V Bulletin 4.2.5 Manual
User Manual: Pdf
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vBulletin Manual
This manual is based off vBulletin version 4.2.5
vBulletin
System Requirements
Installing vBulletin
Downloading the vBulletin Package
Preparing the vBulletin Files for Upload
Creating your Database
Editing the vBulletin Configuration Files
config.php
MySQLi
Uploading vBulletin Scripts to Your Web Server
Running the vBulletin Install Script
Cleaning up after the Install
Upgrading vBulletin
Preparing the vBulletin Files for Upload
Updating the vBulletin Scripts on Your Web Server
Running the vBulletin Upgrade Script
Using the Command Line Upgrade
Common Issues While Upgrading.
Cleaning up after your Upgrade
Checking for Updated Templates
vBulletin Template Diff/Merge System
Checking for Updated Phrases
How to Patch Your Site
The Admin Control Panel
Logging-in to the Control Panel
Getting Around the Admin Control Panel
Settings
Options
Turn Your vBulletin On and Off
Site Name / URL / Contact Details
Content Management
General Settings
Facebook Options
Enabling Facebook
Image Settings
Human Verification Options
Date and Time Options
Cookie and HTTP Header Options
Server Settings and Optimization Options
Friendly URLS
Style and Language Settings
Email Options
Sending email via SMTP
Censorship Options
User Registration Options
User Refractions & Post Reporting Options
User Profile Options
User Profile: Album Options
User Profile: Style Customization Options
User Profile: Visitor Messaging Options
Social Group Options
User Picture Options
User Reputation Options
User Notes Options
User Listing Options
User Banning Options
BBCode Options
Message Posting and Editing Options
Message Posting Interface Options
Poll and Thread Rating Options
Message Searching Options
Tagging Options
Forum Home Page Options
Forum Listings Display Options
Forum Display Options (forumdisplay)
Thread Display Options
Threaded / Hybrid Mode Options (showthread)
Private Messaging Options
Who's Online Options
Identifying Spiders in Who's Online
Search Engine Friendly Archive
Admin Control Panel Options
External Data Provider
Implementing the External Data Provider
Error Handling & Logging
Paid Subscriptions
Plugin/Hook System
Spam Management
XML Sitemap
Search Type
Changing Minimum Search Characters
Changing MySQL's Stopwords.
Human Verification Manager
Social Bookmarking Manager
The Social Bookmarking Manager
Adding or Editing a Social Bookmarking Site
vBulletin Blog
Blog Moderators
Update Counters
Permissions
vBulletin CMS
Content Manager
Section Manager
Category Manager
Grid Manager
Download/Upload Grids
Clear CMS Cache
Layout Manager
Layout Form
Widget Manager
Add Widgets
Widget Types
Configure Widgets
Example: Configuring the General Search widget
Permissions
Advertising
Google Adsense Integration
Manage Ads
Add New Ad
Google AdSense Integration
Styles & Templates
vBulletin Style Reference
Templates
How do Templates Work?
Template Syntax
Link Syntax
Template Conditionals
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Using PHP Functions in Template Conditionals
The Legacy Postbit Template
Including External Files
CSS
CSS Templates
Additional.css
Style Variables
How Style Variables Interact with CSS
Types of Stylevars
Adding Stylevars
Stylevar Dictionary
Ads
Album
AssetManager
Attachments
BBCode
Blocks
Global
Buttons
Calendar
Comments
Common
Editor
Footer
Forms
Forums
Groups
Header
ImagePaths
Navbar
Notices
Mobile
Page Title
Pagination
Polls
PopupMenus
Postbit
Profile
SecondaryContent
Sidebar
ThreadBit
ToolsMenu
UserCP
Blog
vbcms
Widgets
Replacement Variables
Preventing Visitors from Activating Replacement Variables
Where are the Replacement Vars from vB2?
Style Inheritance
Inheritance Example
Inheritance Mechanics
The Style Manager
Creating New Styles
Creating Child Styles
Editing Style Settings
Deleting a Style
Editing the Templates
Adding or Editing a Single Template
Comparing Templates
Mobile Style
Installing the vBulletin Mobile Style
Disabling the Mobile Style
Enabling the Mobile Style
Frequently Asked Questions
Search in Templates
Search Templates
Find and Replace in Templates
Replacement Variable Manager
Add New Replacement Variable
Customizing a Replacement Variable
Download / Upload Styles
Downloading a Style
Uploading a Style
Find Updated Templates
Languages and Phrases
An Introduction to Languages and Phrases
Languages vs. Phrases
The 'Master Language' and 'Custom Master Language'
Phrase Syntax
Using Phrases in Templates
Managing Languages
Adding or Editing a Language
Translating a Language
Language Quick Reference
Rebuilding All Languages
Managing Phrases
Adding or Editing a Phrase
Orphan Phrases
Search in Phrases
Downloading and Uploading Languages
Data Format
Find Updated Phrases
Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
FAQ Manager
Adding or Editing a FAQ Item
Notices
The Notices Manager
Adding and Editing Notices
Announcements
Announcement Manager
Adding or Editing an Announcement
Forums & Moderators
An Introduction to Forums
Forum Manager
Adding or Editing a Moderator
Adding or Editing a Forum
Forum Permissions
Show All Moderators
View Permissions
Podcast Settings
Thread Prefixes
Calendars
An Introduction to Calendars
Managing Calendars
Creating a New Calendar
Custom Fields
Modifying Existing Calendars
Calendar Moderators
Adding a New Moderator
Modifying Calendar Moderators
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Calendar Permissions
Usergroup Level Calendar Permissions
Calendar Level Permissions
Holiday Manager
Adding a New Holiday
Modifying Existing Holidays
Practical Examples of Calendar Permissions
A Birthdays Only Calendar
A Private Events Calendar
Threads & Posts
Mass Prune Threads
Mass Move Threads
Unsubscribe Threads
Strip Poll from Thread
Who Voted in Poll
Tags
Front-End Inline Moderation Tools
Inline Thread Moderation
Inline Post Moderation
Prune Post Edit History
Thread Prefixes
The Thread Prefix Manager
Adding or Editing a Prefix Set
Adding or Editing a Prefix
Moderation
Moderate Threads / Posts
Moderate Attachments
Moderate Events
Moderate Visitor Messages
Attachments
An Introduction to Attachments
General Attachment Settings
Message Attachment Options
Attachment Manager
Managing Extensions
Attachment Permissions
Managing Attachment Permissions
Attachment Storage Type
Moving Attachments to the Filesystem
Moving Attachments to the Database
Users
Adding or Editing a User
Quick User Links
Editing Access Masks
User Change History
Search for Users
Quick Search
Advanced Search
Search Results
Merge Users
Ban User
View Banned Users
Prune / Move Users
Private Message Statistics
Referrals
Search IP Addresses
Send Email to Users
Generate Mailing List
Access Masks
Additional Functions
Usergroups and Permissions
An Introduction to Usergroups and Permissions
Basic Concept: Inheritance
Basic Concept: Membership to Multiple Groups
Access Masks: The Overriding Permission and Another Method for Creating Exceptions
How Permissions are Applied (in a Nutshell)
Managing Usergroups
Adding or Editing a Usergroup
Join Requests
Usergroup Promotions
Adding or Editing a Promotion
Managing Forum Permissions
Additional Forum Permission Tools
Permission Duplication Tools
Permissions Quick Editor
Quick Forum Permission Setup
Practical Examples of Permission Schemes
An Announcement Forum
A Private Forum
Registration-Required Board
User Titles
An Introduction to User Titles
User Title Manager
Adding or Editing a User Title
User Infractions
An Introduction to User Infractions
Modifying User Infraction Levels
Modifying User Infraction Groups
Modifying Automatic Bans
Viewing User Infractions
Issuing User Infractions
User Ranks
An Introduction to User Ranks
Modifying User Ranks
User Ranks Example 1
User Reputation
An Introduction to User Reputation
Modifying User Reputation Levels
Viewing Reputation Comments
User Albums
Album Picture Storage Type
Rebuild Thumbnails
Custom Profile Fields
An Introduction to Custom Profile Fields
Adding a New Custom Profile Field
Single-Line Text Box
Multiple-Line Text Box
Single-Selection Radio Buttons
Single-Selection Menu
Multiple-Selection Menu
Multiple-Selection Checkbox
Modifying Existing Custom Profile Fields
Paid Subscriptions
An Introduction to Subscriptions
Payment API Manager
PayPal
NOCHEX
Worldpay
Authorize.Net
2Checkout
CCBill
Moneybookers
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Adding or Editing a Paid Subscription
Practical Example of a Paid Subscription
Subscription Manager
Manually Adding A Subscribed User
Transaction Log
Transaction Stats
Subscription Permissions
Avatars
An Introduction to Avatars
Implementing Avatars on vBulletin
Adding Avatars
Adding a Single Avatar
Adding Multiple Avatars
Avatar Management
Avatar Mass Move
Avatar Category View
Avatar Category Edit
Avatar Category Delete
Avatar Category Permissions
Uploading Avatars
User Picture Storage Type
Move User Pictures from Database to File System
Move User Pictures in a file system to the database
Move Avatars to a Different Directory
Move Profile Pictures to a Different Directory
Post Icons
Introduction to Post Icons
Implementing Post Icons on vBulletin
Adding Post Icons
Adding a Single Post Icon
Adding Multiple Post Icons
Post Icon Management
Post Icon Mass Move
Post Icon Category View
Post Icon Category Edit
Post Icon Category Delete
Post Icon Category Permissions
Uploading Post Icons
Smilies
Smilie Manager
Add New Smilie
Smilie Display Order
Upload Smilie
Custom BB Codes
An Introduction to BB Codes
BB Code Manager
Adding or Editing a BB Code
RSS Feed Posting Robot
Managing RSS Feeds
Editing RSS Feeds
Posting RSS Items as Threads
Posting RSS Items as Announcements
Saving and Previewing RSS Feeds
Scheduled Tasks
Introduction to Scheduled Tasks
Managing Scheduled Tasks
Adding or Editing a Scheduled Task
Scheduled Task Log
Plugin System
The Product Manager
Importing / Installing a Product
Temporarily Deactivating a Product
Removing / Uninstalling a Product
The Plugin Manager
Adding or Editing a Plugin
Plugin Summary View
Help! I've broken my board!
