Getting started with MyBB: your first hour in the Admin CP

This guide assumes you’ve installed MyBB with Softaculous (see installing forum software) and can log in. Menu names are from MyBB 1.8; if a label differs slightly in your version, the setting will be nearby.

Getting around the Admin CP

Go to yourforum.com/admin/ and log in with your admin account. The Admin CP has modules across the top: Home, Community, Forums & Posts, Users & Groups, Templates & Style, Configuration and Tools & Maintenance.

The most useful thing to know: Configuration › Settings has a search box. MyBB has hundreds of settings, and searching for a word such as “captcha” or “registration” is often faster than browsing. The locations below are from the MyBB documentation.

1. General settings

In Configuration › Settings › General Configuration, check the board name and the board URL (it should start with https://). Then set the date and time options to your community’s timezone.

2. Registration and spam, before anything else

1. In Configuration › Settings › Login and Registration Options, set the registration method to email verification. If you want to approve every member yourself, choose one of the administrator activation options. The same group has a minimum registration time and a hidden CAPTCHA field, both of which trip up bots.
2. In General Configuration, choose a CAPTCHA. MyBB’s built-in image CAPTCHA works with no set-up; reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha need a free key from their provider.
3. Open Configuration › Security Questions and add two or three questions only people interested in your subject would know. MyBB asks one during registration, and it stops most automated signups.
4. Switch on the Stop Forum Spam settings group, which checks new registrations against a shared database of known spammers.

If a spammer does get through, Configuration › Purge Spammer removes the account and everything it posted in one go.

More ideas, for all three packages: preventing forum spam.

3. Make sure email works

MyBB sends activation emails and password resets, so test before you invite anyone. In Configuration › Settings › Mail Settings, check the mail handler and use a mailbox on your own domain as the admin email. Then register a test account with an address at another provider. If nothing arrives, check SPF and DKIM for your domain in DirectAdmin (SPF, DKIM). Tools & Maintenance › System Mail Log is useful for seeing what MyBB tried to send.

4. Categories and forums

1. Go to Forums & Posts › Forum Management. Rename or delete the sample category and forum.
2. Use Add New Forum. Choose the type Category for a heading, or Forum for a board, and pick its parent.
3. Create three or four forums to start with. Drag or use the display order to arrange them.

Boards, categories and permissions has advice on structure.

5. Groups and forum permissions

MyBB starts with sensible groups: Guests, Registered, Awaiting Activation, Moderators, Super Moderators and Administrators. Group-wide abilities (can post, can send private messages, can upload an avatar) are set in Users & Groups › Groups.

To change who can see or post in a particular forum, open it in Forum Management and use its Permissions tab. For a members-only forum, untick the viewing permissions for Guests there. Check the result by logging out, or with a test account.

To appoint a moderator for one forum, use the forum’s Moderators tab; for the whole board, move the member into the Super Moderators group.

6. Add a responsive theme

This is the step new MyBB owners most often miss. The default MyBB 1.8 theme isn’t designed for phones, and many of your members will visit on one. Before launch, install a responsive theme:

1. Download a theme built for MyBB 1.8 from the MyBB Extend site or a reputable theme author.
2. Upload any image folder it includes with FTP or the DirectAdmin file manager, as its instructions say.
3. Import the theme’s XML file in Templates & Style › Themes › Import a Theme, then set it as the default.

Plugins are installed similarly: upload the files (usually into inc/plugins/ and sometimes other folders), then use Configuration › Plugins to install and activate. Extensions and themes covers doing this safely.

7. Two-factor login for the Admin CP

MyBB 1.8 supports two-factor authentication for the Admin CP using an authenticator app. It’s set up from the Admin CP’s own preferences on the Home tab; the MyBB 2FA documentation walks through it. Do this before you hand out moderator roles. More in securing admin accounts.

8. Updates and backups

MyBB releases security and maintenance updates within the 1.8 series; the Admin CP home page tells you when one is out. Back up first, then upgrade (Softaculous can do it for you). See keeping forum software updated and backing up your forum.

Where to learn more

• MyBB 1.8 documentation, the official guide.
• MyBB community forums for support.
• mybb.com for releases and the Extend library of plugins and themes.