Questions Prior to purchasing

[Kent Miller]

Dear IPB forum members,

I'm considering purchasing the latest version of Invision Power Board, but I have a quite a few questions before buying it. Thanks you so much in advance for your replies.
When using IPB, would it be possible to easily translate the forum in any language, since my forum would be completely in Swedish. Would I be able to translate the whole forum to Swedish without tampering directly with the raw script code; for example translating the "post" button to Swedish?
And when a new update is released for the forum, do you know if I had to translate the whole forum again, if I used the update?
Is it possible to use Google Analytics with the Forum to track the traffic?
When designing I use Macromedia Dreamweaver, could I change the appearance of the forum through Dreamweaver?
It's very important that the posts made by users could be indexed by Google, and that actual webpages would be created for each post, does anybody know if this would be possible?
Also, archives of the posts should be able to be indexed, would this be possible?
Does posts ever disappear, or could old posts exist forever in the archives if I wanted to?
What are the requirements for my webhosting to be able to use the IPB script?
Is it a all included package, just install and use, or would I have to download and install another program or script on my server for the Forum to work?
Could I give users of the forum, a special title, for example automatically having settings adjusted to, that when people first register they have the title newbie and then this automatically changes after maybe 20 posts to experienced user, or whatever I make settings for?
Could users reply to posts by their email?
Could I with the IPB package, have unlimited forums and posts?
Does the package have a wordfilter, so I could censor inappropriate words?

I know this is a heavy bunch of questions :) , but I like to educate myself thoroughly whenever buying something as important as this. Once again, I thank you all in advance for your replies.

Sincerely,
Kent Miller

[Mark]

Hello,

Firstly, you should email all pre-sales questions to sales@invisionpower.com - only they can guarantee the answer you get will be correct. However, I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.

When using IPB, would it be possible to easily translate the forum in any language, since my forum would be completely in Swedish. Would I be able to translate the whole forum to Swedish without tampering directly with the raw script code; for example translating the "post" button to Swedish?

Everything except the Administration control panel is easily translatable using language files. You will have to edit several files of the code. But they only contain language bits and are very easy to edit. They are in this format:

'x' => 'text',

You simply need to replace the 'text' with the appropriate translation.

And when a new update is released for the forum, do you know if I had to translate the whole forum again, if I used the update?

You will need to translate any new or changed language bits. But not the whole lot again.

Is it possible to use Google Analytics with the Forum to track the traffic?

I am unfamiliar with Google Analytics and so cannot answer this question, another community member may be able to.

When designing I use Macromedia Dreamweaver, could I change the appearance of the forum through Dreamweaver?

Not really. You could only change the CSS. But the customer resource site (IPSBeyond) has access to lots of pre-made skins that are very easy to install.

It's very important that the posts made by users could be indexed by Google, and that actual webpages would be created for each post, does anybody know if this would be possible?

If google crawls your site, it will index it's content.

Also, archives of the posts should be able to be indexed, would this be possible?

Yes, click 'lo-fi version' at the bottom of this page.

Does posts ever disappear, or could old posts exist forever in the archives if I wanted to?

You can keep posts forever if you like. Or delete or move them.

What are the requirements for my web hosting to be able to use the IPB script?

PHP 4.3+ and MySQL 4.0+
Invision offers hosting if you do need a host that makes these requirements

SQL Server and Oracle9i databases are supported with the use of additional drivers

Is it a all included package, just install and use, or would I have to download and install another program or script on my server for the Forum to work?

All included if you meet the above requirements.

Could I give users of the forum, a special title, for example automatically having settings adjusted to, that when people first register they have the title newbie and then this automatically changes after maybe 20 posts to experienced user, or whatever I make settings for?

Yes, that feature is included. Look at my member title, that was automatically assigned to me because I have more than 500 posts. You can customize the title, number of posts required and number of pips (those little squares under my member title) to be shown.

Could users reply to posts by their email?

