System Settings

XOOPS System Settings

This guide covers the complete system settings available in the XOOPS admin panel, organized by category.

System Settings Architecture

graph TD
    A[System Settings] --> B[General Settings]
    A --> C[User Settings]
    A --> D[Module Settings]
    A --> E[Meta Tags & Footer]
    A --> F[Email Settings]
    A --> G[Cache Settings]
    A --> H[URL Settings]
    A --> I[Security Settings]
    B --> B1[Site Name]
    B --> B2[Timezone]
    B --> B3[Language]
    C --> C1[Registration]
    C --> C2[Profiles]
    C --> C3[Permissions]
    F --> F1[SMTP Config]
    F --> F2[Notification Rules]

Accessing System Settings

Location

Admin Panel > System > Preferences

Or navigate directly:

http://your-domain.com/xoops/admin/index.php?fct=preferences

Permission Requirements

• Only administrators (webmasters) can access system settings
• Changes affect the entire site
• Most changes take effect immediately

General Settings

The foundational configuration for your XOOPS installation.

Basic Information

Site Name: [Your Site Name]
Default Description: [Brief description of your site]
Site Slogan: [Catchy slogan]
Admin Email: admin@your-domain.com
Webmaster Name: Administrator Name
Webmaster Email: admin@your-domain.com

Appearance Settings

Default Theme: [Select theme]
Default Language: English (or preferred language)
Items Per Page: 15 (typically 10-25)
Words in Snippet: 25 (for search results)
Theme Upload Permission: Disabled (security)

Regional Settings

Default Timezone: [Your timezone]
Date Format: %Y-%m-%d (YYYY-MM-DD format)
Time Format: %H:%M:%S (HH:MM:SS format)
Daylight Saving Time: [Auto/Manual/None]

Timezone Format Table:

Region	Timezone	UTC Offset
US Eastern	America/New_York	-5 / -4
US Central	America/Chicago	-6 / -5
US Mountain	America/Denver	-7 / -6
US Pacific	America/Los_Angeles	-8 / -7
UK/London	Europe/London	0 / +1
France/Germany	Europe/Paris	+1 / +2
Japan	Asia/Tokyo	+9
China	Asia/Shanghai	+8
Australia/Sydney	Australia/Sydney	+10 / +11

Search Configuration

Enable Search: Yes
Search Admin Pages: Yes/No
Search Archives: Yes
Default Search Type: All / Pages only
Words Excluded from Search: [Comma-separated list]

Common excluded words: the, a, an, and, or, but, in, on, at, by, to, from

User Settings

Control user account behavior and registration process.

User Registration

Allow User Registration: Yes/No
Registration Type:
  ☐ Auto-activate (Instant access)
  ☐ Admin approval (Admin must approve)
  ☐ Email verification (User must verify email)

Notification to Users: Yes/No
User Email Verification: Required/Optional

New User Configuration

Auto-login New Users: Yes/No
Assign Default User Group: Yes
Default User Group: [Select group]
Create User Avatar: Yes/No
Initial User Avatar: [Select default]

User Profile Settings

Allow User Profiles: Yes
Show Member List: Yes
Show User Statistics: Yes
Show Last Online Time: Yes
Allow User Avatar: Yes
Avatar Max File Size: 100KB
Avatar Dimensions: 100x100 pixels

User Email Settings

Allow Users to Hide Email: Yes
Show Email on Profile: Yes
Notification Email Interval: Immediately/Daily/Weekly/Never

User Activity Tracking

Track User Activity: Yes
Log User Logins: Yes
Log Failed Logins: Yes
Track IP Address: Yes
Clear Activity Logs Older Than: 90 days

Account Limits

Allow Duplicate Email: No
Minimum Username Length: 3 characters
Maximum Username Length: 15 characters
Minimum Password Length: 6 characters
Require Special Characters: Yes
Require Numbers: Yes
Password Expiration: 90 days (or Never)
Accounts Inactive Days to Delete: 365 days

Module Settings

Configure individual module behavior.

Common Module Options

For each installed module, you can set:

Module Status: Active/Inactive
Display in Menu: Yes/No
Module Weight: [1-999] (higher = lower in display)
Homepage Default: This module shows when visiting /
Admin Access: [Allowed user groups]
User Access: [Allowed user groups]

System Module Settings

Show Homepage as: Portal / Module / Static Page
Default Homepage Module: [Select module]
Show Footer Menu: Yes
Footer Color: [Color selector]
Show System Stats: Yes
Show Memory Usage: Yes

Configuration per Module

Each module can have module-specific settings:

Example - Page Module:

Enable Comments: Yes/No
Moderate Comments: Yes/No
Comments Per Page: 10
Enable Ratings: Yes
Allow Anonymous Ratings: Yes

Example - User Module:

Avatar Upload Folder: ./uploads/
Maximum Upload Size: 100KB
Allow File Upload: Yes
Allowed File Types: jpg, gif, png

Access module-specific settings:

• Admin > Modules > [Module Name] > Preferences

Meta Tags & SEO Settings

Configure meta tags for search engine optimization.

