Using WP-United to Integrate WordPress with PHPBB3.0

• June 15, 2016
• Leave a comment

PHPBB is a forum developed in PHP that provides support for multiple database engines, user groups, plugins and various notification options, etc. This article will take you through a guide to integrate WordPress with PHPBB version 3.0.x, so that the user (who logged-in WordPress already) can automatically log-in to PHPBB forum (same in the case of log-out). If a user registers for WordPress, at the same time a user account will also be created in PHPBB forum and vice versa.

In order to integrate WordPress with PHPBB3.0, you need to have WP-United WordPress Plugin, WP-United MOD for PHPBB3.0 and FTP Access. Follow the steps mentioned below while modifying PHPBB forum files:

1- Install WP-United plugin in your WordPress. Once installation is done, activate the plugin. Now go to plugin Dashboard and select PHPBB installation config.php file.

2- You need to install WP-United MOD in PHPBB manually by downloading it from Github. Once it is downloaded, you can modify or add the following files in PHPBB forum:

1. phpbb_forum_root/includes/functions_content.php
2. phpbb_forum_root/memberlist.php
3. phpbb_forum_root/viewtopic.php
4. phpbb_forum_root/includes/functions.php
5. phpbb_forum_root/includes/functions_user.php
6. phpbb_forum_root/includes/acp/acp_main.php
7. phpbb_forum_root/style.php
8. phpbb_forum_root/styles/prosilver/template/overall_header.html
9. phpbb_forum_root/styles/prosilver/template/overall_footer.html
10. phpbb_forum_root/styles/prosilver/template/memberlist_view.html
11. phpbb_forum_root/styles/prosilver/template/viewtopic_body.html
12. phpbb_forum_root/styles/prosilver/template/editor.js
13. phpbb_forum_root/styles/prosilver/theme/common.css

After that, include the following files in MOD:

1. root/includes/hooks/hook_wp-united.php
2. root/language/
3. root/styles/
4. root/wp-united/

Now copy /root/includes/hooks/hook_wp-united.php file to phpbb_forum_root/includes/hooks/hook_wp-united.php, /root/language/ file to phpbb_forum_root /language/, /root/styles/ file to phpbb_forum_root/styles/ and /root/wp-united/ file to phpbb_forum_root/wp-united/ respectively. After this, refresh the WP-United Admin Dashboard page and click on Connect button.

The MOD is installed but not connected yet.

3- You need to modify the functions oriented files (like PHP files) mentioned below to get the MOD activated, using the following manual instructions carefully:

1. Open includes/functions_content.php file, find function make_clickable($text, $server_url = false, $class = ‘postlink’) line of code and replace it with:
   
   if (!function_exists('make_clickable')) { function make_clickable($text, $server_url = false, $class = 'postlink') { global $wpu_actions, $phpbb_root_path, $phpEx; require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); return $wpu_actions->do_make_clickable($text, $server_url, $class); } } function phpbb_make_clickable($text, $server_url = false, $class = 'postlink')

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

   if (!function_exists('make_clickable')) {       function make_clickable($text, $server_url = false, $class = 'postlink')       {               global $wpu_actions, $phpbb_root_path, $phpEx;               require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx);               return $wpu_actions->do_make_clickable($text, $server_url, $class);       } } function phpbb_make_clickable($text, $server_url = false, $class = 'postlink')

2. Open memberlist.php file, find the following lines of code:
   
   if (!empty($profile_fields['row'])) {

   1 2	if (!empty($profile_fields['row'])) {

   
   Now add the following before the above mentioned lines of code:
   
   require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->generate_profile_link($member['user_wpublog_id'], $template);

   1 2	require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->generate_profile_link($member['user_wpublog_id'], $template);

3. Open viewtopic.php file, find the following lines of code:
   
   } $db->sql_freeresult($result); // Load custom profile fields if ($config['load_cpf_viewtopic'])

   1 2 3 4 5

   } $db->sql_freeresult($result);   // Load custom profile fields if ($config['load_cpf_viewtopic'])

   
   Now add the following before the above mentioned lines of code:
   
   require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->generate_viewtopic_link($row['user_wpublog_id'], $user_cache[$poster_id]);

   1 2	require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->generate_viewtopic_link($row['user_wpublog_id'], $user_cache[$poster_id]);

   
   In the same file, find the following lines of code:
   
   // Dump vars into template $template->assign_block_vars('postrow', $postrow);

   1 2	// Dump vars into template $template->assign_block_vars('postrow', $postrow);

   
   Now add the following before the above mentioned lines of code:
   
   $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->show_viewtopic_link($user_cache[$poster_id], $postrow);

   1	$GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->show_viewtopic_link($user_cache[$poster_id], $postrow);

