siteground vbulletin tutorial

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vBulletin Tutorial

vBulletin forum software is one of the best bullet in board applications you can use on your website.vBulletin is written in PHP and requires a MySQL database. It is a paid application and offers regularsecurity updates. vBulletin can be downloaded from vBulletin official web page.

SiteGround Web Hosting Forum uses the vBulletin application. With SiteGround hosting you can use allvBullet in features.

vBulletin Tutorial includes the following sections:

How to install vBulletin

How to change vBulletin styles and templates;

How to add avatars for your users;

How to include smilies in your posts;

How to install vBulletin mods: RSS Feed, Banners;

How to attach files in vBulletin;

How to backup vBulletin;

How to upgrade vBulletin.

Check our vBulletin hosting services where you get free assistance for vBullet in installat ion!

Please, note: vBulletin is a paid application. We will help you with its installation if you have a license for

using it.

(c) Copyright 2006 SiteGround Forum Hosting Services. All rights reserved

You may use this tutorial for your own use. You may not distribute it in any form without the express permission of

the publisher. You may provide a link to the publisher's web site, where this tutorial can be used from. This tutorial

is provided free of charge and without any warranty of any kind.

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vBulletin installation

Download vBulletin

The vBulletin forum software can be downloaded from its official website at http://www.vbulletin.com.Please, bear in mind that vBulletin is paid software and there are no trial versions released.

There are two types of licenses for vBulletin - leased and owned. You can read more about vBulletinhere.

For you vBulletin forum website you will need a fast and secure hosting solution. With SiteGroundvBulletin hosting account you will get free assistance with the installat ion of the vBulletin software.

Please, follow the instructions below in order to install your vBulletin forum

vBulletin installation: Preparation - file uploading, database setup, etc;

vBulletin installation process: config.php file reconfiguration, step-by-step installation;


vBulletin installation: Files upload, Database setup

Prepare the Installation

Once you have purchased a vBulletin license and have the archive with the last version downloaded onyour computer you can proceed with the installat ion process. The names of the archives are usually.

vBulletin-x-x-x- where the x-x-x is the version, 3.6.8 for example.

Extracting the archive and explaining it's contents

Extract the archive in a separate folder of your computer. It must contain the following files:

"do_not_upload" - This is a folder that contains the following files which are not obligatory to beuploaded:

tools.php - This is a script, which might be handy in future. It will help you to fix login

problems and rebuilds caches for user groups and bit fields

searchshell.php - A script to be executed from server shell used to rebuild the search index

if it gets broken.

vb_backup.sh - A simple shell script used to backup your forum's database.

"upload" - This is the folder which content must be uploaded on your account. Here are all the files ofthe productive vBulletin forum:



license_agreement.html - This file contains the end license agreement and the Terms of Use

of the vBulletin

vb3_readme.html - The current vBulletin version's 'Read Me' instructions in '.html' format.

vb3_readme.txt - The current vBulletin version's 'Read Me' instructions in text format.

Uploading the installation & forum files to your account

Now, that you have the archives extracted on your computer, it is time to upload it on your hostingaccount. First, you have to make a decision where to have it installed:

If you want to use your website only for forum purposes, then you can easily upload the

contents of the upload folder, (without the folder) in the 'public_html' folder of your account.

Then the URL for your forum will be http://www.yourdomainname.com

If you want the forum to be just a part of your website, but not its main page then you can

put it into a subfolder. The most used names of this folder are board, bboard, forum,

phorum, community, but you are not narrowed to these names, you can have whatever you

want for your forum. Then the URL for your forum will be:

http://www.yourdomainname.com/directoryname. (e.g.http://forum.siteground.com/)

Upload the files that are in the "upload" folder to the desired location and then you can precede withthe database creation. You can learn more about how to upload files with FTP here.

What is MySQL database and why is it obligatory for the forum installation?

Like most of the applications, written in PHP (the most famous scripting language used to createdynamic Web pages) vBulletin is working using a MySQL database to store its data. During the setupprocess you'll be asked to name the database, to give a username that have access to it and acorresponding password.

Your account with SiteGround comes with unlimited MySQL databases. They can be managed troughyour cPanel -> phpMyAdmin. You can learn how to create a MySQL database and attach a user to it byreading our tutorial.


vBulletin installation: Configuration, Step-by-Step Installation

config.php File Configuration

You have already uploaded the files, and you have the database created so you should fill in thedatabase details in the file named 'config.php.new'. To edit this file, please go to your cPanel and clickon the File Manager icon.