Creating a Product
Adding a Product
Writing Plugin Code
Optimizing Plugin Memory Usage
Product Dependencies
Installation & Uninstallation Code
XML-based Control Panel Navigation
XML-based Bitfield Definitions
Exporting a Product
Statistics & Logs
Statistics
Control Panel Log
Moderator Log
Scheduled Task Log
Maintenance
Repair / Optimize Tables
Update Counters
Diagnostics
Execute SQL Query
View PHP Info
Podcasting
Troubleshooting and Common Solutions
Upgrade Issues
Email Issues
Image Manipulation Issues
Blank or 'White' Pages
MySQL Issues
Common MySQL Error Messages
Link ID == False
Failure to Connect
Duplicate entry 'XXX'
Lost connection to MySQL server during query
Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket
Branding Free Instructions
Restoring the Required Copyright Notice
Appendix: Terminology
vBulletin-Related Terms
Access Mask
Admin Control Panel
Administrator
Avatar
BB Code
Buddy List
Bulletin Board
Category
Conditionals
Customer Number
Customer Password
Data APIs
Forum
Guest
Hook
Ignore List
Inline Moderation
Member
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Members' Area
Moderator
Moderator Control Panel
Plugin
Post
Post Icon
Product
Prune
Replacement Variable
Smilies
Sticky Thread
StyleVar
Super Administrator
Super Moderator
Thread
User
User Control Panel
Usergroup
General Internet-Related Terms
AJAX
Cookie
CSS
Domain
FTP
HTML
HTTP
IP Address
Javascript
Search bot
Server
Spider
SSH
Telnet
URL
XHTML
XSS
XML
Miscellaneous Terms
AIM
ASCII
CGI Shebang
COPPA
DST
FAQ
Firewall
ICQ
Import
Localhost
MSN
MySQL
PHP
phpMyAdmin
RSS Enclosure
Thumbnail
WYSIWYG
Yahoo
Appendix: Feature List
General Features
General Forum Features
Calendar Features
User Control Panel Features
Admin Control Panel Features
Appendix: Technical Documents
Securing Your vBulletin Installation
Securing Your Server
Accessing Your Server and Files
Restricting Access to Your Files
Securing your Config.php File
Moving Servers
1) Backing Up and Moving the Files
2) Backing-Up the Current Database
3) Transferring to the New Server
4) Restoring the Database on the New Server
5) Bringing it Back Online
Installing PHP and Apache
1) Downloading PHP and Apache
2) Preparing to Install Apache
3) Compiling and Installing PHP
4) Compiling and Installing Apache
5) Completing the Installation
Installing PHP under IIS using FastCGI
Installing MySQL
1) Compiling and Installing MySQL
2) Setting Up a New User for MySQL
3) Starting the MySQL Server
4) Making MySQL Start Up with Your Server
Creating a New MySQL Database for vBulletin to Use
Setting-up a MySQL Database on the Command Line
Setting-up a MySQL Database in cPanel
Setting-up a MySQL Database in Plesk
Setting-up a MySQL Database in Ensim
Backing-up your MySQL Database Manually
Backing Up The Database via SSH/Telnet
Backing Up The Database via phpMyAdmin
Restoring your MySQL Database Manually
Restoring The Database via SSH/Telnet
Restoring The Database via phpMyAdmin
The vBulletin Datastore
Using Forum, Blog or CMS in a Subdirectory.
Debug Mode
Appendix: Developer Tools
Graphics Developer Kits
vBulletin 3 Graphics Kit
Table of Sizes and Matte Classes
vBulletin 2 Graphics Kit
vBulletin Code Standards
Braces
Indenting
Loops and Branches
Use of Spaces
Quoting Strings
Quoting Array Keys
$_GET / $_POST / $_REQUEST
Boolean Function Return Values
AND/and/&& OR/or/|| etc.
Commenting Code
Variable Comparison etc.
SQL Query Syntax
'Do' Branch Naming
Function Naming
Data Managers
Programming with a Data Manager
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Data Manager Example
Advanced Data Manager Techniques
Appendix: ImpEx Import System
Planning the import
Before the import
Setting up
Attachments
Installing ImpEx
Downloading the ImpEx Package
Preparing the ImpEx files for upload
Editing the ImpEx Configuration File
ImpExConfig.php
Uploading ImpEx Scripts to Your Web Server
How to Use ImpEx
Introduction to the ImpEx core System
Importing a board
Re-running modules
Final Import Steps
Password
Now what ?
Cleaner.php
Help.php
Medium / Large imports
Quick Guide
Multiple imports.
Terminology
ImpEx systems
Tier systems list
EVE & Groupee
IPB 1.3
IPB 2
phpBB 1
phpBB2
phpBB 3
SMF
Snitz
ubb.threads 6.5
ubb.threads 7
vBulletin 2.3.11
vBulletin 3.0.17
vBulletin 3.6.4
WoltLab Burning Board 2.3.3
Ikonboard (MySQL) 3.x
List of all systems modules
CMS Importers
ImpEx FAQ
Appendix: vBulletin 2 Manual
Installing vBulletin
Downloading the vBulletin Package
Preparing the vBulletin Files for Upload
Editing the vBulletin Configuration File
config.php
Uploading vBulletin Scripts to Your Web Server
Running the vBulletin Install Script
Introduction
The Control Panel
Control Panel Options
Forum Announcements
Forums and Moderators
Adding Forums
Modifying Forums
An Introduction to Threads
Pruning Threads
Moving Threads
An introduction to User Management
Adding Users
Finding Users
Find Users by IP Address
User Referrals
Emailing Users
Generate Mailing List
An Introductions to User Titles
Adding User Titles
Modifying / Removing User Titles
User Profile Fields
Adding User Profile Fields
Modifying / Removing User Profile Fields
User Groups and Permissions
Modifying User Groups
Modifying Forum Permissions
Adding User Groups
Avatars
Adding Avatars
Uploading Avatars
Adding an Avatar
Modifying / Removing Avatars
Styles & Templates
Adding a Style Set
Icons
Smilies
Custom BB Codes
Single-Parameter BB Codes
Modifying BB Codes
Testing BB Codes
Importing data into vBulletin 2
The Import Process
Updating Counters
Stats
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System Requirements Back to Top
Note:
vBulletin does not operate on your local computer without special software being installed. Please see a tutorial on
How to run vBulletin on your PC for more information.
Minimum Requirements
vBulletin is a web-based application and as such has a few minimum requirements. To run vBulletin, you need a web
hosting provider that includes the following things:
PHP version 5.6.0 through PHP 7.1
MySQL version 5.5.0 or greater
A pre-registered domain name
200 Megabytes of hard drive space
Most hosting providers already have these applications on their servers. With the above requirements meant, the
vBulletin software will run on any operating system using any modern web server software.
Recommended Requirements
The following settings and software packages are not required but will make your vBulletin experience more
enjoyable. Your hosting provider can tell you whether these are available on your server.
cURL or OpenSSL support – Allows secure connections to third-party services like Facebook Connect.
MySQLi support – MySQLi is a more robust software library to connect to the database that vBulletin uses.
Iconv support – A library that provides extra language and character set support.
OpCode Cache – An OpCode Cache like APC or XCache will enhance the performance of your vBulletin
software. An OpCode Cache is a caching mechanism that can significantly increase the performance of
vBulletin by pre-parsing the PHP files and keeping commonly used data in memory for rapid retrieval.
Rewrite Engine – A rewrite engine is needed to use Friendly URLS. Popular rewrite engines include
mod_rewrite on Apache and URL Rewrite for IIS 7 or greater.
Once you have a web hosting package meeting the minimum requirements, you are ready to proceed with vBulletin.
For help in finding an appropriate webhosting company, please view our Hosting Options forum.
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Installing vBulletin Back to Top
The first step towards running vBulletin after you have purchased a license is to download the latest vBulletin
package, upload it to your web server and run the installer script.
The following documents will take you through this process step-by-step.
Note:
Before installing vBulletin you will need to ensure that your webhost or webserver meet the minimum system
requirements for the software.
Downloading the vBulletin Package Back to Top
The first thing you will need to do when installing vBulletin is to download the latest version from the Members'
Area.
You will need to log-in to the Members' Area using the Customer Number and Customer Password that was emailed
to you when you purchased your license.
Once logged in, you will see a list of Current Licenses. For each active license that you own, there will be a
Download vBulletin link that you can click.
Click the link for the license you want to use and you will be taken to the download page, where you will be given
options for how to download the latest vBulletin package.
By default compression is performed on the JavaScript files included within the clientscript directory in order to
reduce the size of the files. YUI Compressor is used to do this but you can choose uncompressed JavaScript files
using the option described below.
You can choose from the following options:
PHP File Extension
As a general rule, web servers will use .php as the extension for PHP scripts, but some servers may use a
different extension, or you may simply wish to use a different extension out of your own preference. Various
extensions are available here for you to choose.
Download File Format
This option allows you to choose the compression format of the package you are about to download. Most
people will want to download the .zip package as Windows® has in-built support for zip files. However, if you
are downloading the package directly to a Linux server you may prefer to use the tarball (.tar.gz) format.
CGI Shebang
This option will only be of use to you if your server runs PHP as a CGI rather than as a web server module. If
your server runs PHP as a CGI and requires a shebang (such as #!/usr/bin/php) then you can enter the required
text here and it will automatically be inserted into whichever PHP files in vBulletin require its use.
Download File
Use this option to control the contents of the package you are about to download. For example, if you have
previously installed vBulletin you will probably not need to download the images again, so you can use this
control to specify that the package you download does not contain the images directory. You can also download
the uncompressed JavaScript package with this option.
When you have set the download options you can click the Download button to start the download. When the
download prompt window appears, you should choose the Save option and choose a directory on your computer in
which to save the package.
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The package will then be downloaded and saved to the location you specified.
Preparing the vBulletin Files for Upload Back to Top
To extract the files from the package, open the folder on your computer where you saved the vBulletin package and
right-click on its icon, then choose Extract All from the pop-up menu.
This will open a wizard to guide you through the unzipping progress. Accept the default options suggested and the
system will decompress the files from the zip package.
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When the unzipping progress is complete, you will find that the process has created a new folder called upload and
another called do_not_upload.
upload - This folder contains the vBulletin files that need to be uploaded to your web server.
However, before you upload the files you must make some changes to the vBulletin configuration file. This file is
located in the includes folder (within the upload folder) and is called config.php.new.
The first thing you must do is to rename this file from config.php.new to config.php (removing the temporary .new
extension).
The second folder is do_not_upload - This folder contains tools to perform various tasks on your board
searchshell.php - This file will allow you to rebuild the search index.
vb_backup.sh - This file will allow you to run a database backup via SSH/Telnet or a scheduled backup
through cron.
tools.php - This file must be uploaded to the admincp folder and allows you to perform certain tasks should
your board go down or you accidentally lock yourself out of the Admin Control Panel. This file must be deleted
immediately after use or it will cause a SEVERE security problem.
Creating your Database Back to Top
When you install vBulletin, you are asked what database to connect to. This is where all your information is actually
stored. There are many different ways to create a database and which method you use depends on how your server is
set up. We've provided some links to common methods.
cPanel
cPanel provides a MySQL Database Wizard and this is the easiest way to create a database. You can find the
instructions for this in the cPanel Documentation here:
http://docs.cpanel.net/twiki/bin/view/AllDocumentation/CpanelDocs/DatabaseWizard
cPanel also has functionality for general care and maintanence of your database. You can find that documentation
here:
http://docs.cpanel.net/twiki/bin/view/AllDocumentation/CpanelDocs/MySQLDatabases
Plesk
Another popular web hosting control panel, Plesk aims to provide all database management within a GUI style
interface. To create a new database you would follow the instructions here:
http://download1.parallels.com/Plesk/PP11/11.0/Doc/en-US/online/plesk-customer-guide/65157.htm
Webmin
A third popular hosting control panel is Webmin. You can find basic instructions here:
http://linuxconsultant.info/tutorials/webmin-tutorial/webmin.html#mysql
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is a popular hosting service and they have their own unique control panel system. The current instructions
on how to create a database on your website is located here:
http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/36/creating-mysql-or-sql-server-databases-for-your-hosting-account
Warning:
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GoDaddy servers do not meet the minimum requirements for vBulletin 5 at this time. Also we recommend not using
GoDaddy's Windows servers with vBulletin 5.
Editing the vBulletin Configuration Files Back to Top
Before uploading the vBulletin files to your web server, you must edit the vBulletin configuration file
(includes/config.php) to tell vBulletin how to communicate with your database.
To edit the config.php file, you will need to open the file in a text editor such as Windows® WordPad. (Note that we
do not recommend that you use Windows® Notepad to edit config.php, as Notepad has problems displaying the line
breaks in some file types.)
Editing the config.php file is one of the few times in vBulletin where you will need to edit raw PHP code. The file is
heavily commented in order to help you fill in the necessary information.
