Thanks anybody for answering asap.

Too much time has been wasted, while in all other bbs it's a child's game to put forums inside a structure with many levels, just by pressing buttons..

add single quote after 'blablablaD

Thank you for noticing this detail, Serghei.
(It was provoked by lack of a php text Editor configured to use Russian letters : Aranae doesn't, obliging many repetitions with other text editors, which pushed to lose a " ' ")...

But Structuring Forums (in "groups", etc.) still does NOT work :

- Instead of showing 4 groups' headings,
before forums 1, 3, 7 and 11
(as in the above mentioned example, according to minibb notes),

- on the contrary, it shows only 2 groups'headings,
before forums 2 and 6 ... !!!
Balderdash !(also appeared a strange abracadabra "????±?" on the header : ?)

After all this time wasted, it's despairing !

(NB : At first, it did show the 4 groups' headings,
but not at their right place,
so we had to fix the series of forums : 1 to 12, as exactly wanted.
Then, it resulted in the that balderdash, described above).

=> What can be done ?
(except from throwing the PC with minibb out of the window)..

Another absolutely abnormal, strange thing is that each time we upload a fresh "bb_specials.php" file with the above mentioned script on forums'groups, it looks as if something makes it corrupted :

> If you download and open it again, you find that our original script seems to have completely .. disappeared, and replaced by an illisible balderdash like "ÐÏࡱá" (etc).

But all minibb instructions have been repeatedly followed (unless a detail might have been overlooked).

What's going on, and what should be done ? Were minibb instructions flawed or incomplete ? Or something else interfered ?

Thank anybody for a timely and efficient reply, considering the urgency because it can't wait longer...

are you up/downloading as binary instead of ascii? - not that this should really make a difference but it sounds like the files are being corrupted in transfer.

does the same thing happen for any text file, just php or even just bb_specials.php?

following your advise, finaly managed to do up/downloading of everything : text, html, php, and even bb_specials.php, in a normal way which looks OK.

(an initial problem with bb_specials might, perhaps, have been provoked by a current lack of a php text editor easily using also Russian letters -see above- : when they were cut, it went as usual).

But THE MAIN PROBLEM REMAINS, exactly as it was described from the start :

"Trying, for too long, to follow minibb instructions
..Structuring Forums (in "groups", etc.) still does NOT work :

"- Instead of showing 4 groups' headings,
before forums 1, 3, 7 and 11
(as in the above mentioned example, according to minibb notes),

"- on the contrary, it shows only 2 groups'headings,
before forums 2 and 6 ... !!!
Balderdash !(...)

"After all this time wasted, it's despairing !

"(NB : At first, it did show the 4 groups' headings,
but not at their right place,
so we had to fix the series of forums : 1 to 12, as exactly wanted.
Then, it resulted in that balderdash, described above).

"=> What can be done ?
(except from throwing the PC with minibb out of the window).. "
-----
=> ???

Too much time has been wasted, while in all other bbs it's a child's game to put forums inside a structure with many levels, just by pressing buttons

Your time wasted is equal to the SPEED of the board. While other BBS trying to get all this data from database and making hundreds of requests, in miniBB, it's ALREADY on the place.


As about your problem with groups - I have just checked the plugin, and it works fine with the new version. So, probably, if you can not see the board header, can you give an example? Else we don't know - everything should work fine.

It's not about the engine (interesting concept your argument, to speak about it later-on, IF time), but about the layout.

Detailed example has already been given since the start of this topic (see abobe, posts No 1 and 3).

According to this layout, 4 groupsforums should be headed by 4 titles, each placed (according to miniBB instructions) BEFORE a specific forum (the 1st at everyone of the 4 groups).

But, instead (as already said), only 2 out of 4 groupsforums'headers/titles appeared (the other 2 were never seen !). The first header/title would not accept to be placed before the 1st specific forum. Worse : the second header/title was "arbitrarily" placed before another specific forum, different from the chosen, and it appeared impossible to reasign it to the desired place.

"Finaly", after wasting a whole night, we found out that the first header/title would only start after a 2nd forum (may be for esthetic, presentation reasons). While the second header/title seemed to be "sticking" into a specific forum (different from the desired-one), whatever changes you might make.

To bypass the obstacle, we had to re-name this "sticky" specific forum, and push all others after it, in order to get at least the second header/title in a useful place.

But, the other 2 headers/titles for the rest of the 4 desired groupsforums (3rd + 4rth), still remain ..mysteriously "Missing" !

(NDLR : As "4days" suspected, it's not excluded that some strange interferences during transport of minibb files -i.e. bb_specials, etc- might have negatively influenced a part of the settings. Indeed, as we found out later, our www connections -and/or computers- apparently faced some kind of abnormal electromagnetic perturbations/aggressions which seriously affected minibb's setup in general, and even ..destroyed other machines

By the way : Does miniBB have some bullying "big" Competitors ?

However, the Forums' "Structuring" problem remained even before and after these strange, exceptional, negative interferences).

Facts to add :

In a similar problem, by mousing-over Forums you could find that their ID-Nos were entirely DIFFERENT from those voluntarily assigned via Admin Panel. (As if they had been arbitrarily attributed other Nos-IDs, by someone or something else)..!

This might explain at least a part of such abnormal (see Paul, Sergei et 4days) blockades.

You see... ID can not be different from what you are seeing in admin panel. They can not be different even if you want it. I guess, you are messing something up there. In bb_specials, you need to set up ID of the forum, not the order number of the forum.

Now, it works (after all these days)...
Thus, a suggestion :

Regardless of script perfection, and/or file transfert interferences, etc(comp. above),

the Distinction between "ID-Numbers" and "ORDER-Numbers" for Forums,
(as well as the way to Associate in practice these 2 different aspects through Admin Panel, in order to forge a Structure),

should be presented in a more clear and obvious way at minibb instructions.

Ok, thx for advice, we'll fix it.