The file is located in a folder named includes which is located in the directory where you haveuploaded the files from the upload folder, that you have previously extracted.



The directories in cPanel File Manager are browsed by clicking their icons. Reach the folder includesand click with the right mouse key on the file named 'config.php.new' to show the actions that can bedone with this file.

Rename the file to 'config.php'.

Click on the Edit File link to open the file for edit ing and the text editor will be popped up.

Editing of the 'config.php' file is the most important part of vBulletin's installation.

First, you have to enter the name of the MySQL database that you have created:

The line should be looking as follows:

$config['Database']['dbname'] = 'forum';

Then, you have to enter the database username that you have created:

$config['MasterServer']['username'] = 'root';

The last value that is important to be edited is the password:

$config['MasterServer']['password'] = '';

Please, be careful not to delete the leading and the trailing < ' > signs as they are very important too.

Save the file named 'config.php' by clicking on the [Save] button at the end of the editor'sform.

Please, note that it is not recommended to edit this file with a Windows text editor, such like Notepad or

Wordpad as this editors are saving the files with .php extensions with the "^M" sign in the end of every row

and sometimes this is causing problems when they are transferred on a Linux server.

vBulletin installation trough a web browser

As most of the PHP-based applications, vBulletin forum installat ion is done in a "Step by step" mode. Tolaunch it, please open your favorite web browser and point it to:http://yourdomainname.com/install/install.php. Replace yourdomainname.com with



your actual domain name.

If everything is correctly set in the 'config.php' file, a window will appear. There you'll have to enteryour unique Customer Number. This is the number which you use to log into your vBulletin.comMembers' Area.

Copy and Paste your number in the box and click on the [Enter install system] button.

If you have entered the correct 13-digit Customer Number you will be redirected to the first of totalthirteen installation steps.

Step 1: Click the [Next Step] button and you'll proceed to the part which is called VerifyConfiguration.

If everything is correct, you'll see the following text: 'Config file exists and is readable' and you will beable to proceed to step two, called Database Connectivity Verification.

Step 2: Click the [Next Step] button. You will be prompted with the following messages ifeverything is configured correctly in the 'config.php' file: 'Connection succeeded! The database alreadyexists'.

Step 3: To proceed to step three, which actually creates the database records, click the



[Next] button.

Step 4: In case all the tables were created you would be able to proceed to step four, whichwill set the default database encoding and variables.

Step 5: Once this is done, click [Next], for step five, which will auto insert sample data in thetables that were already created.

Step 6: Click [Next], for the sixth step, which will input the Master Language - it's English bydefault.

Step 7: Clicking next will lead you to step 7 where the auto installer will import the defaultvBulletin theme style.

Step 8 is importing the Administrator's Help files which can be found later in the Admin Controlpanel.

In Step 9 you have to configure the details of your forum. You have to select the t itle of thevBulletin board, the t it le of the page, the BB URL and Home URL are settings that are automaticallyobtained by the web browser and they do not need to be changed. It 's a good idea to change theadministrator's email, as this will be used for administrative email address associated with this forum. Thecookie path, where the session information will be temporarily stored is considered to / by default. It'snot recommended to enter your own sett ing as this may result in you to be unable to login to yourforum. It is advisable to leave this Cookie domain setting blank as entering an invalid setting can leaveyou unable to login to your forum, too.

Step 10: Click the proceed button and you'll be redirected to Step 10, where the importing ofthe details is confirmed.

Step 11: Click the Next step button to proceed with the setup of the administrator account.Fill in the form with the desired administrative username, password and email and click Proceed.



Step 12: You will be forwarded to a confirmation page and you will have to click the Next stepbutton in order to finish the installat ion.

Step 13: Once you have finished with the installation, please open your cPanel's File Managerand browse to the directory where you have uploaded the vBulletin's files. Enter the install directoryand remove the 'install.php' file. This is considered to be mandatory.

Leaving off the 'install.php' file will make your vBulletin forum extremely vulnerable!

When you delete this file, you can preview the installation on this URL:http://yourdomain.com, http://yourdomain.com/forum orhttp://forum.yourdomain.com/.

You can find the administrator's control panel on this URL:http://yourdomain.com/admincp/index.php.