Of the settings in this file, only a few need to be edited in order to create a working vBulletin configuration file. These
settings are:
$config['Database']
['dbname']
This value should be altered to state the name of the database that will contain your
vBulletin installation on the database server.
$config['Database']
['technicalemail']
An email address should be entered here. All database error messages will be forwarded to
the email address provided.
$config['MasterServer']
['servername']
This sets the address of your database server. On most installations the database server is
located on the same computer as the web server, in which case the address should be set to
'localhost', otherwise use the address of the database server as supplied by your web host.
$config['MasterServer']
['username']
This variable contains the username provided to you by your host for connecting to your
database server.
$config['MasterServer']
['password']
The password that accompanies the database username should be entered here.
Note:
Please note that Jelsoft / vBulletin Support can not provide the values you require for $config['Database']['dbname'],
$config['MasterServer']['servername'], $config['MasterServer']['username'], and $config['MasterServer']['password'].
These variables are only available from the web host providing your web/database server.
If you need to create a new database for vBulletin to use, instructions for doing so in a variety of systems are available
here.
Also note that you only edit the info to the right of the equal sign. Do NOT edit the names in the brackets to the left of
the equal sign. For instance in this line:
$config['MasterServer']['username'] = 'root';
You change 'root' to the appropriate database username and leave everything else as is.
This is correct:
$config['MasterServer']['username'] = 'your_dbusername';
This is NOT correct:
$config['MasterServer']['your_dbusename'] = 'root';
Never edit anything to the left of the equal sign.
On Yahoo Small Business Server, $config['MasterServer']['servername'] should be set to 'mysql'.
The remaining variables in config.php do not need to be edited in order to make a working vBulletin configuration.
For most, it is recommended that you do not alter them until after the installation process is complete, unless you are
confident that you know what you are doing beforehand. A description of these remaining variables follows.
$config['Database']
['dbtype']
If you are using PHP5 in combination with MySQL 4.1.x you may want to change this
variable to 'mysqli' to take advantage of the MySQL Improved engine
$config['Database']
['tableprefix']
In order to easily identify the tables related to vBulletin in your database, you may prefix
the names of all tables with a few letters or a word. For example, if you specify the
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$config['Database']['tableprefix'] as 'vb_' then all tables will be prefixed with vb_, making
vb_forum, vb_user etc.
If you choose to change your $config['Database']['tableprefix'] at some point after you have
installed your vBulletin, tools are provided to do this.
$config['Database']
['force_sql_mode']
New versions of MySQL (4.1+) have introduced some behaviors that are incompatible with
vBulletin. These behaviors are enabled by default with MySQL 5. Setting this value to
"true" disables those behaviors. You only need to modify this value if vBulletin
recommends it.
$config['MasterServer']
['usepconnect']
Setting this variable to 1 will cause PHP to use persistent connections to the MySQL
server. For very large vBulletin installations, using persistent connections may result in a
slight performance boost but in most cases leaving it set to 0 (off) is the best option. If you
are unsure, leave it set to 0
Slave Database
Configuration
These variables only apply if you have a Slave Database configured. If you are not sure,
you should leave these variables alone. This is an advanced setting!
$config['Misc']
['admincpdir']
By default, vBulletin will install the files for the Administrators' Control Panel into a folder
called admincp, but you may wish to rename this folder this for security purposes. If you
rename the folder, enter the new name here. Note that you can only rename the folder, if
you move the folder to a new location the system will be unable to function.
$config['Misc']
['modcpdir']
This variable is similar to the $admincpdir setting, with the exception that $modcpdir refers
to the Moderators' Control Panel rather than the Administrators' Control Panel.
$config['Misc']
['cookieprefix']
When vBulletin sets cookies on users' computers they will all be prefixed with a few
characters in order to be easily identified as cookies set by vBulletin. By default this prefix
is bb but you can change it to be whatever you like. This option is particularly useful if you
have many vBulletin installations running on the same domain.
$config['Misc']
['forumpath']
Some systems may require a full path to the forum files. If vBulletin does not tell you that
you need this, leave this blank.
$config['SpecialUsers']
['canviewadminlog']
All actions performed in the vBulletin Administrators' Control Panel are logged in the
database. This variable controls the permissions for which users are allowed to view this
log. The variable takes the form of a list of user IDs separated by commas. For example, if
you would like the users with user IDs 1, 15 and 16 to be able to view the Admin Log, this
variable would be set like this:
$config['SpecialUsers']['canviewadminlog'] = '1,15,16';
$config['SpecialUsers']
['canpruneadminlog']
In the same way as $config['SpecialUsers']['canviewadminlog'] controls which users can
view the Admin Log, $config['SpecialUsers']['canpruneadminlog'] controls which users are
permitted to prune (delete items from) the Admin Log. Use the same user IDs separated
with commas system as with the $config['SpecialUsers']['canviewadminlog'] setting.
$config['SpecialUsers']
['canrunqueries']
The vBulletin Administrators' Control Panel contains a simple interface for running queries
directly on the database. This variable contains the IDs of the users with permission to do
this. For security reasons you may wish to leave this list totally empty.
$config['SpecialUsers']
['undeletableusers']
If your vBulletin installation is going to have multiple users with administrative privileges,
you may wish to protect certain users from accidental (or even malicious) deletion or
editing. Any user IDs entered into this list will not be editable or deletable from the
Administrators' Control Panel by anybody.
$config['SpecialUsers']
['superadministrators']
Any users whose user IDs are specified within the $config['SpecialUsers']
['superadministrators'] setting will be automatically granted full access to all vBulletin
features, including the ability to set the permission levels of other administrators.
$config['Mysqli']
['charset']
If you need to set the default connection charset because your database is using a charset
other than latin1, you can set the charset here. If you don't set the charset to be the same as
your database, you may receive collation errors. Ignore this setting unless you are sure you
need to use it.
$config['Mysqli']
['ini_file']
PHP can be instructed to set connection parameters by reading from the file named in
'ini_file'. Please use a full path to the file. This is generally used to set the connection's
default character set. This setting should also be ignored unless you are sure you need to
use it.
Note:
The variables $config['SpecialUsers']['canviewadminlog'], $config['SpecialUsers']['canpruneadminlog'],
$config['SpecialUsers']['canrunqueries'], $config['SpecialUsers']['undeletableusers'] and $config['SpecialUsers']
['superadministrators'] should all contain a single userid number, a comma-separated list of user id numbers, or
nothing at all. For example:
$config['SpecialUsers']['canviewadminlog'] = '1,15,16';
$config['SpecialUsers']['canpruneadminlog'] = '1';
$config['SpecialUsers']['canrunqueries'] = '';
$config['SpecialUsers']['undeletableusers'] = '1,15';
$config['SpecialUsers']['superadministrators'] = '1';
Note: When editing config.php, make sure there is no whitespace or extra lines either before the <?php or after the ?>.
If there are any extra lines or space, you will see an 'Unable to add headers' error when accessing your forums.
Note:
Later versions of vBulletin may not have the ?> at the end. This is to help prevent this kind of error from happening.
Once you have finished editing your config.php file you should save it again and prepare to upload the file to your
web server.
config.php Back to Top
<?php
/*======================================================================*\
|| #################################################################### ||
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|| # vBulletin 3.6.6 - Licence Number 1a2b3c4
|| # ---------------------------------------------------------------- # ||
|| # All PHP code in this file is ©2000-2007 Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. # ||
|| # This file may not be redistributed in whole or significant part. # ||
|| # ---------------- VBULLETIN IS NOT FREE SOFTWARE ---------------- # ||
|| # http://www.vbulletin.com | http://www.vbulletin.com/license.html # ||
|| #################################################################### ||
\*======================================================================*/
/*-------------------------------------------------------*\
| ****** NOTE REGARDING THE VARIABLES IN THIS FILE ****** |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| If you get any errors while attempting to connect to |
| MySQL, you will need to email your webhost because we |
| cannot tell you the correct values for the variables |
| in this file. |
\*-------------------------------------------------------*/
// ****** DATABASE TYPE ******
// This is the type of the database server on which your vBulletin database will be located.
// Valid options are mysql and mysqli, for slave support add _slave. Try to use mysqli if you are using PHP 5 and MySQL 4.1+
// for slave options just append _slave to your preferred database type.
$config['Database']['dbtype'] = 'mysql';
// ****** DATABASE NAME ******
// This is the name of the database where your vBulletin will be located.
// This must be created by your webhost.
$config['Database']['dbname'] = 'forum';
// ****** TABLE PREFIX ******
// Prefix that your vBulletin tables have in the database.
$config['Database']['tableprefix'] = '';
// ****** TECHNICAL EMAIL ADDRESS ******
// If any database errors occur, they will be emailed to the address specified here.
// Leave this blank to not send any emails when there is a database error.
$config['Database']['technicalemail'] = 'dbmaster@example.com';
// ****** FORCE EMPTY SQL MODE ******
// New versions of MySQL (4.1+) have introduced some behaviors that are
// incompatible with vBulletin. Setting this value to "true" disables those
// behaviors. You only need to modify this value if vBulletin recommends it.
$config['Database']['force_sql_mode'] = false;
// ****** MASTER DATABASE SERVER NAME AND PORT ******
// This is the hostname or IP address and port of the database server.
// If you are unsure of what to put here, leave the default values.
$config['MasterServer']['servername'] = 'localhost';
$config['MasterServer']['port'] = 3306;
// ****** MASTER DATABASE USERNAME & PASSWORD ******
// This is the username and password you use to access MySQL.
// These must be obtained through your webhost.
$config['MasterServer']['username'] = 'root';
$config['MasterServer']['password'] = '';
// ****** MASTER DATABASE PERSISTENT CONNECTIONS ******
// This option allows you to turn persistent connections to MySQL on or off.
// The difference in performance is negligible for all but the largest boards.
// If you are unsure what this should be, leave it off. (0 = off; 1 = on)
$config['MasterServer']['usepconnect'] = 0;
// ****** SLAVE DATABASE CONFIGURATION ******
// If you have multiple database backends, this is the information for your slave
// server. If you are not 100% sure you need to fill in this information,
// do not change any of the values here.
$config['SlaveServer']['servername'] = '';
$config['SlaveServer']['port'] = 3306;
$config['SlaveServer']['username'] = '';
$config['SlaveServer']['password'] = '';
$config['SlaveServer']['usepconnect'] = 0;
// ****** PATH TO ADMIN & MODERATOR CONTROL PANELS ******
// This setting allows you to change the name of the folders that the admin and
// moderator control panels reside in. You may wish to do this for security purposes.
// Please note that if you change the name of the directory here, you will still need
// to manually change the name of the directory on the server.
$config['Misc']['admincpdir'] = 'admincp';
$config['Misc']['modcpdir'] = 'modcp';
// Prefix that all vBulletin cookies will have
// Keep this short and only use numbers and letters, i.e. 1-9 and a-Z
$config['Misc']['cookieprefix'] = 'bb';
// ******** FULL PATH TO FORUMS DIRECTORY ******
// On a few systems it may be necessary to input the full path to your forums directory
// for vBulletin to function normally. You can ignore this setting unless vBulletin
// tells you to fill this in. Do not include a trailing slash!
// Example Unix:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = '/home/users/public_html/forums';
// Example Win32:
// $config['Misc']['forumpath'] = 'c:\program files\apache group\apache\htdocs\vb3';
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$config['Misc']['forumpath'] = '';
// ****** USERS WITH ADMIN LOG VIEWING PERMISSIONS ******
// The users specified here will be allowed to view the admin log in the control panel.
