| vBulletin Options | |
| The vBulletin Options section contains a number of switches, toggles and other controls that will alter the behavior of your vBulletin system. One of the most important switches located under the vBulletin Options section is the switch to universally turn your vBulletin on and off. |
| Styles & Templates | |
| Within the Styles & Templates section you will find all the tools you need to control the appearance of your vBulletin installation. From here you will be able to make all necessary changes, from simple color and font style changes in the CSS editor, right through to editing the underlying XHTML of the templates used to construct the user interface. The style and template editing tools will also enable you to create multiple styles, in order to give your visitors the option to choose the style in which they view the user interface. |
| Languages & Phrases | |
| In vBulletin 3, any language-dependent text is kept separately from the HTML layout code. This enables you the administrator to create (or download) versions of the user interface translated into multiple languages other than US English, making your board truly multinational and language-independent. |
| FAQ | |
| The vBulletin FAQ manager allows you to create and maintain a dynamic and searchable document resource, which can be used for any purpose you see fit. By default, vBulletin populates the FAQ with various helpful documents to instruct your users in how to use vBulletin, but you can edit these documents or create entirely new content if you wish. |
| Announcements | |
| If you need to inform your members of some news, or otherwise want to post something important on the board, you have the option to post it as an announcement. Announcements differ from threads in that they can appear in multiple forums simultaneously, and have a time period in which they are visible, then they disappear from view. |
| Forums & Moderators | |
| The forum and moderator managers are where you create and edit the various forums that make up your board. The tools here allow you to set up your forums, control user access to each forum at a usergroup level and give specific users Moderator permissions, allowing them to act on your behalf to keep the peace and ensure that your visitors behave themselves in their posts. You can also view a summary of all moderators, and of all permission levels for forum access. |
| Calendars & Moderators | |
| vBulletin includes a powerful calendar system that can act in many ways, from a personal diary for individual board members to a schedule for forthcoming board events. Using the Calendar Manager you can create a number of different calendars, add specific holidays and events, and create Calendar Moderators to oversee the use of each calendar. In the same way as you can set permissions for forums, you can use the Calendar Manager to set permissions at a usergroup level for individual calendars and calendar types. |
| Threads & Posts | |
| The threads and posts section contains tools that enable you to manage large groups of threads and posts. You can delete (prune) threads, or move them from forum to forum based on search parameters you specify. You can also remove polls from specified threads, find out who voted in otherwise private polls, and remove all thread subscriptions to a specific thread. |
| Moderation | |
| The Moderation section is where you will find tools for you or your moderators to check on the various moderation queues that exist in vBulletin. For example, if you have chosen to moderate all posts before they are viewable, the 'Moderate Posts' link will show you the Post Moderation List, where you can approve or reject posts that have been made by your members. |
| Attachments | |
| vBulletin has the ability to allow your visitors to attach files to their messages, uploading the files to your server. The Attachments Manager allows you to search for attached files, view statistics about all the attachments stored on your server, and configure the parameters for what file types you would like to allow to be posted. |
| Users | |
| The User Manager contains all the tools required for managing individual users of your board. Tools here include the ability to search for users based on information in their user profile, a form to manually add a new user, a system to send an email to selected users or generate a mailing list and set user-specific forum permissions amongst other functions. You can track down trouble-making users by searching on the IP address that is logged when they make a post, then ban a mischievous user from the board. You can then search for other banned users to manage their ban periods or restore their access to the board. |
| Usergroups | |
| vBulletin organizes permissions for various functions with a usergroup system. By default there are seven usergroups including Administrators, Super Moderators, Moderators, Registered Users and Guests. You can use the Usergroup Manager to edit the various permissions for each group, or even add new usergroups to create a specialized permissions system unique to your own board. Also under the usergroups section, you will find the necessary tools for setting specific usergroup-based permissions for individual forums, and the all-important Administrator Permissions tool, which allows Super Administrators to limit the powers of their co-administrators. |
| User Titles | |
| The user title manager allows you to set up a 'ladder' of titles that can be applied to users based on the number of posts they have made. For example, when a user registers he may be given the title 'Junior Member', then when that user has made 100 posts he could be granted the user title 'Senior Member'. The numbers of posts required to climb each 'rung' of the ladder, and the actual titles given are entirely up to you. |
| User Ranks | |
| User Ranks are similar to User Titles in that they allow users to progress through a number of classes depending upon the number of posts they have made. However, User Ranks are more flexible than User Titles because they can (if desired) be applied to specific usergroups, and can contain images and HTML in the titles. |
| User Reputations | |
| The User Reputation system allows your board members to leave comments about one anothers' posts, and thereby contribute to their overall 'reputation'. Using the User Reputation manager, you can create titles for a variety of reputation levels, so that users are given a reputation title when they reach a certain reputation level. |
| User Profile Fields | |
| In addition to the default information you have users enter when they register to be members of your board, you can also define additional profile fields to suit your own board subject. Commonly-used custom fields include 'Location', 'Occupation', 'Interests' etc. |
| Subscriptions | |
| The vBulletin Subscriptions system allows you to charge your visitors for access to specific areas and services that you may offer. In general, this is achieved by temporarily making a subscribed user into a member of one or more specific usergroups, which have access to the site areas or services for which they have paid. |
| Avatars | |
| Avatars are small pictures that appear next to or underneath your members' names on their posts etc. Using the Avatar Manager, you can pre-define groups of avatars from which your members can choose one as their own avatar. Also under this section is a tool to control the storage of your members' custom avatars (those which they have uploaded themselves). You may choose to store custom avatars in the database, or as files on the server's file system. |
| Post Icons | |
| When your members post new threads, posts or private messages, you may also allow them to assign an icon to their message for quick visual identification. The Post Icon manager contains all the tools you will need to upload and modify icons for your members to use. |
| Smilies | |
| Smilies (also called emoticons in some quarters) are small images used to convey some form of emotion in messages. For example, :) is often translated into an image showing a smiling face. The smilie manager allows you to define the smilies that you would like your members to be able to use in their messages, and the text that is replaced with each image. |
| Custom BB Codes | |
| BB Code (or vB Code) is a method by which your members can format their messages. Its syntax is similar to HTML, but it has the benefit that you (the administrator) can define exactly what codes are allowable in order to prevent unwanted formatting or malicious use. It is also less prone to break the layout of your forums than raw HTML. The Custom BBCode manager allows you to define new bbcode tags in order to extend the range of formatting available to your members. |
| Scheduled Tasks | |
| The vBulletin Scheduled Task Manager allows you to add tasks that will be executed at specific intervals, much like the Unix Cron system. You will find a number of tasks already set to run at specific times, and you can edit the intervals for those tasks, or add your own if you have something specific you need done. |
| Plugin System | |
| vBulletin has an extensive plugin system, allowing new features to be added and functionality to be changed by third-party add-ons, without modifying the core vBulletin code. This section allows you to manage code attached to hooks and any additional products you might have installed. |
| Statistics & Logs | |
| Within this section you will find links enabling you to view various activity logs kept by the vBulletin system, such as access to the Admin CP or the activities of your moderators. You can also use the Statistics section to query various statistics about your board, such as the number of new member registrations over a specific period of time. |
| Maintenance | |
| This section of the Admin CP contains various tools for maintaining your board. You will find tools for repairing and optimizing the tables in your database, along with various diagnostic tools useful in tracking down problems you may experience in the running of your board. |
