• Introduction

• Accessing the Category Functions
• Adding New Categories
• Editing a Category
• Deleting a Category

• Accessing the Board Functions
• Adding New Boards
• Editing a Board
• Deleting a Board

• Accessing Member Controls
• Manually Add Member
• Banning Members
• Member Groups
• Global Moderator Privileges

• Security Intro
• Sessions
• Stealth Mode
• Encrypt User IDs
• Administrative Functions
• Activate Referral Security Checking
• Show IP in Board Index
• Spam Protect - Enter Percent

• General Observations
• Features in YaBB 2.2 and later versions
• New Features in YaBB 2.3

For more information, please visit The YaBB Codex.
For support and troubleshooting, please visit YaBB's Support Community

Please refer to the Glossary section in User Help if you need clarification on the different page views or terms described in the sections below.

You may use the menu on the left to quickly jump to any topic below.

You may use this ^ button at the bottom right of each Help section to return to the top of the Moderator Help page

* YaBB is only limited by the space allocated to you on your web hosting server.

On this new page, you will be given a set of options for each of the new categories you want to create:

• ID
  • Every Category/'s ID must be unique. This is for internal use only. It lets YaBB keep track of things, and it will be used in the URL to view the Category. Entry must be alphanumeric (No symbols and No spaces). All Category IDs are stored in lower case type, so capital letters do not matter.
• Name
  • This is the title of your Category. It's the name your users will see. You may edit this however you wish.
• Category Picture
  • If you wish to use an image for your Category, type the complete URL to the image in this box using the standard format: http:www.domain.com/folder/imagename.jpg

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: File types allowed for Category pictures are .bmp, .gif, .jpg, and .png. Category Pictures will need to be about 25px in height to keep the same height aspects of Categories without pictures.

• Allowed to View/See Category
  • If you wish to make this entire Category private, you may choose which Member Groups will be allowed to see this Category. Leave this blank to allow everyone (including guests) to view this Category, OR if you are going to put any board in this Category you want guests to be able to view.
• Allow Collapse
  • Check this box to allow your users to expand and collapse this Category on the Main Index page.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: Your new Category will not be visible on the Board Index (main) page of the forum until it has at least one board in it.

Once you have checked all the Categories you wish to edit, scroll to the bottom of the list and look for the set of radio buttons titled "With selected:". Click on the radio button for "Edit", then press the button to the right titled "Go". Inside you will find the following items for each Category:

• ID
  • This is for internal use only and is not editable. It lets YaBB keep track of things, and it will be used in the URL to view that Category.
• Name
  • This is the title of your Category. It's the name your users will see. You may edit this however you wish.
• Allowed to View/See Category
  • If you wish to make this entire Category private, you may choose which Member Groups will be allowed to view this Category. Leave this blank to allow everyone (including Guests) to view it, OR if you will have any boards in this Category you want all (including Guests) to be able to view.
• Allow Collapse
  • Check this box to allow your users to expand and collapse this Category on the Main Index page.

When you've finished making your edits, search for and click the button titled "Save" at the bottom of the list of categories.

• WARNING: DELETING A CATEGORY WILL ALSO DELETE ANY BOARDS YOU HAVE IN THAT CATEGORY. Move them to another Category first if you want to save them.
• In the list of Categories, you will notice a check box that corresponds to each title. Check this box for each and every Category you wish to remove. Once selected, scroll to the bottom of the Category listings and locate the set of radio buttons titled "With Selected:". Click on the radio labeled "Remove" then press the button to the right titled "Go".
• A small popup will ask you to confirm that you want to remove these categories. Click "OK" to remove them or "Cancel" to keep them.

* YaBB is only limited by the space allocated to you on your web hosting server.

On this Edit Boards page, you will be given a large set of options for each of the new Boards you are trying to add:

• Board ID
  • This is only used for internal YaBB functions, and it is used in the URL used to view a board. You may enter any alphanumeric name you wish with no spaces.
• Name
  • This is what your users will see as the name of the Board. You may enter anything you wish here.
• Description
  • Describe this board so your users will know what the subject/topic will be.
• Moderators
  • Click on the link under the word "Moderators" to add the members you wish to give Moderator access for this board.
• Membergroup Moderators
  • If you choose to have all the members of one or more particular Member Groups act as Moderators for this board, select the Member Group(s) here.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: If you set up a particular Member Group and assign it as the Membergroup Moderator group in a Board, it is easy to add a new Moderator to that Board - just add them to that Member Group.

