InstantASP Support » Knowledgebase

Unable to login to either InstantForum or InstantKB using IE10

Ryan Healey — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:11:51 GMT

Using Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) on Windows 8 you are not able to login to either InstantForum or InstantKB.

The reason for this is that there is a known bug in the server (IIS), not in Internet Explorer or our software. IIS does not know about IE10 and cannot send an appropriate response. IIS is not aware that IE10 can accept cookies. If you apply regular windows updates to your server this issue should automatically be resolved by Microsoft updates.

You can read more on this issue via the Microsoft connect site below...

http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/662275/asp-net-user-agent-sniffing-and-ie10-internet-explorer-10

To force IE10 to use cookies you can modify the web.config file. In the InstantForum or InstantKB web site folder open the web.config file within NotePad or similar plain-text editor. Locate the <authentication> element and change or add the “cookieless” attribute as shown below…

<authentication mode="Forms">
<forms name="InstantASP" cookieless="UseCookies" loginUrl="Logon.aspx" protection="All" slidingExpiration="true" path="/"/>
</authentication>
Please Note

This will only resolve the authentication cookie. If you use cookies in other areas of your web site and wish to ensure IE10 accepts all cookies issued by your site you may need to apply the global hotfixes provided by Microsoft linked to below. As this is an issue with IIS and not our software I’m afield we cannot provide any support installing the Microsoft hotfixes. We would of course suggest testing these updates locally. The hotfixes are executable files that will need to be run on the server.

.NET 4

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2600088

.NET 2

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2600100
Win7 SP1/Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows Vista/Server 2008, Windows XP/Server 2003

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2608565
Win7/Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM

Error after compiling in Visual Studio 2012 - Void InstantASP.Common.Data.DataProvider

Ryan Healey — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:30:59 GMT

After rebuilding / compiling InstantForum 2012 or InstantKB 2011 within Visual Studio 2012 I receive the following error…

Method not found: Void InstantASP.Common.Data.DataProvider. ctor.

You can see this below…

Solution

To resolve this problem you’ll need to update the InstantASP.Common.Data reference within the InstantASP.Common project.

1. Right click your InstantASP.Common project within the Solution Explorer
2. Select “Project Properties” from the Context Menu
3. Click on “References” within the project properties pane that appears
4. Locate and click the InstantASP.Common.Data reference
5. Update the properties for this reference and ensure “Copy Local” is set to “True”

If you don’t see the properties panel when you click the InstantASP.Common.Data reference you may need to enable the properties pane. To do this simply open your “VIEW” menu within Visual Studio and click the “Properties Window” option.

Once you’ve set this reference to copy locally rebuild the entire solution (CTRL+SHIFT+F5). Visit your installation within a web browser and the error should be resolved.

InstantForum Editor Not Visible

Ryan Healey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:24:39 GMT

After installing InstantForum and browsing to the post page you don’t see any rich text / WYSIWYG editor. You only see a standard text area field when posting.

Are you using .NET 4.0? If so you'll need to use the .NET 4.0 web.config provided within the InstantForum download. You can find this by default in the root of the InstantForum web application folder entitled Web.Config_NET40

To resolve simply rename the existing default ASP.NET 2.0 web.config to webOld.config. Rename the ASP.NET 4.0 Web.Config_NET40 to web.config and update your database connection string.

Be careful when renaming your web.config. Don't rename this to a file extension that will be served to clients. For example don't use webold.txt.
Once you've confirmed the editor is working you may wish to remove the webOLD.config file.

If you’re using the .NET 2.0 web.config under a .NET 4.0 application pool this can cause the rich text / WYSIWYG editor to not appear. You will simply see a text area. Once you apply the .NET 4.0 web.config this should resolve the problem.

If the problem continues please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

Using InstantKB.NET 2011 Under .NET 4.0

Ryan Healey — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:04:22 GMT

By default InstantKB.NET 2011 targets .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. To run InstantKB .NET 2011 under a .NET 4.0 application pool there are a few changes required to the web.config file.