You will use this control panel to administrate your forum.


vBulletin Styles and Templates

Customizing the outlook of your vBulletin

The vBulletin Styles system is the interface through, which you can configure the way your visitors seeyour board. You can reach it from your Admin Control Panel. Please, click on the tab menu namedStyles & Templates and a new menu will be populated.

Select the Style Manager and you will enter the Style Manager system.



All vBullet in versions have the Default Style chosen as a part of their installat ion. You are free to modifyits outlook to the state that it will suit your needs. All the options available for editing are presented ina drop-down menu. Please, select the options you would like to edit and click [Go] to enter the editor.

The main vBulletin outlook can be easily configured by entering the Main CSS editor.

There you can modify the CSS style sheet of the forum. It contains all fonts and colors sett ings thatcan be easily modified using the intuit ive interface. All the changes you make must be saved using the[Save CSS] button.

Registering at www.vbulletin.org

The http://www.vbulletin.org website is considered to be the richest resource for vBulletin mods &themes over the internet. To have the ability to download mods and themes you must register to thewebsite with the email address that you've signed up for your vBulletin license. The vBulletin.orgsystem is checking if this email is a valid one and depending on the result allows or bans you fromdownloading themes/mods.

If you haven't registered with this email address you must follow the link to the vBulletin membersarea. Once logged in the members' area you have the ability to add up to three email addresses



associated with your license and can receive support.


vBulletin Styles and Templates

Customizing the outlook of your forum by using a vBulletin Style

You can download custom styles from the vBulletin.org website. They are currently available in thevBulletin Forum and there is a download link only for the licensed members (read above how to registerat http://www.vbulletin.org).

Download the style archive on your computer and extract it in a folder. When you are done, pleaselogin in your Admin Control Panel and select the Download/Upload link, under the Styles andTemplates tab.

First of all, you will have to upload the XML file, included in the package that contains the text colorsettings. You can do this by browsing your local computer to the folder where you have extracted thetheme. It is mandatory that you set a name for the new style. Otherwise, the default one will beoverwritten and lost.



Usually, the theme archives are shipped with a folder, named images. Upload its contents to yourvBulletin directory, under the images path in order to apply the image changes too. If you don't do soonly the text outlook will be changed.

Applying Styles

The style can be chosen from the global vBulletin options. There is a user friendly drop-down list.

Select Style and Language Settings from the list and click the [Edit Settings] button.



You will be redirected to a menu, where you'll have to select the desired style from the drop-down list.Note that this will apply to all the pages of the forum and will be the default theme sett ing.

To apply your changes hit the [Save] button.




vBulletin Avatars

Custom avatars can be uploaded both by the users and the administrator. These that are uploaded bythe administrator can be used by all the users. When a user uploads an avatar - only he can use it.

To upload public avatars, to be used by your visitors, you must go to the Upload avatar menu which islocated under the Avatars tab.

Select the file from your computer by clicking the browse button. You have the option to apply thisavatar after a certain amount of posts. You can modify the value of the minimum posts before thisavatar and its tit le to appear.

You don't need to change the avatars storage path or permissions. The vBulletin software requires777 permissions for this folder, according to the official documentation released. But on our serversthis folder can be working under 755 permissions without facing any problems. Click Upload toupload the image.

If you want to upload more than one image at once, you can batch upload all the images in the imagesfolder, in its subfolder avatars, which is located in your account, where the forum is stored.



vBulletin Smilies

If you'd like you can easily alter commonly used emoticons - ;-P~ for example, with a custom smiliepicture. This can be done from the tab named Smilie - there's link named Add New Smilie. Click on itand you'll be forwarded to very user friendly menu.

You have to upload this picture to the images folder, in its subfolder smilies. Remember the name ofthe file. Then set the new smilie t it le and the emoticon to be replaced with the picture that isuploaded in the advised folder above. In the image path, please, fill inimages/smilies/*the_name_of_the_file.jpg and replace the bold text with the name of

the file that you have previously uploaded.

Click on the [Add smilie] button and you are done. A new smilie is added.




vBulletin Mods

Installing mods in vBulletin

This unfortunately can't be defined and explained strictly. Basically, the process contains two steps:

Step 1 is to add the mandatory XML file shipped with every mod trough the Add/Manageproducts menu.

Step 2 is to follow the instructions which file exactly how to edit.

At this vBulletin tutorial we will show you how to install:

RSS feed to your Forum

Banners in vBulletin

If you need our assistance with the module installat ion, please post a ticket in Exclusive ProfessionalServices->Adding a module to an application and our Senior Support Team will complete theintegration for you.




vBulletin Mods

Add a banner under the Navigation bar at the top

So, to add a banner, for example under your Navigation bar you must be well acquainted with XHTML.