// Users must be specified by *ID number* here. To obtain a user's ID number,
// view their profile via the control panel. If this is a new installation, leave
// the first user created will have a user ID of 1. Seperate each userid with a comma.
$config['SpecialUsers']['canviewadminlog'] = '1';
// ****** USERS WITH ADMIN LOG PRUNING PERMISSIONS ******
// The users specified here will be allowed to remove ("prune") entries from the admin
// log. See the above entry for more information on the format.
$config['SpecialUsers']['canpruneadminlog'] = '1';
// ****** USERS WITH QUERY RUNNING PERMISSIONS ******
// The users specified here will be allowed to run queries from the control panel.
// See the above entries for more information on the format.
// Please note that the ability to run queries is quite powerful. You may wish
// to remove all user IDs from this list for security reasons.
$config['SpecialUsers']['canrunqueries'] = '';
// ****** UNDELETABLE / UNALTERABLE USERS ******
// The users specified here will not be deletable or alterable from the control panel by any users.
// To specify more than one user, separate userids with commas.
$config['SpecialUsers']['undeletableusers'] = '';
// ****** SUPER ADMINISTRATORS ******
// The users specified below will have permission to access the administrator permissions
// page, which controls the permissions of other administrators
$config['SpecialUsers']['superadministrators'] = '1';
// ****** DATASTORE CACHE CONFIGURATION *****
// Here you can configure different methods for caching datastore items.
// vB_Datastore_Filecache - for using a cache file
// $config['Datastore']['class'] = 'vB_Datastore_Filecache';
// vB_Datastore_Memcached - for using a Memcache server
// It is also necessary to specify the hostname or IP address and the port the server is listening on
/*
$config['Datastore']['class'] = 'vB_Datastore_Memcached';
$i = 0;
// First Server
$i++;
$config['Misc']['memcacheserver'][$i] = '127.0.0.1';
$config['Misc']['memcacheport'][$i] = 11211;
$config['Misc']['memcachepersistent'][$i] = true;
$config['Misc']['memcacheweight'][$i] = 1;
$config['Misc']['memcachetimeout'][$i] = 1;
$config['Misc']['memcacheretry_interval'][$i] = 15;
*/
// ****** The following options are only needed in special cases ******
// ****** MySQLI OPTIONS *****
// When using MySQL 4.1+, MySQLi should be used to connect to the database.
// If you need to set the default connection charset because your database
// is using a charset other than latin1, you can set the charset here.
// If you don't set the charset to be the same as your database, you
// may receive collation errors. Ignore this setting unless you
// are sure you need to use it.
// $config['Mysqli']['charset'] = 'utf8';
// Optionally, PHP can be instructed to set connection parameters by reading from the
// file named in 'ini_file'. Please use a full path to the file.
// Example:
// $config['Mysqli']['ini_file'] = 'c:\program files\MySQL\MySQL Server 4.1\my.ini';
$config['Mysqli']['ini_file'] = '';
// Image Processing Options
// Images that exceed either dimension below will not be resized by vBulletin. If you need to resize larger images, alter these settings.
$config['Misc']['maxwidth'] = 2592;
$config['Misc']['maxheight'] = 1944;
/*======================================================================*\
|| ####################################################################
|| # Downloaded: 12:00, Sun Nov 26th 2007
|| # CVS: $RCSfile$ - $Revision$
|| ####################################################################
\*======================================================================*/
MySQLi Back to Top
MySQLi is an improved database layer for PHP 5 and MySQL 4.1+. It is strongly recommended that MySQLi be
used if your MySQL server is at version 4.1 or higher.
To enable MySQLi, view Editing the vBulletin Configuration File.
config.php contains two advanced settings that you may need when MySQLi is in use. These settings are to be
ignored as long as you are not having issues of the following type:
MySQL Error : Illegal mix of collations (latin1_swedish_ci,COERCIBLE) and (utf8_general_ci,IMPLICIT) for operation
Generally, this error only happens when your database's character set has been changed from the default of latin1. To
begin to resolve this problem, you must first determine what character set is being used for your database.
From the Administrator Control Panel, go to Admin CP->Maintenance->Execute SQL Query. If you receive a no
permissions message, please refer back to Editing the vBulletin Configuration File on how to grant the appropriate
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permissions so that you may execute queries.
Enter the following query in the Manual Query input box and press [Continue]
SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'char%'
The results screen will show your current character set settings:
If the values character_set_database and character_set_connection are different then this can be resolved by
continuing this solution.
Note:
If the values are the same, then your problem will not be solved by this solution. Please contact vBulletin Support in
this case. You may have tables in your database that are configured to use a different character set than your database
is. All of your tables will need to be updated to use the same character set. This condition can be caused by changing
the character set of your database after vBulletin has been installed. Upgrades may create tables that are in your new
character set, which will cause problems.
Your character_set_connection needs to be updated to be the same as your character_set_database.
Create a new file in your forums include directory named mysqli.ini. Inside of this file place:
[client]
default-character-set=utf8
The value utf8 will need to be the same value that appeared as your character_set_database in the previous step.
Generally, this will be utf8 but you may have a special case that requires a different setting.
Edit the vBulletin Configuration File file by following the instructions in the previous section.
Uncomment the following line by removing the two slashes from the beginning
// $config['Mysqli']['ini_file'] = 'c:\program files\MySQL\MySQL Server 4.1\my.ini';
Change the line to point to the location of the mysqli.ini file that you created in the previous step. Example:
$config['Mysqli']['ini_file'] = 'c:\program files\apache group\apache\htdocs\forums\includes\mysqli.ini';
If you have enabled MySQLi and entered the correct path to your new mysqli.ini file, then this problem should be
resolved.
Uploading vBulletin Scripts to Your Web Server Back to Top
After your config.php file has been edited and saved it is time to upload the vBulletin scripts to your web server ready
for installation.
The uploading process should be familiar to anyone who has published pages to a web site before, but a brief
description of the process is given here.
Although there are several methods available to transfer the vBulletin files from your computer to your web server, by
far the most common method in use is transfer via FTP. Most operating systems have built-in tools for opening FTP
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connections although they are often limited in their usefulness and many people opt to use a third party FTP client
application. For this example we will use Smart FTP.
Note:
We do not recommend using the built-in file transfer features in WYSIWYG editors such as Adobe Dreamweaver,
Adobe GoLive!, Microsoft Frontpage, or Microsoft Expressions. These programs often add information to vBulletin's
files or do not maintain their structure properly which will cause problems while installing or upgrading the software.
We also do not recommend using any web-based file managers that your hosting service may provide as a solution.
For best performance and reliability you are recommended to use a stand alone FTP client like SmartFTP or Filezilla.
The easiest way to transfer the files is to upload the entire upload folder to the server. Using Smart FTP we do this by
dragging the upload folder from its location on your computer's hard disk to the web publishing folder on the server.
Most FTP client applications will handle the file transfers automatically, but if for some reason your application does
not, you should make a note of the following:
All text files to be transferred in ASCII mode
All non-text files to be transferred in Binary mode
The remaining files, which are mostly images, should be transferred to your web server in Binary mode.
Binary file types used in vBulletin include: .gif, .png, .jpg, .ico.
Note:
The web publishing folder is usually called public_html, www or htdocs and is located within your home directory. If
you are unsure of where to find your own web publishing folder, your host will be able to help you.
Depending upon the speed of your internet connection, uploading all the files could take several minutes to complete.
After completion, you should see that the web server now contains a folder called upload containing a perfect copy of
the files in the upload folder on your computer's hard disk.
When all the files have been uploaded successfully you should rename the upload folder on the web server to the
name you want to use for your forums directory. We will be calling it forums for the purposes of this manual.
If all has gone well, you are now ready to run the installation script to prepare your database to run vBulletin.
Running the vBulletin Install Script Back to Top
The installation wizard has been rewritten in vBulletin 4.0.9. The new installation process provides a more seamless
experience without requiring as much intervention from the operator. Once all the vBulletin files have been
successfully uploaded to your web server, you will need to run the vBulletin Installation Script in order to prepare
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your database.
The Installer runs as a PHP script using your web browser. To start the installation process, open your browser and
type the HTTP address of your forums directory, followed by /install/install.php, then hit the <Enter> key or press the
[Go] button to open the script.
The first thing you will see from the install script is a log in prompt, asking you to enter your customer number. This
is done to prevent other users from accidentally stumbling across your install script and running it. Only you should
know your customer number.
Note:
Your customer number is the string of numbers and letters used as the login user name for the vBulletin Members'
Area. You should type your customer number carefully to avoid errors. Note that your customer number is not the
same as your vBulletin license number.
When you have entered your customer number, hit the [Enter Installer] button and you should be taken to the first step
of the install script. If after hitting the [Enter Installer] button you are brought back to the customer number entry
dialog, there was an error verifying your customer number. Please check for mistakes and try again.
After entering your customer number, the install wizard will begin. Press Start Install to begin.
The installer from this point is mostly automatic. You will see the progress bar progress as it goes through the steps.
During the install process, the install script will require user input. At this point it will present you with a dialog box
and ask for the information. It will ask for information up to four times. The first dialog box looks like the image
below.
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The first dialog box will ask you information about your forums. This includes the name of the forums, the name of
your homepage and the URLs that you would like to use. It will also ask for the webmaster email address. The system
will try to pre-fill some of this information for you based on the location of the script and the domain name it is
accessed from.
The second dialog box will ask for your cookie path and cookie domain. These are advanced installation parameters.
If you do not know what to enter here, leave them as the default suggestions and continue.
The third dialog box will ask for your administrator username, password, and email address. Make sure to keep record
of these as there is no way to retrieve the password in the future.
The last dialog box will only occur if you are installing the vBulletin Publishing Suite. This will ask if you want to
install the default data for the Content Management System. It is a good idea to do this if you are just getting started.
You can delete the data later.
During the installation process, you may opt to have a more detailed output view. You can view each step as it
processes by clicking the "Show Details" button while the install wizard is running. It will present you with a view
like this:
Once the installation process is complete, and you will be presented with a link to your Admin Control Panel. Before
clicking this link, you should open up your FTP client application again and browse to the install folder inside your
forums directory.
You should delete the install directory, and all of its files now as a security precaution. Once you have deleted these
files/folders you can return to the installer script and click the link to enter the Administrator Control Panel of your
freshly installed vBulletin!
Note:
You will not be able to enter the Admin Control Panel until you have deleted the install folder.
Installing the Mobile Style
Cleaning up after the Install Back to Top
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After a few pages the installation process will complete, and you will be presented with a link to your Admin Control
Panel. Before clicking this link, you should open up your FTP client application again and browse to the /install
folder inside your forums directory.
You should delete all files and subdirectories here as a security precaution. Doing so will not impact vBulletin's
operation on your site. Once you have deleted these files you can return to the installer script and click the link to
enter the Administrator Control Panel of your freshly installed vBulletin!
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Upgrading vBulletin Back to Top
From time to time it will be necessary to upgrade your vBulletin installation to the latest version, either to gain new
features or to fix newly discovered bugs in PHP, MySQL or vBulletin itself.
You can upgrade to the latest version of vBulletin 4 from the following vBulletin versions:
Any previous version of vBulletin 4, from version 4.0.0 Beta 1 to the current version.
Any version of vBulletin 3 from version 3.6.0 and newer. If your vBulletin version is older than 3.8.7, it is
recommended that you upgrade to at least vBulletin 3.8.7 before you can upgrade to vBulletin 4.
The upgrade process differs depending upon the version of vBulletin currently installed on your web server.
When upgrading, the first step is always the same, in that you must log in to the vBulletin Members' Area and
download the latest vBulletin package available, as described in the installation instructions.