• Category
  • Choose which Category you would like this board to be a part of.
• Board Picture
  • Here you can assign a small image to represent this board. Type the complete URL to the image in this box using the standard format: http:www.domain.com/folder/imagename.jpg. Allowed image formats are .gif, .jpg, .png, and .bmp.
• Zero Post Count Board?
  • Check this box if you would like to prevent any Posts made in this Board from increasing users' Post Counts.
• Show to All?
  • Checking this option will ensure the Board Name and Board description are shown to all who are able to view the Category this Board is in, even if they are not allowed access to view the contents of the Board itself.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: This is a good way to show your Guests that there is more content available to them if they register and become Members.

• Allow Attachments
  • Checking this option will enable users to attach files to their posts in this board provided the "Allow File Attaching in Posts?" option is checked in the Admin Center/Forum Configuration/Advanced Settings under the "File Attachments" tab.
• Global Announcements
  • Checking this option will ensure the messages in this board are shown as important on top of every board. No matter how the Board permissions are set, only Administrators and Global Moderators can start new topics or reply. Note: YaBB only allows a single board to have this label.
• Recycle Bin
  • Checking this option make this board a recycle bin for messages deleted by moderators. It can also be used as a recycle bin for Administrators by unchecking the box found in the Admin Center/Configuration/Forum Settings under the "Staff" tab. Note: YaBB only allows a single board to have this label.
• Mininum Age to Access
  • Restrict access by mininum age.
• Maxium Age to Access
  • Restrict access by maximum age.
• Gender Allowed Access
  • Restrict access by gender.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: The Age/Gender restrictions are based on the information users enter in their Profile for birthday and gender selection. If a user does not enter an age or select a gender, YaBB has no way to know their age or gender, thus they will not be allowed access to any board that uses these restrictions.

• Allowed to Start Topics
  • Limit which Member Groups can start a new topic.
• Allowed to Reply to Topics
  • Limit which Member Groups are allowed to reply to topics.
• Allowed to View Topics
  • Limit which Member Groups are allowed to view topics.
• Allowed to Create Polls
  • Limit which Member Groups are allowed to create polls.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: To allow Guests to do any of the above four functions, do not select any member groups in that option box.

Once you have filled out all the information for your new Boards, scroll down to the bottom of the list and click on the button titled "Save". Your new Boards will be created and opened for posting!

On this Edit Boards page, you will be given a large set of options for each of the new Boards you are trying to edit:

• Board ID
  • This is only used for internal YaBB functions, and it is used in the URL used to view a board. This Board ID is not editable and is displayed for information only.
• Name
  • This is what your users will see as the name of the Board. You may enter anything you wish here.
• Description
  • Describe this board so your users will know what the subject/topic will be.
• Moderators
  • Click on the link under the word "Moderators" to add the members you wish to give Moderator access for this board.
• Membergroup Moderators
  • If you choose to have all the members of one or more particular Member Groups act as Moderators for this board, select the Member Group(s) here.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: If you set up a particular Member Group and assign it as the Membergroup Moderator group in a Board, it is easy to add a new Moderator to that Board - just add them to that Member Group.

• Category
  • Choose which Category you would like this board to be a part of.
• Board Picture
  • Here you can assign a small image to represent this board. Type the complete URL to the image in this box using the standard format: http:www.domain.com/folder/imagename.jpg. Allowed image formats are .gif, .jpg, .png, and .bmp.
• Zero Post Count Board?
  • Check this box if you would like to prevent any Posts made in this Board from increasing users' Post Counts.
• Show to All?
  • Checking this option will ensure the Board Name and Board description are shown to all who are able to view the Category this Board is in, even if they are not allowed access to view the contents of the Board itself.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: This is a good way to show your Guests that there is more content available to them if they register and become Members.

