Installing 2nd forum based on old

[Meestor_X]

I'm thinking of starting a new forum, on a completely different subject than my existing one. I've done a lot of work (although you wouldn't know if from looking at it) tweaking the settings and design, and I'd like to carry those settings and design to my new site.
I'd be buying a new license and everything, but I don't want to have to figure out all the settings changes and mods and things I did that got my old site working the way I like it, I just want to "carry over" all of that to my new site.

Ideally, I'd like to just "copy" over all the files to the new site, change the mySQL info, close the forum and start from there to modify that new forum to look the way I want it, change the titles, forums, etc.

How can I do this?

to clarify:
2 forums, one has been around for a while and is setup the way I like it, the other is brand-new. I want my brand-new one to start off exactly as my old one is right now, and then I'll make changes to the new one for new forums, delete all the old content, etc.

Help?

[CallieJo]

You could copy site a files and database to site b.

Upload all site a files to site b.
Import the database into a new database for site b. Change config.php to reflect the new database name and password.

You might need to change the cookie to site b in the admin->vbulletin options->Cookies and HTTP Header Options
If your cookie was set to blank, don't worry about changing it unless you have issues.
If you cannot change it in the admin, go into the database and change it there.

Delete all members except admin.
Empty all forums threads.
Delete all forums.

Start creating forums and move forward.

Hope this helps get you started. Maybe someone else can give you better directions.

[CallieJo]

If you follow the above: You might need to do a search in the styles and the database for site a's domain to change it to site b's.

[Meestor_X]

Thanks for your reply!

The manual says to not use the same files from one site on another, and I can imagine many problems arising from bad paths and so on.

Could there be a better way? Is there a way to make a "template" out of my current forum that just has the settings the way I want them and use that with my new forum?

[CallieJo]

If your style is not dependent on any addons/mods you've installed, then yes. You can download the style and import it into your new forum.

To download a style:
Styles & Templates->Download / Upload Styles->Download
Documentation: http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/main/style_download

To upload a style:
Styles & Templates->Download / Upload Styles->Import Style XML File
Documentation: http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/main/style_upload

If you are asking if you can export/import all your settings, then no...I don't think you can. Maybe a vb support tech can clarify that since I'm not really sure it's doable.

[Meestor_X]

Ok, one more question... My old forum is 3.6.8 the new one will be whatever the latest version is.
I assume I would buy the new license, download the latest version, but still copy everything from my old site to the new one, make it functional, then do an upgrade? (I assume when buying a new license, the version I download can work as an upgrade to an existing forum without killing all the current settings?)

Is that the best way?

Thanks again for all your advice.

-Andy.

[Meestor_X]

Import the database into a new database for site b.

Dumb question, but is the "import" a vb procedure or a mysql procedure?
I've never done that before so I'm not sure how to do that.