PHP Scripts: BellaBuzz

BellaBuzz is an “Ask n Answer” script (also known as ‘faq’ script/basic knowledgebase). It was designed to replace the popular but insecure “Waks Ask and Answer”. It is simple to install and easy to customise, running on flat files instead of a complex MySQL database.

DOWNLOAD BELLABUZZ v2

Note: BellaBuzz 2 is not compatible with BellaBuzz v1/v1b question files due to the addition of the optional name field. To upgrade, you must first run bb1-to-bb2.php and paste the output into the correct .txt files.

BellaBuzz Features

  • Spam word and IP checks/blocking
  • Known spam-bot blocking
  • Basic flood control
  • Optional name field
  • Pagination as standard — in admin panel as well
  • Hidden field spambot ‘trap’

Installing BellaBuzz

Once you’ve downloaded the BellaBuzz Q&A script — it shouldn’t take long — extract the files using the built in Windows zip tool, WinZip, or your favourite archiving software. After extraction, you’ll want to rename the folder to something like “faq” or “ask” just to keep things tidy.

Open prefs.php and customise the options carefully. The options you choose must remain inside the quotation marks. E.g. if you want your username to be jimbo, you’d change $admin_name = "admin"; to: $admin_name = "jimbo";

When you’re all done, upload the whole lot to your website using your normal FTP client. You now need to use the chmod command to change the permission of the “.txt” files to 666 (or owner: read, write; group: read, write; world: read, write). If you get stuck, Google should be able to help you out.

That’s it! You can now customise your new FAQ script, or integrate it into your layout.

BellaBuzz Tutorials/Plugins

Modifications and tips for personalising BellaBuzz: