First time user - how to publish

[Contest Chris]

Hi guys!

I am a first time user of vBulletin. I have tried hard at looking through the manual and FAQs to see how things work, but I can't seem to find one important answer.

Once I buy the license, do I get to edit my forum right away (i.e. build the pages, edit footers/headers, nav bar, threads and other frameworks) through vButellin's website or must I upload everything to my server, link a subdomain and only then proceed from there? Also, if it is the former, do I get to see the changes on some kind of preview page...like how my forum would look like?

Sorry if this comes off very amateurish, but hey, it is my first time.

Thanks!

[Zachery]

vBulletin is a software. Once you purchase you need to install it.

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/install

That is the vB5 install guide, you can take a look at other versions for installation, though it is very generally similar to all older versions install process.

There is no harm in asking questions, if you don't ask how else do you learn?

[Contest Chris]

Ok, so that means I have to install the software to my server before I can start doing the layout of the forum etc? No way to get my forums design sorted out without needing to install it first?

[BirdOPrey5]

You're going to need to install it somewhere, yes.

For a new site you might as well install it on a web-host that will be where your site will ultimately resides. You can password protect the directory so only you can access it and play with it until you get it looking like you want.

You are also allowed to install one "test install" which must always be password protected- some people install this on their local computer but frankly you need to know what you're doing to setup PHP, MySQL, and a web-server on your local computer- that is why I think it is easier to just get it setup on your webhost first.

[cjoleann]

right!