To assist customers looking to runInstantKB .NET 2011 under .NET 4.0 we've provided a .NET 4.0 web.config file attached below. You should copy this web.config file into the root of yourInstantKB .NET 2011 web application folder replacing the existing web.config file.

You will need to update the database connection string to point to yourInstantKB .NET 2011 database once you apply this web.config. This should resolve any issues runningInstantKB.NET under .NET 4.0.

If you have any questions with regards to this article or using InstantForum.NET under .NET 4.0 please don't hesitate to open a support ticket orcontact us.

Using InstantForum.NET 2012 under .NET 4.0

Ryan Healey — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:48:53 GMT

By default InstantForum.NET 2012 targets .NET 3.5 SP1. To run InstantForum.NET 2012 under a .NET 4.0 application pool there are a few changes required to the web.config file.

To assist customers looking to run InstantForum.NET under .NET 4.0 we've provided a .NET 4.0 web.config file attached below for InstantForum.NET 2012. You should copy this web.config file into the root of your InstantForum.NET 2012 web application folder replacing the existing web.config file.

You will need to update the database connection string to point to your InstantForum.NET 2012 database once you apply this web.config. This should resolve any issues running InstantForum.NET under .NET 4.0.

This web.config will also resolve the "A potentially dangerous Request Form value was detected" issue as that affected .NET 4.0 installation.

If you have any questions with regards to this article or using InstantForum.NET under .NET 4.0 please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

Request format is unrecognized for URL unexpectedly ending in ???

Ryan Healey — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:41:44 GMT

After installing InstantForum.NET 2012 I receive the following error when composing topics or replies within the rich text editor.

Exception type: InvalidOperationException

Exception message: Request format is unrecognized for URL unexpectedly ending in '/ParseForPreview'.

To resolve this problem please follow the steps below…

1. Open your InstantForum.NET 2012 web.config file within NotePad or similar.

2. Add the entire <webServices> element as shown inside the <System.Web> element.

<system.web>

<webServices>
<protocols>
<add name="HttpGet"/>
<add name="HttpPost"/>
</protocols>
</webServices>
3. Save and replace your web.config.

These steps should resolve this exception. If the problem continues of course please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

Image Resizing & InstantForum.NET

Ryan Healey — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:12:33 GMT

InstantForum.NET allows your users to upload images within posts. This article is intended to help explain how you can control these image sizes within InstantForum.NET and the options we have to help.

With InstantForum.NET we offer two images resizing options.

1. A physical resize in which all uploaded images will be physically downsized before they are saved to disk on the wb server. This can be helpful for example if you don't want to allow any uploaded image to be larger than say 1024x768..

You can specify the maximum physical image dimensions via Permission Sets. You'll need to ensure your logged into your Admin CP. Click Manage Permissions on the left. You will need to edit each permission set and locate the "Maximum image dimensions? (WxH)" option. Set this to your desired dimensions. Images larger than these dimensions will be physically resized whilst maintaining the original aspect ratio before they are saved on your web server.

2. The other resizing option is designed to ensure images are displayed correctly within posts. Within the InstantForum.NET Admin CP > Forum Settings page we have an option called ""Force Image Resize". This allows you to provide the maximum width of images that are displayed within posts.

Images wider than this width will be dynamically resized at runtime through JavaScript to the maximum width whilst preserving the original aspect ratio. This is helpful if your site is constrained in width to say 800 pixels but you wish to allow larger images. This will still allow for large images but will resize images within posts to fit the maximum width you specified in the "Force Image Resize:" text box.

For example if you provide a value of 500 within the "Force Image Resize:" text box all images within posts that exceed 500 pixels wide will be resized to generate a thumbnail. You can then click this thumbnail to see the larger image. The lager image is constrained by the physical dimensions you can set as discussed in option one above.

Please note the ""Force Image Resize" option is new for InstantForum.NET 2012 and does not appear earlier versions.

Further Help & Support

If we can assist with any questions with regards to image resizing within InstantForum.NET please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

A potentially dangerous Request Form value was detected from the client

Ryan Healey — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:42:24 GMT

After installing InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET under .NET 4.0 you may receive the following error when trying to save articles or post topics with HTML inside...

