Trent
3rd July 2005, 03:01 AM
Note: This guide is for newbies
The Idiot's Guide to vBulletin
(Name changed to avoid lawsuit with "...For Dummies" Inc.)
By Trent of TrentTech
Licenses
There are two types of licenses that Jelsoft offers:
Leased License
Price: $85
With a leased license, you get full access to the Member's Area, Support, vBulletin.com Forums, and vBulletin.org for 12 months. Also, after the 12 months, you must either:
a) Take down your vBulletin forum
b) Renew your leased license
NOTE: You can upgrade to an owned license for only $85 more 30 days prior to purchasing your leased license
Owned License
With an owned license, you can keep your vBulletin, you'll have vBulletin.com Forum and vBulletin.org access, and you'll be able to get support, forever. The only exception is after 12 months, you cannot get any new versions unless you pay a $30 recurring fee every year, but this is not mandatory.
Moderating
Closing A Thread
To close a thread, go to "Thread Tools > Close Thread" within the thread you want to close
Moving A Thread
To move a thread, to to "Thread Tools > Move Thread" within the thread you want to move. A page will open where you select where you want to move the thread to. Also on this page, you will be presented with the following options:
Move to destination forum: This moves the thread to the forum you want to move it to
Move and leave redirect to previous forum: Same as above, but on the forum it used to be in, it would say "Moved: (Thread Name)" and link to where the thread currently is
Copy thread to destination forum: This makes a copy of the thread and places it in the forum you specified, while the thread is also still in the forum it was originally posted in
Deleting A Thread
To delete a thread, go to "Thread Tools > Delete Thread" within the thread you want to delete. You will be presented with the following options:
'Soft' Delete - Leave "Deleted" Message: This will make it so regular users can't view the thread, but Moderators and above can see a message you specified (AKA Deletion Notice) and they can also click "View" to view the thread, or "Manage" to undelete the thread
-Keep Attachments: This will make it so when the thread is soft deleted and Moderators+ click "View", they can still see the
attachment(s) that were on the thread before it was deleted
Physically remove: Will entirely remove the thread from the forum database. The thread will be unrestorable and unviewable
Reason for Deletion (optional): If you are soft deleting a thread, you can imput a reason for you doing so here
Stickying a Thread
To sticky a thread, go to "Thread Tools > Sticky Thread" within the thread
The AdminCP
Located at http://yourforumlink/admincp/
The AdminCP has MANY options, and here is a list of them and what they do:
vBulletin Options: This is for general vBulletin options, like turning your board on or off, setting up the censors, the user note system, the reputation sytem, etc.
Styles & Templates: Here, you can create, upload, download, edit, delete, and manage styles. Also, you can customize the templates for your styles
Languages & Phrases: Here, you can create, upload, download, edit, delete, and manage languages. Also, you can customize the phrases for your languages
FAQ: Here, you can customize what appears on http://yourforumlink/faq.php?
Announcements: Self-Explanatory
Forums & Moderators: This is where you can add/edit/delete forums and add/delete moderators to them. Also, you can control what moderators have what permissions on what forums
Calenders & Moderators: Same as "Forums & Moderators", but for calenders
Threads & Posts: This is for doing things like prunning threads, seeing who voted in what poll, etc.
Moderation: If you choose to moderate posts and threads in a certain forum, then you'll approve them here. Also, if you choose to moderate users, events, and attachments, you can approve them here
Attachments: Search in attachments, attachment statistics, moderate attachments, etc.
Users: You can do various things here, ranging from editing a user's profile to editting a user's forum permission masks, from banning a user, to merging users
Usergroups: Here you can change usergroup names, permissions, and name colors, and also add or delete usergroups
User Titles: You can customize the default ladder of user titles
User Ranks: This is used for secondary titles, like "Administrator" if an admin wanted a custom title
User Reputation: Here you can view who gave who what reputation, the amount of points it took/gave, and the reputation comment
User Profile Fields: You can add/edit/delete profile fields here
Paid Subscriptions: Here you can add things like "VIP Membership", and you can set a price and when it expires
Avatars: This is used to manage the default avatars for your forum
Post Icons: This is used to manage the Post Icons that appear on the left of a thread title
Smilies: This is used to manage the smilies that users can post in their messages
Custom BB Codes: If you want a certain BB Code, and know the HTML for it, you can add that BB Code here
Scheduled Tasks (Advanced Users Only): This is used to manage the cron jobs that your vBulletin performs
Plugin System: This is used to add, edit, delete, download, and upload plugins (vBulletin 3.5 Only)
Statistics & Logs: This is for things like the Moderator Log, the vBulletin cron log, and the AdminCP Log
Maintenance: This is for backing up your forum, updating the counters, etc.
