Help with vBulletin.

kev1n3

Hi Guys. I’ve browsed this thread searching for advice on setting up a webpage with a vBulletin board attached. I wanted an easy, user friendly web based program to set my self up on the net. I used 123reg.co.uk and purchased an instant site package for a year. Although it’s a pretty basic but good program I’m still a little out of my depth. The design part of the process is no problem. The forum boards within the instant site package are quite amateurish and not really what I want to use. I’ve researched vBulletin and it looks pretty good and also very user friendly. Pretty similar to MSE forums. Having read the doenload and setup help files on vBulletin website before purchasing has put me off a little. In an attempt to research the upload process, how to attach a vBulletin, where to purchase web-space etc is all become to confusing.

What is needed is a savvy webtech.
Are there any webtech savvy budding pro’s out there that could talk me thru the upload and setup process of uploading the main site and linking to the forum board and setup of the foroum step by step or possibly become involved to a degree. I would be most grateful for any info you guys might have.

Thanks in advance.

Kev.

GreenNotM

Hi Kev

Not sure about Vbulletin being there - but 123Reg should have a Cpanel with "Fantastico" which will load alsorts of free software and allow you to admin them.

If you get free subdomains on your account try loading some of the free pbb's onto a sub.domain eg firstsubdomain.mydomain.com (eg forums.moneysavingexpert.com, so forums is a subdomain of moneysavingexpert.com ) -

they unload via Fantastico as well see here http://cpanelguide.net/ and http://www.cpanel.net/docs/cpanel/

But looking at http://www.123-reg.co.uk/instantsite/ it would seem u can build a forum from their own software.....

HTH

wonka

Does the instant site package at 123-reg support PHP scripting? I believe vBulletin requires PHP scripting.

I may be wrong, but I think you'll need to sign-up for a full web hosting service instead of the instant site package.

Seagull

I run a vbulletin Motorcycle forum, you are correct in that you need a webhost who supports .php otherwise it won't work. I use nethosted and have found them to be very reliable, I tried a couple of other cheaper hosts but didn't get the reliability, you get what you pay for at the end of the day.

If you don't want to spend money on vbulletin then you should try http://www.phpbb.com/ as they provide free php forum software.

kev1n3

Thank for the links guys..

Just lookin at net hosted. what would be the best package to run a good size forum? Link

This is all new to me so all advise welcome.

Kev

wonka

Only you can decide the best package, if it was me I would go with the cheapest, and if you outgrow it, upgrade to the next one (assuming they let you do that, I'm sure they would).

If you're on a budget, also consider www.jamroll.net, who give free hosting in return for a few ad links at the bottom of your web page.

kev1n3

So far guys you'v been a great help. However, can i pick your brians further? Can someone explain this for me. (in layman terms pls :-) Pls read the link


What is a parked domain?

You must have your DNS pointed at us ?

yourname.jamroll.net
Free subdomain hosting?

Am i right in thinking a subdomain would be something like http://forum.moneysavingexpert.com. and a domain would be http://www.moneysavingexpert.com?

I have a domain that i purchased with 123reg. My understanding is that i have to transfer my domain to Jamroll to use there server for free.
Is that correct?

what i'm hopeing to do is host a community forum linked from a main webpage. like a chat forum such as MSE.

Will i have to use if Jamroll host my webpage?

I know these qusetions might sound stupid but i'm really new to being a webmaster and all the techi words used.

Thanks for your help in advance...

Kev

wonka

What is a parked domain?

When you set up a website, e.g. www.mse.com, you may also want to register other similar domains like www.mse.co.uk, www.mse.net, etc so that customers can more easily find your site. However, you don't want to create multiple web sites. So you create just one (www.mse.com) and "park" the other domains on top of it.

You must have your DNS pointed at us?

When you buy a domain, your domain host who you bought it from handles its registration, but they must also publish it on their name servers.

Essentially, the domain name server (DNS) translates the domain into the destination web host. The DNS entries are also replicated to servers all over the internet, inclusing your ISP. So when you type a web address into your browser, it looks for the nearest DNS server, which works out where the web site is actually located on t'internet.

If you change your web host, you *could* in theory transfer your domain, but normally there is no need to. And indeed, if you sign up for jamroll you won't be able to transfer to them because they don't do domain hosting, just web hosting. In this situation, your domain host (123-reg) will have a control panel utility where you can change your nameserver entry so that it "points" to jamroll. You simply type in jamroll's nameserver(s), which I think are ns1.jamroll.net. So, to answer your question, NO, you don't transfer your domain to jamroll.

By the way, make sure you have an account at jamroll before changing your nameserver entry at 123-reg. Also, it can take a couple of days for the change to take effect, as the entry needs to be propagated across thousands of DNS servers across t'internet.

You're absolutely correct about a subdomain. A domain would be moneysavingexpert.com. A subdomain is either www.moneysavingexpert.com or forum.moneysavingexpert.com. You can't host subdomains across different web hosts (as far as I know), so if you do change your nameserver entry at 123-reg, you will no longer be using "Instant Site". But you can obviously copy across your existing web pages.

You can also install vBulletin into your web space at jamroll.

kev1n3

wonka wrote:

When you set up a website, e.g. www.mse.com, you may also want to register other similar domains like www.mse.co.uk, www.mse.net, etc so that customers can more easily find your site. However, you don't want to create multiple web sites. So you create just one (www.mse.com) and "park" the other domains on top of it.

When you buy a domain, your domain host who you bought it from handles its registration, but they must also publish it on their name servers.

Essentially, the domain name server (DNS) translates the domain into the destination web host. The DNS entries are also replicated to servers all over the internet, inclusing your ISP. So when you type a web address into your browser, it looks for the nearest DNS server, which works out where the web site is actually located on t'internet.

If you change your web host, you *could* in theory transfer your domain, but normally there is no need to. And indeed, if you sign up for jamroll you won't be able to transfer to them because they don't do domain hosting, just web hosting. In this situation, your domain host (123-reg) will have a control panel utility where you can change your nameserver entry so that it "points" to jamroll. You simply type in jamroll's nameserver(s), which I think are ns1.jamroll.net. So, to answer your question, NO, you don't transfer your domain to jamroll.

By the way, make sure you have an account at jamroll before changing your nameserver entry at 123-reg. Also, it can take a couple of days for the change to take effect, as the entry needs to be propagated across thousands of DNS servers across t'internet.

You're absolutely correct about a subdomain. A domain would be moneysavingexpert.com. A subdomain is either www.moneysavingexpert.com or forum.moneysavingexpert.com. You can't host subdomains across different web hosts (as far as I know), so if you do change your nameserver entry at 123-reg, you will no longer be using "Instant Site". But you can obviously copy across your existing web pages.

You can also install vBulletin into your web space at jamroll.

Thats what i like about this board. U can always get help when in stuk.

thanks to everyone.

Kev