ASPForums
 

Updated 03/24/2016

What is it?
Where can I get it?
How does it work?
How do I use it?
What else do I need to know?
Known issues/bugs.
Who can I contact if I have a problem?

What is it?

ASPForums is a free message board for web servers running ASP.Net. It's licensed under GNU General Public License and written with Visual Basic.Net 2003.

Where can I get it?

The program, including source files, is available here.

How does it work?

The program can be embedded in an existing ASP.Net application or ran by itself.  In either case, visitors to your site will be able to read, post, and respond to messages by other visitors.  Messages are saved to an XML file (forums.xml) which can be easily modified using a text editor. 

How do I use it?

Download and unzip the files to a new folder on your web server. The folder needs to be configured as an application in IIS and NTFS read permissions need to be granted to the proper web server account (normally IUSR_<server>) for the folder and files.  Additionally, modify rights must be granted to the \data folder (and all existing files) to allow posts to be saved (normally IIS_WPG in Windows 2003.)

What else do I need to know?

The global.asax file contains an error handling routine that shoots off an e-mail if an error is encountered.  You should modify the code to send an e-mail to your own address using an SMTP server.  If you don't wish to use this feature, simply put an Exit Sub statement at the beginning of this routine (or use another method.)

There's also a password in the ForumLogin.aspx file that should be changed.  This password is used to enable administrator access to the site which can then be used to delete posts.  The default password in the code is "12345".

Known issues/bugs:

None.

Who can I contact if I have a problem?

The author can be reached at SourceForge.net. The program, source, discussions, and other related information is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/aspforums.

Also visit Shooting Star BBS.