Gentleman. Not everything is plug and play like windoz. I could create the the front page of vBulletin.org most likely within an hour - minus the graphics (that would take additional time).

Try some php includes, maybe a graphics program and some determination to be artistic. The front page of vBulletin.org is not a hack. It's a website with work. There are scripts within this forum that would allow you to learn some basic calls like pulling templates from the db. News scripts that allow for linking to the forums. Hacks that are incorporated into the site to display as they wish. Not a downloadable hack that makes your site.

If you want a 5 minute site try phpportals. It's a front page for vBulletin (as "you" would call it), and is written pretty well. Then you won't have to learn much. Websites usually don't give their work away. It's copyrighted for a purpose.

Exodus,

You can accomplish the same thing with pluhnews. Just incorporate it into your site. If you want the ShoutBox, download the shoutbox hack and incorporate that into your site. PHP or a shtml page with includes.

How about information on your poll on the frontpage.
I'm interested in how you did that..
I agree with your argument. If you want easiness, go vbportal, they have done a great job. If you want real customization, you
must work at it. I have been trying to do that, but am getting
stuck on a poll on my homepage.
Thanks

Yeah i woould love to know aswell!