A very newbie question about Postbit and the like..

[nadesuko]

Hello I am brand spanking new to the vBulletin system of templating and styles, and after viewing some of this forum I am even more confused.
::asks incredibly dumb but necesarry questions::

What is postbit?

What is the difference between a style and a template? Is a style a CSS document for colours and a template for layout of imagery, tables, etc?

How do I implement created templates and styles to my forum?

::ends stupid newbie questions::
Although I am experienced in graphic design, web design and contemporary art, I am not by any means a coder, but I am willing to tackle vBulletin. Any help or links would be greatly appreciated in my mystical quest towards a decent looking vB board ^_^

::just to let you know, the DNS servers for our website are being relocated, so they won't be switched over for a couple weeks, which is a big woe, but oh well for now ^_^::

Thanks

[mashby]

That's what this forum is all about, so no need to apologize. :)

1. What is postbit?
The postbit is the template that determines what an individual post looks like. Many of the postbits listed in the PostBit forum deal mostly with the User Information included in each post. However, as you can see from this forum, there's a lot you can do to make your posts look unique.

2. What is the difference between a style and a template?
A template is an individual HTML element (sometimes a complete html page, but more commonly a snippet of html) that controls a small portion of the vB system.

A style is a collection of templates. A style can be backed up and restored. Additionally, a board can have many styles. So you can create any number of styles and allow your users to select from any number of them. This is particually nice when you're thinking of going with a new design. :)

However, there are some elements that are unique to "Styles." Mostly these include your font colors and other various CSS elements.

3. CSS
Your css information is inline and included in the "headerinclude" template. What makes things a little confusing is that under the "Styles" section, you can edit a variety of templates and css elements. These are all included in various templates, but they pull them all together in one place for you for easy editing.

I hope that helps!

[nadesuko]

Thanks! That clears up a lot of things! Now all I have to do is goof around with differenet styles, templates, and postbits to understand how to implement them! Thanks you so much ^_^

[mashby]

My pleasure. There's also a PDF on the subject in the Members Area of vBulletin.com [link (http://www.vbulletin.com/members/)] that could be helpful.