A potentially dangerous Request.Form value was detected from the client (strSearchEventArgsXML="<s/>").
Resolution

1. Open your web.config file and locate the <httpRuntime> element This may look like...

<httpRuntime maxRequestLength="30720" />

2. Update the httpRuntime element and add the requestValidationMode attribute as shown below...

That's It!

Implementing these suggestions should resolve this exception message. If you require further assistance please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

Uploading Large Files (80mb+) with InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET

Ryan Healey — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 23:12:33 GMT

If your attempting to upload files within either InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET and the upload times out or you receive a 404 page half way through the upload please add the following tags to your InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET web.config files….

With both InstantForum.NET and InstantKB.NET you'll need to modify the existing <httpRuntime/> element within the web.config as shown below…

For IIS7 you'll need to add the entire <security/> element below to your <System.WebServer/> element…

<system.webServer>
<security>
<requestFiltering>
<requestLimits maxAllowedContentLength="524288000"/>
</requestFiltering>
</security>
</system.webServer>

If you still experience problems uploading large files please also modify the connection timeout property within IIS as shown below…

We hope this helps. If we can assist as always please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

How to restict / force login for InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET

Ryan Healey — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 13:21:45 GMT

One if the requirements we see over and over again with both InstantForum.NET & InstantKB.NET is the ability for customers to restict access to all but the login & registration page for anonymous users. This is useful for example if you wish to enforce registration before users can view your forum or knowledgebase.

Thankfully this is quite straight-forward with both InstantForum.NET & InstantKB.NET and can be achieve by adding standard <authorization> tags to your web.config to restrict access to specific areas based on the role / member group the current user belongs to.

For example…

Use the following code to restrict access to all but the login & register page for anonymous users within InstantForum.NET.

<location path="">
<location path="">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow roles="Administrators,Forum+Members,Moderators,Awaiting+Activation" />
        <deny users="*" />
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>



<location path="Register.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

<location path="CaptchaImage.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

<location path="ConfirmationMessage.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

<location path="Logout.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

<location path="Logon.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

InstantKB.NET

Use the following code to restrict access to all but the login & register page for anonymous users within InstantKB.NET.

<location path="">
<location path="">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow roles="Administrators,Registered+Members,Moderators+Staff,Awaiting+Activation" />
        <deny users="*" />
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>



<location path="Register.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

<location path="CaptchaImage.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

<location path="ConfirmationMessage.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

<location path="Logout.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

<location path="Logon.aspx">
    <system.web>
      <authorization>
        <allow users="*"/>
      </authorization>
    </system.web>
</location>

Where do I place this code?

You should add these tags just below the closing </appSettings> element within the web.config file.

I have defined custom groups how can I handle these?

You can add the name of any custom member group you create within InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET to the allow / deny roles element. For example lets say you create a member group called "Internal Staff" and you wanted to allow these access to all pages.

You would modify the allow roles element as shown below...

Ensure you separate groups / roles with a comma and also use a plus "+" character to indicate a space within the group name.

After applying the tags above any visitor who does not have access to a page will be redirected to the URL / location specified within the LoginURL attribute of the <forns> element. For example…

You can update the "loginUrl" to point to your own login page if you have one in place. Any user who then attempts to access a page they don't have permission to will be redirected to your login page.

If you leave this as default users will be redirected to the standard forum login.

To ensure InstantForum.NET & InstantKB.NET store the users roles within the forms authentication cookie you'll need to ensure the following application setting within the web.config is set to true…

Role checks will NOT work if "InstantASP_StoreRolesInFormsAuthenticationTicket" is set to false.

