How to Install Invision Power Board

Invision Power Board is a forum software platform developed by Invision Power Services.  They offer a free version, Invision Free, that can be installed with its last version 1.3 or created on their own servers with ads.  Invision Free can be installed on a private web server and Invision Free databases can be imported into it with a little bit of effort.  The Invision Power Board platform evolved from the 1.3 final version of Invision Free.  Invision Power Board 3.0 is in beta testing stages and will be released within the year.  In the meant time, IPB 2.x.x is the current version being used by most license holders.

After purchasing an Invision Power Board license and download the software, you want to extract the files and upload the Upload folder to your web server.  Then, you want to open the installation documents and follow the CHMOD steps to make writeable the correct folders you need to access during the process.  Next, you can start the installation process by navigating to the install URL and clicking Start Installation.  You will have to enter in your database information followed by your administrator account information, the process will then walk through itself.  As long as no issues pop up, you will have the Invision Power Board software installed on your server.

The biggest error that arises during Invision Power Board is database setup.  Invision Power Board offers an easy to use installation launch pad.  However, if you have never setup a database before, you may run into issues if it is your first time.  If you do run into an issue, your installation will stop and a standard database issue will pop up.  If this occurs, you have to track down exactly what happened.  In some cases, you may not have fully uploaded all files and folders related to that database function.  You will have to go back, upload them and restart the process.