Warning:
We strongly recommend that you back up your database prior to any upgrade. This will allow you to restore your data
should anything happen during the upgrade. The chance of a catastrophic failure is very remote but it can happen.
A document detailing how to back up your database is available in the Technical Documents section of the vBulletin
Manual's Appendices, here.
Preparing the vBulletin Files for Upload Back to Top
After you have successfully downloaded the vBulletin package to your computer you will need to prepare the scripts
to be uploaded to your web server.
The first thing to do is to decompress the package into its constituent files. If you downloaded the .zip package and
your computer is running a recent version of Windows® all the tools you need to do this are available as part of
Windows®. This section will assume that you have downloaded the .zip package and that your computer is running
Windows XP.
To extract the files from the package, open the folder on your computer where you saved the vBulletin package and
right-click on its icon, then choose Extract All from the pop-up menu.
This will open a wizard to guide you through the unzipping progress. Accept the default options suggested and the
system will decompress the files from the zip package.
When the unzipping progress is complete, you will find that the process has created a new folder called upload and
another called do_not_upload.
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upload - This folder contains the vBulletin files that need to be uploaded to your web server.
You should now rename the 'upload' folder to match whatever name you gave to the directory containing your
vBulletin files on your web server. In this example, the folder containing the vBulletin files is called 'forums'.
NOTE: If you have changed the names of the 'admincp' and 'modcp' directories in your config.php file, be sure to
make the same change to these subdirectories prior to uploading.
The second folder is do_not_upload - This folder contains tools to perform various tasks on your board
searchshell.php - This file will allow you to rebuild the search index.
vb_backup.sh - This file will allow you to run a database backup via SSH/Telnet or a scheduled backup
through cron.
tools.php - This file must be uploaded to the admincp folder and allows you to perform certain tasks should
your board go down or you accidentally lock yourself out of the Admin Control Panel. This file must be deleted
immediately after use or it will cause a SEVERE security problem.
Note:
As you already have a vBulletin installation running on your web server, you should delete the install.php file in the
install directory before you proceed to upload the files.
Note:
These instructions are for 3.5.0 and higher. If you are upgrading from vBulletin 3.0.x to 3.5.0, you will also need to
recreate your includes/config.php file based on the new version of includes/config.php.new. Please see this page in the
installation section on how to edit the config file. This step is not necessary for individual upgrades within the 3.0.x or
3.5.x series.
If you are upgrading from vBulletin 3.5.x to vBulletin 3.6.x or newer you do not need to edit the config.php file.
Updating the vBulletin Scripts on Your Web Server Back to Top
Having downloaded the latest vBulletin package and unzipped it to a folder, you must now prepare your web server to
accept the updated files. Before you do this you should close your forums. This will help eliminate any potential db
errors as people attempt to access your forums before the upgrade is complete.
For uploading there are two ways that this can be done.
The first method involves overwriting all the files that were previously uploaded to your web server, while the second
method involves deleting all the old files and directories, and then uploading the new scripts. In this tutorial we will
use the overwrite method.
Having renamed the upload folder as specified in the previous step, you should load up your FTP client of choice. In
this example we will use Smart FTP.
Connect to your FTP server and with the new vBulletin files in the local pane and the existing old files in the remote
pane, drag the forums directory into the parent directory of your remote vBulletin installation as shown here:
You will most likely be prompted by the FTP client at this point to ask if you want to overwrite the existing files. You
should confirm this prompt, telling the FTP client that yes, you do want to overwrite the existing files. If the prompt
gives you the option to overwrite all existing files without prompting again, use this option.
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Most FTP client applications will handle the file transfers automatically, but if for some reason your application does
not, you should make a note of the following:
All text files to be transferred in ASCII mode
All files containing plain text from the vBulletin package should be transferred in ASCII mode.
Text file types you will find in vBulletin are: .html, .php, .js, .xml, .css.
All non-text files to be transferred in Binary mode
The remaining files, which are mostly images, should be transferred to your web server in Binary mode.
Binary file types used in vBulletin include: .gif, .png, .jpg, .ico.
Warning:
It is extremely important that you upload all the files from the latest vBulletin package, including the entire contents
of the install directory.
Failure to upload all the files may result in the upgrade script being unable to successfully complete the upgrade
process.
Running the vBulletin Upgrade Script Back to Top
Once you have uploaded the files to upgrade your vBulletin installation, point your browser to
http://www.yourdomain.com/pathtoforums/install/upgrade.php. The screen will look like this:
When you have entered your customer number, hit the [Enter Installer] button and you should be taken to the first step
of the install script. If after hitting the [Enter Installer] button you are brought back to the customer number entry
dialog, there was an error verifying your customer number. Please check for mistakes and try again.
After entering your customer number, the install wizard will begin. Press Start Install to begin.
The installer from this point is almost automatic. You will see the progress bar progress as it goes through the steps.
If the upgrade script needs to retrieve any information from you, it will stop and show a dialog box requesting the
information. Follow the instructions on the screen. These dialog boxes will look similar to this -
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During the installation process, you may opt to have a more detailed output view. You can view each step as it
processes by clicking the "Show Details" button while the install wizard is running. It will present you with a view
like this:
Once the installation process is complete, and you will be presented with a link to your Admin Control Panel.
Enter the Admin Control Panel to verify that your settings, content and other details are still correct.
Installing the Mobile Style
Using the Command Line Upgrade Back to Top
Starting with vBulletin 4.0.9, you can run the upgrade script from the command line and remove the overhead of your
browser and HTTP calls. The command line interface is designed to specifically help big boards with the upgrade
process and to eliminate the time caused by HTTP interaction. To run this interface go to your install directory and
execute:
php -f upgrade.php
If you are logged in as the root user, you will need to run the upgrade as the user that the webserver runs under. This
will prevent permission problems from occurring later if you store CSS as files. Use this command:
sudo -u <user> php -f upgrade.php
Where <user> is the user that the webserver is run with. On most systems, this is the user nobody.
Your CLI version of PHP may not have been compiled with or configured to use the same modules as your web
version. If you encounter problems in command line mode, switching to the web mode should be able to process
through them. You can see your command line configuration by typing:
php -i > phpinfo.txt
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You can then review the output in any text editor. You should inspect this configuration to make sure that it has mysql
and/or mysqli available so you can connect to the database. You would also need to make sure that the command line
version of PHP has XML support. If it does not, then you would need to run the XML imports from the Browser.
Common Issues While Upgrading. Back to Top
Q. I tried to run the upgrade wizard from the command line and got an error that MySQLi is not installed.
A. Your CLI version of PHP may not have been compiled with the same modules as your web version. If you are
missing mysqli and have set your config.php to use mysqli, you will receive an immediate error. Either add mysqli
support to your CLI php or switch to mysql in config.php. You can switch back to mysqli after the upgrade process.
Q. When running the upgrade wizard from the command line, it will not import the standard XML files for the
style and languages. What do I do?
A. Your version of PHP may have the default XML support disabled for some reason. Run the upgrade wizard in your
browser. It will skip to the XML import steps and import your files for you and complete the upgrade.
Q. I have a lot of posts and rebuilding the search index takes forever. Is there a faster way?
It is recommended that large community sites use our Sphinx Search to index and search their content. This is a fast
and robust search solution. If for some reason, you cannot use this search option, you can rebuild your search index
from the command line using the searchindex.php in your Do Not Upload folder. You would run the searchindex.php
file from the command line using this command:
php searchindex.php
Follow the steps on the screen.
Q. What is the Query Status button that appears in Browser Mode?
A. The "Query Status" button is something that appears after a step has taken more than 20 seconds. Its purpose it to
send a query back to the server and retrieve the status of the executing query. It provides a method for the admin to see
what is going on with big queries.
Q. I receive an error similar to the following how do I fix it?
Warning: chdir(): SAFE MODE Restriction in effect. The script whose uid is 0 is not allowed to access ./../ owned by uid 10001 in /var/www/vhosts/domain.co
A. This can appear if the command line configuration of PHP is using safemode. Either disable safemod or run the
upgrade wizard in browser mode.
Q. I previously used the Command Line Upgrade and now I receive an error when I try to save my CSS as files.
What is wrong?
The permissions on your clientscript/vbulletin_css folder are incorrect. They may be set to 0755 and should be set to
0777. Recursively update the permissions to 0777 using your FTP client or chmod.
Cleaning up after your Upgrade Back to Top
After the upgrade process is complete, you will be presented with a link to your Admin Control Panel. Before clicking
this link, you should open up your FTP client application again and browse to the installl folder inside your forums
directory.
You should delete all files and subdirectories here as a security precaution. Doing so will not impact vBulletin's
operation on your site. Once you have deleted these files you can return to the installer script and click the link to
enter the Administrator Control Panel of your freshly installed vBulletin!
Checking for Updated Templates Back to Top
If you have closed your forums for the upgrade you can now open them, or you can wait until you have gone through
the next two steps checking for updated templates and phrases.
When a new version of vBulletin is released, it is common for some of the default templates to have been updated to
accommodate new features or fix bugs.
If you have not customized any of your templates, this need not concern you, but if you have customized some of the
default templates there are a few steps you will need to follow after you have finished running all the appropriate
upgrade scripts.
Note:
When running vBulletin upgrade scripts, one of the final steps imports the newest version of the default style.
Any templates that you have not customized will automatically be updated to use the newest versions.
However, any templates that you have customized will not be altered or overwritten by importing the latest style,
hence the need for the following steps.
1 Firstly, you should visit the Styles & Templates > Find Updated Templates page to find out which (if any) of your
customized templates may have updated default versions.
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2 If you find that some of your customized templates do have updated default versions, you have three choices. You
can either
Do nothing and hope that your customized templates will still work properly with the new vBulletin
version. This is often not a problem, but sometimes a variable may have been renamed or else some other
change may have been made that will render your customized template dysfunctional.
Click the [Revert] link for each template, removing your customizations to ensure that your templates are
fully compatible with the new vBulletin version.
Click on the [Edit Template] link for each template, and compare the contents of your customized template
with the version available by clicking the [View Original] in order to manually update your customized
templates to reflect the changes made in the default templates.
On the release of a new vBulletin version, the release announcement posted in the Announcements Forum at
vBulletin.com will usually contain a list of updated templates.
This list will often tell you whether or not the changes made to each template were purely cosmetic, in which case you
will have no need to perform the steps above for that template, or if the changes require you to revert or manually edit
your customized templates to maintain full working order.
vBulletin Template Diff/Merge System Back to Top
One of the most common complaints about vBulletin's upgrade process is applying the template changes. While the
template history feature helped a little bit, it didn't go far enough. vBulletin 4.0 will introduce a feature to make
applying template changes much easier: automatic merging and 3-way comparison.
Whenever you upgrade, we will automatically look for templates that have changed and see if you customized those
templates. If you have, we will automatically try to merge the changes in. If this succeeds, you won't have anything
else to do (in most cases). If it fails, your customized template won't be updated--like in vBulletin 3--and you'll have
to apply the changes yourself. However, that process is improved as well. More on that later.
Roughly, the merging process goes like this:
[*]Find the differences between the old default and the new default. ("old-new")
[*]Find the differences between the old default and your customized version. ("old-custom")
[*]Start walking through the template. If we find a changed spot in old-new but it's not changed in old-custom, use the
old-new version. If we find a change in old-custom but not old-new, use the old-custom version. If neither changed,
use either. If both changed, that's a conflict and we can't do the merge.
