Questions on getting started

[Rocky1981]

Hi all,

I'm interested in building a vBulletin forum soon. I've tried the free 24hr version and got to have an idea of how it'll be like.

However before I purchase the product, I have some questions to seek all your advice and help;


Q1) I read from the documentations that before I upload and install the vBulletion up to the web server, I need to install PHP and MySQL in my own remote system first. My question is what configurations/settings must I do or set in the PHP and MySQL on my remote computer?

Q2) Also, on the web server I subscribed, do I need to configure any thing/settings on the PHP and MySQL in order to comply with the vBulletin product?

Q3) If I've upload to the web server, I just double-click on the installer in the upload folder and run the installation? After the installation, will the interface be like what the free 24hr demo?

Q4) How does the backup utility of the vBulletin work? Does the backup utility of the vBulletin package allow us to backup all the settings/configurations and all the users account info etc... to my remote computer?

Q5) I tried the free 24hr demo of the vBulletin here and was wondering how/where do I edit the content of the first front page of the forum. For e.g. in http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/index.php there are different sections and categories in this front page, so if I've purchase the license copy of vBulletin and upload it, is there anywhere that I can do the design or edit and categorize the sections? I mean in the Admin CP, I can't find any options to do that, so how/where can I do it?

Hope to get some help and advice from some kind soul here. Apologies for all the inconveniences as I'm a noob on this.



Thanks & Regards,
Rocky1981

[Steve Machol]

1 and 2) vBulletin requires a web server that includes PHP (minimum version 4.3.3) and MySQL (minimum 4.0.16) installed. As long as you have a host or server that meets these requirements you will be able to install and run our software. 99% of the time the default installations of PHP and MySQL work fine.

3) You can view the installation instructions in our online documentation here:

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

4) No, it only makes a backup of 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

5) You can add new forum and categories or edit existing ones here:

Admin CP -> Forums & Moderators

[Rocky1981]

Thanks so much for the help and clarifications Steve, will try them out and purchase it soon, cheers

[Rocky1981]

Hi all, I have some doubts and questions again and need further help and advice;


1) When subscribing to the host server service (with PHP andMySQL package), they normally will provide the default MySQL username and password. Assuming the username is my_database and password is 1234567. Is this the info that needed to fill in the editing part of the .php in WordPad? Also, is one database enough? Will each forums section creates their own sub-database automatically or I need to create another new database?

2) How much space (kb/mb take up in MySQL database) will one post take up? Lets say no attachments(disabled) with max. 4 image on the single post. Is 5GB-10GB of space enough for a new forum aiming to have about 1000 registered users for the 1st year?

3) Is the subscription payment methods (e.g. Paypal) available in vBulletin secured? Is there any risk (e.g. integrity and availability issue) ?

4) I have tried the Demo version again on the Forums and Moderator part and was wondering how to section each new forums as in there are the heading of "vBulletin Announcements and Discussions", "vBulletin Sales", "vBulletin 3.8" thinggy dividing each section. How do I go about doing it? Cos when I "Add a Forum", it does not do it in the Admin CP.

5) Where can I edit and replace the default vBulletin logo on the top left corner of every page? I mean do I need to do it with HTML code with the src= code thing?

6) If say there are advertiser wana advertise on your forum and wish to post a banner on your forum, where can I do the adding/editing of the banner jpg/gif/swf file? In manual way opening the page in Dreamweaver/FrontPage using HTML codes?

7) Finally, what is the currency type for purchasing the license? In USD or Sterling Pound? Do vBulletin accept AMEX?


Sorry for the inconvenience again, hope to get some help and advice.



Thanks & Regards

[Wayne Luke]

1) This along with the server name and password is all you need to connect to a database. You only need 1 database.

2) That should be more than sufficient.

3) vBulletin links to the payment provider's secure pages. No transactions actually occur on your site so you don't need SSL or security certificates.

4) Categories are simply forums with a "Act as Forum" option turned to no. You can do this in the demo by editing those forums that you wish to be categories.

5) You can set the logo path in the Stylevars section of the Style Manager under Styles & Templates.

6) You would have to insert the code in the appropriate template. vBulletin provides several blank templates for this purpose. You cannot directly insert code via Frontpage or Dreamweaver, you would have to copy and paste the HTML code.

7) You can choose between US Dollars, Pound Sterling or Euros on the payment page. We accept AMEX through Paypal and Metacharge with US Dollars only.