NoNonsense Forum v26 © Copyright (CC-BY) Kroc Camen 2010-2015

A simple forum that focuses on discussion and simplicity. http://camendesign.com/nononsense_forum

How NoNonsense differs from other forums:

:: No database Threads are just RSS feeds. When a reply is added, a new item is added to the feed.

:: No hoops to jump through No registration, no e-mail confirmation, no CAPTCHA. Just type your message, give a name and password you want to use and your post is made. Use the same name / password pair in the future to keep the same name, it’s that simple.

:: No clutter No user profiles. No "status updates". No signatures. No user ranks. Just pure discussion with none of the cruft.

Contents:

[1] Admin & Moderators [1.1] Set Up [1.2] Sign-in [2] Things to Note [2.1] Post Appending [2.2] Post Deleting [3] Sub-forums [4] Lock & Sticky Threads [5] Forum Locking [5.1] Members [5.2] A Note on Private Forums [6] Acknowledgements

[1] Admin & Moderators

[1.1] Set Up:

The first thing you need to do is provide a username for the admin, and any moderators you would like

• Create a "mods.txt" file in the forum / sub-forum

• The user name on the first line will be the forum's admin

• Add the user name of each mod on a separate line. e.g.

Kroc theraje SpeedoJoe

• Mods in the root forum ("/mods.txt") can moderate in all sub-forums, including locked ones

• Mods in sub-forums ("/news/mods.txt") can only moderate in that sub-forum

NOTE: Make sure that admin and mod accounts are created (by posting once), otherwise anybody could steal the name and take control!

[1.2] Sign-in:

Some moderator actions require the user to sign-in.

• Click the "sign in" link at the bottom of the page and enter your name / password

• Threads can be locked and unlocked with the relevant link at the bottom of the page

• Once signed in, you must quit your browser fully (not just close the tab or window), or clear your browser's cache to sign out

• Unfortunately, due to a flaw in HTTP authentication, users with accented / unicode letters in their name will not be able to sign-in. Moderators and members must limit their chosen names to basic letters, numbers and punctuation

[2] Things to Note:

[2.1] Post Appending:

Because threads are RSS feeds, the text to HTML conversion that happens when you post is one-way. You cannot edit posts, other than manually editing the RSS file. Instead, text can be appended to the end of posts.

• Users can append to their own posts

• Moderators can append to any posts

[2.2] Post Deleting:

To avoid abuse, users cannot permanently delete their own posts.

• When a user deletes their post, the text is removed and replaced with a message like "This post was deleted by its owner" (or "a moderator"), the name and time remains

• A moderator can delete any post, likewise

• A blanked-out deleted post can be removed permanently from the thread by a moderator by deleting it again, but only if the post is on the last page of replies -- so as to not break any permalinks by rearranging page boundaries

[3] Sub-forums:

Sub-forums are simply folders.

• The name of the folder is the name of the sub-forum, it can contain any letters allowed by your server's OS except for ".", "<", ">" and "&"

• Make sure the folder has write-permissions

• Nested sub-folders are supported, to any reasonable depth (E.g. '/Music/Techno/')

[4] Lock & Sticky Threads:

Locked threads cannot be replied to. Sticky threads remain at the top of a forum, regardless of page.

• To un/lock or un/sticky a thread, first sign-in as the admin

• Click the Un/Lock or Un/Sticky thread button

[5] Forum Locking:

The root forum and / or sub-forums can be individually restricted:

• Create a "locked.txt" file in the forum / sub-forum

• In the file write one of the following words: (sans-quotes)

"threads"

• Only moderators or members of a forum can start new threads, but anybody can reply

"posts"

• Only moderators or members of a forum can start new threads and reply. Anybody can view the forum, but won't be able to post unless added as a member or moderator

[5.1] Members:

Members are users who are not restricted in a locked forum, but do not have moderator powers; they are your participants in restricted forums.

• Create a "members.txt" file in the forum / sub-forum

• Add the user name of each member on a separate line

• Members of the root forum are not automatically members of all sub-forums (unlike mods)

• Members must sign-in to be able to post in locked forums

[5.2] A Note on Private Forums:

NoNonsense Forum does not provide an option for private forums (can only be accessed by members) because the index RSS feed (which includes the text of posts being made in the forum) cannot be protected without the use of ".htpasswd" based password-protection.

If you want a private forum / sub-forum, protect the relevant directory using ".htpasswd". Instructions are not provided here on how to configure ".htpasswd" protection as it requires basic server admin skills and some knowledge of using ".htaccess" files.

The users defined in the ".htpasswd" file will have to have the same password as their NoNonsense Forum username.

[6] Acknowledgements:

See LICENCE.txt for licence details

I'd like to thank the following individuals for suggesting ideas or contributing directly to NoNonsense Forum.

I'd like to also thank the users of Camen Design Forum