PHP Programming Language - Cultural View

phpBB 232
phpBB2
phpBB2 was the predecessor of the present-day
phpBB3. Developed during 2001-2002, the
source code was written primarily to run on PHP
3.0 and 4.0 (version 2.0.13 upped the minimum
requirement to PHP 4.0.3 due to a necessary
security fix), and by the time that phpBB3 was
released in late 2007, the developers and other
team members felt that it no longer met their
quality coding standards, and announced plans
for the retirement/end of support of 2.0.x within
a few months of 3.0.0's release. [38] phpBB2 was
never officially supported under PHP 5.
Although many users had no problems running it
A default installation of phpBB 2.0.
after making a few changes to PHP 5's default configuration settings, the teams chose not to offer support for this
configuration. [39]
Official support for phpBB2 ended on January 1, 2009, [40] and the 2.0.x support forums have been locked.
Furthermore all development for phpBB2, including security patches, has ceased as of February 1, 2009. [38]
However, a number of unofficial support sites for phpBB2 have formed to fill the void and will likely continue
supporting phpBB2 indefinitely.
Many administrators still prefer to run phpBB2 because it provides a much simpler administration interface and has a
thriving ecosystem of MODs (modifications) and styles that allow admins many options for customising the software
to their liking. Others still run phpBB2 because they have installed many MODs, none of which are compatible with
phpBB3.
The default theme in phpBB2 is named subSilver, and was designed by Tom "subBlue" Beddard. At the time that it
premiered in 2001, it was a revolutionary new design for bulletin boards, and many bulletin board themes since have
borrowed many cues and design elements from subSilver.
Some of phpBB2's major features included the following:
• A templated style system intended to allow easy customisation that keeps the PHP code separate from the HTML.
• Support for internationalisation through a language pack system; 48 translations are available for phpBB2 as of
2007. [41]
• Compatibility with multiple database management systems including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL
Server, and Microsoft Access,
• Code and interface customisations, termed MODs and styles. [42]
The last official release of the 2.0.x line is 2.0.23, released on February 17, 2008. [43] However, the code for phpBB
2.0.24 still remains, unreleased, in the SVN repository.
Future development
On June 10, 2009, phpBB's Development Team revealed that the next phpBB3 release, 3.0.6, will include a
significant number of new features. [44] This is unusual for a minor release which is typically limited to bug and
security fixes. New features will include support for new CAPTCHA plugins, ATOM feeds, support for new cache
plugins (XCache, Alternative PHP Cache, eAccelerator, Memcache, and a "null" no-cache plugin), and quick reply
(an often-requested feature by a subset of phpBB users) among other minor feature additions. phpBB 3.0.6 has had
four RC releases and its final release was on November 17, 2009.