Most of this happens behind the scenes. However, you'll see some changes to the "Find Update Templates" screen:
The "View Highlighted Changes" link will take you to this page:
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This lets you view the 3-way merge results visually. The yellow lines indicate areas changed by merging, while the
red blocks indicate conflicts. The conflicting areas show you the values in all 3 versions of the template (old, new,
customized) to let you choose how to resolve it.
Of course, trying to do the edit from this page would be a challenge, so if you click the "Edit Merged Text" link, you'll
be taken to a normal looking template editor:
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However, the text that you're editing is slightly different from the norm. Any unchanged or merged areas are as you'd
expect, but the output from a conflict is very different. All 3 possible values for a conflict will be shown, so you can
resolve it correct. And don't worry, if you try to save it while there's still a conflict, it will warn you.
It should be noted that the automatic merging is pretty conservative. "Adjacent updates" (when a customized version
adds a line immediately after a line that was changed) will trigger a conflict. In some cases, it'd be ok for this merge to
go through, but there are other situations where things would break if the change were applied. Regardless, the new
conflict management system should allow you to resolve the problem more quickly.
Checking for Updated Phrases Back to Top
When a new version of vBulletin is released, it is common for some of the default phrases to have been updated to
accommodate new features or fix bugs.
If you have not customized any of your phrases, this need not concern you, but if you have customized some of the
default phrases, there are a few steps you will need to follow after you have finished running all the appropriate
upgrade scripts.
Note:
When running vBulletin upgrade scripts, one of the final steps imports the newest version of the default phrases.
Any phrases that you have not customized will automatically be updated to use the newest versions.
However, any phrases that you have customized will not be altered or overwritten by importing the latest phrases,
hence the need for the following steps.
1 Firstly, you should visit the Languages & Phrases > Find Updated Phrases page to find out which (if any) of your
customized phrases may have updated default versions.
2 If you find that some of your customized phrases do have updated default versions, you can either:
Do nothing and hope that your customized phrases will still work properly with the new vBulletin version.
This is often not a problem, but sometimes the phrase may have added text to describe new functionality or
have made changes that break the values in the old version.
Click on the [Edit] link for each phrases, and compare the contents of your customized phrase with the
version available. From this page, you may either update your customized version or revert to the default
version by emptying the translation field.
How to Patch Your Site Back to Top
What is a Patch Level? How does it differ from a full release?
A patch level release contains fixes for only the most critical issues in the previous release. In most cases, these are
released to address a security issue. However they can be released for data integrity issues as well.
A patch level is designed to be installed directly over top of your existing installation, with no other action. You do
not need to run any upgrade scripts.
How to Upgrade
This is not a full upgrade. You do not need to run any upgrade scripts to complete the upgrade.
Patch: Download a patch file discussed in this thread and upload them to your web server, overwriting the existing
files. All patches are available from the Members' Area patch page.
Patch Packages are cumulative so you only need the latest one available for your version. You cannot use a Patch to
upgrade your site.
Full Package: Alternatively you can download the full package in the vBulletin Members Area and again upload the
affected files mentioned in the release thread.
Note:
Patch Level Releases are only supported for their targeted version. If you are using a previous version, you will need
to perform a complete upgrade for full functionality and support. Patch Levels will only be released for the latest
version in an active vBulletin series.
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The Admin Control Panel Back to Top
The Administrator Control Panel is the area of your board that only administrators and super moderators can access.
From here you can control almost all factors of your board.
Logging-in to the Control Panel Back to Top
The vBulletin Admin Control Panel can be accessed by pointing your browser at
http://www.example.com/forums/admincp/.
The first thing you will see when you access the Control Panel is a prompt to log in. You will be presented with this
login prompt even if you are already logged into the public area of the board. This is an additional level of security.
To log in, simply enter the username and password of a user account with administrator privileges, such as the one
you created towards the end of the installation script process.
There are a couple of extra options that can be set on the login form. To see them, click the [Options] button to expand
the form to its full size.
The two options you can set from the login form are:
Style Choice
vBulletin comes with a selection of styles in which you can view the control panel. Try them out and see which
one you like best, or if you are feeling adventurous, create your own!
Save Open Groups Automatically
This option allows you to have the system automatically save your preferences for which options in the Admin
CP navigation panel are opened and which are collapsed by default, without you having to manually save the
preferences.
Clicking the [Log in] button will submit the login details and options you have set, and log you in to the board.
Note:
If you changed the value of $admincpdir in the config.php file and have renamed the admincp directory, the location
at which you access the control panel will have changed accordingly.
Getting Around the Admin Control Panel Back to Top
The first thing you will see when you log into the Admin Control Panel is the welcome page. This page contains a
quick method to search for users, some useful links and the vBulletin credits.
You will notice that the Admin Control Panel is divided into three distinct areas. The first and most obvious of these is
the main panel, which currently shows the welcome page. This area (the main panel) is where the majority of your
attention will be focused when administering your board.
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At the top of the page is a narrow strip that contains information about the vBulletin version you are currently running
and the latest version available to download. To the right of the strip are links allowing you to click through to the
Forum Home Page (the starting point of the public area of the board), and a link allowing you to log out of the control
panel.
To the left of the page is the navigation panel. This long, thin area is the key to getting
around the Admin CP. When you first visit the Admin CP, you will notice that all the
sections of this panel are in a collapsed state.
You can click the gadget on each section to expand it and show its contents, and click
the gadget again to collapse that section again. Double-clicking a section's title will
also toggle its state and either expand or contract it.
You can expand and collapse any sections at any time. You are not limited to having
just a single group expanded at any one time.
When you have a section or sections expanded, hovering your mouse over the included
links will highlight that link. You can then click to open the corresponding page in the
main panel.
You can use the expanding and contracting sections to build a customized control panel
layout for yourself. For example, you may find that you regularly use the 'Styles &
Templates' tools, but very infrequently use the FAQ manager.
When you have established a set of expanded and collapsed sections that suits your
way of working, you can save the state of the sections by clicking the [Save Prefs] link.
When you reload the Admin CP, you will find that the sections in the left navigation
panel will have automatically expanded and collapsed in the manner that they were
when you clicked the [Save Prefs] link.
You can expand and collapse any section in your administration session, and at any
time you can click the [Revert Prefs] link, which will revert the expanded/collapsed
state of all the sections to how they were when you saved your preferences.
If at any time you want to return to the welcome page of the Admin CP, clicking the [Control Panel Home] link at the
top of the navigation panel will do this.
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Settings Back to Top
This part of the documentation will go over the individual options and settings in vBulletin section by section.
Options Back to Top
Turn Your vBulletin On and Off Back to Top
This setting group from the Settings > Options will allow the Administrator to close the forums to the public with a
custom message or set it active. This is a usefull feature when performing serious forum or database maintenance,
version updates or bug fixing.
Only users in the Administrator usergroup will be able to browse the site, visitors will be presented with a closed
message which you can set in this setting group.
Forum Active
From time to time, you may want to turn your forum off to the public while you perform maintenance, update
versions, etc.
Selecting 'Yes' will set the forum Active.
Selecting 'No' will set the forum Inactive (turns it off for the public).
When the forum is set Inactive users in the Administrator usergroup will be able to browse the forum. They will
see a notice displayed in the header and footer of each page stating that the forum is closed. Visitors who
browse any page on the forum will receive a message that states that the forum is temporarily unavailable. You
could set a custom message.
Do not forget to set the forum active again when you are done with your maintenance.
Reason For Turning Forum Off
When you have set your forum to inactive, this is the message that a visitor will receive when they browse any
page on the forum.
Note:
This field expects the use of HTML code.
You can not use BBCode here.
Site Name / URL / Contact Details Back to Top
Settings > Options > Site Name / URL / Contact Details
After a fresh installation or upgrade, server or site move it is advised to walk through these site details setting group to
ensure they are up to date.
Forum Name - Name of your forum. This appears in the title of every page.
Forum URL - URL of your forum.
Note: do not add a trailing slash. ("/")
Homepage Name - Name of your homepage. This appears at the bottom of every page.
Always use Forum URL as Base Path
If this is set to 'Yes' the Forum URL will always be used for links instead of the current URL. This ensures that
links are consistent but may not be desirable if you use multiple domains or a mix of http and https.
Show Forum Link in Menu
If this is set to 'Yes' a link to the Forum will be displayed in the navigation menu on every page.
Homepage URL -URL of your home page. This appears at the bottom of every page.
Contact Us Link - Link for contacting the site admin. To use the built-in email form, specify sendmessage.php
otherwise use something such as 'mailto:webmaster@example.com' or your own custom form. This appears at
the bottom of every page.
Allow Unregistered Users to use 'Contact Us' - The last option only applies if you specify 'sendmessage.php'
in the previous option. You may require guests to pass Human Verification in order to use this form by enabling
the option found in the Human Verification Options.
Contact Us Options - You may pre-define subjects (and corresponding recipients) for users to pick from when
using the default Contact Us form listed above. Please place one subject per line. An 'Other' option will be
automatically added to the end when the form is viewed. For more information on how to set this up, view the
inline help within the Admin Control Panel
Webmaster's Email - Email address of the webmaster. This can be different than the technical contact listed in
the includes/config.php. This is the person who will receive all emails from vBulletin itself except for database
errors.
Privacy Statement URL - Enter the URL of your privacy statement, if you have one.
For more information on Privacy Policies check out http://www.truste.org.
Copyright Text - Copyright text to insert in the footer of the page.
Company Name - The name of your company. This is required for COPPA compliance.
Company Fax - Fax number for your company. COPPA forms will be faxed to this number.
You may wish to check out http://www.efax.com.
Company Address - Address of your company. COPPA forms will be posted to this address.
Content Management Back to Top
Settings > Options > Content Management
Here you can set the values for the content management portion of your site. Please note that this section will only
appear if you have the Publishing Suite installed.
CMS URL
Optional URL for your CMS.
If this is specified it will override the Forum URL setting for CMS pages. You may specify an absolute URL or
a URL relative to your Forum URL
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Examples:
http://www.example.com
http://www.example.com/cms
../
Note:
This may be specified to change the base URL for all CMS links. This is useful if you run the CMS from a
location that differs from your Forum URL.
You may specify an absolute URL such as http://www.example.com/, or a URL relative to your Forum URL. If
your forum is in /forum and your CMS is at the root of your webserver then you may use ../. If you use an
absolute URL the option Always use Forum URL as Base Path will have no effect for CMS pages, and the
CMS url specified will always be used. If you wish to run your CMS from a location other than your Forum
URL then you must ensure that the appropriate entry scripts have been set up.
Create the following files. Be sure to replace 'your_forum_path' with the actual path to your vBulletin
installation. For example, if your CMS will be at http://www.example.com/ and your forums at
http://www.example.com/forums/, then replace 'your_forum_path' with 'forums'.
content.php
<?php
define(VB_RELATIVE_PATH, 'your_forum_path');
chdir('./' . VB_RELATIVE_PATH);
require('content.php');
editor.php
<?php
define(VB_RELATIVE_PATH, 'your_forum_path');
chdir('./' . VB_RELATIVE_PATH);
require('editor.php');
list.php
<?php
define(VB_RELATIVE_PATH, 'your_forum_path');
chdir('./' . VB_RELATIVE_PATH);
require('list.php');
widget.php
<?php
define(VB_RELATIVE_PATH, 'your_forum_path');
chdir('./' . VB_RELATIVE_PATH);
require('widget.php');
index.php PLEASE NOTE: The index.php file uses require('content.php'), not require('index.php')
<?php
define(VB_RELATIVE_PATH, 'your_forum_path');
chdir('./' . VB_RELATIVE_PATH);
require('content.php');
Default Page
If a user visits your CMS site without specifying a page, they will view this page. It should consist of the page
number, dash, then the seo url you assigned that page. For example: '1-home-page'. An incorrect value here can
prevent CMS from functioning.
