How to install a style/theme?

[MetroWeb]

I have vBulletin 3.0.15 and I have downloaded a style for it. The style came in a zip file, it has folders full of fonts, images, icons, and smilies, and there is an XML file, but no instructions on how to actually install it on the server.

Can someone point me to instructions on how to do this? I am not sure as to where these folders are supposed to be uploaded. Thanks.

[Antv912]

i need help how to do this too

[Zachery]

AdminCP > Styles & Templates > Style Manager > Download / Upload Styles

Import the style like this.

Then upload the images where they told you too.

[MetroWeb]

So you just upload the XML file and it will tell you where to uplod all the image folders?

[AuroraStorm]

Hi, okay I have version 3.5.6 and I dowloaded several styles into my host site's FTP file. When I went to put in my ftp://myforumname.com/forums/coffee/vbulletin-style.xml, I got this message:

"you did not specify a file to upload, so vBulletin will try to..." yadda yadda yadda. I clicked yes and got "no file uploaded and no local file found." When I type that address into the address line of IE, it shows the entire file.

What am I doing wrong?

[Zachery]

Just upload it via the browse and upload button.

[AuroraStorm]

Which file should I choose with the browse and upload button? When I choose the xml file, I don't get the buttons or anything else. All I get is the background colors and since the buttons don't translate over, it throws my forum offline because I get the words "bold italic, indent..." etc...

...I appreciate your response...

Sorry..I'm really a novice at this...

Does anyone have an answer? I'd really appreciate it...

God, will somebody please help me...I paid a lot of money for this software...

[Zachery]

Please relize that this is a site where people help each other.

Once the style is imported you need to upload the images.

I'd suggest asking the AUTHOR of the style for help or the company you bought it from.

[AuroraStorm]

Thanks for responding but I'm sorry - I gave up last night. I'm going to hire a designer to finish the work for me. I came over here because I was told to utilize this forum for the styles and the vbux because the dot.com doesn't support either. It's not so much that this was a difficult process because I truly am a novice and I followed everything I was told step-by-step and know that yeah maybe I could have screwed things up because nobody uses the exact same terminology, but I couldn't even get the admins over on the dot.com to help me and when I got desperate and asked anybody for help, I got a rude terse response from the head admin there. I did the best I could with this. I'm glad I did the lease and not the full purchase or I else I would have been out of $160 bucks. Please don't misunderstand I'm not angry at you or giving you atttitude because I realize you're only doing what you can but the lack of help from the vBull people has been horrific and I'm only gonna do the vboard for the one year and then go with another forum.

But again, thank you.

[Zachery]

I'm a staff member here and at .com, its my job to help you where I can.

The issue is that you bought a style from a third party, that third party should be the one helping you get it installed first.

I've done my best to try to help you, but I've got no clue who your style is from, how they did it, where the images need to be uploaded, etc. Its hard to help with knowing so litte.

[AuroraStorm]

...okay and therein lies the problem. I got the style from the dot.com but it was posted by a member. So in other words, those are styles that you all don't support - just allow members who have created them to post them up for theirs? I thought a style was a style was a style across the board...

So where in god's name am I supposed to download styles packets from?

Oy vey...

[Zachery]

Link me, I'll give you some pointers.

[AuroraStorm]

<a href="http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=186775" target="_blank">http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=186775</a>

Sorry...storms kept knocking me offline all evening long...with this particular template, I finally figured out the xml thing but I still couldn't get the images and buttons to work but then that may have been because I uploaded it incorrectly. I've deleted and I'll try it again and see what happens at a later date.

I'm not a programmer and I think a lot of people don't realize that not everybody is a programmer and no two people speak the same language around here or over on the dot.com. When I went through the presale stage, everybody there was "oh yeah this is easy - you just click click click and that's pretty much it." Well, that pretty much WASN'T it. When I got confused and asked for help and didn't get it, I got frustrated and the guy got mad at me, so much that I won't even go over there and ask for help anymore. If I had this to do all over again, part of me says yeah I would but I would have investigated more...even the walk throughs have left off a step or two that to a non-programmer is confusing. For instance, a guy over on the vbbux/vbplaza gave great steps to setting it all up, except he missed a step. I spent all afternoon trying to find "Manage Products" until I realized that the software is considered a plugin and went there and finally saw it. I'm computer literate - just not a programmer and it's easier if you are...not saying that a non-programmer wouldn't get it but these steps weren't created for the non-programmer. That's all I'm saying...

[Zachery]

Hello,

There is actually an Installation.rtf inside of the folder for that style that details everything.

2. Open the "Sunburnt Red Style" folder. Within there will be a "SunburntRed" folder. Upload that into the forums' [i]main directory[i] (the same place index.php is located).

3. Go into your Admin CP and navigate as follows.

Styles & Templates -> Download / Upload Styles

Under the "Import Style XML File" table, click the browse button and navigate to the file called "Sunburnt Red.xml". It's in the package you downlaoded. Name it (default is Sunburnt Red), assign it a display order and make sure it's set to have no parent style. Click import.

[AuroraStorm]

You're not going to believe I actually figured it all out...I'm so psyched I could scream...it was the way I had the SmartFTP files set up. I went back in and slowly watched the entire tutorial several times before I realized what I was doing...oh mi god thank you!!

...Now that I got the styles updated and I've gotten the vPlaza uploaded, now I gotta figure out where to find the postit files... :D