v1.2 Configuration

v1.2 • Installation • Configuration • Troubleshooting

Follow these steps closely and you’ll be done in a minute!

Before you configure…

Check M2F is installed correctly: Go to the phpBB administration panel. You should see a “Mail2forum” module there! If you don’t, then consider re-installing or ask for support on the M2F forum (Top navbar).

Check that you have a working mailbox that will be used to store messages (ie. forum@yourdomain.com). If you will use this mailbox with POP/STMP method, then you’ll need to have the login and password of that account close by in the next steps. (Note: This e-mail address must be set up separately, or be an existing e-mail account, M2F will not create it for you.)

Ok now with the configuration steps.

Step 1. Create a Mailing List

A mailing list is a list of recipients that will receive the posts of the forum. This list will grow by itself when forum users start subscribing to the forums; Or, if you configure it as “subscribe whole board”, it will grow whenever a new user is created in the forum.

Click on “Mailing Lists” under “Mail2Forum”. Create a new list, with a name of your choice (ie the name of the forum) and the list’s main email address. Save.

Step 2. Create & Configure a Distribution List

A “Distribution List” is a binding between a forum and a mailing list. This will tell M2F that posts on Forum A should go to mailing list B and vice-versa.

Click on “Distribution Lists” under “Mail2Forum” in the phpBB administration panel. Create a new distribution list, binding one forum of your selection with the mailing list you created on Step 1.

Click on “Configure” next to the distribution list. Here you can set up the mail transport to be used for incoming and outgoing mail. You must first choose one of two M2F flavours under the “Mailing List Settings” header:

1. External listserver (i.e. Majordomo): If you want to bind an external mailinglist server with a forum
2. Internal listserver (Recommended): If you didn’t understand the question

There are also a number of other configuration options which should be self-explanatory: If you get lost, try the >>>Distribution List Configuration page<<<.

Save and activate the distribution lists you made (If you save and don’t activate the distribution list won’t work!) , in the distribution lists page.

Step 3. Test!

We will first try to send a forum message to the mailing list. First, go to the phpBB forum and log-in. You should see a “Forum subscriptions” link on the phpBB top menu bar. After clicking on that link, you should see a combobox with a list of possible subscriptions - only one at this time should be available unless you created and activated several distribution lists. Select it and save.

Try each of these tests separately: If something goes wrong keep calm and try again, or read the troubleshooting page. If you get desesperate then try uninstalling m2f or as a last resort go to your backup. When asking for support is a good option to tell us which test failed.

Test A: Forum to Email

Go to the phpBB forum you selected on Step 2, and post a new topic. If everything went OK then you should be receiving an email shortly with the forum post. If you don’t receive any email you should first review your configuration, or else check out the troubleshooting section.

Test B: Email to Forum

Now we will check the mail -> forum functionality. Using your mail client (ie. Outlook, Gmail, etc.) write a new email with a random subject and body, to the email you configured on Step 1 (the list’s main email address).

Now wait for some time for the post to appear on your forum. This might take up to 5 minutes, depending on how you configured the forum. If you don’t see the new topic, you may log in to the phpBB Admin CP, go to the Mail2forum module, and click on the “Force Import” button. If you see more than “0″ messages in the “Imported messages” column, then you didn’t wait long enough or maybe you have further configuring to do on the cron job: In that case, you should check the >>Cron<< page for more information. Else, check the troubleshooting page.

Test C: Attachment support

Now, repeat tests A and B but attach to the message a zipped file or an image. Once again, if things go wrong the you should go to the troubleshooting page.

Step 4. Have a good time with Mail2Forum!

Well installation is finished, you can now create more distribution lists and read on for some tips & tricks on the how-to’s. Have fun!