• Allow Attachments
  • Checking this option will enable users to attach files to their posts in this board provided the "Allow File Attaching in Posts?" option is checked in the Admin Center/Forum Configuration/Advanced Settings under the "File Attachments" tab.
• Global Announcements
  • Checking this option will ensure the messages in this board are shown as important on top of every board. No matter how the Board permissions are set, only Administrators and Global Moderators can start new topics or reply. Note: YaBB only allows a single board to have this label.
• Recycle Bin
  • Checking this option make this board a recycle bin for messages deleted by moderators. It can also be used as a recycle bin for Administrators by unchecking the box found in the Admin Center/Configuration/Forum Settings under the "Staff" tab. Note: YaBB only allows a single board to have this label.
• Mininum Age to Access
  • Restrict access by mininum age.
• Maxium Age to Access
  • Restrict access by maximum age.
• Gender Allowed Access
  • Restrict access by gender.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: The Age/Gender restrictions are based on the information users enter in their Profile for birthday and gender selection. If a user does not enter an age or select a gender, YaBB has no way to know their age or gender, thus they will not be allowed access to any board that uses these restrictions.

• Allowed to Start Topics
  • Limit which Member Groups can start a new topic.
• Allowed to Reply to Topics
  • Limit which Member Groups are allowed to reply to topics.
• Allowed to View Topics
  • Limit which Member Groups are allowed to view topics.
• Allowed to Create Polls
  • Limit which Member Groups are allowed to create polls.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: To allow Guests to do any of the above four functions, do not select any member groups in that option box.

Once you have edited all the information for your Boards, scroll down to the bottom of the list and click on the button titled "Save". Your changes to the Boards will be seen immediately.

Deleting a Board

• In the list of Boards, you will notice a check box that corresponds to each title. Check this box for each and every Board you wish to remove.
• Once selected, scroll to the bottom of the Board listings and locate the set of radio buttons titled "With Selected:".
• Click on the radio labeled "Remove" then press the button to the right titled "Go".
• A small popup will ask you to confirm that you want to remove these Boards. Click "OK" to remove them or "Cancel" to keep them

From your Member Controls section on the Admin Center sidebar, click on the link titled "Add Member". This new page will give you a simple registration form that will allow you to add a Member without having to logout. Simply fill out this form with the new Member's User Name, Password and e-Mail.

1. by IP address
2. by e-Mail address
3. by User Name

Banning a Member

• IP Address
  • Banning by IP address will prevent anyone from accessing your board if their IP address is listed here. While effective, this could prevent a legitimate user from logging on, such as two people sharing the same ISP connection. It may also fail if the user is behind a proxy or has a dynamic IP. To enter a specific IP address, enter all four octets of the users IP address (example: 192.168.255.8).

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: You may also block a range of IP addresses by only entering in the first few octets of the address. For example, entering the IP as: 192.168. would block every IP address from 192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255. Enter only 1 IP address per line.

• Email Address
  • This second method allows you to prevent anyone using a specific e-Mail address (example: bad@user.com) from registering or logging in. Enter only 1 e-Mail address per line.
• Username
  • Finally, the simplest way to ban a user is by their User Name. Note that this is not their Displayed Name. Enter only 1 User Name per line.

This new page will then show you the three Member Group types.

1. The first are System/Static Groups. These can be renamed by clicking on the "Edit" button for each entry, however, because of their importance, they cannot be removed.
2. The second are "Post Independent Member Groups" and are assigned to a Member manually by an Administrator or Global Moderator as they are not tied to a User's Post Count.
3. The third group, however, is based on how many Posts a Member has made. YaBB will automatically assign these when a Member reaches the listed minimum number of Posts.

Creating a New Member Group

To create a new Member Group, click on the link titled "Add Group" next to either "Post Independent" or "Post Dependent" Member Groups. This will bring up a new page with a form to add new groups.

• Name:
  • This is the Member Group name that will be shown to everyone.
• # of Stars:
  • How many stars should this Group have?
• Star Type:
  • Choose a default star type from the drop down box, or enter the URL to a different image.
• Color:
  • This gives the Group a special color treatment. Leave blank for no color, or choose a color by color name, by hex value (valid range is 000000 (6 zeros) to FFFFFF), or by using the Palette tool to choose a custom color.
• Post Independent Group:
  • Check if you want this to be a Group not assigned based on Post Count.
• Public?
  • Check this box if you want this Group's name to be displayed to all Members and to show a Group color bar in the User's Online section of the Board Index.
• Post Dependent Group
  • Check if you want this group to be automatically assigned based on Post Count, and enter the minimum number of Posts required to become a Member of this Group.