I am not sure what you mean. Members can email each other if said members allow their email address to be shown, they can also use the personal messenger feature.

Could I with the IPB package, have unlimited forums and posts?

Yes, of course

Does the package have a wordfilter, so I could censor inappropriate words?

Yes, that feature is included.
Try typing a swear word in the test forum, for example the word which means a female dog, it will automatically be changed.

[MC--]

I'm interested to know how your Member No.: 105,962, when there are 84,489 registered members. :teehee:

[Watty]

I'm interested to know how your Member No.: 105,962, when there are 84,489 registered members. :teehee:

Obviously many registered accounts have been deleted for various reasons. When an account is deleted, the member ID number isn't re-used... the auto increment just does its job.

[MC--]

Shouldn't they use the recount tools once and a while?

[Mark]

The recount tools don't defrag the database, otherwise profile links would not work and many other various problems

[Kent Miller]

Hello again,

Professor P, first of all I wanted to thank you for your lenghty reply, it has been really helpful and I appreciate it. Thank you!

With, could users reply to posts by their email, I meant that will say, if a user got a notification by email that someone had posted a reply to their post (and that reply was sent to them in the email), if they could reply directly from their email, without logging on to the forum and posting a reply from there.

Another thing, which I've recently found out, is that hosting services has another storage limit for the Mysql database, than the regular hosting. Networksolutions with a pro hosting could have 10 different Mysql databases with a 600 mb limit. And Godaddy mentioned that if I had a Mysql database with them, and it would reach 100 MB, I might experience slowness (because it's a shared hosting environment).
I don't get much of this, but I wonders how big a forum could be (in terms of members and posts) to acheive 100 - 600 MB? Is this easily achieved?

Thanks once again in advance to all that replies and tries to sort this out for me.
Sincerely,
Kent Miller

[MC--]

You might want a better host PM if you want for some, which don't set limits on their paid packages. Members who reply to a specific forum can turn subscription on, (or a similar feature but different name) so whenever someone responds to a topic, a email with a link to that topic is provided to the subscribed users. If your board reaches 600MB of SQL space, i think that would mean around 2,500 members (but don't take my word for it).

[Mark]

Hello again Kent,

With, could users reply to posts by their email, I meant that will say, if a user got a notification by email that someone had posted a reply to their post (and that reply was sent to them in the email), if they could reply directly from their email, without logging on to the forum and posting a reply from there.

No that is not possible, and due to several techinical restrictions, it would be difficult to modify the software to add in this feature. The email sent out contains a link to post a reply, and if your board is set up properly, users will be logged in automatically.

Another thing, which I've recently found out, is that hosting services has another storage limit for the Mysql database, than the regular hosting. Networksolutions with a pro hosting could have 10 different Mysql databases with a 600 mb limit. And Godaddy mentioned that if I had a Mysql database with them, and it would reach 100 MB, I might experience slowness (because it's a shared hosting environment).

I don't get much of this, but

I wonders how big a forum could be (in terms of members and posts) to acheive 100 - 600 MB? Is this easily achieved?

100MB could probably hold about 500 members/10,000 posts and 600MB about 2000 members/30,000 posts - that is a rough estimate and depends on how often your members send PMs, search, and various other things.
600MB should be plenty for a small-med sized forum, and should hold you for about a year before you need to upgrade (obviously depending on how fdast your forum grows)

If you get hosting with IPS, you will get a free IPB license, and can easilly upgrade to get more space if needed. I understand that might not be the best option, however, we cannot reccomend competing services here as per the forums' rules.

[C_ind]

100MB could probably hold about 500 members/10,000 posts and 600MB about 2000 members/30,000 posts - that is a rough estimate and depends on how often your members send PMs, search, and various other things.

It probably varies quite a bit. We've got 7k+ members, 350k+ posts and a database size of slightly less than 300MB.

[GamingAddix]

Is it possible to use Google Analytics with the Forum to track the traffic?

yes it is very possible, just like putting a google ad, it can be very much done so easily