Readme.html for webforum (now in English)


Installation

JDK1.1 or better required.

Beside the optional CSS file (for HTML client-side formatting) and the provided locale file (English.properties, Italian.properties or French.properties), the servlet requires two configuration files that you may need to edit. The first file set the global properties for the forum and the second one is a user list. The user list file is specified in the global properties file.

The servlet is called through the URL
http://mydomaine/servlet/com.ondelette.servlet.webforum.WebForumServlet?_FORUMFILE_=myconfigfile

In short... (you might want to check the sample configuration files first)

sample configuration file ("myconfigfile") :

MessageArchiveDirectory=SampleForumDirectory
ForumLocaleFile=English.properties
UserListFile=forumSampleUserList.properties
SaveDelay=60
ForumTitle=A title (may contain HTML)
ForumSubTitle=A subtitle (may contain HTML)
ForumFooter=place some HTML here for your footer
AuthorizationLevel=0
CSSURL=http://mydomain/sample/sample.css
WelcomeURL=http://mydomain/sample/forumsample.html

Note : It isn't require to create the MessageArchiveDirectory, the servlet will do it if needed, but make sure the directory is writeable for the JVM.

The parameter "AutorizationLevel" allows you to limit access to the forum to only these users with the proper autorization level

Definition of the autorization levels

NORMAL = 0;
IDENTIFIEDGUEST = 2;
MEMBER = 32;
EXECUTIVEMEMBER = 64;   // can erase messages on the forum
VIPMEMBER = 128; // can erase messages on the forum, reset the forum, add and remove users to the user list
ADMIN = 256; // same as VIPMEMBER except that the user cannot be erased or create (must be added manually to the user list file)

We can add a line such as "PostPrivilege=x" where x is an autorization number. This makes sure that the posting form is only visible to users having at least the specified autorization level. Posting is still possible for other users if they somebody provide a proper posting form (possibly as an HTML page).


FAQ


© 2000, Daniel Lemire
http://www.ondelette.com/