  ADMINISTRATOR TIP: YaBB comes with a Post-Dependent Member Group called "YaBB Newbies" that has a mimimum Post Count of -1. This is in place to automatically assign new registering Members to a group. A new Member starts with a Post Count of -1, so if you delete this Group or change the minimum Post Count, your new Members will not be able to post or use PMs until you manually put them in a Group. You may edit the name of the Group, stars, or colors with no effects on new Members.

The most important options are listed as three selections at the top of the page. Note that access to the Admin Center does NOT necessarily mean your Global Moderators can control all the items you can see in the Admin Center. If you allow this access, you can customize the Global Moderator permissions in the list of actions below.

Choosing Editing the Profile (but not the Admin Edits) will allow the Global Moderator to change passwords, e-Mail addresses, and all other options in the User's Profile (except Admin Edits). Note: Global Moderators cannot edit or modify any Administrator Profile.

Choosing the Admin Edits option will allow Global Moderators to change a user's Post Count, Position, and Member Group(s). Note: Global Moderators cannot edit or modify Administrator Admin Edits, nor can they "promote" other users to Global Moderators or Administrators.

ADMINISTRATOR TIP: In most cases, actions you do NOT select for the Global Moderator will not even be visible to them in the Admin Center, however this is not always the case. For example, if you allow Global Moderators to VIEW members but not DELETE members, the screen they view members on also shows checkboxes and a button to delete members, but they will not work for them. If the Global Moderator attempts to delete members without permission, it will result in an error message. A Global Moderator may think that something isn't working right, that this is an error or bug, but it is not. The program is following the level of permissions you granted them.

To revalidate your session, simply click "Update Session" on the YaBB main menu at the top of the forum. If this link isn't present, then your session doesn't need to be updated.

By default, it asks you for your Password to revalidate. That can be changed in your Profile, under the "Edit Profile" section, near the bottom of the list of settings.

To check if sessions are enabled, go into the Admin Center/Security Center/Security Settings and look under the "General" tab. Sessions are enabled If the checkbox to the right of "Activate Session ID's" is checked.

This option is enabled by checking the box in the "Staff" tab found in the Admin Center/Forum Configuration/Forum Settings.

• Option disabled: When this option is disabled, the link will end with "username=(user's login name)"
• Option enabled: When this option is enable, the link will end with "username=(encrypted number)"

This option is enabled by default. It may be disabled by unchecking the "Encrypt User ID's" box in the Admin Center/Security Center/Security Settings section under the "General" tab.

The best way to know for sure what options you have control over is to discuss them with the Forum Administrator.

If your Administrator has given you access to the Admin Center, the various menus on the left will show you the functions you have at least some control over.

ADMINISTRATOR TIP: Access to some screens in the Admin Center display options that you may not have access to. For example, the Administrator may allow you to ADD and VIEW members, but not DELETE members. The screen you view them on, however, contains checkboxes and buttons for the DELETE function. If you attempt to use these without having permission, it will result in you receiving an error message. This is NOT a bug - you don't have permission - and the program's proper response is to give you that error message.

This option is enabled by checking the "Activate Referral Security Checking" box in the "General" tab found in the Admin Center/Security Center/Security Settings.

This option may be enabled for Administrators, Global Moderators, or both.

This option is enabled by checking the appropriate boxes in the "General" tab found in the Admin Center/Security Center/Security Settings.

This option is enabled by entering a desired percent in the appropriate box found in the "Private Messages" tab found in the Admin Center/Forum Configuration/Forum Settings section.

• RSS
  Anyone can now use RSS (Really Simple Syndication, see this article in Wikipedia) to pull the latest headlines from your forum into an external document or to a browser.
• Permalinks
  To make forum URIs look a bit more 'normal' you can set your forum to use permalinks.
  Be carefull when applying the settings, even smallest mistakes may make your forum unavailable!
• Separate Search Engines from ordinary users
  In order to get a bit more accurate picture of your forum visitors, you can separate search engines spiders from ordinary guests.
• Email Templating
  When you wish to edit the 'system emails' more fitting to your needs, you don't need to fight with the source code anymore, just use the 'Email Messages' templating tool.
• Antispam tools
  Since the spam is here to stay, we need stronger tools against it and now we have one.
  Set your preferred spam rules to trigger a warning (and eventually a ban) based on unwanted post content, specify certain circumstances of the posting process and keep viagra sellers away.
• Captcha
  To make it a bit harder for malicious bots entering your forum, use the captcha (visual confirmation, see this article in Wikipedia, but be carefull, it is possible that some human users find it hard to use.
• Broadcast messages
  Communicate with your forum staff with Broadcast Messages and send messages on group level (moderators, moderator groups, global moderators and admins).

