The Joomla Forum Post Assistant

 

The Forum Post Assistant (FPA) script has been developed to assist forum posters to be able to post relevant system, instance, PHP and troubleshooting information directly in to a pre-formatted forum post. This will save a few hours of posting back and forth, asking for, and explaining how to acquire useful information in order for other forum users to help troubleshoot a problem.
This process also means that consistent information is gathered and presented in every case, enabling helpers to quickly target information relevant to the specific problem observed by the user.

Disclaimer
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
Accuracy and completeness of this script and documentation is not assured and no responsibility will be accepted for any damage, issues or confusion caused by using any FPA versions contained within these branches.

Feedback and Discussion
A discussion topic on the FPA tool is at: viewtopic.php?f=621&t=656394 Report any issues there.

Download:
Use these links to download the FPA:
Download .tar.gz version or Download the .zip version
NOTE: Do not download the FPA from any other website or links found on the Internet.

Compatibility:

• Apache 1.x, Apache 2.x, Apache 2.2.x, IIS6, IIS7, IIS7.5
• PHP 4.0.x, PHP 4.1.x, PHP 5.x.x, PHP 6DEV
• MySQL 3.2 - 5.5
• MySQLi from 4.1 ( @ >=PHP 4.4.9)
• Completely operating system independent

Joomla! Version Support:

• - v 1.0.x
• - v 1.5.x
• - v 1.6.x
• - v 1.7.x
• - v 2.5.x
• - v 3.x

IMPORTANT NOTES

In the given examples,

• Replace example.com with your own domain details.
• joomla_root/ refers to the directory(folder) where all the Joomla package files and directories are installed, and may not be the web_root/ of your server. You will have called the directory something else too.
• web_root/ refers to the main Web directory of your server. It may be called something else in your particular situation. You must check with your host or the documentation for your server if you are at all uncertain. Examples are:
  • htdocs/
  • www/
  • public_html/

Known Issues:
FPA is not currently fully compatible with Joomla websites that have had their configuration.php file moved outside of the web_root/ directory.

Installation:

1. Download the preferred FPA archive from the above links.
2. Uncompress (unzip/unarchive) the downloaded package file on to your own computer (using WinZip or another decompression tool).
3. READ the included README file for any special Release notes.
4. READ the included Documentation file for detailed usage instructions.
5. Upload the fpa-en.php script to your joomla_root / directory.
6. Run the script through your browser by entering: http://example.com/fpa-en.php. See examples below.

Installation Examples:

• Joomla! is installed in your web_root/ folder:
  1. Upload the fpa-en.php script to: <your_domain-name.com>/web_root/
  2. To run the script: http://example.com/fpa-en.php
• Joomla! is installed in a sub-directory named cms:
  
  1. Upload the fpa-en.php script to: <your_domain-name.com>/web_root/cms/
  2. To run the script: http://example.com/cms/fpa-en.php

Usage:
When called from your browser, the FPA will run and display the information it has gathered about your Joomla site and the server environment that your site is installed on.
You can use the information displayed by the FPA to assist you in troubleshooting your site or you you can continue with this instructions to post the information to the Joomla Forums.

Attachment:

File comment: FPA

fpa1.jpg [ 56.7 KiB | Viewed 10282 times ]

Using the FPA to make a post to a forum topic:

1. CLICK the Show the Forum Post Assistant link to open the Post Tool for generating the code that you need to add into your forum post.
2. Attachment:
   File comment: Show FPA
   
   fpa6.jpg [ 3.57 KiB | Viewed 10281 times ]
3. Enter a brief description of your problem.
4. Enter any error messages you have received. (Copying and pasting these into this panel is the most accurate way to achieve this)
5. Enter a brief description of any actions you have taken to resolve the issue (optional). (You may leave this information blank if desired, but providing what you can will usually help figure out the issue.)
   • Security options are best left at their default for posting in the forum.
   Attachment:
   File comment: Optional Description
   
   fpa2.jpg [ 6.43 KiB | Viewed 10281 times ]
6. Select the Run Time Options Detail Level for the report
7. Select the Information Privacy Level of the report (optional). (You may leave this information at the defaults, but providing additional information about installed extensions can usually help resolve your issue more successfully.)

Attachment:

File comment: Run-Time Options

fpa3.jpg [ 6.79 KiB | Viewed 10281 times ]

Generating the Post:

1. CLICK the Click Here To Generate Post button to build the forum post content using the information and options you selected above.
2. CLICK the Reset button to reset all the information and options selections displayed in Figures 1 and 2 to their default values.
3. If you get an Out of Memory or Execution Time Error when generating the post information:
   1. SELECT the Seeing PHP Out of Memory or Execution Time Errors? check box to temporarily
      increase PHP memory and execution times and
   2. CLICK the Click Here To Generate Post button to try generating the post again.

Attachment:

File comment: Generate Post

fpa4.jpg [ 5.56 KiB | Viewed 10281 times ]

Copying the Generated Information:

1. Place your computer cursor into the Post Detail box. It does not matter where within the code the cursor is.
2. Select all of the content by using the key combination CTRL(cmd) + A to select all of the code within the box.
3. Copy the contents selected to your computers clipboard by using the key combination CTRL(cmd) + C

Attachment:

File comment: Copy Results

fpa5.jpg [ 12.07 KiB | Viewed 10282 times ]

Inserting the information into a New Forum Posting:
If you have not made a posting in the appropriate Joomla forum for your version of Joomla about your particular issue, then take the steps below:

1. CLICK on the New Topic button.
2. Enter a descriptive subject for your topic. Avoid the phrase I was hacked! Or HELP!
3. In the message body, enter any additional information you think may be helpful in assisting with the issue your having.
   • Do not post any direct links to any infected sites, assumed nationality, hacker links or hacker names you found displaying on your site.
   • Do not post any additional personal security information that relates to your Web or database server
4. Paste the information from the FPA into the message body area using the CTRL(cmd) + V keyboard command. The correct forum format codes are already included in the post generation so there is no additional formatting needed of the generated code.
5. If you need to add pictures for clarity, use the attachment upload section of the forum post editor to add them now.
6. If you wish to preview the message before posting it, then CLICK the Preview button below the message body area.
7. When satisfied with your message, CLICK the Submit button that is below the message body area.

Inserting the information into an Existing Forum Thread:

• CLICK the Reply button to open the full forum post editor.
  OR
• At the bottom of an existing forum thread there is a Quick Reply message body area.
  You can use either method to post the FPA information into your existing forum thread:
  1. In the message body area, enter any additional information you think may be helpful in assisting with the issue you are having.
     • Do not post any direct links to any infected sites, assumed nationality, hacker links or hacker names you found displaying on your site.
     • Do not post any additional personal security information that relates to your Web or database server
  2. Paste the information from the FPA into the message body area using the CTRL(cmd) + V keyboard command. The correct forum format codes are already included in the post generation so there is no additional formatting needed of the generated code.
     NOTE: To add pictures to your post, for clarity, you must be using the Full Editor.
  3. If you decide you want to work in the full forum message editor instead:
     
     • CLICK the Full Editor button below the message body area (if working in the Quick Reply panel)
  4. To preview the message at any point before posting it:
     • CLICK the Preview button.
  5. When satisfied with your message:
     
     • CLICK the Submit button that is below the message body area.

 fpa7.jpg [ 78.09 KiB | Viewed 10281 times ]

Please remove the FPA script from your website or otherwise change the name once the script has generated the Site Data and the message has been prepared and posted to the forum. This is so outsiders can't take a look at how your site is structured and possibly utilize any flaws that may be present

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