You can apply these techniques to other pages within InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET. We hope this information helps. If it's helped you please rate the article below. As always if we can assist further don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

Build Errors In VS after installing Active Directory Module

Ryan Healey — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 14:35:12 GMT

After copying either the InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET Active Directory Module into your InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET installation folder you may receive build errors when attempting to compile the solution in Visual Studio.NET. For example…

Cause

This is caused because the web site & InstantASP.InstantKB.UI or InstantASP.InstantForum.UI projects by default do not have a reference to the InstantASP.LDAP.dll. When you apply the Active Directory code several pages & user controls are replaced which inherit classes from within the InstantASP.LDAP.dll.

To resolve build errors you'll need to add a reference to both the web site project and code-behind projects.

Add InstantASP.LDAP.dll references to Web Site

1. Within Visual Studio.NET locate your web site project. Right click the project and choose "Add Reference" as shown below…

2. From within the Add Reference dialog click the "Browse" tab and navigate to the InstantForum2010\Bin or InstantKB2011\Bin folder where you should fine the InstantASP.LDAP.dll as shown below.

Select the "InstantASP.LDAP.dll" and click "OK". This will add a reference to this assembly from the web site project.

Add InstantASP.LDAP.dll reference to InstantASP.InstantForum.UI or InstantASP.InstantKB.UI

1. Within Visual Studio.NET locate your InstantASP.InstantForum.UI or InstantASP.InstantKB.UI project. Right click the project and choose "Add Reference" as shown below…

2. From within the Add Reference dialog click the "Browse" tab and navigate to the InstantForum2010\Bin or InstantKB2011\Bin folder where you should fine the InstantASP.LDAP.dll as shown below.

Select the "InstantASP.LDAP.dll" and click "OK". This will add a reference to this assembly from the code-behind project.

Update WinLogin.aspx.vb

Depending on which version of the Active Directory module your using you may need to update the "WinLogin.aspx.vb" file within the web site project to read as shown below….

InstantKB.NET (WinLogin.aspx.vb)

Option Strict On
Option Explicit On
Partial Class WinLogin
    Inherits InstantASP.InstantKB.UI.Base.Page
    Protected Overloads Sub Page_PreInit(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.PreInit
        'setup(MasterPage)
        Me.MasterPageFile = "MasterPage.master"
        ' call base method
        MyBase.Page_PreInit(sender, e)
    End Sub
End Class

InstantForum.NET (WinLogin.aspx.vb)

Option Strict On
Option Explicit On
Partial Class WinLogin
    Inherits InstantASP.InstantForum.UI.Base.Page
    Protected Overloads Sub Page_PreInit(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.PreInit
        'setup(MasterPage)
        Me.MasterPageFile = "MasterPage.master"
        ' call base method
        MyBase.Page_PreInit(sender, e)
    End Sub
End Class

You should now be able to build the solution as before without any build errors…

That's It!

After making the three changes above the InstantKB.NET or InstantForum.NET solution will build correctly with the Active Directory Module installed within Visual Studio.NET. If you do see any additional build errors or indeed have any questions please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

404 Errors After Enabling Search Engine Friendly (SEO) URLs in IIS7

Ryan Healey — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 15:46:50 GMT

If you enable Search Engine Friendly URLs within InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET under Internet Information Services 7 (IIS7) you may receive a 404 error when navigating to pages that use URL Rewritting. For example….

To resolve this problem and to ensure all requests are processed by the URL rewriting HTTP module please follow the steps below…

Ensure your running InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET under a "Integrated" IIS7 Application Pool.
Ensure the <modules> section within your web.config reads exactly as shown below. Please ensure the "runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests" attribute is set to "true" within the <modules> element as highlighted below...