Once you have you banner code you are ready to go to your Admin Control Panel -> Styles &Templates -> Style Manager and from the drop-down menu to select: edit templates.

Click Navigation/Breadcrumb Templates group, expand the group and find the *navbartemplate.* Open it and at the bottom of this template you can add your banner XHTML code.




vBulletin Attachments

How to attach files into posts in vBulletin

Attaching files into posts is only possible if you are using the Post reply option. The Quick replydoesn't support attaching files into posts. The menu is intuitive and is displayed after clicking on the[Manage attachments] button from the options. You can upload both from your computer and todownload from an Internet location.

You can define the possible attachment files through the Attachment Manager in the admin panel.


vBulletin Backup

In order to backup and then restore fully your Vbulletin you need to have the database and thefiles copied from the server to your local hard drive.

Backup/Export your database

There are two options with which you can backup your Vbulletin database:

Method 1: Database backup from the vBulletin Options section.

It can be done from the main vBulletin Options section, there is the ability to backup the options ofeach product including vBulletin itself.



This is useful when backing up a board or moving an install from one site to another, or for replicating aboard from a test environment to a live site.

To perform a backup of your database, you can go to Maintenance -> Database Backup. You willbe presented with a screen similar to this:

Here you are presented with two methods of backing up:

Database tables to include in backup - this will output a backup of the selected tables directly

to you. Please select all the tables using "all yes" button.

Backup database to a file on the server - this will output a backup of all tables in the

database to the specified file on the server.

This file must be writable by the user that PHP is running as (usually the web server). This can generally be

accomplished by using chmod 0755 on the directory you wish to write.

Method 2: Database backup from PhpMyAdmin

You can export your Vbulletin database by using PHPMyAdmin. Find out how to reach the PHPMyAdminhere.

Once you've reached the phpMyAdmin tool, please find out how to backup/restore your MySQLdatabase.

Backup all your files

To learn how to backup all of your files and folders inside your Vbulletin installat ion please, click here:how to create a backup of your files and folders.

Due to limitations with PHP, backups may not be complete on larger databases. Please ensure that the final

line of your backup contains:

### VBULLETIN DATABASE DUMP COMPLETED ###

Once you have the Vbulletin installat ion files and the database exported on your hard drive, you haveyour Vbulletin backed up! Congratulations!




vBulletin Upgrade

From time to time it is necessary to upgrade your vBulletin installation to the latest version. This is useful

to either gain new features or fix newly discovered bugs or security breaches in PHP, MySQL or vBulletin

itself.

If upgrading from vBulletin 2.x to a 3.x or 3.5.x version, you need to upgrade to at least 2.2.9. You can also upgrade

to 2.3.5 or whatever is the latest 2.x version though, and continue the upgrade from there.

The upgrade process differs depending upon the version of vBulletin currently installed on your web

server. Sites running vBulletin 2 will need to follow slightly different instructions from sites already

running vBulletin 3 and upgrading to the latest version.

If upgrading from vBulletin 3.0.x to 3.5.0, or 2.x.x to 3.x.x you will also need to recreate your

includes/config.php file based on the new version of includes/config.php.new. This step would not be

necessary for individual upgrades within the 3.0.x or 3.5.x series. If you are upgrading from vBulletin

3.5.x to vBulletin 3.6.x you do not need to edit the config.php file.

Preparing for the Upgrade

Please, make a full backup of your vBulletin system before upgrading its version!

Next, please log into your vBulletin Members' Area and download the latest vBulletin package

available. After you have successfully downloaded the vBulletin package on your computer, you will need

to prepare the scripts to be uploaded to your web server. The first thing to do is to extract the

package to its constituent files. When the extraction progress is complete, you will find that the process

has created a new folder called Upload and another called do_not_upload.

The upload folder contains the vBulletin files that need to be uploaded to your web server. You should

now rename the upload folder to match whatever name you gave to the directory containing your

vBulletin files on your web server. In this example, the folder containing the vBulletin files is called

forum.

If you have changed the names of the admincp and modcp directories in your config.php file, be sure to make the

same change to these subdirectories prior uploading.

Having downloaded the latest vBulletin package and unzipped it to a folder, you must now prepare your

web server to accept the updated files.

