General questions from a newbie

#1

Well, I just got signed up a day or two ago, and already I have questions. (Don’t look at me mean >.<) Being as that I have almost no experience doing something like this, I find myself learning more and more and still finding my knowledge lacking. So here goes.

  1. I’m currently using phpBB for a forum (which is basically all the site’s going to be, maybe a gallery too). Are there better forum techs out there that I could use? If so, what are they, and do they have something like a ‘Mediocre Webmaster’s Guide to Setup’?

  2. Is it more secure to use WebFTP than to use an Explorer panel to access the shell?

  3. Would it be possible to use the domain to host something like an OpenRPG server ( www.openrpg.com )? I only ask because my friends are all clamoring for me to start tabletop games, and this is really the only way I could do it with us being so far apart these days.

#2

  1. I use PHPBB or SMF.
    Both are easy to setup and both have pros and cons. I use phpbb more since it is easier to skin, but you can use either :).

  2. No, they are both FTP. If you want, you could try and ftp client like smartftp, cuteftp, 3dftp or fireftp for firefox.

  3. Openrpg.com doesn’t exist, but if you are talking about a webrpg then i’m sure you can ;).

#3

Whoops… it’s openrpg.com, not .org. >.>

It’s a server-type thing that emulates a tabletop, with usable images for foes and character models… pretty nice program.

Thanks for the answers, though. I’ll check out some of the FTP clients, from a quick glance they seem fairly user-friendly for an idiot like me. :slight_smile:

#4

It looks like www.openrpg.com is a python based solution which will likely not function properly in the DH environment. It appears to be a persistent process which tends to be fowned upon in the TOS (Terms of Service).

You can look up “persistent process” in the wiki (at http://wiki.dreamhost.com and learn all about it. They just don’t work too well in shared environments.

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#5

I’ve run both phpBB and vBulletin. I found phpBB perfectly adequate, but there are some advanced/sophisticated things that I think vBulletin is better at (though some might dispute this). You do have to pay for vBulletin.

Regarding ftp and security, I love sftp over ftp. If you have a windows machine, WinSCP is a good free client.

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#6

PHPBB is easy to use and me too used it. But what about Joomla? I never used it but i think its also rich in feature(maybe not much suitable for newbies,not sure). I visited its official site and took a look at the demo. Its nice. Therefore,Joomla is a one click program on DreamHost. So i think it’ll also easy for newbies. But it would be better if someone experienced on it make some comments and advice to us(newbies and geeks). :slight_smile:

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#7

Eh? The webFTP service has an option for secure connections. And I don’t believe it’s actually FTP at all: It’s really a PHP upload script, isn’t it?

I have no idea why anybody would possibly use Joomla! for the sole purpose of setting up a forum.

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#8