Can a PHP Form post the entered data to a PHPBB forum?

Valicus

Fairly new to this so, here is what I am trying to accomplish.

I have a web form, that e-mails the data successfully.
http://www.reventhusadon.com/application/index.html

I would like to get the data from the form to post to a specific section of our phpBB forum.
http://www.reventhusadon.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewforum.php?f=76

Is this possible?

I searched the forums here, but I don't think I saw a answer to this directly.

If you can point me to an existing post, or provide the info. here that would be appreciated.

bpat1434

Yes, it's possible, but you have to know how to work with phpBB and how it stores its information.

The "subject" would obviously need to be put in as the topic subject, while the body of the email is the first post. You can just enter it into the database and it will immediately reflect upon the forum the changes. I don't work with phpBB anymore, so I'm not sure of the exact table names, but it's possible.

Valicus

That is the basis of my thinking.

Taking the text that is generated from the submitted form,
and then some how have it post that info to the forum,
instead of e-mailing the text to me.

Any suggestions on the code to use to post text to a phpBB forum?
Doing so with a specific username / password would be ideal.

That way I can keep the forum security to Registered members only can post.

I have spent enough time deleting porn and other junk posted by "guest"

bpat1434

Well, for starters, you'd probably want to do a quick lookup on the email address to see if it's registered in your forum. Something like:

SELECT `user_id`, `username` FROM `phpbb_users` WHERE `user_email` = '[color=blue][i]User Input Email[/i][/color]' LIMIT 0,1

Then, if it comes back with a user ID, you know it's a valid user. Then you just need to insert the content into the proper topic table(s):

INSERT INTO `phpbb_posts` (`poster_id`, `poster_ip`, `post_time`, `post_username`, `post_subject`, `post_text`) VALUES (
'[color=blue][i]user_id[/i][/color]', '[color=blue][i]$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'][/i][/color]', NOW(), '[color=blue][i]username[/i][/color]', '[color=blue][i]User Supplied Subject[/i][/color]', '[color=blue][i]User Supplied Content[/i][/color]')

That should insert it into the posts table, then you just need to use [man]mysql_insert_id/man to get the last insert ID (which incidentally is the post_id 😉 and insert into the topics table the new topic:

INSERT INTO `phpbb_topics` (`forum_id`, `topic_title`, `topic_poster`, `topic_time`, `topic_first_post_id`, `topic_first_poster_name`) VALUES ( '[color=blue][i]Your specific Forum ID[/i][/color]', '[color=blue][i]User supplied Subject[/i][/color]', '[color=blue][i]user_id[/i][/color]', NOW(), '[color=blue][i]Result from mysql_insert_id()[/i][/color]', '[color=blue][i]username[/i][/color]')

That should be pretty-much about it. That's based off of phpBB 3.0.0 though, so it may need to change for 2.0. But those are the three queries you'd need to run in order to allow users to "create topics" in a specific forum via your web form.

Now, if you're going through all that trouble, wouldn't it be easier to just link them to the "Create a New Topic" section for that specific forum? So instead of filling out a generalized form, they could literally create their own topic, and if you subscribe to that specific forum, you'll be emailed every time there's a new topic or post 😉 Kills two birds with one stone really. And the link would be simple enough:
http://www.domain.com/phpBB/posting.php?mode=post&f=64

Valicus

Thank you.

The person filling out the form will not be a current member of the Forum.
I would need to have the form post as the same user each time. Which I will create for this use.

The "check for ID" code you provided wouldn't apply. They most likely will not have a forum ID yet.

What I am understanding is that the data output of the form will need to be added to the SQL Database in the appropriate tables.
This will in turn add it to the forums.

We are using this form, because it asks them the specific questions we need answered. Also, choosing from a list and such is easier on the end user to fill out.

We don't want poor forum posting skills to keep some one from applying.

Horizon88

This sounds like it could get ridiculously complicated hilariously quickly. Your easiest way would probably be to create a user account in phpBB, "Form Submissions" or similar, and then just dump the body of that email into your database as bpat suggested. Then inside the body of the post, just tack in their return email address or something.

Valicus

The code provided above should be added to the .php page that processes the form?

And I assume the Code in Blue means it needs to be changed to reflect the values that apply to my use of the code?

Lastly, what is the possibility of destroying the forum database with the insertion of (most likely) incorrect data as I attempt to get the code right?

bpat1434

1.) Yes, the code above are the SQL queries that will be required to add a post to your forum.

2.) The areas in blue need to be changed by you to reflect the user input. So whatever variables or $_POST items you add.

3.) It's always possible to destroy the database 😉 With the queries I've supplied, you shouldn't be able to do much. I'd suggest before you start testing that you backup the database just in case. Or better yet, install a new board which uses a different database and try your code out there, then once you have it right, move it over to the "live" board.

bonafidemike

I don't know if it's proper to bump old threads, I hope it's not a problem - I'm trying to do the same thing as Valicus, for a similar web site. We have an application form that I've coded, that I'd like to have create a post in the applications section of our forum (PHPBB3) upon submission.

I've used the snippets of code posted here, and I've managed to get it all to insert properly into the phpbb_posts and phpbb_topics tables, but that's it. It doesn't appear on the forum itself.

The forum I need it to appear on has the id '2', I believe. ?f=2

Is there any way to have the post appear under a "fake" user? One that doesn't exist, that doesn't have an e-mail address, if I have full access to the database and forums?

All I need is for the subject and message (data gathered from the application form put into a single variable ($post_text in my case) to appear as a new post in the application section of the forum (f=2).

I apologize if my terminology/explanation is poor, I'm still fairly new to PHP 😛

Valicus, if you're still around, it looks like you've got it to work. Is there any chance of my borrowing your apply.php to see how you did it?