Building Forums with vBulletin Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Preface

• Chapter 1: Introduction to the vBulletin Board
• What is vBulletin?
• Why Have a Discussion Board?
• Benefits of a Discussion Board
• Why vBulletin?
• History
• Development
• The vBulletin Advantage
• Versatile
• Performance
• Customizable
• Easy to Maintain
• Other Features
• vBulletin Licensing Options
• Leased License
• Owned License
• Choosing a License
• Example vBulletin Sites
• Summary

• Chapter 2: Installing and Configuring vBulletin
• Requirements
• Disk Space
• Bandwidth
• System Resources
• Shared Hosting
• Semi-Dedicated Hosting
• Dedicated Hosting
• Other Options
• Installing vBulletin
• Tools
• Downloading the Installation Files
• File Extraction
• Upload Preparation
• Creating the Database
• Command-Line Database Creation
• cPanel Database Creation
• File Editing
• Uploading the vBulletin Files
• Running the vBulletin Installation Script
• Troubleshooting
• Database Access Issues
• Images/Styling Not Showing
• PHP Errors
• The vBulletin Control Panel
• Importing Data into vBulletin
• Downloading the ImpEx Script
• Compatibility
• Preparing for Upload
• Editing the Configuration File
• Upload the ImpEx Script
• Running the ImpEx Script

• Default Usergroups
• Securing vBulletin
• Help & Support
• Summary

• Chapter 3: A Tour of vBulletin
• The vBulletin User Experience
• How to Get to the Board?
• What the End Users See
• Site Logo
• Forum Title, Login Box, and Navbar
• Welcome Banner
• Main Body of the Forum
• What's Going On
• Footer
• Touring the Main Forum—Unregistered Users
• No "New Threads" for Unregistered Users
• Registering on a vBulletin Board
• Touring the Forum—Members
• New Threads
• Replying
• Editing a Message
• Private Messages
• BB Code
• User Tools
• Display Modes
• Navbar Changes for Members
• The vBulletin Administrator Experience
• Forum and Thread Tools
• The AdminCP
• Control Panel Home
• Latest Version Information
• vBulletin Options
• Forum Management
• Editing and Adding Forums
• Editing Existing Forums
• Moderation Options
• Forum Styling
• Access Control Options
• Forum Posting Options
• Enable/Disable Features
• Branding
• Changing the Logo
• Undoing the Change
• Summary

• Chapter 4: Customizing Your vBulletin Board
• Types of Customization
• CSS Modifications
• Changing the Table Title Text
• Viewing Changes
• Undoing the Changes
• Phrase Modifications
• Searching for Phrases
• Making Changes
• Viewing the Changes
• Undoing Changes
• Template Modifications
• Accessing Templates
• Exploring a Template
• Template Structure
• Adding a FORUMHOME Sidebar
• PHP Code Modifications
• PayPal Modification
• File Modification
• Hacks
• Pros and Cons of Hacking a vBulletin Board
• Finding a Hack
• Installing a Hack
• Backing Up a Hack
• Commercial Hacks
• Summary

• Chapter 5: Administering Your Forum
• Setting Up a Forum
• Creating the Forum
• Forum Permissions
• Viewing Permissions
• Opening the Forum
• Super Administrators
• Creating a Super Administrator
• Other Changes to the config.php File
• Admin Log Viewing Permission
• Admin Log Pruning Permission
• Query Running Permission
• Undeletable and Unalterable Users
• Maintaining the Database
• Backing Up the Database
• Repairing and Optimizing the Database
• Some Maintenance Issues
• Smilies
• Editing a Smilie
• Adding a New Smilie
• Uploading a Smilie
• Creating Your Own Smilies
• Avatars
• Adding Avatars
• Storing Avatars
• Summary

• Chapter 6: Upgrading vBulletin
• When to Upgrade
• Preparing for Upgrade
• Migrating Changes
• File Compare Utilities
• Uploading the Files
• Running the Upgrade Script
• Testing the Upgrade
• Unveiling the Upgrade
• Summary

• Chapter 7: Changing the Look of vBulletin
• Styling vBulletin
• Template Lifecycles
• Lifecycle 1—Constant Change
• Lifecycle 2—Working Behind the Scenes
• Editing the Default Style
• Changing Image Paths
• Other Editable Elements
• Some Tips about Editing Styles
• Adding a New Style
• Editing the Style
• Saving the Style
• Downloading the Style
• Making the New Style into the Default
• Distributing a Style
• Installing a New Style
• Summary

• Chapter 8: Developing a Hack
• Hacking vBulletin
• Making the Changes
• Locating the Template
• Hacking the pm_newpm Template
• Testing the Hack
• Hack Distribution
• Tips for Hack Distribution
• Plugins and Products
• Getting Plugins and Products
• Adding a Product
• Adding a Plugin
• What If Things Go Wrong?
• Summary

• Chapter 9: Programmer's Reference
• Default Usergroup Settings
• (COPPA) Users Awaiting Moderation
• Administrators
• Moderators
• Registered Users
• Super Moderators
• Unregistered / Not Logged In
• Users Awaiting Email Confirmation
• Banned Users
• Default vBulletin Database Tables
• Moving Servers in Six Easy Steps
• Cookie Check
• Back up Database
• Download the vBulletin Files
• Transfer to New Server
• Database Restoration
• Back Online
• Graphics
• Global Post Text Find and Replace
• Programming Standards
• Braces
• Indenting
• Give Operators Space
• String Quoting
• Return Values
• AND and OR
• AS
• SQL Queries
• Naming Conventions for Functions
• Summary

• Appendix A: vBulletin Directory Structure
• vBulletin Directory Structure
• Notes

• Appendix B: vBulletin Resources, Hacks, Add-ons, and Templates
• Official vBulletin Sites
• Main vBulletin Hack Site
• vBulletin Styles and Templates
• vBulletin Add-Ons
• General Discussion BoardRelated Sites