Tutorial On How To Install SMF

Installing SMF

First, you will need to create a database on your server for SMF to use. This will be addressed in another article in detail.

Upload the current version of SMF to a chosen folder on your server and extract it in the same folder. You can delete the smf file you uploaded later and after you make sure everything is working ok.

Run install.php from your chosen folder by using www.yoursite.com/smf_folder/install.php or www.yoursite.com/smf_folder/ in your browser's url locator.

yoursite = your domain
smf_folder = the folder where you are reinstalling SMF

You should then see the SMF installer page. We will look at this in 2 parts. First the top half of the page, "FTP Connection Information" and then the lower half, "What is this step for?".

FTP Connection Information

Server: and Port: - Leave these as is. They are the default settings and should work in most cases.
Username: - You should use your server login username here. Yes, it says "FTP", however, this means the default ftp username for the server.
Password: - You should use your server login password here. The same as above in "2." applies.
Install Path: - This is the server path where you are installing SMF. It should show the actual path.

* NOTE: If you are not sure if the default information is correct or not sure what information to enter, please, contact your hosting.

What is this step for?

As it says in the text in the image above, SMF should make the listed files writable for you. Clicking on the blue link "Click here" may show that the files were made writable.

Clicking on the "Connect" button as in the first image, "FTP Connection Information", should take you to the next screen which shows 2 following images, if all went well.

If for some reason it doesn't then you'll have it make the file writable via cPanel (or whatever server admin panel you use) or FTP. If that still does not work you may have to contact your hosting and have them do it for you.

Basic Settings

Forum name: - The name of your forum.
Forum URL: - What you would type in your browser to view your forum.
Gzip Output: - Try the test to see if it works on your server.
Database Sessions: - You can change this later in Admin settings if it doesn't work.
UTF-8 Character Set: - This setting works best if using multiple languages for your forum. Be aware that some mods do not work well with this setting on.
Allow Stat Collection: - Your choice.

MySQL Server Settings

MySQL server name: - Leave as is unless you have problems.
MySQL username: - This is the user_name that was given access to the database. This will usually be your server_username + MySQL_database_username. For example, if your server_username is "test" and the database_username is "tommy" then use "test_tommy".
MySQL password: - This is the password for the user that was given access to the database.
MySQL database name: - This will usually be your server_username + MySQL_database. For example, if your server username is "test" and the database is "smf" then the username should be "test_smf".
MySQL table prefix: - you can use the default but can change it to whatever you like.
Click "Proceed".

If all goes well you should see the following screen.

Create Your Account

Here's where you create the head admin account.