Where can I find the user manual? (top)
See the Online help
I purchased the ASP.NET Forum source codes and when I try to open it in Visual Studio 2005 I get the following error: "The project file ... cannot be opened. The project type is not supported by this installation." (top)
Jitbit ASP.NET Forum software is a web application project that should be opened in Visual Studio 2008 or 2010. If you do not the have Visual Studio 2008, create an empty web-applicaiton project in VS2005 and all files to it one-by-one.
The ASP.NET Forum solution is missing the codebehind files. How come? (top)
Above all, the "Codebehind' attribute is NOT an ASP.NET attribute, it is a Visual Studio attribute. Trial version and full-version with no sources are not supposed to be opened in Visual Studio, they are supposed to be installed on a webserver. Both the trial version and the full version are distributed as a compiled .DLL file which does not need the codebehind files to run. Codebehind files are included with the "source-code" license of the forum software.
Is there a version of the forum software compatible with ASP.NET 1.1 OR 2.0? (top)
Yes we provide an older, ASP.NET 1.1 compatible and ASP.NET 2.0 compatible versions. Please note that the development of those versions has been stopped and "frozen" and we strongly recommend installing 4.0. The 2.0-version can be downloaded here, the 1.1-version is here here
The forum software does not send any emails, help (top)
Please make sure you specified the correct smtp-mail server address, port, username and password. Also make sure that there's no antivirus software blocking your IIS web-server and ASP.NET from connecting to your mail-server. If you're using Godaddy, try the "relay-hosting.secureserver.net" instead of "smtpout.secureserver.net". If the emails are still not sent, go to "administrator - configuration" and set the "EmailDebug" flag. Then repeat your last action that is supposed to initiate email-sending. The screen will display the detailed error description (a standard ASP.NET error page)
I get the "Operation must use an updateable query" error when I post a message, create a user or add a new forum etc. (top)
It's a permissions issue. You have to apply "Write" permissions on the App_Data folder to the Application pool account. This folder is where the MS Access database is located. The user name is either "ASPNET" for Windows XP, "NETWORK SERVICE" for Windows 2003/2008 Server or "IIS AppPool\DefaultAppPool" for Vista/2008/Win7. Right click the folder, select the Security tab, click Add, find the "ASPNET" / "NETWORK SERVICE" / "IIS AppPool\DefaultAppPool" accounts and add them with "full control" permissions. A restart of the application may be required.
I can't debug the forum source codes I purchased! (top)
AspNetForum was compiled with Code Optimization on and without any debug info. But the project comes with a "Full - Debug" configuration. Open the project in Visual Studio, select this configuration and recompile the project.
Does the forum software support silent login for my domain users? Does it support Windows-integrated authentication? (top)
Yes, AspNetForum can log in your domain users automatically, if you (a) set up your parent website to use Windows authentication and (b) enable the "IntegratedAuthentication" flag in the web.config. More info here.
Can I re-brand the forum after my purchase? (top)
Yes, you can change the logo, the look-and-feel, change ANYTHING you want to. You are not allowed to re-sell or re-distribute the forum software under your own brand.
How can I remove the "powered by Jitbit forum" label? (top)
Simply buy the full version. The label is not present in the full version.
What programming language is the forum software written in? (top)
C#
If I purchase the "no-sources" full version, can I later purchase the source version for the difference? (top)
Yes of course you will be able to upgrade just by paying the difference. Please follow this link: upgrade now.
What is the ASP.NET version the forum requires? (top)
The forum requires ASP.NET 2.0.
I need a forum that when people register for it, I can "approve/unapprove" those who register. Is that possible? (top)
Yes. Open the "web.config" file.
Turn the "EnableEmailActivation" flag to "false".
Turn the "NewUsersDisabledByDefault" flag to "true".
Turn the "NewUsersNotifyAdmin" flag to "true".
