Knowledgebase

1. How to Manage User Groups in PHPFox

In PHPFox, you can divide the users on your website into different User Groups. This is a good way of allowing certain features for some users and deny access to them for others.

The user group management in PHPFox, includes:

Step 1: Default User Groups
Step 2: Change Permissions

Step 1 Default User Groups

Let us review the default user groups that come as pre-defined with the initial PHPFox installation. There are 5 such groups:

Administrator - This is the most important user group. At first, there will be only one user in it, which is the administrative account created during the installation of PHPFox. The accounts within the Administrator user group will have access to all features of your website and will be able to edit them as well.
Registered Users - This is the second user group that come pre-defined with the initial PHPFox installation. It will be assigned to all of the users that register on your website. They will have their own profile area, they will be able to edit their information. However, they will not be able to edit information for other customers, add new information fields, etc.
Guest - A guest user does not have much access in PHPFox. In most of the cases, they will not be able to get past the registration form.
Staff - You can place your website’s moderators into this user group. They will be able to edit certain information, change subscriptions, edit blogs, etc.
Banned - The banned user group is for users that you wish to deny access to your website. They will not be able to place new registrations at all.

Step 2 Change Permissions

To change the permissions of a certain user group, you need to access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the User button at the top menu and then User Group Manager > Manage User Groups.

Click on the Arrow drop-down box next to the user group that you wish to edit. Then, simply click on the Manage User Settings option.

Select the actual module that you wish to change the settings for. For the purpose of this tutorial, we will allow the user group to have custom fields. Thus, we select the Custom module. Then we change the Can have special custom fields? option to yes.

Click on the Save button to keep the changes on your website.

Further reading:

2. How to Add a Custom User Group in PHPFox

You have the ability to add custom user groups on your PHPFox website. This is a good way of setting your own preferences for the users on your website and their needs.

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the User button at the top menu and then User Group Manager > Create user Group.

Edit the following fields:

Name - Enter the name of the new user group.
HTML Prefix - Enter an html prefix for the user group (optional).
HTML Suffix - Enter an html suffix for the user group (optional).
Icon - You can upload an icon for the new user group.
Inherit - Select an existing user group from your website. The new user group will inherit all of the settings from it, instead of manually adding them during the creation process. Note that you can still change all of the settings for the new user group later.

Click on the Add User Group button to keep the changes.

Additional Information

Upon completion, you will be taken to the User Groups management panel, where you can make changes for the new group.

3. How to Edit a User in PHPFox

To edit a profile on your PHPFox website is easy. You have the option to change the actual fields that a user can edit. With the default PHPFox installation, there are already pre-defined fields that are available.

Log into your website and locate the Profile button at the top-right corner of the screen. Then simply click on the Edit Profile button.

You will be taken to the profile edit page. Here, all of the profile information fields will be categorized in a certain way with the use of tabs. The default ones are Basic Information, About me, Interests and Details, however, you can add custom ones yourself.

NOTE

For more details on how to add more tabs with certain fields that hold user information, you can review our tutorial on how to add custom tabs on your profiles in PHPFox.

Review and edit the fields that you wish to change.

Click on the Update button to keep the changes for your profile.

Further reading:

4. How to Add a Custom Field in PHPFox

With PHPFox, you do have a number of pre-defined fields for each of your users. However, you may want to add a custom one that is not within the default information fields. There is a way for achieving that.

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the User button from the top menu and then Custom Fields > Add Custom Field.

Edit the following options:

Product - Select Core from the drop-down box
Group - Select the Group where you wish to place the new custom field.(this is not a user group, but a group of fields)
Location - Choose the location of the custom field. When someone is accessing a user profile, all of the fields are grouped in a certain way. Select the Basic Information section if you wish to group this field with the others. Select the Main Section if you wish to separate the new custom field from the pre-defined ones for PHPFox
Required - Make the new custom field required for your users
Include on Registration - You can include the custom field during the registration process on your website
Type - Select the type of the new custom field. You can set it as a selection, text area, radio buttons, etc.
Name - Enter the name of the actual custom field

Click on the Save button to create the new custom field.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we have edited the new custom field on our admin profile and here is how it looks on the front-end of PHPFox.