<system.webServer>
  <validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration="false" />
  <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
   <remove name="ScriptModule" />
   <add name="ScriptModule" preCondition="managedHandler" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35" />
   <add name="SecurityModule" preCondition="managedHandler" type="InstantASP.Common.HttpModule.SecurityModule, InstantASP.Common" />
   <add name="ServiceModule" preCondition="managedHandler" type="InstantASP.Common.HttpModule.ServiceModule, InstantASP.Common" />
   <add name="EmailModule" preCondition="managedHandler" type="InstantASP.Common.HttpModule.EmailModule, InstantASP.Common" />
   <add name="RewriterModule" preCondition="managedHandler" type="InstantASP.InstantForum.HttpModule.URLRewritterModule, InstantASP.InstantForum" />
   <add name="ForumModule" preCondition="managedHandler" type="InstantASP.InstantForum.HttpModule.ForumModule, InstantASP.InstantForum" />
  </modules>
</system.webServer>

<system.webServer>
  <validation validateIntegratedModeConfiguration="false" />
  <modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
   <remove name="ScriptModule"/>
   <remove name="Session" />
   <add name="Session" type="System.Web.SessionState.SessionStateModule, System.Web, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a"/>
   <add name="ScriptModule" preCondition="managedHandler" type="System.Web.Handlers.ScriptModule, System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
   <add name="EmailModule" type="InstantASP.Common.HttpModule.EmailModule" preCondition="managedHandler" />
   <add name="ExceptionModule" type="InstantASP.Common.HttpModule.ExceptionModule" />
   <add name="SecurityModule" type="InstantASP.Common.HttpModule.SecurityModule" />
   <add name="ServiceModule" type="InstantASP.Common.HttpModule.ServiceModule" />
   <add name="KBServiceModule" type="InstantASP.InstantKB.HttpModule.ServiceModule" />
   <add name="URLRewrittingModule" type="InstantASP.InstantKB.HttpModule.URLRewritterModule" />
     </modules>
</system.webServer>

We would suggest using "Integrated" application pools within IIS7 if you intend to use the SEO Friendly URL Rewriting feature within InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET. If you choose to use a "Classic" .NET application pool this requires that handler mappings are sorted & configured correctly within the web.config and may require changes to the StaticFileHandler. This is not recommended as it could impact serving of other file types on your web site.

Ensuring the "runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests" is set to true within your web.config and running InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET under an "Integrated" application pool within IIS7 should resolve any 404 error messages you may be seeing under IIS7. For further resources on this issue please see the links below. Of course if we can assist with any questions please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

"InitializeCulture is not a member of" Exception when deploying via Visual Studio.NET

Ryan Healey — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 13:08:15 GMT

After deploying InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET using the Publish / Deploy options within Visual Studio.NEt you may receive the following exception message on certain pages...

'InitializeCulture' is not a member of 'ASP.confirmationmessage_aspx'.
Resolution

1. If you use Visual studio to publish your site, during the publishing stage on framework 2.0 uncheck the "allow this precompiled site to be updatable".

2. Declare culture in your web.config, example

3. Change debug="true" to "false" in web.config and any pages which have it set (We recommend removing it entirely from pages and just using web.config)

Failing this you may wish to try reinstalling .NET from the command prompt...

C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis -i

This will also fix any mapping/installation problems.You can also try a repair using aspnet_regiis -r

These are last resorts and hopefully the first 3 suggestions will help.

That's It!

Implementing these suggestions should resolve this exception message. If you require further assistance please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

LCID Error After Enabling Full Text Search with InstantKB.NET

Ryan Healey — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:19:23 GMT

After enabling SQL Server full text search within InstantKB.NET you may receive the following error message….

Exception Type:        System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException
Exception Message:     Full-text table or indexed view has more than one LCID among its full-text indexed columns.
Exception Source:      .Net SqlClient Data Provider
Exception Target Site: OnError

Cause

This error can occur if you've enabled attachment search within InstantKB.NET and have not defined a consistant set of word breakers when defining the full text index. For example...

Resolution

To resolve this exception please ensure you use the same word breaker for all columns within the "InstantKB_Attachments" table full text index. If you've already created your index you'll need to right click on your InstantKB_Attachments table. From the context menu select Full-Text Index > Properties. From the full text index properties dialog click the "Columns" option on the left. This will display indexed columns & word breakers as shown below...

That's It!

This should resolve the error message. You may wish to rebuild the index again to ensure it's fully upto date.

If you require further assistance please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

The resource URL cannot be longer than 1024 characters

Ryan Healey — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 13:49:37 GMT

NOTE: This has been resolved with InstantForum.NET 2010-5.