Global Meta Tags

Meta Keywords: xoops, cms, content management system
Meta Description: A powerful content management system for building dynamic websites
Meta Author: Your Name
Meta Copyright: Copyright 2025, Your Company
Meta Robots: index, follow
Meta Revisit: 30 days

Meta Tag Best Practices

Tag	Purpose	Recommendation
Keywords	Search terms	5-10 relevant keywords, comma-separated
Description	Search listing	150-160 characters
Author	Page creator	Your name or company
Copyright	Legal	Your copyright notice
Robots	Crawler instructions	index, follow (allow indexing)

Footer Settings

Show Footer: Yes
Footer Color: Dark/Light
Footer Background: [Color code]
Footer Text: [HTML allowed]
Additional Footer Links: [URL and text pairs]

Sample Footer HTML:

<p>Copyright &copy; 2025 Your Company. All rights reserved.</p>
<p><a href="/privacy">Privacy Policy</a> | <a href="/terms">Terms of Use</a></p>

Social Meta Tags (Open Graph)

Enable Open Graph: Yes
Facebook App ID: [App ID]
Twitter Card Type: summary / summary_large_image / player
Default Share Image: [Image URL]

Email Settings

Configure email delivery and notification system.

Email Delivery Method

Use SMTP: Yes/No

If SMTP:
  SMTP Host: smtp.gmail.com
  SMTP Port: 587 (TLS) or 465 (SSL)
  SMTP Security: TLS / SSL / None
  SMTP Username: [email@example.com]
  SMTP Password: [password]
  SMTP Authentication: Yes/No
  SMTP Timeout: 10 seconds

If PHP mail():
  Sendmail Path: /usr/sbin/sendmail -t -i

Email Configuration

From Address: noreply@your-domain.com
From Name: Your Site Name
Reply-To Address: support@your-domain.com
BCC Admin Emails: Yes/No

Notification Settings

Send Welcome Email: Yes/No
Welcome Email Subject: Welcome to [Site Name]
Welcome Email Body: [Custom message]

Send Password Reset Email: Yes/No
Include Random Password: Yes/No
Token Expiration: 24 hours

Admin Notifications

Notify Admin on Registration: Yes
Notify Admin on Comments: Yes
Notify Admin on Submissions: Yes
Notify Admin on Errors: Yes

User Notifications

Notify User on Registration: Yes
Notify User on Comments: Yes
Notify User on Private Messages: Yes
Allow Users to Disable Notifications: Yes
Default Notification Frequency: Immediately

Email Templates

Customize notification emails in admin panel:

Path: System > Email Templates

Available templates:

• User Registration
• Password Reset
• Comment Notification
• Private Message
• System Alerts
• Module-specific emails

Cache Settings

Optimize performance through caching.

Cache Configuration

Enable Caching: Yes/No
Cache Type:
  ☐ File Cache
  ☐ APCu (Alternative PHP Cache)
  ☐ Memcache (Distributed caching)
  ☐ Redis (Advanced caching)

Cache Lifetime: 3600 seconds (1 hour)

Cache Options by Type

File Cache:

Cache Directory: /var/www/html/xoops/cache/
Clear Interval: Daily
Maximum Cache Files: 1000

APCu Cache:

Memory Allocation: 128MB
Fragmentation Level: Low

Memcache/Redis:

Server Host: localhost
Server Port: 11211 (Memcache) / 6379 (Redis)
Persistent Connection: Yes

What Gets Cached

Cache Module Lists: Yes
Cache Configuration Data: Yes
Cache Template Data: Yes
Cache User Session Data: Yes
Cache Search Results: Yes
Cache Database Queries: Yes
Cache RSS Feeds: Yes
Cache Images: Yes

URL Settings

Configure URL rewriting and formatting.

Friendly URL Settings

Enable Friendly URLs: Yes/No
Friendly URL Type:
  ☐ Path Info: /page/about
  ☐ Query String: /index.php?p=about

Trailing Slash: Include / Omit
URL Case: Lower case / Case sensitive

URL Rewrite Rules

.htaccess Rules: [Display current]
Nginx Rules: [Display current if Nginx]
IIS Rules: [Display current if IIS]

Security Settings

Control security-related configuration.

