Interested in learning

[CJ1985]

I am not sure if this has been talked about before, or brought up. However, I am very interested in knowing where a modder starts. How did you begin making mods? What all does it take to make mods? I'm very curious because I'd like to learn and see what I can do, but was just curious if there is a starters mod or something? I hope that makes sense. lol

Anyways! Just very, very curious!

[Obsidian]

[Lord Le Brand]

Yeah, that works for most people, although, I didn't know anything about PHP before I began MOD'ing. although I had some experience with another programming language (BASIC), which made it easy to pick up on it. For me it was looking at existing code and playing with that. Most functions have a descriptive name, and in phpBB, the arguments are usually a bit obvious, so I had no trouble with the functions. It may have been difficult to understand the basic structure of loops and operators, for which I used PHP.net and several other sites where PHP is explained.
Maybe you could look at tutorial sites with basic PHP and/or look at the code in phpBB and try to understand the logic behind the code. For function reference, use php.net, which has explanation on every default PHP function, and the documentation found on area51.phpbb.com for phpBB specific functions.
Other things you can do, is play with the existing code, or try some easy MODs and try to understand what they do (like cosmetic MODs, just make sure they edit PHP, not CSS).
Before all, you should get a decent code editor (Notepad++, Crimson editor, PSPad, Edit Lite - just not notepad) and a FTP client like FileZilla. You could also look for a local Apache server with PHP and MySQL (like XAMPP is a pre-built server with Apache, MySQL, PHP and Perl) to run a board on your own computer.

And as far as MOD'ing goes, you need a bit of knowledge about phpBB's code, an idea to work out, and a good editor. KB articles (here and on phpBB.com) can be great for learning too.

[CJ1985]

Thanks guys! I was just curious because I like coding and stuff and have come to ideas that I think others would like. However, going into the coding ordeal is another story. But, I'll look into what you guys given me and what not, and go from there. I do have my own forum board, and stuff so I know what you mean about having filezilla and stuff.

Again, thanks and I will definitely check out what you suggested and see where I go from there.

[CJ1985]

Hm, I do have web hosting and what not. However, for testing purposes. I have Dreamweaver CS4 and was wondering if I could do Moding with dreamweaver? If so, how do I set my Dreamweaver up so that I can use it for php testing and what not?

I hope that makes sense?

If anyone can help me with this, I would highly appreciate it!!

[Ganon_Master]

You can use Dreamweaver for modding, but I really recommend you just install Xampp or Vertrigo on your machine and use a small editor as Notepad++. In my opinion, Dreamweaver isn't made for true php development as I see it as a designer aimed tool for easy HTML, CSS and Javascript editting.

[CJ1985]

Okay, thank you and I will look into the ones you have suggested.

I am just taking it slow in getting to know php. It doesn't look easy, but it also doesn't look hard. It's more less a lot of work knowing where things go, and call, and loop as far as when working with mods to get them to work with phpbb boards. If that makes any sense?

Also, when working with mod or creating a mod.. Do you want to work on a board that is a "fresh" install? I'm assuming so.

[Obsidian]

[CJ1985]

[Lord Le Brand]

phpBB QuickInstall is a tool for quickly installing new phpBB boards, which is made by evil<3 and can be found in the Tools forum on this board.

On the modding, it might also be handy to read the [url=http://area51.phpbb.com/docs/coding-guidelines.html]phpBB Coding Guidelines[/url] once you start making your own code. It could also be helpful in understanding why things are the way they are in the existing phpBB code... I think... (I hope this all doesn't become too much information for you ^^)

edit: also, "localhost" as mentioned by sTraTo is the host name for a local server (a server run on your own computer). I suggest you install a local server using all-in server packages XAMPP or EasyPHP, which all have PHP and MySQL, for editing code and making and testing MODs. It works a lot quicker than uploading edited files all the time and it takes away the security risks of editing code on a live webserver.

[CJ1985]

Nope, it's not.

Also, what's this about test server? Is there a way to be able to play around with the board on my computer, without having it on a web server or, ugh.. lol yeah? Ha! I hope I'm saying that right.

[Lord Le Brand]

I edited my post while you were replying I think, so ... see previous post?

[igorw]

You can't play around with a board without a webserver. A webserver however is not the actual computer. A webserver is the software that serves webpages. And it's possible to install this software on your computer.

There's some good resources here: http://wiki.phpbb.com/Localhost

[CJ1985]

Oye.. lol

Is this free? lol I'm assuming it is, but yeah. Now another question, does it use up a lot of PC usage? Do a lot of Modders do it this way?

Suggestions, please. LOL

[igorw]

Yes, it is free. It is free as in speech and free as in beer. And it doesn't use up many resources. You can anyway just turn it on when you need it. It's just a program that sits in the background and does nothing all day, really.

I'm not sure how many modders are aware of its existence, but I believe that every single modder should use a local webserver.