After installing the latest security update for ASP.NET you may receive the error below when attempting to view a forum within InstantForum.NET 2010-4 or below.

Error Message

Exception Type: System.InvalidOperationException
Exception Message: The resource URL cannot be longer than 1024 characters. If using a CompositeScriptReference, reduce the number of ScriptReferences it contains, or combine them into a single static file and set the Path property to the location of it.
Exception Source: System.Web.Extensions
Exception Target Site: GetScriptResourceUrlImpl

Resolution

This problem occurs due to the number of composite script includes within the ASP.NET page. To resolve this problem download the attached Messages.zip file below. Extract the Messages.aspx & ControlPanel.aspx file into your InstantForum.NET root directory. Overwrite the existing files with the new files enclosed within the ZIP. This should resolve the problem.

A potentially dangerous Request.Form value was detected

Ryan Healey — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:49:16 GMT

When creating new articles within InstantKB.NET or posting new topics within InstantForum.NET you may receive the following error message. "A potentially dangerous Request.Form value was detected from the client".

This is a standard ASP.NET security feature called request validation. You can read more on this here…
http://www.asp.net/learn/whitepapers/request-validation

Whilst we do already set requestValidation to false by default within both the InstantForum.NET & InstantKB.NET web.config it could be you encounter this error if you've modified the web.config are are using an alternative web.config.

Resolution

You need to disable requestValidation from within the web.config file. We provide our own protection for all user input against XSS or SQL injection attacks.

Please ensure the validateRequest attribute is present within your <pages/> element and is set to false…

ASP.NET 4.0

For ASP.NET 4.0 installations you'll need to add the following to your web.config...

See this whitepaper for more information.

That's It!

I hope this information helps. As always if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

How can I remove the Powered By / Copyright footer text?

Ryan Healey — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:18:59 GMT

You can hide the Powered By InstantForum.NET or Powered By InstantKB.NET and / or the standard copyright message that is displayed at the bottom of each InstantForum.NET & InstantKB.NET page by modifying the "\Skins\{SkinName}\Controls\Footer.ascx" file.

Modify this file as so…

<div class="contentFooter" visible=”false” runat=”server”>

    <InstantASP:HorizontalLine ID="HorizontalLine1" CssClass="contentFooterLine" Runat="Server"/>

    <InstantASP:Spacer runat="Server" />

    <div class="SmallTxt" style="text-align: center; width: 100%;">
      <InstantASP:HyperLink runat="Server" id="hypCopyright" /><br />
      <InstantASP:Label id="lblRequestTime" Runat="server"/>
      <InstantASP:Label id="lblDatabaseQueries" Runat="Server"/>
      <InstantASP:Label id="lblCompression" runat="server"/>
    </div>

</div>
My changes are highlighted in yellow.

Modify the file like so...

The changes are highlighted in yellow.

I hope this information helps. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

404 Error When Clicking Articles or Topics

Ryan Healey — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:42:29 GMT

When clicking on an article within InstantKB.NET or a topic within InstantForum.NET you may receive a "404 Page Cannot Be Found" or a "The Resource cannot be found." message.

This typically occurs if the URL rewriting module is not configured correctly.

To resolve this please follow the steps below…

Classic .NET Application Pools

If your using IIS7 please ensure InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET is installed within a Classic .NET Application Pool.

Ensure the following entry is present within your web.config file...

Integrated Application Pools

If your using InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET in a IIS7 integrated application pool you will need to ensure you follow the steps in the articles shown below…

InstantForum.NET

http://docs.instantasp.co.uk/Docs/Deploying-InstantForum.NET-on-IIS-7-Integrated-mode

InstantKb.NET

http://docs.instantasp.co.uk/Docs/Deploying-InstantKB.NET-on-IIS-7-Integrated-mode

If this article does not elp resolve your problem please don't hesitate to open a support ticket or contact us.

Security Exception after installing InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET

Ryan Healey — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:24:16 GMT

After installing InstantKB.NET or InstantForum.NET in a medium trust hosting environment you may receive the following error...

