Sbhedges
11th November 2006, 11:17 AM
The Beginners Vbulletin Guide
This guide is focused at Beginners who are looking for information on starting their forum.
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So you just bought your Vbulletin license ? And your thinking to yourself now what ? Well heres what I would do and what I almost was close to doing when I started my forum. Please feel free to comment on any parts of this guide as it is a free country and I'm open to feedback. Enjoy!
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Contents :
1. Constructing your forum
2. Choosing what forums should go onto your forum
4. Getting People to your forum
5. Closing
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Constructing your forum
In this part of the guide you will learn how to construct your forum from the groups to the top!
Upload and Install vBulletin
So first to start you have to upload Vbulletin to your website domain servers (You must have a domain to run Vbulletin) then look in the includes folder and rename 'config.php.new' to config.php, Then open it in a text editor and look and change the following items :
$config['MasterServer']['servername'] - This is your server name where the database is stored (Normally localhost)
$config['MasterServer']['username'] - This is your Db Username
$config['MasterServer']['password'] - This is your Db Password
$config['Database']['technicalemail'] - This is the email that all errors will be sent to because Vbulletin logs errors
$config['Database']['db_name'] - Database Name
Then just upload all the files if you haven't already.
Now we need to run the installation process to do this just go to : http://www.yourdomain.com/forumdir/install/install.php and change yourdomain to your domain and change forumdir to your Forum Directory on the web server were Vbulletin is. Then just run all on screen instructions and the installation will take you only 5 minutes if it all goes smooth!
When installed
So you have just installed your forum now what ? Well first thing I suggest is log into your admin panel then explore the Vbulletin Options section. And turn your forum off with the message Under Construction if you don't want people looking around your forum before it is open. Then just have an explore of the admin panel, The templates system is the system where you can easily edit your sites apperance etc. The Languages and Phrases manager is were you can edit what certain parts of your forum preview (Text). Then theres so much more like Custom Profile Fields then BBcodes etc etc its like a Forum Administrators Paradise.
Choose your Style
If you don't like the default Vbulletin Style then all you need to do is download one you like! There are many sites which offer them for free and many sites that charge. A good one that charges is www.extremepixels.com (http://www.extremepixels.com) as they offer you expert service and much more. If you want a free style then www.vbulletin.org (http://www.vbulletin.org) is your solution! So register there with the same email you used in the members area membership when you bought your license, Then go into mods and pick your Vbulletin Version, Then click on Styles and explore the forum for the one you like. Installing Styles is as easy as downloading a style, Just download the style, Then log onto your admin panel, Then go into Styles and Templates and choose download/upload new style and upload the XML file that was in your package from the style you choose, Then most templates require you to upload a folder with all the images in, Upload this to the root directory of your forum or if the README says different do it. Then to change your theme go into Vbulletin Options then into Style/Language settings then choose the default style as your new downloaded style. You've just installed your first Style!
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Choosing what forums should go onto your board
This simple part of the guide shows you how to add forums to your board and edit them etc.
Creating a new forum.
To create a new forum log into your admin panel and look under Forums and Moderators and Select forum Manager. You will see that there are already some categories and a forum there (Defautly installated) Change the category called Main to something you want, Then change the forum from Main to the forum you want. And to create another forum in that category look to the scrollbar beside the category and select Create a new Child forum, This will add a forum to that category when the screen comes up and you change it to all your right details
Choosing your forums
Choosing your forums is so easy, Just think of what your forum is about, Is it webhosting or child forums ? Depending on it you need to decide about it. So think if it is a webhosting forum then I recommend you have forums like : Webhosting Talk, Hosting Talk, Web Coding Talk, Chit Chat, Announcments, Announcments Discussion. Because based on what your forum does you will need different forums.
Adding a Sub forum
Adding a sub forum works like adding a forum to a category except you do it off a forum, So look to the forum's scroll box then select add Child forum, This will add a new sub forum!
Adding a Category
To add a category this time under the Forums and Moderators part select add forum, Fill in the details but when you get down to posting options don't allow new posts and don't act as a forum, This will hopefully add a new category!
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Getting your Forum Known in the world !
So you've done it all, Got your forum set up and opened it now you just need people! So heres how to advertise the smart way.
Adwords
If your looking to make an investment into your business or forum then I suggest you try Adwords, Google charge you on a per click base and you can set your budget for one day If you want your forum going then I suggest you pay around about £5.00 a day but if you don't trust me try their estimater.
Top 100 Vbulletin
If you want you could place an add on www.top100vbulletin.com (http://www.top100vbulletin.com) where they kindly put all ads on for free in their directory. So its probabely your best solution.
You Advertise
If your looking for some money to expand your forum then why don't you advertise ? You could try Google Adsense for all your needs, You could try the new Vbulletin Allfiate System which gets you money off your license!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Closing
Thanks for reading my short basic guide on how to get your forum started. There is obviously alot more then this guide but this guide is for the basic people who just simple need help when they start their forum. Please don't republish this article in anyway without my permission. Thank you and good luck to everyone else entering this amazing contest!