5. Add a custom tab on user profiles in PHPFox

By default, there are 4 tabs of pre-defined information for each registered user in PHPFox. They are Basic Information, About Me, Interests and Details. However, you may want to change those and even add some custom tabs that will allow you to group the information for each user a certain way.

The Basic Information field is non-editable. This means that the information in it is required for all of the customers on your website. There are certain fields on the Basic Information tab that you can disable, such as the relationship status, however, the actual tab is required. To remove it, you will have to hire a certified web developer that can assist you on that, but the Support service of your PHPFox website will no longer be available after code modifications of your product. When saying that, make sure that you are fully aware of the complications this may bring on your table, before customizing PHPFox code.

However, the rest of the tabs are editable. You can even add additional ones to your website and group certain features together for better understanding. After all, we need to make things easier for our customers so their experience on the website is as pleasant as possible.

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the User button from the top menu and then Custom Fields > Add Custom Group.

Edit the following options:

Product: Choose Core from the drop-down box.
Module: Select the Custom module as this is a custom group.
Location: Choose Users Profile as the only available location with a default installation.
Group: Enter the name of the new custom group/tab.
User Group: Now, if you wish, you can apply the custom tab for a specific User Group or for all of them.

User groups

You need to enable custom tab visibility for the user group you are applying it to.

Click on the Submit button to create the new group/tab.

Custom fields in PHPFox.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we have accessed the admin profile on our website. We have also created a test field in it.

Further reading:

6. How to Manage Cancellations in PHPFox

When a user decides to cancel his account on your PHPFox website, there is a list of pre-defined reasons for that. The user can choose from them at the time of the cancellation. Now, it is always a bad moment when users are leaving your website. However, this process can provide valuable information on what you should work on in order to improve your website and avoid such cancellations in the future. There is a set of pre-defined cancellation reasons, which are available on your website with a default PHPFox installation.

To manage the cancellation reasons in PHPFox:

Step 1: Edit Existing Cancellation Reasons
Step 2: Add a new Cancellation Reason

Step 1 Edit Existing Cancellation Reasons

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the Users tab from the main menu and then User Cancellation > Manage Options.

Click on the Arrow drop-down button next to the cancellation reason that you wish to edit. Click on the Edit Reason button after that.

Once you edit the reason, simply click on the Submit button to keep the changes.

Step 2 Add a new Cancellation Reason

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the Users tab from the main menu and then User Cancellation > Add Options.

Edit the following options:

Product: Choose the Core product from the drop-down box.
Module: Choose the User module.
Cancellation Reason: Enter the reason for cancellation.
Is Active: Set the new reason as active or not.

Click on the Submit button to create the new cancellation reason.

For the purpose of this tutorial, here is a screenshot of the front-end of our website so you can see the new test cancellation option and how it looks on the actual website.

7. How to Manage Promotions in PHPFox

PHPFox allows the automatic promotions of users on your website. This means that if a user reaches a certain milestone (for example days since the registration, activity points), the system will automatically promote them into a new user group.

Let us say that you have a subscription on your website at the price of N50 per one month. A new user registers and when they pay the subscription, they receive 50 activity points. If you have a promotion rule that says, if the user has 50 activity points, promote them to a special user, as soon as the user pays the subscription, the system will automatically promote them as a special user. This will save you time as you will not have to search and promote them manually.

To create a new promotion method, you need to access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the Users tab from the main menu and then Promotions > Add Promotion.

Edit the following options:

User Group: Select the user group that should be checked by the system.
Activity Points: Set a number of activity points when the rule should be triggered
Days Registered: Set a number of days since registration when the rule should be triggered.
Move User to User Group: Select the user group where the user should be moved to when the rule is triggered.

Click on the Submit button to create the actual rule.

8. How to Manage Menus in PHPFox

All of the menus on your PHPFox website are pre-defined within the CMS section. For example, the main user menu, which is used for reviewing your homepage, friends, photos, etc. is such a menu and all of it’s options are predefined. You can edit them as per your needs or add new menu items to them.

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the CMS tab from the main menu and then Menus > Manage Menus.

Choose the menu item that you wish to change and click on the Edit button next to it.

Change the actual options that you wish to edit. For the purpose of this tutorial, we have changed the Photos name to My Pictures.