The Idiot's Guide to vBulletin
(Name changed to avoid lawsuit with "...For Dummies" Inc.)
By Trent of TrentTech
Licenses
There are two types of licenses that Jelsoft offers:
Leased License
Price: $85
With a leased license, you get full access to the Member's Area, Support, vBulletin.com Forums, and vBulletin.org for 12 months. Also, after the 12 months, you must either:
a) Take down your vBulletin forum
b) Renew your leased license
NOTE: You can upgrade to an owned license for only $85 more 30 days prior to purchasing your leased license
Owned License
With an owned license, you can keep your vBulletin, you'll have vBulletin.com Forum and vBulletin.org access, and you'll be able to get support, forever. The only exception is after 12 months, you cannot get any new versions unless you pay a $30 recurring fee every year, but this is not mandatory.
Moderating
Closing A Thread
To close a thread, go to "Thread Tools > Close Thread" within the thread you want to close
Moving A Thread
To move a thread, to to "Thread Tools > Move Thread" within the thread you want to move. A page will open where you select where you want to move the thread to. Also on this page, you will be presented with the following options:
Move to destination forum: This moves the thread to the forum you want to move it to
Move and leave redirect to previous forum: Same as above, but on the forum it used to be in, it would say "Moved: (Thread Name)" and link to where the thread currently is
Copy thread to destination forum: This makes a copy of the thread and places it in the forum you specified, while the thread is also still in the forum it was originally posted in
Deleting A Thread
To delete a thread, go to "Thread Tools > Delete Thread" within the thread you want to delete. You will be presented with the following options:
'Soft' Delete - Leave "Deleted" Message: This will make it so regular users can't view the thread, but Moderators and above can see a message you specified (AKA Deletion Notice) and they can also click "View" to view the thread, or "Manage" to undelete the thread
-Keep Attachments: This will make it so when the thread is soft deleted and Moderators+ click "View", they can still see the
attachment(s) that were on the thread before it was deleted
Physically remove: Will entirely remove the thread from the forum database. The thread will be unrestorable and unviewable
Reason for Deletion (optional): If you are soft deleting a thread, you can imput a reason for you doing so here
Stickying a Thread
To sticky a thread, go to "Thread Tools > Sticky Thread" within the thread
The AdminCP
Located at http://yourforumlink/admincp/
The AdminCP has MANY options, and here is a list of them and what they do:
vBulletin Options: This is for general vBulletin options, like turning your board on or off, setting up the censors, the user note system, the reputation sytem, etc.
Styles & Templates: Here, you can create, upload, download, edit, delete, and manage styles. Also, you can customize the templates for your styles
Languages & Phrases: Here, you can create, upload, download, edit, delete, and manage languages. Also, you can customize the phrases for your languages
FAQ: Here, you can customize what appears on http://yourforumlink/faq.php?
Announcements: Self-Explanatory
Forums & Moderators: This is where you can add/edit/delete forums and add/delete moderators to them. Also, you can control what moderators have what permissions on what forums
Calenders & Moderators: Same as "Forums & Moderators", but for calenders
Threads & Posts: This is for doing things like prunning threads, seeing who voted in what poll, etc.
Moderation: If you choose to moderate posts and threads in a certain forum, then you'll approve them here. Also, if you choose to moderate users, events, and attachments, you can approve them here
Attachments: Search in attachments, attachment statistics, moderate attachments, etc.
Users: You can do various things here, ranging from editing a user's profile to editting a user's forum permission masks, from banning a user, to merging users
Usergroups: Here you can change usergroup names, permissions, and name colors, and also add or delete usergroups
User Titles: You can customize the default ladder of user titles
User Ranks: This is used for secondary titles, like "Administrator" if an admin wanted a custom title
User Reputation: Here you can view who gave who what reputation, the amount of points it took/gave, and the reputation comment
User Profile Fields: You can add/edit/delete profile fields here
Paid Subscriptions: Here you can add things like "VIP Membership", and you can set a price and when it expires
Avatars: This is used to manage the default avatars for your forum
Post Icons: This is used to manage the Post Icons that appear on the left of a thread title
Smilies: This is used to manage the smilies that users can post in their messages
Custom BB Codes: If you want a certain BB Code, and know the HTML for it, you can add that BB Code here
Scheduled Tasks (Advanced Users Only): This is used to manage the cron jobs that your vBulletin performs
Plugin System: This is used to add, edit, delete, download, and upload plugins (vBulletin 3.5 Only)
Statistics & Logs: This is for things like the Moderator Log, the vBulletin cron log, and the AdminCP Log
Maintenance: This is for backing up your forum, updating the counters, etc.