New-B vBulletin Owner - First Question

[BasilFawlty]

Hello all,
I just took the plunge and purchased a vBulletin Publishing suite license this weekend. I have it set up in a sub-domain that is not accessible to the general public until I get it all set up (probably going to take a couple months).

I have been running UBBThreads for 10 years, so I have a lot of work ahead to get it all transferred over to vB.

My first question is, with Threads I could make other pages that would match the style and look of the main Threads pages. Can I do this with vB?

[kall]

Yep. :)

Lynne's article here should get you on the right track.

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=228112&highlight=custom+page

[kh99]

There's also this article: www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=229194 It's a less flexible solution but only requires that you create a template with your content.

Edit: ...actually, what I said above it's quite correct - your custom template would still need to be a complete html page, so this option is really just a shortcut.

[BasilFawlty]

Thanks guys! A million other questions to follow :)

[BasilFawlty]

Yep. :)

Lynne's article here should get you on the right track.

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=228112&highlight=custom+page

Well, I started to try this, and step 1 was straight forward and I undersood it - create a .php page based on the example and upload it to my vB root directory. Easy enough. However, being very new to vB I got stuck at step 2. It says "Create a Template" in your MASTER STYLE. Do I just make a HTML page that looks like the example? How do I tell it to be in my MASTER STYLE? (Is that the same a "Default Style?"). Also, what file extension does the template need and where do I put it?

Also, the instructions for adding my new page to Who's Online - is that code I put in the template? DOes it matter where in the template? I'm sure these instructions make perfect sense if I understood vB better, but can you help me out and explain a little more about "how" I create the Template in the "MASTER STYLE and where do I put it and what file extension does it need?

Thanks in advance.

[Simon Lloyd]

To create it in your master style you will need to be in Debug mode (https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/debug_mode), the code for who's online is entered in to a plugin using the plugin manager>add new plugin

[BasilFawlty]

To create it in your master style you will need to be in Debug mode (https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/debug_mode), the code for who's online is entered in to a plugin using the plugin manager>add new plugin

Ok, I modified my config.php and entered debug mode. I see that it now lists all the Templates used and Included Files, Hooks, etc. Ok, now what? I see in step 2 of the instructions that it provides HTML code for a template. Do I simply make a file with that code in it, or is there some other process I must follow? If I create this template for my new page from a stand alone editor, I know the file name is case sensitive, but what file extension, if any, do I give it (for example, in UBBThreads, which i'm moving from, templates had a .tpl extension. I guess what I'm asking is can you break down Step #2 in the above linked instructions and walk me through HOW I create a template for a page and put it where it needs to be. I got step one ok - created a page and uploaded it to my root. Sorry for the dumb questions, but I'm new at vBulletin and it seems to work quite differently from what I'm used to.

EDIT: Ok, stand by - I think the light bulb just went on. I found where I can "Add New Template" based on the "MASTER STYLE" in the Admincp. I copied the HTML in your example into that Template editor, then went to my "mypage.php" script and viola! It worked!

I'll play around awhile more - don't go too far - I may need you again! :)

[Simon Lloyd]

For MASTER STYLE, Go to Admincp > Styles and Templates > Style Manager > MASTER STYLE and create a new template

[BasilFawlty]

Thanks - see my edit above. I sort of stumbled on it and so far it seems to be working. Thanks for your help. Don't go too far thought LOL!

[Simon Lloyd]

Glad you're sorted :)

[BasilFawlty]

Being brand new to vB I am running a test board for several weeks/months until I figure my way around it all before I go live. Thanks for the help.

[Simon Lloyd]

You should ALWAYS have a test board and take back ups off-server as frequent as you can :)

[BasilFawlty]

Good advice. I have a separate hard drive on my server onto which I do highly backups.

[Simon Lloyd]

Dont forget to comment out the debug statement in your config.php like this //, because as it stands everyone could see that information if you were live.