4. Open includes/functions.php file, find the following lines of code:
   
   function phpbb_check_hash($password, $hash) {

   1 2	function phpbb_check_hash($password, $hash) {

   
   Now put the following after the above mentioned lines of code:
   
   /** * Modified by WP-United to allow portability between phpBB and other packages, as phpBB * applies htmlentities to inbound passwords via it's request_var function. */ $result = wpu_original_phpbb_check_hash($password, $hash); if($result) { return $result; } $portable_password = isset($_REQUEST['password']) ? (string) $_REQUEST['password'] : ''; $portable_password = (!STRIP) ? addslashes($portable_password) : $portable_password; if(empty($portable_password) || ($portable_password == $password)) { return $result; } return wpu_original_phpbb_check_hash($portable_password, $hash); } function wpu_original_phpbb_check_hash($password, $hash) {

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

   /**   *  Modified by WP-United to allow portability between phpBB and other packages, as phpBB      * applies htmlentities to inbound passwords via it's request_var function.      */           $result = wpu_original_phpbb_check_hash($password, $hash);           if($result)      {               return $result;      }           $portable_password = isset($_REQUEST['password']) ? (string) $_REQUEST['password'] : '';      $portable_password = (!STRIP) ? addslashes($portable_password) : $portable_password;           if(empty($portable_password) || ($portable_password == $password))      {               return $result;      }           return wpu_original_phpbb_check_hash($portable_password, $hash); }   function wpu_original_phpbb_check_hash($password, $hash) {

5. Open includes/functions_user.php file, find function validate_username($username, $allowed_username = false) line of code and replace it with the following:
   
   if(!function_exists('validate_username') && (!defined('WPU_BLOG_PAGE'))) { function validate_username($username, $allowed_username = false) { return phpbb_validate_username($username, $allowed_username); } } function phpbb_validate_username($username, $allowed_username = false)

   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

   if(!function_exists('validate_username') && (!defined('WPU_BLOG_PAGE'))) {          function validate_username($username, $allowed_username = false)          {                  return phpbb_validate_username($username, $allowed_username);          } } function phpbb_validate_username($username, $allowed_username = false)

6. Open includes/acp/acp_main.php file, find $cache->purge(); line of code and add the following after it:
   
   require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->purge_cache();

   1 2	require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->purge_cache();

4- Now, edit the following remaining files to complete the integration:

1. Open style.php file, find echo $theme[‘theme_data’]; line of code and add the following before it:
   
   require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); $theme['theme_data'] = $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->css_magic($theme['theme_data']);

   1 2	require_once($phpbb_root_path . 'wp-united/wpu-actions.' . $phpEx); $theme['theme_data'] = $GLOBALS['wpu_actions']->css_magic($theme['theme_data']);

2. Open styles/prosilver/template/overall_header.html file, find <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd”> line of code and replace it with <!– IF WP_DTD –>{WP_DTD}<!– ELSE –><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd”><!– ENDIF –>.Now find <title>{SITENAME} &bull; <!– IF S_IN_MCP –>{L_MCP} &bull; <!– ELSEIF S_IN_UCP –>{L_UCP} &bull; <!– ENDIF –>{PAGE_TITLE}</title> line of code and add the following after it:
   
   <!-- IF PHPBB_BASE --><base href="{PHPBB_BASE}" /><!-- ENDIF →

   1	<!-- IF PHPBB_BASE --><base href="{PHPBB_BASE}" /><!-- ENDIF →

   
   Find <script type=”text/javascript”> line of code and add the following before it:
   
   <!-- IF WP_HEADERINFO_EARLY -->{WP_HEADERINFO_EARLY}<!-- ENDIF -->

   1	<!-- IF WP_HEADERINFO_EARLY -->{WP_HEADERINFO_EARLY}<!-- ENDIF -->

   
   Find </head> and add the following before it:
   
   <!-- IF WP_HEADERINFO_LATE -->{WP_HEADERINFO_LATE}<!-- ENDIF -->

   1	<!-- IF WP_HEADERINFO_LATE -->{WP_HEADERINFO_LATE}<!-- ENDIF -->

   
   Find <li class=”icon-faq”><a href=”{U_FAQ}” title=”{L_FAQ_EXPLAIN}”>{L_FAQ}</a></li> and add the following after it:
   
   <!-- IF S_BLOG --><li class="icon-members"><a href="{U_BLOG}" title="{L_BLOG}">{L_BLOG}</a></li><!-- ENDIF →

   1	<!-- IF S_BLOG --><li class="icon-members"><a href="{U_BLOG}" title="{L_BLOG}">{L_BLOG}</a></li><!-- ENDIF →

3. Open styles/prosilver/template/overall_footer.html file, find <!– IF TRANSLATION_INFO –><br />{TRANSLATION_INFO}<!– ENDIF → line of code and add the following after it:
   