System.Security.SecurityException: Request for the permission of type 'System.Configuration.ConfigurationPermission, System.Configuration, Version=2.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' failed.

Cause

This error can occur if your running InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET in medium trust and have not installed the System.Web.Extensions.dll to the GAC.

We provide a copy of the System.Web.Extensions.dll within the "\bin" directory for either InstantForum.NET or InstantKB.NET.

Resolution

Install the correct version of the ASP.NET AJAX Extensions which will install the correct System.Web.Extensions.dll file to the GAC.

Check Your Web.Config File

If your referencing the .NET 3.5 SP1 version of the System.Web.Extensions.dll within your web.config as shown below you should ensure .NET 3.5 SP1 is installed correctly.

<assemblies>
<add assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
<add assembly="System.Web.Extensions.Design, Version=3.5.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
</assemblies>
If your using .NET 2.0 you may be referencing the older version of the System.Web.Extensions.dll within your web.config as shown below..

<assemblies>
<add assembly="System.Web.Extensions, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35"/>
<add assembly="System.Web.Extensions.Design, Version=1.0.61025.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35"/>
</assemblies>
If your referencing the 1.0.61025.0 version of the System.Web.Extensions.dll you'll need to install ASP.NET AJAX 1.0...
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ca9d90fa-e8c9-42e3-aa19-08e2c027f5d6&displaylang=en

This will add the required DLL files to your GAC.

Additional Notes

If your able to run InstantKB.NET in full trust please update the <trust level ="Medium"/> element within your web.config.

Update this to read <trust level ="Full"/>.

This should resolve the problem for customers who can run our software in full trust.

You can check which versions of the System.Web.Extensions.dll is installed within your GAC by navigating to the "C:Windows\Assembly" folder on your server.

That's It!

If we can assist with any questions as always please don't hesitate to contact us.

Ive locked myself out of my InstantKB.NET installation

Ryan Healey — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:35:58 GMT

With InstantKB.NET 2.0 we provide the ability within the Admin CP to disable the login & registration features. This is intended for those who have integrated InstantKB.NET with an existing login & registration system.

You can see these options below…

We would not suggest disabling the login or registration pages if you depend unpin these to access your InstantKB.NET installation.

If you do accidently disable the login page and lock yourself out of your InstantKB.NET Admin CP you'll need to modify the InstantKB.NET database directly to re-enable the login page.

To reset your InstantKB.NET login & registration settings please follow the steps below…

1. Connect to your InstantKB.NET database

You'll need to connec to your SQL Server instance with SQL Server Management Studio or similar tool that allows you to execute quries against your database.

2. Execute the following TSQL against your InstantKB.NET database…

UPDATE InstantKB_Settings
SET SettingsXML = ''
WHERE (SettingText = 'AdminSettings_RegistrationLogin')

This will delete all login & registration settings within your InstantKB_Settings table.

3. Recycle the ASP.NET cache.

As you've modified the database directly you may need to recycle the InstantKB.NET application pool to clear the ASP.NET cache and force InstantKB.NET to get the latest settings from your database.

That's It!

When you visit your InstantKB.NET installation you should not see the login & registration links as expected. IF you have any questions or problems please don't hesitate to contact us.

How do I remove the alternate logins within InstantForum.NET?

Ryan Healey — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:38:01 GMT

With InstantForum.NET 2010 we provide the option for your users to login using Google, Yahoo, AOL, OpenID & if configured Twitter…

Whilst this is helpful as you don't have to go through the forum registration process we appreciate your may wish to disable these options.

To remove the alternate logins panel & disable the ability to login via the 3rd party services follow the steps below…

1. Navigate to your InstantForum.NET \bin directory.

2. Remove the following DLLs from your bin directory...

DotNetOpenAuth.dll
DotNetOpenAuth.ApplicationBlock.dll

If InstantForum.NET does not find these assemblies the alternative logins panel won't be displayed.