CMS Name
Name of your CMS. This appears in the title of every CMS page.
Site Tab URL
The URL used by the CMS Tab in the main navigation menu.
Associated Forum for Comments
The forum to use for CMS item comment threads. Note, if you change this value to a different Forum then you
will need to manually move any existing threads to the new forum.
General Settings Back to Top
Use the Settings > Options > General Settings setting group to control several general aspects of your board.
This ranges from meta tags to the use of forumjump, enabling access masks to the display of IM icons.
Meta Keywords
Enter the meta keywords for all pages. These are used by search engines to index your pages with more
relevance.
Meta Keywords are used by some search engines to determine what your pages are about and to rank them.
Other search engines such as Google do not take keywords into account.
All keywords you enter here will be put in the keywords meta tag in the header of every page. Separate
keywords or phrases with a single comma and no space.
Example: vbulletin,forum,bbs,discussion,jelsoft,bulletin board
Meta Description
Enter the meta description for all pages. This is used by search engines to index your pages more relevantly.
The Meta Description is used by some search engines to determine what your pages are about and to rank them.
Other search engines such as Google do not take the description into account.
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Enter a short description of your site here and it will be placed in the meta description tag in the header of every
page. Most engines will accept a maximum of 255 characters for the description.
Example: This is a discussion forum powered by vBulletin. To find out about vBulletin, go to
http://www.vbulletin.com/ .
Use Forum Jump Menu
The Forum Jump menu appears by default on most pages and provides a quick jump to any of the forums on
your forum as well as several other places (search, private messaging, etc.). While it can have a marginal impact
on performance, typically you will only want to disable this if you have an extremely large number of forums as
it will generate a large amount of HTML in that case, which will increase the size of pages and bandwidth
usage.
Set this option to 'no' if you want to turn it off.
Number of Pages Visible in Page Navigator
On thread and forum pages, as well as private messaging lists and other places, if there are multiple page
number links to be displayed, this setting determines how many are shown on either side of the page currently
being viewed. Setting this to 0 will cause all page links to be displayed.
Example: 3
Enable Access Masks
Access masks allow you to enable or disable access to a particular forum for individual user(s). To use them,
you must enable this option. This option also affects whether or not users will be able to see forums they do not
have access to on forumhome and forumdisplay. (If this is off, they will see them in forum listings but not be
able to enter them. If this is on, they will not see them at all.)
Set this option to 'no' if you want to turn it off.
Show Instant Messaging Program Icons
Setting this option to yes will show the images for ICQ, AIM, MSN, and Yahoo! Messenger if the user has
entered the correct information in his/her profile. These links are shown in various places through out the
forum, on posts, who's online, memberlist, profile, etc. When set to no the information will be displayed in their
profile in the form of text.
Add Template Name in HTML Comments
Setting this to 'yes' will add the template name at the beginning and end of every template rendered on any page.
This is useful for debugging and analyzing the HTML code, but turn it off to save bandwidth when running in a
production environment.
When modifying templates, it is often helpful to have this setting enabled so you can view the source of a page
to determine what template(s) control it. In the course of normal usage, however, you will usually want this
disabled as it will increase your page sizes and therefore bandwidth usage.
When you are done, click the [Save] button to apply the changes.
Facebook Options Back to Top
vBulletin allows people to connect with your site and register using their Facebook credentials. This is called
Facebook Connect. To set the options for this you would go to Settings > Options > Facebook Options
Enable Facebook Platform
Enabling this option will allow users to connect their vBulletin account with their Facebook account. This will
also populate your site with Open Graph meta data. Note: users must have Javascript enabled for this feature to
work.
Facebook Application ID
Enter the Application ID for your Application (see the Facebook Developer page for more information).
Facebook Secret
Enter the Facebook Secret for your Application (see the Facebook Developer page for more information).
Facebook Usergroup
If you want, you may specify a secondary usergroup for Facebook users. Note: All users who connect with
facebook from this point on will be members of this usergroup. This will not be applied retroactively to users
who have previously connected to facebook.
Enable Auto-Register
Enabling this option will allow user to skip the registration form, and register through a simplified two-click
process. Note: Using this feature will disable Forum Rules Agreement, Coppa registration, email verification, as
well as any custom required fields from the registration form.
Image URL
Specify a URL for an image that you want to represent your site. This image will appear next to published
content in a user's newsfeed, as well as be used to represent your site in the Open Graph schema. Leave this
blank if you do not want to have an image.
Publish to Facebook - New Thread
Enabling this feature will allow users to publish a notification to their Facebook wall when they start a new
thread.
Publish to Facebook - Post Reply
Enabling this feature will allow users to publish a notification to their Facebook wall when they reply to a
thread.
Publish to Facebook - Blog Entry
Enabling this feature will allow users to publish a notification to their Facebook wall when they post a new blog
entry.
Publish to Facebook - Blog Comment
Enabling this feature will allow users to publish a notification to their Facebook wall when they comment on a
blog post.
Publish to Facebook - New Article
Enabling this feature will allow users to publish a notification to their Facebook wall when they publish a CMS
article.
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Publish to Facebook - Article Comment
Enabling this feature will allow users to publish a notification to their Facebook wall when they comment on a
CMS article.
Like Button - Threads
Enabling this option will make a "Like" button appear on all threads. Users will then be able to "Like"
individual threads. Note: users do not have to have Facebook linked accounts to use this feature.
Like Button - Blog Entries
Enabling this option will make a "Like" button appear on all blog entries. Users will then be able to "Like"
individual blog posts. Note: users do not have to have Facebook linked accounts to use this feature.
Like Button - CMS Articles
Enabling this option will make a "Like" button appear on all CMS Articles. Users will then be able to "Like"
individual CMS Articles. Note: users do not have to have Facebook linked accounts to use this feature.
Enabling Facebook Back to Top
Create new application on facebook.com (Required for each vB installation)
1. Goto: http://developers.facebook.com/apps, and login
2. Click “Create New App” (top-right)
3. Enter an appropriate App Name, click “Continue”
4. Do their Security Check, click “Submit”
5. On the page that comes up, click “Web Site” from the list on the bottom
6. In the “Site URL” input, enter the URL of the forum root for your vB installation. This should be exactly the same
as your Forum URL setting in the Admin CP.
7. Click “Save Changes”
8. Make a note of the “Application ID,” and “Application Secret,” we will need these later.
Enable Facebook Connect on your vB installation
1. Goto your vB site, and login to the admincp
2. Goto “Settings”->”Options”->”Facebook Options” and click “Edit Settings"
3. Check “Yes” for “Enable Facebook Connect”
4. Enter “Application ID” and “Facebook Secret” from the Facebook Developer page
5. Click “Save”
6. Facebook should now be enabled and working
Image Settings Back to Top
The Settings > Options > Image Settings setting group allows you to control how vBulletin processes images for
uploading and handles image verification.
Allow Image Size Checking Failure
On some servers, calls to getimagesize() to check image dimensions may fail for currently unknown reasons. If
you are affected by this, you will want to set this option to 'Yes', otherwise you will not be able to upload
images (avatars or attachments). However, users may be able to get around your image dimension limits!
Image Processing Library
vBulletin provides two options for manipulating attachment thumbnails, custom avatars, and profile pictures.
The first is GD, which is bundled with PHP 4.3.0 and later and often available with earlier releases. The GD
v2+ library is preferable to the v1+ library so always choose v2 if you're given the opportunity by your host. GD
supports the following file types: GIF, JPEG, and PNG.
Note:
The GD Libraries may have to be manually activated when using PHP installed on Windows.
The second supported library is ImageMagick v6 by ImageMagick Studio LLC. ImageMagick is an executable
binary that must be installed at the server level to be called by PHP. Only the identify and convert binaries from
ImageMagick are required by vBulletin. ImageMagick supports the following file types: GIF, JPEG, PNG,
BMP, TIFF, and PSD. ImageMagick also has better support for handling animated GIF.
Image Verification Library
This is similar to the option above but it chooses the Image Manipulation Library for inline image verification.
These verification images can be enabled for registration and the Contact Us forms. ImageMagick requires a
valid font to be listed in the option below.
GD Version
Version of GD installed on your server. You can find the version by searching for 'GD' on your phpinfo() output.
GD Font
You can specify a true type font for the GD image verification to use. Use the full path to the file if you have
problems, including the .ttf extension.
ImageMagick Binary Path
Path to the ImageMagick 6 binaries (convert and identify). Example:
Unix: /usr/local/bin/
Windows: C:\imagemagick\
ImageMagick Font
This shows a list of fonts that were identified on your system. . Please choose one font for usage by the Image
Verification system. If no fonts are listed, then a list of fonts could not be obtained. Please verify your
ImageMagick path in this event.
Note: Not all listed fonts may work so keep choosing a font until you find one you like. ImageMagick must
have freetype support compiled in.
Generate PNG Thumbnails
On some installations, the creation of PNG thumbnails (with GD) will fail due to incompatible libraries.
This only applies if GD is your chosen image library.
When you are done, click the [Save] button to apply the changes.
Human Verification Options Back to Top
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Use the Settings > Options > Human Verification Options setting group to control where human verification is
required on your forum in conjunction with the Human Verification configuration settings.
Verify at Registration
New users will be required to pass the Human Verification test during registration.
Verify Guest Posts
Guest posters will be required to pass the Human Verification test before their messages are posted.
Verify Guest Searches
Searches by guests will be required to pass the Human Verification test before searching is executed.
Verify Guest Contact Us
Guests will be required to pass the Human Verification test before leaving feedback. This only applies if
sendmessage.php is being used as the Contact Us Link and Guests are allowed to use Contact Us in Site Name /
URL / Contact Details
When you are done, click the [Save] button to apply the changes.
Date and Time Options Back to Top
The vBulletin Options > vBulletin Options > Date and Time Options setting group is used to define the way dates and
times are displayed on certain sections of the board in what way and how they should behave.
Datestamp Display Option
This option controls the display of dates throughout your forum
'Normal' uses the date and time formats below this option.
'Yesterday / Today' will show 'Yesterday' and 'Today' for dates that fall in those periods.
'Detailed' will show times such as '1 Minute Ago', '1 Hour Ago', '1 Day Ago', and '1 Week Ago'.
Default Time Zone Offset
Time zone offset for guests and new users. Do not take DST into consideration, rather use the next option to
enable/disable DST.
Enable Daylight Savings
If Daylight Savings Time is currently in effect for the above time zone, enable this option so that guests will see
the correct times on posts and events. This has no effect on registered users as they control their DST options in
the User CP. This setting is not automatic and it will need to be changed when the timezone changes twice a
year.
Format For Date
Format in which the date is presented on vBulletin pages.
Examples:
US Format (e.g., 04-25-98): m-d-y
Expanded US Format (e.g., April 25th, 1998): F jS, Y
European Format (e.g., 25-04-98): d-m-y
Expanded European Format (e.g., 25th April 1998): jS F Y
Format For Time
Format in which the time is presented on all vBulletin pages.
Examples:
AM/PM Time Format (eg, 11:15 PM): h:i A
24-Hour Format Time (eg, 23:15): H:i
Format For Registration Date
This is used to format dates shown with users' posts. In the left hand column of a topic display, under the
username and title, there is some text showing when the user registered.
Format For Birthdays with Year Specified
Format of date shown in profile when user gives their birth-year.
Format For Birthdays with Year Unspecified
Format of user's birthday shown on profile when the user does not specify their birth-year. DO NOT put in a
code for the year.
