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1. The requirements of vBulletin
In the next article we're going to be shifting our focus to the installation and configuration of vBulletin. In this article we begin at the point where most people begin with vBulletin with a copy of the software and somewhere to upload it to. If you have both of those, then you are probably eager to get going with the installation! We will look at: • The requirements of vBulletin • How to install the files • How to create the database • How ...

2. Importing Data into vBulletin
If you are moving to vBulletin from another type of discussion board, then there is a good chance that you won't want to lose all the posts that you already have and start again with nothing. And it's not just the posts that are important what about all your member information usernames, passwords, profile data? You don't want to lose all that and start with aIn the right-hand pane you get information about the version notice how we are being told that there is a newer version of vBulletin available. That's a really handy feature, and...

3. The vBulletin User Experience
A Tour of vBulletin In the previous article we looked at the vBulletin installation process. This process involved downloading the installation files, making edits to the configuration files, creating or preparing a database for vBulletin, uploading the installation files, and finally going through the vBulletin installation wizard. We also looked at how to import posts and settings from another discussion board into vBulletin. Now that you have a working vBulletin board, the next thing that you need to do is famili...

4. Customizing Your vBulletin Board
  Customizing Your vBulletin Board Most of the best discussion boards on the Web have been customized in one way or another. Some have only basic customizations to give the place a specific look and feel, while others have been heavily modified and customized to look, feel, and work exactly how the owners want them to. At this stage you probably want something in the middle you want a certain level of customization but don't want to take on too much too soon, right? That's fine the g...

5. vBulletin templates
Template Modifications So far we've looked at how to modify CSS stylesheet information, which controls how vBulletin looks, and the phrases, which control the text. Both of these modifications allow you to radically change how your vBulletin board looks and feels. Template modifications allow you to do a lot more and to make much more radical changes to your vBulletin installation. In fact, templates control nearly every aspect of a vBulletin board. Each page that the end user sees is the result of one or mo...

6. Hacking a vBulletin Board
Hacks So far we've talked about making modifications to a vBulletin installation, and we've looked at four different ways to modify the installation. So far we've called the changes 'modifications', but the term that you are more likely to see used on the web is 'hacks'. Whenever a board is modified, it is said to be hacked (not to be confused with 'hacked' as in the security being compromised by a hacker), and modifications are known as hacks as in "hacks to a board"...

7. Administering Your Forum
Administering Your Forum There's a lot to do as a forum administrator. It's not just about participating in the discussions, facilitating new discussion, and making the tough decisions as to who should be moderated or banned. There's a lot to do behind the scenes the day-to-day care of the forum as well as routine maintenance. You will also run into problems from time to time, and then you will need to carry out emergency repairs to get your forum going again. This article is about the most common tasks an adminis...

8. vBulletin database maintenance
Maintaining the Database Without the data, your community is gone. Not only will you lose all the forums that have been set up (along with any customizations and changes you made), but you will also lose all the people. By this, I mean you will lose all the members lose the database and their accounts. Usernames, passwords, everything will be lost. Running a forum without taking care of the database is asking for trouble. Not only might you run into problems and difficulties when you make a change ...

9. Smilies and avatars in vBulletin
Smilies Because a forum relies on text-based communication, anything that helps someone get their message across is a good thing. That's where smilies come in. They are little graphics that have a variety of faces displaying different emotions. Smilies are controlled through the control panel. If you click on Smilies in the left-hand menu, then three options will be made available. Clicking on SmilieManager will take you to a window where you can edit...

10. Upgrading vBulletin
Upgrading vBulletin Nothing stays the same. Life is a constantly moving forward, and software moves forward faster than most things. vBulletin is constantly changing as new versions are released. Sometimes these are big changes (such as from version 2 to version 3), and other times they are just bug fixes and security updates (such as 3.5.2 to 3.5.4). The updates to vBulletin generally contain security fixes rather than cosmetic tweaks, so it is important to install them in a timely fashion so as to elimin...