Open your web browser and navigate to your InstantForum.NET installation. Visit the forum login page and you'll notice the panel on the right showing the alternative logins is no longer displayed.

Could not load type 'InstantASP.InstantForum.UI.Base.Page'

Ryan Healey — Sat, 22 May 2010 01:05:54 GMT

When integrating InstantForum.NET int an existing VB.NET or C# web site you may receive the following error message "Could not load type 'InstantASP.InstantForum.UI.Base.Page'." as shown below...

To resolve this problem simply copy the "App_Code" folder within the InstantForum.NET directory into your web site folder. We'll be improving this with future versions to ensure the Ap_Code folder is not required when integrating InstantForum.NET with your existing web site solution.

Method not found InstantASP.Common.Data.DataProvider.InsertUpdateUser

Ryan Healey — Wed, 19 May 2010 16:24:57 GMT

When running the InstantForum.NET 2010 End User License you may receive the following error when attempting to update user profile information...

Exception Type:        System.MissingMethodException
Exception Message:     Method not found: 'Int32 InstantASP.Common.Data.DataProvider.InsertUpdateUser(Int32, Int32, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, Double, Boolean, System.String, Int16, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, Int32, Int32, Int32, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String, System.String)'.
Exception Source:      InstantASP.Common
Exception Target Site: InsertUpdateUserInternal
Thi sis a bug that effects the InstantForum.NET 2010-2 releases. To resolve this problem please download the InstantASP.Common.Data.dll (see ZIP file below) and copy this into your InstantForum.NET \bin dreictory.

Overwtite the existing InstantASP.Common.Data.DLL file.

You should notice the file sizes are slightly different.

This should resolve the problem.

This issue has been addressed and the 2010-3 update will be available soon. This issue does not effect developer license customers.

Cannot subset Regex with InstantForum.NET 2010 in Medium Trust

Ryan Healey — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:39:04 GMT

When running InstantForum.NET 2010 in medium trust hosting environments you may received the following error...

Cannot subset Regex. Only support if both patterns are identical.

To resolve this problem simply delete the "DotNetOpenAuth.dll" from within your forums \bin directory. Unfortunately the OpenID controls will not work in medium trust hosting environments. Once removed the forum should work as expected.

To use OpenID authentication you'll need to run InstantForum.NET in full trust. We are working to provide support for OpenID authentication within medium trust hosting environments.

Add YouTube video embedding support for InstantForum.NET

Ryan Healey — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:04:39 GMT

This article shows users of InstantForum.NET 4.1.4 or earlier how to allow community members to easily embed YouTube videos within forum posts.

With the built-in support for YouTube videos in the forthcoming InstantForum.NET 4.2 update we wanted to share some code we created with existing 4.1.4 users.

Lets say you wanted to share one of our videos within a post...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS8hPKeRY4Y

If your using InstantForum.NET 4.1.4 or earlier uou can add an IFCode tag to embed this video directly within posts.

For example a nice way to embed this would be...

[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS8hPKeRY4Y[/YouTube]

When posted this would be translated via our IFCode feature and would display within posts as shown below...

For further information on how to use IFCode please see...

http://docs.instantasp.co.uk/InstantForum/managingifcode.html

To provide support for this you will need to add a new IFCode for 4.1.4. You should login as an administrator for your forum and navigate to the Admin CP. Within the navigation on the left locate the Add IFCode option. When adding a new IFCode use the following information...

Friendly Name

YouTube

Tag Example

[YouTube][/YouTube]

Actual code to insert

[YouTube][/YouTube]

Search Pattern

\[YouTube\](.*?)youtube.com/watch\?v=(.*?)\[\/YouTube\]

Replace Pattern

That's It!

Save our new IFCode and this will be accessible when adding new posts within InstantForum.NET 4.1.4. As indicated above this has been greatly improved with the forthcoming 4.2 update and we now have a dialog which allows you to add YouTube URLs directly from within the editor.

As always if you have any questions please don't hesitate to leave a comment below or contact us.

We would welcome suggestions for other video services you would like to see supported. For exmaple Ustream etc.