Password Security

Password Policy:
  ☐ Require uppercase letters
  ☐ Require lowercase letters
  ☐ Require numbers
  ☐ Require special characters

Minimum Password Length: 8 characters
Password Expiration: 90 days
Password History: Remember last 5 passwords
Force Password Change: On next login

Login Security

Lock Account After Failed Attempts: 5 attempts
Lock Duration: 15 minutes
Log All Login Attempts: Yes
Log Failed Logins: Yes
Admin Login Alert: Send email on admin login
Two-Factor Authentication: Disabled/Enabled

File Upload Security

Allow File Uploads: Yes/No
Maximum File Size: 128MB
Allowed File Types: jpg, gif, png, pdf, zip, doc, docx
Scan Uploads for Malware: Yes (if available)
Quarantine Suspicious Files: Yes

Session Security

Session Management: Database/Files
Session Timeout: 1800 seconds (30 min)
Session Cookie Lifetime: 0 (until browser closes)
Secure Cookie: Yes (HTTPS only)
HTTP Only Cookie: Yes (prevent JavaScript access)

CORS Settings

Allow Cross-Origin Requests: No
Allowed Origins: [List domains]
Allow Credentials: No
Allowed Methods: GET, POST

Advanced Settings

Additional configuration options for advanced users.

Debug Mode

Debug Mode: Disabled/Enabled
Log Level: Error / Warning / Info / Debug
Debug Log File: /var/log/xoops_debug.log
Display Errors: Disabled (production)

Performance Tuning

Optimize Database Queries: Yes
Use Query Cache: Yes
Compress Output: Yes
Minify CSS/JavaScript: Yes
Lazy Load Images: Yes

Content Settings

Allow HTML in Posts: Yes/No
Allowed HTML Tags: [Configure]
Strip Harmful Code: Yes
Allow Embed: Yes/No
Content Moderation: Automatic/Manual
Spam Detection: Yes

Settings Export/Import

Backup Settings

Export current settings:

Admin Panel > System > Tools > Export Settings

# Settings exported as JSON file
# Download and store securely

Restore Settings

Import previously exported settings:

Admin Panel > System > Tools > Import Settings

# Upload JSON file
# Verify changes before confirming

Configuration Hierarchy

XOOPS settings hierarchy (top to bottom - first match wins):

1. mainfile.php (Constants)
2. Module-specific config
3. Admin System Settings
4. Theme configuration
5. User preferences (for user-specific settings)

Settings Backup Script

Create a backup of current settings:

/var/www/html/xoops/backup-settings.php

<?php
require_once __DIR__ . '/mainfile.php';

$config_handler = xoops_getHandler('config');
$configs = $config_handler->getConfigs();

$backup = [
    'exported_date' => date('Y-m-d H:i:s'),
    'xoops_version' => XOOPS_VERSION,
    'php_version' => PHP_VERSION,
    'settings' => []
];

foreach ($configs as $config) {
    $backup['settings'][$config->getVar('conf_name')] = [
        'value' => $config->getVar('conf_value'),
        'description' => $config->getVar('conf_desc'),
        'type' => $config->getVar('conf_type'),
    ];
}

// Save to JSON file
file_put_contents(
    '/backups/xoops_settings_' . date('YmdHis') . '.json',
    json_encode($backup, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT)
);

echo "Settings backed up successfully!";
?>

Common Settings Changes

Change Site Name

1. Admin > System > Preferences > General Settings
2. Modify “Site Name”
3. Click “Save”

Enable/Disable Registration

1. Admin > System > Preferences > User Settings
2. Toggle “Allow User Registration”
3. Choose registration type
4. Click “Save”

Change Default Theme

1. Admin > System > Preferences > General Settings
2. Select “Default Theme”
3. Click “Save”
4. Clear cache for changes to take effect

Update Contact Email

1. Admin > System > Preferences > General Settings
2. Modify “Admin Email”
3. Modify “Webmaster Email”
4. Click “Save”

Verification Checklist

After configuring system settings, verify:

• Site name displays correctly
• Timezone shows correct time
• Email notifications send properly
• User registration works as configured
• Homepage displays selected default
• Search functionality works
• Cache improves page load time
• Friendly URLs work (if enabled)
• Meta tags appear in page source
• Admin notifications received
• Security settings enforced

Troubleshooting Settings

Settings Not Saving

Solution:

# Check file permissions on config directory
chmod 755 /var/www/html/xoops/var/

# Verify database writable
# Try saving again in admin panel

Changes Not Taking Effect

Solution:

# Clear cache
rm -rf /var/www/html/xoops/cache/*
rm -rf /var/www/html/xoops/templates_c/*

# If still not working, restart web server
systemctl restart apache2

Email Not Sending

Solution:

1. Verify SMTP credentials in email settings
2. Test with “Send Test Email” button
3. Check error logs
4. Try using PHP mail() instead of SMTP

Next Steps

After system settings configuration:

1. Configure security settings
2. Optimize performance
3. Explore admin panel features
4. Set up user management

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Tags: #system-settings #configuration #preferences #admin-panel

Related Articles:

• ../../06-Publisher-Module/User-Guide/Basic-Configuration
• Security-Configuration
• Performance-Optimization
• ../First-Steps/Admin-Panel-Overview