I want to use the forum software with MySQL. I get this error - " Unable to find the requested .Net Framework Data Provider. It may not be installed." (top)
Install the "MySQL Connector .Net". If you use Godaddy (or another hosting provider) - place the "MySQL.Data.dll" to the "bin" folder and add this to your web.config:
<system.data>
<DbProviderFactories>
<add name="MySQL Data Provider" invariant="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for MySQL" type="MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlClientFactory, MySql.Data, Version=5, Culture=neutral" />
</DbProviderFactories>
</system.data>
I have problems with this forum under a SharePoint site. (top)
Make sure that the parent SharePoint's web.config does not disable session. Add this code:
<pages enableSessionState = "true" /> <sessionState mode="InProc" cookieless="false"/>to the web.config
I get this error: "MySqlException: Invalid use of group function" on various pages in your forum software. (top)
AspNetForum requires MySQL version 5.x. Versions 4.x are not supported, please consider upgrading.
I made some changes to some forum files. But the latest version of the forum software also changes some files. How do I upgrade without losing my changes? Do I have to overwrite my changes? (top)
You just have to merge your changes with our changes. We recommend using a free tool called WinMerge for this. Put the new version of the forum software into a temp folder, then compare this folder with your existing forum folder. The tool will find the differences allowing to merge the changes.
I made some changes to the trial version of the forum software to integrate the forum into my website design. Do I have to re-do all these changes after I buy the full-version? (top)
No. To turn the trial version of the forum software into the full version you just have to replace the file "aspnetforum.dll" in the "bin" folder. But - only if the trial version and the full version have the same version number. If the version numbers differ - you might have to upgrade other files, not just the "aspnetforum.dll". See the previous question for a solution.
Slow initial load: the forum software loads VERY slowly for the first time after making changes to web.config, or after recompiling the source codes, or after installing. Why? (top)
Our forum software is translated to 17 languages. And it comes with a lot a of language resource files, which are "pre-compiled" by the server on the initial first load. Just delete the unneeded resource files form "App_LocalResources" folder and you'll be fine.
I have trouble integrating the forum software into my ASP.NET MVC-based website - the SEO-urls are not working. (top)
If you add this to your global.aspx "registerroutes" function - routes.IgnoreRoute("Forum/{resource}.aspx/"); - then everything works fine assuming the forum is in a subdirectory called forum off the root of the website.
Read more on Forum's ASP.NET MVC compatibility status.
I would like to approve a user before they can post. Does your forum software support that? (top)
Yes. Edit the web.config file and set the "NewUsersDisabledByDefault" setting to "true" (default value), and set the "EnableEmailActivation" to "false" (non-default value). You can also optionally set "NewUsersNotifyAdmin" to "true" to be notified of all new user registrations.
I integrated the forum with my website. But my website uses emails as usernames/logins. I don't want the forum visitors to see these emails. What should I do? (top)
Edit the web.config file and set the "ShowFullNamesInsteadOfUsernames" to "true". The forum will show first/last names instead of the usernames. To make sure the first/last names are present in the database, refer to this section of the manual.
I login to the forum but as soon as I click ANY link - it logs me out. Help! (top)
Looks like the Session State is disabled on your server. Make sure that these lines are present in the web.config:
<pages enableSessionState = "true" /> <sessionState mode="InProc" cookieless="false"/>. Also check the application pool settings in IIS - it may be set up to recycle every X requests or every X minutes where X is too small. Also - make sure the IIS application pool "maximum number of worker processes" is set to 1.
I get the error - "Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0 provider is not registered on the local machine" (top)
Open the IIS admin console, right-click the AppPool (that the forum runs under), select "Advanced settings" and click "Enable 32-bit Applications". MS Access drivers are 32-bit. Sorry, not our fault.
Can I have the forum auto-detect user's language? (top)
Yes, edit he globalization line in the web.config an set it to
<globalization culture="auto" uiCulture="auto" enableClientBasedCulture="true" />
I have an existing web-application/site and I want my registered users access the forum without re-registering, is the kind of integration possible? (top)
Yes, it's called "single sign on" read more about it in the manual here.