This guide is focused at Beginners who are looking for information on starting their forum.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So you just bought your Vbulletin license ? And your thinking to yourself now what ? Well heres what I would do and what I almost was close to doing when I started my forum. Please feel free to comment on any parts of this guide as it is a free country and I'm open to feedback. Enjoy!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contents :
1. Constructing your forum
2. Choosing what forums should go onto your forum
4. Getting People to your forum
5. Closing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Constructing your forum
In this part of the guide you will learn how to construct your forum from the groups to the top!
Upload and Install vBulletin
So first to start you have to upload Vbulletin to your website domain servers (You must have a domain to run Vbulletin) then look in the includes folder and rename 'config.php.new' to config.php, Then open it in a text editor and look and change the following items :
$config['MasterServer']['servername'] - This is your server name where the database is stored (Normally localhost)
$config['MasterServer']['username'] - This is your Db Username
$config['MasterServer']['password'] - This is your Db Password
$config['Database']['technicalemail'] - This is the email that all errors will be sent to because Vbulletin logs errors
$config['Database']['db_name'] - Database Name
Then just upload all the files if you haven't already.
Now we need to run the installation process to do this just go to : http://www.yourdomain.com/forumdir/install/install.php and change yourdomain to your domain and change forumdir to your Forum Directory on the web server were Vbulletin is. Then just run all on screen instructions and the installation will take you only 5 minutes if it all goes smooth!
When installed
So you have just installed your forum now what ? Well first thing I suggest is log into your admin panel then explore the Vbulletin Options section. And turn your forum off with the message Under Construction if you don't want people looking around your forum before it is open. Then just have an explore of the admin panel, The templates system is the system where you can easily edit your sites apperance etc. The Languages and Phrases manager is were you can edit what certain parts of your forum preview (Text). Then theres so much more like Custom Profile Fields then BBcodes etc etc its like a Forum Administrators Paradise.
Choose your Style
If you don't like the default Vbulletin Style then all you need to do is download one you like! There are many sites which offer them for free and many sites that charge. A good one that charges is www.extremepixels.com (http://www.extremepixels.com) as they offer you expert service and much more. If you want a free style then www.vbulletin.org (http://www.vbulletin.org) is your solution! So register there with the same email you used in the members area membership when you bought your license, Then go into mods and pick your Vbulletin Version, Then click on Styles and explore the forum for the one you like. Installing Styles is as easy as downloading a style, Just download the style, Then log onto your admin panel, Then go into Styles and Templates and choose download/upload new style and upload the XML file that was in your package from the style you choose, Then most templates require you to upload a folder with all the images in, Upload this to the root directory of your forum or if the README says different do it. Then to change your theme go into Vbulletin Options then into Style/Language settings then choose the default style as your new downloaded style. You've just installed your first Style!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Choosing what forums should go onto your board
This simple part of the guide shows you how to add forums to your board and edit them etc.
Creating a new forum.
To create a new forum log into your admin panel and look under Forums and Moderators and Select forum Manager. You will see that there are already some categories and a forum there (Defautly installated) Change the category called Main to something you want, Then change the forum from Main to the forum you want. And to create another forum in that category look to the scrollbar beside the category and select Create a new Child forum, This will add a forum to that category when the screen comes up and you change it to all your right details
Choosing your forums
Choosing your forums is so easy, Just think of what your forum is about, Is it webhosting or child forums ? Depending on it you need to decide about it. So think if it is a webhosting forum then I recommend you have forums like : Webhosting Talk, Hosting Talk, Web Coding Talk, Chit Chat, Announcments, Announcments Discussion. Because based on what your forum does you will need different forums.
Adding a Sub forum
Adding a sub forum works like adding a forum to a category except you do it off a forum, So look to the forum's scroll box then select add Child forum, This will add a new sub forum!
Adding a Category
To add a category this time under the Forums and Moderators part select add forum, Fill in the details but when you get down to posting options don't allow new posts and don't act as a forum, This will hopefully add a new category!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Getting your Forum Known in the world !
So you've done it all, Got your forum set up and opened it now you just need people! So heres how to advertise the smart way.
Adwords
If your looking to make an investment into your business or forum then I suggest you try Adwords, Google charge you on a per click base and you can set your budget for one day If you want your forum going then I suggest you pay around about £5.00 a day but if you don't trust me try their estimater.
Top 100 Vbulletin
If you want you could place an add on www.top100vbulletin.com (http://www.top100vbulletin.com) where they kindly put all ads on for free in their directory. So its probabely your best solution.
You Advertise
If your looking for some money to expand your forum then why don't you advertise ? You could try Google Adsense for all your needs, You could try the new Vbulletin Allfiate System which gets you money off your license!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Closing
Thanks for reading my short basic guide on how to get your forum started. There is obviously alot more then this guide but this guide is for the basic people who just simple need help when they start their forum. Please don't republish this article in anyway without my permission. Thank you and good luck to everyone else entering this amazing contest!