Getting started with SMF: your first hour as admin

This guide assumes you’ve installed SMF with Softaculous (see installing forum software) and can log in. Menu names are from SMF 2.1; if a label differs slightly in your version, the setting will be nearby.

Getting around the Administration Center

Log in and choose Admin in the main menu. SMF asks for your password again before opening the Administration Center. The left-hand menu is grouped into sections such as Main, Configuration, Forum, Members and Maintenance. There’s also a search box at the top of the Administration Center that finds settings by name.

1. Core features and basic settings

SMF switches whole features on and off in Configuration › Core Features. Worth enabling on a new forum: post moderation (so you can hold new members’ posts for approval), reported posts handling, and the warning system. Then look through Features and Options for the forum’s name, timezone and time format.

2. Registration and spam, before anything else

1. Members › Registration › settings: choose Email Activation as the method of registration, or Admin Approval if you want to approve every member. There’s also a place for registration agreement text; point it at your community guidelines.
2. In the Anti-Spam settings (in the Configuration section), require verification on registration, set up two or three verification questions only people interested in your subject would know, and pick a visual verification level. SMF 2.1 also supports reCAPTCHA if you add a key from Google.
3. With post moderation enabled, use permissions so new members’ first posts wait for approval. Preventing forum spam explains the approach.

3. Make sure email works

SMF sends activation emails and notifications, so test before you invite anyone. In Configuration › Server Settings, make sure the webmaster email is a mailbox on your own domain (the admin search box finds the mail sending options too). Register a test account with an address at another provider; if nothing arrives, check SPF and DKIM in DirectAdmin (SPF, DKIM).

4. Categories and boards

1. Go to Forum › Boards. SMF creates a sample category and board; rename or remove them.
2. Create a category, then add three or four boards to it. Each board has settings for which membergroups can see it and which permission profile it uses.
3. Child boards (sub-boards) are possible, but leave them until a board is busy enough to split.

5. Membergroups and permission profiles

This is where SMF shines, and it’s simpler than it first looks. There are two layers:

• Which groups can see a board is set on the board itself. To make a members-only board, untick Guests there. To make a committee board, create a membergroup (Members › Membergroups), add the right people and allow only that group.
• What groups can do in a board comes from its permission profile (Members › Permissions). SMF ships with profiles such as default, no polls, reply only and read only. Give an announcements board the read-only profile, for example, so members can read but only staff post.

Board moderators are set per board. Check your work by viewing the forum as a guest and with a test account.

6. Turn on two-factor login

SMF 2.1 has two-factor authentication built in, using any authenticator app. Make sure it’s enabled in the security settings (admins can allow it, or require it), then switch it on in your own profile’s account settings. Ask every moderator to do the same. See securing admin accounts.

7. Themes and packages

SMF 2.1’s default theme, Curve2, is responsive and perfectly good to launch with. When you want a change:

• Themes are installed in Configuration › Themes and Layout (upload the theme’s zip, or install from a folder you uploaded). Traxio publishes free SMF themes if you’d like a modern starting point.
• Packages (modifications) are installed with the Package Manager, which shows exactly which files a package changes before you apply it.

Only install packages that list your SMF version as supported. Extensions and themes covers doing it safely.

8. Updates and backups

The Administration Center front page shows the latest SMF news and whether an update is available. Back up first, then update (Softaculous can handle it). See keeping forum software updated and backing up your forum.

Where to learn more

• SMF online manual, the official documentation.
• Simple Machines community forum for support.
• SMF Customization Site for packages and themes.