Then there are some smaller additions in the forum settings and in 'Referer security' which won't be further explained here but may appear as useful for you to go through.

• Reverse Post in Topic Advanced Edition
  Allows the Admin to choose the default post order (oldest to newest or newest to oldest). The Admin can also enable a setting in the Admin Center to allow/not allow the individual user to choose their own post order. If allowed, each user can change the order of the posts by either clicking on the name of the topic on topic pages and/or set it in their own Profile/Options page.
• Top of Page Button
  Adds a button to the bottom bar of each page that will take you back to the "Top of Page".
• Pie Charts for Polls
  Allows users the option to see poll results as a bar graph or pie chart by clicking on the appropriate button displayed with poll results.
• Quick Reply Advanced Edition
  This allows users to quickly post a reply or a new post. It also gives many new quoting features.
  Admin can:
  • Enable/Disable the Quick Post Box
  • Enable/Disable the Quick Reply Box
  • Enable/Disable Mark & Quote
  • Enable/Disable UserQuote
  • Enable/Disable Jump to Quick Post/Reply Box if user clicks Start New Topic, Reply or Quote Button
  • Set Max length for Quote
• Preselected Smilies
  Allows the Admin to select which Smilie will be shown in the More Smilies block beside the Post and PM windows.
• Showcase Poll
  Allows one poll selected by Admins/GMods to show at the top of the Board Index.
• YaBB Backup
  Admins can make backups of the forum quickly in any of 8 different formats with or without compression. Backups are stored in a new yabb/Backups directory, and can be downloaded, emailed, or deleted. Admin can select full backup (all directories), partial backups (some directories), or only files newer than last backup. Also features a selectable alert to tell Admin if backup is older than X days.
• Category Pictures
  Allows the Admin to use an image along with category names.
• Image Resize and Greybox
  Admins can set limits on maximum display size for avatar pics, posted images, attachment images, and signature images. Larger images will "shrink" to fit within the maximum set limits.
  Attached images and images inside posts can be shown on a slightly translucent surface instead in a new window. The Administrator can select between single view or gallery style view for attached images.

  NOTE: An image taller than it is wide will be limited by the maximum height and will adjust the width proportionally, which will be less than maximum. An image wider than taller will be limited by the maximum width and will adjust the height proportionally, which will be less than maximum.

• Multi-Attachments
  Admins can choose how many and what type of files a user may attach to a post. A download counter for each attached file is also provided. Files attached will show an icon symbolizing each particular file type for the most common file types.
  

  WARNING: Some file types can pose risks to either the forum or the user who downloads them because they can be used to include malicious code. These include but are not limited to:

  • MS Excel files (.xls) which can contain malicious code in macros
  • MS PowerPoint files (.ppt) which can contain malicious scripts
  • HTML files (.htm, .html) which can contain any number of exploits

  None of these types are allowed by default. The Admin can allow them, but be warned - it is risky. HTML files can by uploaded as text files (.txt) that are perfectly safe. Let the user who downloads it change it back to HTML and avoid risk to your forum. Do some research and be sure it's necessary before you allow new file types.

• User Avatar Upload
  Admins can choose to allow users to upload their own avatar image file. Files are identified with the userID in the filename for easy sorting. Users may only access their own image.
• Advanced Split and Splice
  Allows you to move single posts, selected posts, or all posts to a new thread or into any other post in any board you are allowed access to. You can choose to move the post or copy it, and choose whether or not to leave a split message.
• Advanced Expand/Collapse
  Allows Categories on the Board Index to be collapsed or expanded without reloading the pages. Requires AJAX to be supported by the browser.
• Extended Profiles
  Allows the Administrator to add additional fields to the user Profile. The Administrator has many options with these fields, such as making them a mandatory entry during registration, making them viewable to everyone or only certain groups, allowing users to edit them, or adding the fields to the memberlist.
• E-Mail Notifications to Admin for New Member Registrations
  Allows the Administrator to select the option to recieve notification by e-Mail if a new member registers. It also allows the Administrator to use the forum webmaster e-Mail address or enter one of his choosing.
• Spell Checker
  Allows the Administrator to enable a spelling checker that will check spelling in Posts and in Personal Messages.