Can we start over lol? Yesterday was ruff, now im riddled with ?'s

[DennisTheMenace]

**warning long read - pull back now or proceeeeed to reeeead lol**

Ok first off I want to apologize, yesterday I think I acted a little sharp when I was just a bit frustrated, tired and wanted things to work very easy and that just wasnt happening. Any how I havent really slept in the last few days but I was able to read, read, read, and read a little more and finally got a general understanding of mysql, creating a db, user etc. and was able to get the install complete...WoooHooo! So now all the Vbulletin Welcomes actually feel warm lol....funny thing is I was going crazy and now that I have done it once, I could do it again in minutes...mind boggling...haha...

Any how, now that I was able to access this beast of an admin control panel....I am just riddled with questions related to forums and what they are really capable of doing...wooooo upgrades for days!! Well I didnt want to go all over the forum and wasnt sure really where to post this so if there is a problem please move this thread or let me know what is best to do....

Here are the questions if any one would be willing to answer all or even just 1 would be HIGHLY appreciated....I am so tickled to now finally feel like its on its way somewhere ha...so here we go...grab some popcorn? :)

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How can I save or back up everything so that I wont ever have to re-do all forums settings etc.? And what percautions can I do for security to make sure theres no leaks or loopholes..I have heard of people hacking forums etc. I would hate to be a victim of this if the board became active.
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when I change or upgrade to a custom skin am I going to lose or have to redo all categories, forums, settings etc.?
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Is upgrading to a custom skin a hard process? And would any one know of a good place or designer I could work with...(reliable and fairly priced)
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How can I set it so that users have to register before they are allowed to see the forums? or they have to sign up before they can post etc.
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does the config file need to be deleted or changed since it has the db pass info or does that really not even matter?
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is there a significance to setting up user groups etc. Like how can I set it so that I can have mods help with the board but even if they wanted to they wouldnt have access to harm the board in any way. (some people turn lol)
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Is there a down side to having alot of forums/categories etc. like say maybe 5-8 different categories with avg. 10 forums in each category so say 50 -80 different forums...I understand the obvious of it will be more bandwith used etc. but I notice most boards like to keep the amount of forums limited or so it seems.
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Also is there a way that I can make like a certain category and all the forums in that category be like a V.I.P. where members would have to reach a certain amounts of posts before they could access that section or even maybe have a payment for that section or something to this effect?
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I have seen but not sure how to make it happen for example having a home page i.e. example.com and then it would link to your board like forum.example.com is this better then persay just making an index. that would have html in text or a pic linking to it...not sure of the benefits or if it matters either way.
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With adsense can I use the same ads/banners from another site I have or do I need to create new ones for the forums and is there restrictions as to what my forums are allowed to contain to still qualify for asense payments.
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Any tips, tricks, hints on how to get the ball rolling with your forums wether it be banners, links exhanges, best ways to get into search engines etc.
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where can I find a good list of add-ons or plug-ins that are either free OR for purchase, and what are some nice ones I could add that would attract users or seperate you from the average board.
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I have also seen where forums have a spot for "blogs" and also a trade number for if you were to make transactions with other board members. would these be considered plug-ins or is that something seperate?
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hahaha WOW WOW I know thats alot of questions and by no means do I expect any one to answer them all or anything, but if you could maybe grab one or 2 and feed me some knowledge on it or even supply me with a link I have no problems with learning/reading up on them...If I could be pointed in the right direction that would be perfect!

Once again I want to thank the vbulletin team and the people that have welcomed/helped me up to this point. Much appreciated!!

[Steve Machol]

1. All this info is stored in the database. The only consistently reliable method of backing up and restoring a database is with shell access via telnet or ssh. This is because backing up with a PHP script like that in the Admin CP or phpMyAdmin can result in PHP timeout errors and an incomplete backup file.

Please see the instructions here:

Backup:
http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/maintenance_ssh_backup

Restore:
http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/maintenance_ssh_restore

If you don't have telnet or SSH access, some people have reported success with these scripts:

MySQLDumper:
http://www.mysqldumper.de/en/index.php

MySQLHotxcopy:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=134821&highlight=mysqlhotcopy

Bigdump (restore only):
http://www.ozerov.de/bigdump.php

2. No.

3. That depends on the style. Most designers keep their styles up to date with the latest versions of vB but modifying them can be a pain. We do not recommend anmy designers but you can try asking over at vbulletin.org.

4. Admin CP -> Usergroups -> Usergroup Manager -> Edit Usergroup (Unregistered) -> Post / Thread Permissions -> Can View Forums -> No

[Steve Machol]

5. Once config.php is set there is no need to change anything unless the db info changes.

6. Yes, there is a significance to setting up usergroups. It gives you the ability to assign certain permissions and settings by usergroup and by forum.

7. As you describe it no. You won't really see a downside to a lot of forums until you get over 1000 forums.

However I recommend that you start with as few of forums as you need then add more later. A new board with lots of empty forums turns many people off.

8. Yes, you can use the vB Promotions system to do this. Here is the online documentation for user Promotions:

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/main/usergroup_promotions

Also vBulletin does include a built-in paid subscription function. You can view the documentation here:

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/subscriptions

[Steve Machol]

9. vB does not include a separate home page. You can either create your own, or use one of the 'portals' which are add-ons that can do this. However these are third-party add-ons that we do not provide or support. You can check the Premium Modifications forums at www.vbulletin.org (http://www.vbulletin.org) for information about these.

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=99

10. That's a question for Google but my understanding is that you can use the same adsense code on multiple sites.

11. Add your site to the major search engines and ask your friends to register and participate.

12. The source for add-ons is here: http://www.vbulletin.org

Please note that we do not provide official support for third-party add-ons and forums running non-vB code.

13. We are developing our own official Blog add-on. Please see this announcement:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=235507

[DennisTheMenace]

WOOOOW Steve you are the man!! Looks like I have a looooong day ahead of me...

I appreciate you taking the time to help me out...can't really put it into word but just know it is highly appreciated!!!

Thanks a mill...

Now off to check all these links and let things soak in!! Cheers!! ;)