   <!-- IF WP_CREDIT --><br />{WP_CREDIT}<!-- ENDIF -->

   1	<!-- IF WP_CREDIT --><br />{WP_CREDIT}<!-- ENDIF -->

4. Open styles/prosilver/template/memberlist_view.html file, find the following lines of code:
   
   <dt>{postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_NAME}:</dt> <dd>{postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_VALUE}</dd> <!-- ENDIF →

   1 2	<dt>{postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_NAME}:</dt> <dd>{postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_VALUE}</dd> <!-- ENDIF →

   
   Now add the following after the above mentioned lines of code:
   
   <!-- IF U_BLOG_LINK --> <dt>{L_BLOG}:</dt> <dd><a href="{U_BLOG_LINK}" title="{L_VISIT_BLOG}" >{L_VISIT_BLOG}</a></dd> <!-- ENDIF -->

   1 2 3

   <!-- IF U_BLOG_LINK -->    <dt>{L_BLOG}:</dt> <dd><a href="{U_BLOG_LINK}" title="{L_VISIT_BLOG}" >{L_VISIT_BLOG}</a></dd> <!-- ENDIF -->

5. Open styles/prosilver/template/viewtopic_body.html file, find the following lines of code:
   
   <dd><strong>{postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_NAME}:</strong> {postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_VALUE}</dd> <!-- ENDIF →

   1 2	<dd><strong>{postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_NAME}:</strong> {postrow.PROFILE_FIELD1_VALUE}</dd> <!-- ENDIF →

   
   Now add the following after the above mentioned lines of code:
   
   <!-- IF postrow.U_BLOG_LINK --> <dd><strong>{L_BLOG}:</strong> <a href="{postrow.U_BLOG_LINK}" title="{L_VISIT_BLOG}" >{L_VISIT_BLOG}</a></dd> <!-- ENDIF -->

   1 2 3

   <!-- IF postrow.U_BLOG_LINK -->        <dd><strong>{L_BLOG}:</strong> <a href="{postrow.U_BLOG_LINK}" title="{L_VISIT_BLOG}" >{L_VISIT_BLOG}</a></dd> <!-- ENDIF -->

6. Open styles/prosilver/template/editor.js file, find document.write(‘<td bgcolor=”#’ + color + ‘” style=”width: ‘ + width + ‘px; height: ‘ + height + ‘px;”>’); line of code and replace it with document.write(‘<td bgcolor=”#’ + color + ‘” style=”width: ‘ + width + ‘px; height: ‘ + height + ‘px; background-color: #’ + color + ‘;”>’);.Note: Make this alteration only if you are using template integration because it is done for the compatibility of PHPBB forum with default WordPress template.
7. Open styles/prosilver/theme/common.css file, find the following lines of code:
   
   h1 { /* Forum name */

   1 2	h1 {         /* Forum name */

   
   Now replace it with the following:
   
   h1, #page-header h1 { /* Forum name */ padding: 0; text-align: left;

   1 2 3 4

   h1, #page-header h1 {          /* Forum name */          padding: 0;          text-align: left;

   
   In the same file, find #site-description { line of code and add the following after it:
   
   text-align: left;

   1	text-align: left;

5- Go to WP-United Admin Dashboard, refresh it and then click on Connect button. You are done as WordPress and PHPBB 3.0 are integrated now.

6- Before doing any testing, complete the steps mentioned below:

1. Remove PHPBB cache. For this, go to phpbb_root_dir/cache/ folder and delete all the files.
2. Open phpbb_root_dir/rokbb3.php file and find the following code on line number 153:
   
   function get_avatar()

   1	function get_avatar()

   
   Now wrap the function deceleration with the following code:
   
   if(!function_exists(get_avatar()))

   1	if(!function_exists(get_avatar()))

3. Now try to login from WordPress and check that a login session has been created automatically or not while navigating towards PHPBB forum in PHPBB forum.
4. Similarly try to login from PHPBB forum and check that a login session has been created automatically or not while navigating towards WordPress in WordPress.
5. If you get an error message like:
   You need to remove this error. For this, open phpbb_root_dir/includes /startup.php file and find the following code in line number 22:
   
   error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_DEPRECATED);

   1	error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_DEPRECATED);

   
   Now replace it with error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE & ~E_DEPRECATED & ~E_STRICT); code. If you have activated a different theme in your PHPBB forum rather than prosilver, then repeat the same steps with the activated theme as you  have done with prosilver.

7- In case of any error, make sure that your PHPBB Server Settings (especially “script path“) and WordPress Settings are correct. After that, try re-installing.

If you are getting blank pages, turn on PHP error reporting or look into your Server log so that you can find the underlying cause of problem that persists.