Click on the Save button to keep the changes.

Further reading:

9. How to Manage Blocks in PHPFox

All of the different components in PHPFox are placed into blocks. Those blocks represent positions on the page and you can assign certain content to those positions. This is a good feature as it will allow you to re-design the actual way your website looks.

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Select the CMS tab from the main menu and then Blocks > Manage Blocks.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we will move the Profile Picture and the Profile menu from the left block to the center. With the default installation the profile looks like this.

Choose the Profile.info controller from the list of available options and then click on the arrow drop-down box next to the Profile Photo & Menu block and Edit.

Change the Placement option from Block 1 to Block 2.

NOTE!

You can review the different block positions via the View Sample Layout button next to the drop-down box for Placement.

Click on the Submit button to keep the changes.

Once the changes have been made, you can check the Profile page again from the front-end of your website. The block will be moved as per your needs.

10. How to Manage Pages in PHPFox

The pages feature of PHPFox is used for static information that you wish to place on your website. Such are the About Us page, the Privacy Policy, etc.

To manage the pages in PHPFox, you will need to:

Step 1: Edit Pages
Step 2: Add new Pages

Step 1 Edit Pages

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

Click on the CMS tab on the main menu and then Pages > Manage Pages.

Choose the Edit action from the drop-down box next to the page that you wish to edit.

Edit the actual data that you wish to modify and then click on the Submit button to keep the changes.

Step 2 Add new Pages

Access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner. Then simply click on the CMS button and then Pages > Add New Page.

Edit the options required for the new page, such as a Name, Page Data, etc.

Connection: Choose the footer option to place the page into the footer. Alternatively, you can place the new page wherever you wish.
Title: Choose a title for your new page.
Page Data: Enter the actual text for the new page.

Click on the Submit button to create the actual page.

Once you save your new page, it will appear where you have set it. In our case, our Test Page is displayed in the footer.

11. How to Manage Currencies in PHPFox

The money is not the most important thing in the world. However, any new project may have a way of earning finances, at least in regards of maintaining it or developing it further. With PHPFox, you have the option of paid subscriptions, allowing different paid features, etc. Here comes the need of websites with multiple currencies as we may not necessarily use USD, EUR or a GBP.

To manage the currencies on your website, you need to access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

The editing options for currencies in PHPFox include:

Step 1: Add currency
Step 2: Delete currency
Step 3: Change default currency

Step 1: Add currency

Click on the Tools button at the top menu and then Currency > Add Currency.

Edit the following options:

Currency ID: Enter the abbreviation for the currency you wish to add.
Symbol: Enter the symbol of the new currency.
Phrase: Enter the actual name of the new currency.
Is Active: Set the new currency as active/inactive.

For the purpose of this tutorial, we will add a Japanese yen as a new currency on our website.

Hit the Submit button to keep the changes.

Step 2 Delete currency

Click on the Tools button and then Currency > Currency Manager.

Click on the arrow drop-down button next to the currency that you wish to remove and select the Delete option.

Step 3 Change default currency

To change the default currency that will be used for calculations and the display of prices on your website, you need to click on the Tools button from the main menu and then Currency > Currency Manager.

Next to each of the currencies, there is a Default button. Click on the one for the currency that you wish to set as default.

Further reading:

12. How to Ban Members in PHPFox

With each community, we always have the need of restricting the access to our websites for certain people. There is a good feature in PHPFox that will allow you to do just that. To ban a member on your website, you need to access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

You do have 5 ways of banning a member on your website. They are:

Step 1: Ban Username
Step 2: Ban Emails
Step 3: Ban Display Names
Step 4: Ban IP Address
Step 5: Ban Words

Step 1 Ban Username

Click on the Tools button at the top menu and then Ban Filters > Usernames.

Edit the following options:

Username - Enter the username that you wish to add. Note that you can enter parts of the username and then add (*) asterisk in order to ban the different variations
Ban User - Activate/Deactivate the ban filter
Reason: State the reason for the ban
Ban for how many days - Set how many days the ban will be effective. Enter 0 for indefinite
User group to move the user when the ban expires - Self-explanatory
User groups affected - Set the user groups to be checked by the system for ban filter violation

Click on the Add button to create the actual filter.