There are two ways achieving this:

The first method involves overwriting all the files that were previously uploaded to your web

server, which is the recommended one.

The second method involves deleting all the old files and directories, and then uploading the new

scripts. In this tutorial we will use the First, overwriting method.

Having renamed the upload folder as specified in the previous step, you should load up your FTP client

of choice. Connect to your FTP server and start uploading your files. You will most likely be prompted by

the FTP client at this point to ask if you want to overwrite the existing files. You should confirm this

prompt, telling the FTP client that you DO want to overwrite the existing files. If the prompt gives you the

option to overwrite all existing files without prompting again, use this option.

Upgrading Vbulletin



For the sake of this tutorial we'll assume that you own the domain yourdomainname.com and are

upgrading the vBulletin located at http://yourdomainname.com/forum/.

Follow these steps to complete the upgrade:

Step 1: The first thing to do is login to your current vBulletin and turn it off. This can be done

through vBulletin admin panel -> vBulletin Options from the left side menu. The first option

available to you is to set your board to 'On' or 'Off'. We're going to click the 'Yes' radio button. Your

screen should look like this:

Step 2: With the newest vBulletin files uploaded to your web server, you can now proceed to run

the upgrade script. To do this, please, point your web browser at

http://yourdomainname.com/forum/install/upgrade.php, replacing http://yourdomainname.com/forum/

with the correct URL to your own vBulletin installation.

The first thing you will see from the install script is a log in prompt, asking you to enter your customer

number. Enter the customer code you use to login to the vBulletin website and click the [Enter Upgrade

System] button to continue. It should tell you that you've entered the customer number successfully and

then forward you to the first page of the upgrade system.

Having read the information on the welcome page and confirmed that it is correct, click the [Next Step]

button at the bottom right of the window to proceed to the next upgrade step.

As each step completes, a [Next Step] button will appear at the bottom of the page. When the button

appears, the step has completed successfully and clicking the button will advance you to the next step.

The number of steps is different for the different versions. Basically from here on all you have to do is

click the [Next Step] buttons towards the end. At the end you need to delete the install.php file from

the /install/ directory and you are DONE!

Do not refresh/reload any page of the upgrade scripts. Doing so may cause database alterations to be applied

twice, which can cause errors.

A separate upgrade script exists to upgrade between each version of vBulletin. For example, if you are

running vBulletin 3.0.0 Release Candidate 3, the system will first upgrade your database to vBulletin

3.0.0 Release Candidate 4 before progressing to the upgrade script for vBulletin 3.0.0. At the end of

each script, the system will search for any additional scripts it needs to run to bring you up-to-date.

When all the necessary upgrade scripts have been run, you will be automatically redirected to the Admin

CP login page.



Do not forget to bring your forum back online! To do that, please, click on the vBulletin option arrow to open the

options page and turn the vBulletin board back on "Yes".

If you need our assistance with the vBulletin upgrade, you can post a ticket in Exclusive Professional

Services -> Application upgrade and our Senior Support Team will upgrade the script for you.

Managing Templates after the vBulletin Upgrade

When a new version of vBulletin is released, usually some of the default templates are updated to

accommodate the new features or fix bugs. If you have not customized any of your templates, all is fine

for you.

If you have customized some of the default templates there are a few steps you will need to follow after

running all the upgrade scripts.

When running vBulletin upgrade scripts, one of the final steps imports the newest version of the default

style.

Any templates that you have not customized will be automatically updated to use the newest versions.

However, any templates that you have customized will not be altered or overwritten by importing the

latest style. That is why you will need to follow the steps below:

Step 1: First, you should visit the Styles & Templates -> Find Updated Templates page to

find out which (if any) of your customized templates may have updated default versions.

Step 2: If you find that some of your customized templates not to have updated default versions,

you have three choices. You can either:

Do nothing and hope that your customized templates will still work properly with the new vBulletin

version. This is often not a problem, but sometimes a variable may have been renamed or some

other change may have been made that will render your customized template dysfunctional.

Click the "Revert" link for each template, removing your customizations to ensure that your

templates are fully compatible with the new vBulletin version.

Click on the "Edit Template" link for each template, and compare the contents of your customized

template with the version available by clicking the "View Original" link in order to manually update

your customized templates to reflect the changes made in the default templates.

Well done! You have now successfully upgraded your Vbulletin system!

Please, feel free to contact us if you have any questions or recommendations about this tutorial at:

tutorials 'at' siteground.com



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