While most configuration settings for askbot can be done at any time through the web-interface, some manipulations on the server are still necessary.
When you are installing askbot the first time you will need to initialize the site setup files by typing:
startforum
and answering the questions.
The startforum script will attempt to create necessary directories and copy files.
If you are creating a brand new Django project, then you will need to edit file settings.py
In the case you are adding askbot to an existing Django project, you will need to merge askbot files settings.py and urls.py into your project files manually.
Note
Files settings.py and urls.py may also need to be touched up when you upgrate the software, because new versions may bring new dependencies and add new site urls.
Within settings.py, at the very minimum you will need to provide correct values to:
DATABASE_NAME = ''
DATABASE_USER = ''
DATABASE_PASSWORD = ''
CSRF_COOKIE_DOMAIN = ''#e.g. example.com (localhost/IP address for tests)
within single quotes - login credentials to your database.