Step 2 Ban Emails

Click on the Tools button at the top menu and then Ban Filters > Emails.

Edit the following options:

Email - Enter the email address that you wish to add. Note that you can enter parts of the email and then add (*) asterisk in order to ban the different variations
Ban User - Activate/Deactivate the ban filter
Reason: State the reason for the ban
Ban for how many days - Set how many days the ban will be effective. Enter 0 for indefinite
User group to move the user when the ban expires - Self-explanatory
User groups affected - Set the user groups to be checked by the system for ban filter violation

Click on the Add button to create the actual filter.

Step 3 Ban Display Names

Click on the Tools button at the top menu and then Ban Filters > Display Names.

Edit the following options:

Display Name - Enter the display name that you wish to add. Note that you can enter parts of the name and then add (*) asterisk in order to ban the different variations
Ban User: Activate/Deactivate the ban filter
Reason: State the reason for the ban
Ban for how many days - Set how many days the ban will be effective. Enter 0 for indefinite
User group to move the user when the ban expires - Self-explanatory
User groups affected - Set the user groups to be checked by the system for ban filter violation

Click on the Add button to create the actual filter.

Step 4 Ban IP Address

Click on the Tools button at the top menu and then Ban Filters > IP Address.

Edit the following options:

IP Address - Enter the IP address that you wish to add. Note that you can enter parts of IP and then add (*) asterisk in order to ban the different variations
Ban User - Activate/Deactivate the ban filter
Reason - State the reason for the ban
Ban for how many days - Set how many days the ban will be effective. Enter 0 for indefinite
User group to move the user when the ban expires - Self-explanatory
User groups affected - Set the user groups to be checked by the system for ban filter violation

Click on the Add button to create the actual filter.

Step 5 Ban Word

Click on the Tools button at the top menu and then Ban Filters > Words.

Edit the following options:

Word - Enter a word that you wish to add. Note that you can enter parts of the word and then add (*) asterisk in order to ban the different variations
Replacement - Enter a replacement word for the one you want to ban
Ban User - Activate/Deactivate the ban filter
Reason - State the reason for the ban
Ban for how many days - Set how many days the ban will be effective. Enter 0 for indefinite
User group to move the user when the ban expires - Self-explanatory
User groups affected - Set the user groups to be checked by the system for ban filter violation

Click on the Add button to create the actual filter.

13. How to Manage Subscriptions in PHPFox

You can profit from your community, by introducing different subscription plans on your website. This way, users can pay a fee to get certain functionality or status on your community.

To create or manage your subscription packages, you need to access your website as administrator and then click on the AdminCP button at the top-right corner.

The subscription management includes:

Step 1: Add subscription package
Step 2: Edit subscription package
Step 3: Delete subscription package

Click on the Modules tab on the main menu and then Subscribe > Create New Package.

Edit Subscription Details:

Title - Enter the title of the new subscription package
Description - Enter a description for it
Image - Upload an image for the subscription package
User Group on Success - If a new registration matches the criteria for the subscription package, then the system will assign the user to a specific group. Select it here
User Group on Failure - If a new registration fails to match the criteria for the subscription package, then the system will assign the user to a specific group. Select it here
Add to registration - Add the new subscription package to the registration so users can select it
Is Active - Set the new subscription package as active/inactive

Edit Subscription Costs:

Show Price - Show/hide the price of the new subscription package
Price - Set a price for it
Recurring - Set if the subscription package has a fixed price for life or it is recurring
Recurring Price - Set the recurring price
Recurring Period - Set the billing cycle for the subscription package

Click on the Submit button to create the subscription package.

Step 2 Edit subscription package

Click on the Modules tab at the main menu and then Subscribe > Manage Packages.

Click on the arrow drop-down button next to the subscription package that you wish to edit and then select the Edit Package option.

Set the changes that you wish to make on the subscription package and hit the Submit button to keep them.

Step 3 Delete subscription package

Click on the Modules tab at the main menu and then Subscribe > Manage Packages.

Click on the arrow drop-down button next to the subscription package that you wish to remove and then click on the Delete Package option.

Hit the Submit button to keep the changes.

Further reading: