Spring RTS Engine

I need some general info cause i don't get how it is all structured and im getting a bit lost and not sure where to start learning from.
I want to make a forum.
Lets say i am gonna host it on the spring server.

1)I need to install a database on the server as step 1?
2)than i need to install a php scrip or a bunch of scripts or a premade package of them like phpbb?

Which database should i install if its on the spring server?
I need to do all these installations using an scp client?

This all depends on the exact system you're going to be using. iirc, phpbb is very straightforward - I installed it once like a decade ago. You just need to install a MySQL instance and give the config file for phpbb the connection info. Then you go to the "install" page in phpbb and it will do all the database schema setup etc. for you.

Can i somehow do it all on my pc and than uplaod it all or is that not done usually?
I use windows xp.

Depends what you're using, but not usually done that way for a "I just want to deploy web-application X".

I mean, you *can* go that way, but it's trickier.

99% of what you'll be doing is uploading things and editing a handful of textfiles. Considering that the operating system is handling the web-hosting and everything, you won't be able to do anything useful on that WinXP box. The OS is part of the platform.

Most platforms will be easy enough to install, or nightmarish. Either it all goes smoothly or something goes wrong and you're trying to figure out which of a million things is at a slightly wrong version for the platform you choose.

But basically - most free web things like Drupal, phpBB, etc. are based on the standard stack of Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. If your host already has those 4 things installed for you, then all you have to do is copy your files over, set the proper permissions, hook them up to your database, and then hit the webpage to get the nice browser-based installation system that will set up the data for you.

So if the spring server has phpbb and mysql databse installed what do i actually need to do?
Or did you mean the interpreters?Also spring server is linux based?

Well, I don't know if phpbb allows multiple independant portals/datasets based on a single instance. I assume it does though.

What you'd probably have to do is install a second copy of phpbb in a second folder, and create a second phpbb database/schema/whatever terminology mySQL uses for it's datasets and point your copy of phpbb to that one.

I have no idea what Spring Server is running, but I'll wager it's some form of Linux.

Although you'll probably want some adult supervision for this, since I have no idea how well secured it is... it might be possible for you to do something silly like trashing all the existing SQL data.

If you're a bit clueless you might want to look at e.g. http://www.forumotion.com/. I've got a forum there too and it's pretty nice. You get all the technical stuff off your tail while still maintaining enough possibilities to change the forum the way you want it...

I'm actually in a similar position, I've designed my own phpbb skin with icons and stuff, got the exact idea of what I want, also got a testing site on my own host, when it's all complete, I'm hoping somebody here will give it some room on their server.

Currently trying to skin it, and it's proving more difficult than I first imagined, not helped by the fact there's hardly any tutorials or guides out there on how to actually create your own phpbb style.

its been a while but here's what i remember for phpbb + mysql:

you need:
- a new empty database (name, username & password). Note this is not a new installation, but a database instance set up within mysql. Generally, you ask the server administrator for a database and he will return the details (this leaves no chance for you to screw anything else up).
- ftp access (ftp url, ftp user & password)
- http url

then the install process goes:
- unzip phpbb files locally
- upload them via ftp
- browse to the http url
- as there is no database setup yet, you will get a configuration page
- enter configuration details (database details, create an admin account, title etc) and submit
- the database will be set up automatically and you're done

http://www.phpbb.com/community/docs/INSTALL.html

If you want a completely portable forum system that is really good, http://www.myupb.com (Doesn't require a mysql database)

The portability can be a godsend.