The phpBB admin control panel enables an administrator to setup and configure the entire phpBB forum application.

1. A fresh installation of phpBB 3 will already have an admin user created. We will assume that the admin has the username of "admin". Put "admin" as the username and then the password. And click the "login" button to login just as any other user would.

2. Because we have logged in as an admin, we see the link at the bottom that say "Administrtion Control Panel".

Regular users will not see this link. Click this link.

3. You will get another login prompt that says "To administer the board you must re-authenticate yourself."

So enter your password again.

4. Now you see the phpBB administration control panel in its full glory with whole bunch of tabs on the top and menu choices on the left.

5. In the upper-left you will see two logout links. The first link simply says "Logout". This logs you out completely out of both the administration control panel and as well as out of admin user.

The second link says "ACP logout". "ACP" stands for "administration control panel". This link logs out of the administration control panel, but keeps you logged in as an admin user.

Note: this tutorial refers to version 3.0.5 of phpBB.