Few Questions

[Sickone]

G'day folks,

I'm looking into purchasing vBulletin for my site but just need a few questions answered that I'm not completely sure of before making my final decision into purchasing vBulletin.

1.) At the moment I'm running phpBB3 on my website, and while that is a good system, I prefer many of the features vBulletin has to offer in terms of users and the Admin Control Panel. Is there anyway I can backup my database that I'm running on phpBB3, and intergrate it into my vBulletin system?

2.) My site is a forum only. All files are located within the 'public_html' default directory, so as you type in my domain it goes straight to the forum (example: http://www.domain.com/viewforum.php?f=3) is this possible with vBulletin? If so, will I need to download vBulletin, unzip the folder, and upload each file/folder through FTP?

3.) As I'm a Military man, I'm used to combat roles and not computer/website software. I'm also wondering how the entire system is in terms of easability and general use. I post on a forum regularly that uses the vBulletin system, and I find it quite easy to use. I've used the demo available on the website, but I'm wondering for a full-scale site with thousands of registrations; is controling the forum a simple task?

[Onimua]

1. You can import your forum from phpBB, yes: http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/impex_phpBB3

2. Yes, you can put vBulletin in whatever directory you want, it doesn't need to be in a specific area.

3. I'll admit the Admin CP is a bit daunting and confusing at first, but once you get used to it, ues, it's pretty simple. As a matter of fact, once you set up your forums, group permissions, staff, and whatever else, you most likely won't be using the ACP much for many moderation practices (like closing threads, creating announcements, etc). In general, once you get used to it you'll find vBulletin's pretty easy to work with for the most part.

[Sickone]

1. You can import your forum from phpBB, yes: http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/impex_phpBB3

2. Yes, you can put vBulletin in whatever directory you want, it doesn't need to be in a specific area.

3. I'll admit the Admin CP is a bit daunting and confusing at first, but once you get used to it, ues, it's pretty simple. As a matter of fact, once you set up your forums, group permissions, staff, and whatever else, you most likely won't be using the ACP much for many moderation practices (like closing threads, creating announcements, etc). In general, once you get used to it you'll find vBulletin's pretty easy to work with for the most part.

Thanks, Onimua!

It's a relief to know that phpBB3 can be intergrated into vBulletin. My main concern was losng the entire database, which has happend before, and would be extremely annoying if I had to start from scratch again.

I kind of assumed it would be a little daunting at first but like most things, practice makes perfect. Thanks for the reply!

[Onimua]

It's not really an integration, but an import. Once you import to vBulletin (and made sure the transfer went well), you can remove the phpBB database and files and leave vBulletin on its own.