install phpBB forum on canvas page

[SeanKim]

I see some related content on here about discussion forum being inadequate, but I don't see anyone trying out the phpBB which is an open source forum platform/software. 

It seems like all we need to do is make a module, create a page and then host the phpBB code on the page? 

But there is no how-to on such task. Does anyone know how have not done it because of the difficulties or was prohibited to do so on security reasons? 

[TrishaMeyer1]

Hi @SeanKim ,

I don't know anything about phpBB or its security agreements. When you have an account, are you able to generate an embed code? If so, you can use that to embed the content on your Canvas page with the RCE by using Insert->Embed or finding the cloud icon on the ribbon. You can paste the embed code, and the phpBB page should run inside Canvas unless it is blocked by your institution or another entity.

Or maybe you're asking about something else that is beyond my knowledge.

[SeanKim]

it a bit of a daunting task to do that. I have to have a clean install of the phpBB board on a server somewhere, and then make the forum, and then create the embed codes, I've tried it with a few premade embeddable forums, but it seems canvas just deletes the entire code. it must not be allowed on canvas platform. 

[Chris_Hofer]

@SeanKim ...

I, too, do not know much about phpBB forums (I think I may have tried it a long time ago when I was managing my church's website).  Are there tools that a Canvas discussion topic is missing that phpBB has?  If you were doing any graded discussions, it might be a bit harder to do (IMHO) because of having a separate discussion board interface in your course when it comes to grading.

Have you checked out any of the LTI external tool integrations that are compatible with Canvas?  I don't know much about these (and there may be a cost associated with each), but I searched the EduAppCenter website, and I found the following that might be worth investigating:

• Edu App Center: Atomic Discussions
• Edu App Center: Flip
• Edu App Center: Harmonize
• Edu App Center: Piazza

There may be others available on: Edu Apps (eduappcenter.com).

To address the question of HTML tags allowed in the RCE (Rich Content Editor) of Canvas content pages, there is this document:

Canvas HTML Editor Allowlist

If you are using HTML tags that aren't on this list, then they will be deleted...as you've noticed.

I hope some or all of this information will be helpful to you.  Sing out if you have any questions...thanks!

[SeanKim]

I've decided use perusall. seems like that will help the students more. I have an article i'm making them read as a group and analyze the content. perusall will allow students to comment on specific passages. 

[Chris_Hofer]

That's great to hear, @SeanKim!  I know that @dhulsey has used Perusall before, so he might be a good resource for you down the road.