various questions re: hosting;DB & languages

[ish]

Hi, i wish to integrate a forum into my site and after looking through the various scripts available, i have decided that vbulletin has the best service and support for my requirements!

i have queries though:
background:
- my existing site does not have an existing forum.
- my existing site is written in .asp
- i cannot convert to .php yet - not enough time to do this, nor knowledge of php
- there are no other similar php scripts in php for what my site does
- my host is windows based, therefore, no mySQL
- my host does support php5
- i want to use my existing domain name for the forum

queries:
1- will i have to get a linux host for mysql and php support?
2- how do i get the .asp, .php, access(my surrent site has an existing access db) and mysql to work together?
3- will i have to get another domain name, or can i use the existing one.
4- does vb require me to create the mysql db?
5- how can i integrate a further calendar function? a directory section?
6- are these included? where can i download and is it easy to incorporate?
7- how do i purchase vbulletin, where is the link? (i haven't looked hard enough for this yet, but i'm sure i'll find it!)


that's it - i'd like a thorough response please, not one word answers!!:D

thanks in advance.

[Floris]

1- will i have to get a linux host for mysql and php support?

As long as the web server understands PHP and MySQL it should run. This can be any OS like Windows, UNIX, Linux, MacOS, etc.

I personally recommend using linux hosting with apache2, php5, mysql5.


2- how do i get the .asp, .php, access(my surrent site has an existing access db) and mysql to work together?

You probably can't. You will need to rewrite your ASP scripts to connect and use the data from the MySQL database. If you currently run a forum in ASP you could check our impex scripts and see if we have an import script for it. http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/impex We only run on PHP and can't give support for integration with third party scripts.


3- will i have to get another domain name, or can i use the existing one.

You can use any domain you want. You can run vBulletin on your computer, or on a web server, or on an intranet .. you get permission to run one instance of vBulletin - this can be on a domain.


4- does vb require me to create the mysql db?

Yes, you can add a new database, and then add the details from this database in a config.php file. Then during installation vBulletin will create all the tables, fields and the data it needs. You only need to make a new mysql database. Most hosting providers support cpanel or plesk or ensim, or direct connect (at least some kind of visual control panel to manage the hosting account) and this makes it easier to just add a new mysql database, a mysql user with a password. And ability to link them together.


5- how can i integrate a further calendar function? a directory section?
vBulletin comes with a build in calendar. If you wish to integrate vBulletin with your other site sections you can look into data managers and php coding. www.php.net
- http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/data_managers - Our manual is a great resource learning and using vbulletin http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/


6- are these included? where can i download and is it easy to incorporate?
The calendar is indeed included. A directory script isn't - perhaps our customers required the same as you do and have coded this and released it for free over vbulletin.org (our official sister resource site). We can't provide support for custom code though, so make sure you know what you're doing before installing third party plugins.


7- how do i purchase vbulletin, where is the link? (i haven't looked hard enough for this yet, but i'm sure i'll find it!)

Thanks for your interest in the vBulletin forum software and we're looking forward having you as our customer. You can make a purchase here http://www.vbulletin.com/order/


If you have any further pre-sales questions feel free to ask.



All the best,

[ish]

:eek:wow! not just quick, but organised and copmprehensive.

would it be easier for me to just split my site between two domains and hosts?

my existing site, with my existing domain name, existing db and existing .asp language on one windows host........and then the vb forum (with built-in calendar!) with another domain name, on linux /apache host, using mysql5, php5 language on a new host?

i could just purchase linux package with my existing host (Hostway)?

just link everything between the two to make it look /feel seamles?

i think that will be much easier! i'll lose out from some aspects when i do that i'm sure - is there any huge problems with doing this though?

Thanks again

Ish:)

[Floris]

That sounds like a plan. You can update your site to link to the forum, and the forum to link to the main site - like through a menu button or link.