Log Date Format
Format of dates shown in Control Panel logs.
Note:
Date and Time formats follow PHP formatting rules. You can find out more about these rules by visiting the PHP
manual.
For information on date and time formats in PHP please visit the following page: http://www.php.net/manual-
lookup.php?function=date
When you are done, click the [Save] button to apply the changes.
Cookie and HTTP Header Options Back to Top
The Settings > Options > Cookies and HTTP Header Options setting group allows you to control the cookie settings,
gzip compression, HTTP headers and redirect messages options.
Time-Out for Cookie
This is the time in seconds that a user must remain inactive before any unread posts are marked read. This
setting also controls how long a user will remain on Who's Online after their last activity.
Path to Save Cookies
The path to which the cookie is saved. If you run more than one forum on the same domain, it will be necessary
to set this to the individual directories of the forums. Otherwise, just leave it as / .
Please note that your path should always end in a forward-slash; for example '/forums/', '/vbulletin/' etc.
Warning:
Entering an invalid setting can leave you unable to login to your forum. Only change this setting if you
absolutely need to do so.
Cookie Domain
This option sets the domain on which the cookie is active. The most common reason to change this setting is
that you have two different urls to your forum, i.e. example.com and forums.example.com. To allow users to
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stay logged into the forum if they visit via either url, you would set this to .example.com (note the domain
begins with a dot.
Warning:
You most likely want to leave this setting blank as entering an invalid setting can leave you unable to login to
your forum.
GZIP HTML Output
Selecting yes will enable vBulletin to GZIP compress the HTML output of pages, thus reducing bandwidth
requirements. This will be only used on clients that support it, and are HTTP 1.1 compliant. There will be a
small performance overhead.
Note:
This feature requires the ZLIB library.
If you are already using mod_gzip on your server, do not enable this option.
GZIP Compression Level
Set the level of GZIP compression that will take place on the output. 0=none; 9=max.
We strongly recommend that you use level 1 for optimum results.
Add Standard HTTP Headers
This option does not work with some combinations of web server, so is off by default. However, some IIS
setups may need it turned on.
It will send the 200 OK HTTP headers if turned on.
Add No-Cache HTTP Headers
Selecting yes will cause vBulletin to add no-cache HTTP headers. These are very effective, so adding them may
cause server load to increase due to an increase in page requests.
Remove Redirection Message Pages
Enabling this option will remove the update pages that are displayed after a user makes a post, starts a search,
etc. These pages provide assurance to the user that their information has been processed by the forum. Disabling
these pages will save you bandwidth and may lessen the load of the forum on your server.
Note:
Some pages will still use the redirection page when cookies are involved to prevent some potential problems.
When you are done, click the [Save] button to apply the changes.
Server Settings and Optimization Options Back to Top
The Settings > Options > Server Settings and Optimization Options setting group lets you control the server settings
to optimize display of posts through post cache, your email sending options and several other options and settings that
is definitely worth to walk through and setup.
Public phpinfo() Display Enabled
If you enable this option, anyone can view your phpinfo() page by adding &do=phpinfo to a forum URL.
vBulletin Support may ask you to temporarily enable this to help diagnose problems if you request technical
support. Otherwise, we recommend turning it off.
Cached Posts Lifespan
Posts are normally stored with bbcode tags etc. in the same form as the user posted them with so that it may be
edited later, and then parsed at display time. By caching them, they are parsed at post time (instead of display
time) into the HTML they will be displayed in and stored separately from the pre-parsed posts. This results in a
faster display on topics, since the posts do not have to be parsed at display time.
This option determines how long posts are stored. While a post is cached, it will take approximately twice as
much storage space since it is essentially being stored twice. If you have a busy site, and topics typically don't
last very long, you can probably set this to a lower value such as 10 days. If you have a slower site, and topics
typically last longer, 20 to 30 days might be a better choice. If you have the disc space, you can set this to a
higher value for better performance.
Update Thread Views Immediately
If you enable this option, the thread view counter for a thread will be updated in realtime as threads are viewed.
Otherwise, they will be stored and updated every hour (by default) en masse. We recommend disabling this
option for larger or busier forums as updating them in realtime can have a performance impact.
Update Attachment Views Immediately
If you enable this option, the attachment view counter for an attachment will be updated in realtime as
attachments are viewed. Otherwise, they will be stored and updated every hour (by default) en masse. We
recommend disabling this option for larger or busier forums as updating them in realtime can have a
performance impact.
Simultaneous Sessions Limit
Set this to the maximum number of simultaneous sessions that you want to be active at any one time. If this
number is exceeded, new users are turned away until the server is less busy.
Set this to 0 to disable this option.
*NIX Server Load Limit
vBulletin can read the overall load of the server on certain *NIX setups (including Linux).
This allows vBulletin to determine the load on the server and processor, and to turn away further users if the
load becomes too high. If you do not want to use this option, set it to 0. A typical level would be 5.00 for a
reasonable warning level.
Safe Mode Upload Enabled
If your server has Safe Mode enabled, you should set this to Yes. You can determine if Safe Mode is enabled by
viewing your phpinfo page and searching for Safe Mode.
Safe Mode Temporary Directory
If your server is running in PHP Safe Mode, you'll need to specify a directory that is CHMOD to 777 that will
act as a temporary directory for uploads. All files are removed from this directory after database insertion.
Note:
Do NOT include the trailing slash ('/') after the directory name.
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Duplicate Search Index Information on Topic Copy?
It is not strictly necessary to index a copied topic since the original topic is already indexed. However, you may
wish to index copied topics for the sake of completeness. Setting this option to yes will cause search index
information to be copied with each post in the topic. This allows the copied version of the topic to be searchable
as well. However, on larger boards, this may cause significant delays in copying a topic. If this is a problem for
you, we recommend disabling this option.
When you are done, click the [Save] button to apply the changes.
Friendly URLS Back to Top
Enabling friendly URLs can increase your site's ranking in search engines and can be useful for users to understand
the URL's that they follow.
URL Type
Type Example
Standard URLs showthread.php?t=12345
Basic Friendly URLs showthread.php?1234-Thread-Title
Advanced Friendly URLs showthread.php/1234-Thread-Title
Mod Rewrite Friendly URLs threads/1234-Thread-Title
Note:
Note: In order to use the Mod Rewrite Friendly URLs the appropriate rewrite rules must be defined for your server.
You can find a basic .htaccess file containing these rules for an Apache 2.X server in htaccess sub-folder within the
the Do Not Upload folder of your download package. Upload this file to your forum root.
Default Value: Basic Friendly URLs
Enforce Canonical URL
This options defines how canonical URLs are enforced for guest users (including search engines).
If Standard is selected then guest users will be redirected to the correct URL if they request a page using the wrong
Friendly URL format.
If Strict is selected then guest users will also be redirected to the correct URL if they request a page using the wrong
text. This may also include requesting URLs in the wrong character set.
Default Value: Standard
Enforce Canonical URL for Registered Users
Setting this value to 'Yes' will set the 'Enforce Canonical URL' setting to also apply to registered users. Default Value:
Yes
Friendly URL Unicode
This option determines how to handle unicode in URLs.
If your content generally differs from your language charset then converting to UTF-8 may provide the best results
while ignoring unicode may result in the majority of your URLs displaying incorrectly.
If the majority of your content matches your language charset then stripping unicode may provide the best results.
Ignoring unicode may cause some URLs to display incorrectly.
Default Value: Ignore
NCR Encode UTF-8 URLs for IE
This option determines whether to NCR encode URLs for Internet Explorer when Friendly URL Unicode is set to
Convert to UTF-8.
This will ensure that UTF-8 URLs display correctly in Internet Explorer. However it will add some performance
overhead and if Enforce Canonical URL is set to Strict may cause guest users to be redirected to a URL that cannot be
displayed correctly in Internet Explorer's address bar.
Note: This option can only be used if the mbstring extension is enabled, or if your PCRE has unicode support.
Default Value: No
Standard URL Routing Variable
The variable to use in the URL when using Standard URLs. Ensure that this is not set to a variable used elsewhere by
vBulletin. Default Value: r
Style and Language Settings Back to Top
The Settings > Options > Style & Language Settings setting group lets you set the default style and language for your
site.
Here you can setup the behaviors for the CSS file (store as file), Popup menus (hide or show) and postbit (new or
legacy).
Email Options Back to Top
Use the vBulletin Options > vBulletin Options > Email Options setting group to setup the behaviour of your email
features throughout the board.
Here you can setup:
Enable and Disable your Email Features as a global switch
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Allow users to Email other Members
How Email addresses are displayed (public or private)
Email Flood Control
Sending email via SMTP Back to Top
Relying on the PHP internal mail function has always caused problems with a few configurations. The PHP internal
mail function is simply a wrapper for the systems own mail program such as sendmail or procmail. The problems
occur when certain configurations have extra authentication settings or confusing with line endings. This has been
resolved by the introduction of our mail class to correct any problems that may occur with the internal mail function
and also to allow the use of SMTP which will completely bypass PHP's own internal mail function.
The SMTP server options can be edited via the Email Options in the vBulletin Options, this will be enabled via the
SMTP Email switch and then the appropriate settings must be completed.
It should be noted that the majority of servers do not require a username and password to send SMTP as they are
limited by IP address. Also the use of your ISP email is not recommended as this is usually limited to the network of
the ISP and will result in a failure to send email.
Censorship Options Back to Top
Use the Settings > Options > Censorship Options setting group to manage the words you specify to be placed with
characters.
All message titles and messages will be affected.
Note:
To use the censor feature on your site, don't forget to activate it!
User Registration Options Back to Top
These options allow you to control how new user registrations are handled on your forums.
Settings > Options > User Registration Options
Allow New User Registrations - If you would like to temporarily (or permanently) prevent anyone new from
registering, you can do so. Anyone attempting to register will be told that you are not accepting new
registrations at this time.
Use COPPA Registration System - Use the COPPA registration system. This complies with the COPPA laws
and requires children under the age of 13 to get parental consent before they can post.
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For more info about this law, see here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/coppa.htm
COPPA Registration System Cookie Check - This option will save a cookie onto the user's computer if an age
under 13 is entered. Subsequent registration attempts will be failed, no matter what age is entered. This only
applies if the previous option is set to either Enable COPPA or Deny registration for users under 13 years.
Moderate New Members - Allows you to validate new members before they are classified as registered
members and are allowed to post.
Send Welcome Email - Enabling this option will send a welcome email to new users using the email
body/subject phrases for 'welcomemail'.
Note: If you require emails to be verified, this email will be sent after the user has activated his or her account.
If you moderate new memberships, no welcome mail will be sent as the user will already be receiving an email.
Welcome Private Message - Enabling this option will send a welcome private message to new users. Please
input the username of the user that this PM is to be sent from. To alter or translate this message, use the email
body/subject phrases for 'welcomepm'.
Note: If you require emails to be verified, this message will be sent after the user has activated his or her
account. Also ensure that Receive Private Messages is enabled in the Default Registration Options.
Email Address to Notify About New Members - This email address will receive an email message when a
new user signs up. Leave the option blank to disable this function.
Allow Multiple Registrations Per User - Normally, vBulletin will stop users signing up for multiple names by
checking for a cookie on the user's machine. If one exists, then the user may not sign up for additional names.
Note: This does not stop users from logging out and then registering new accounts.
If you wish to allow your users to sign up for multiple names, then select yes for this option, and they will not
be blocked from registering additional usernames.
Verify Email address in Registration - If you set this option to 'Yes' new members will not be allowed to post
messages until they visit a link that is sent to them in an email when they sign up.
If a user's account is not activated by the user visiting the link, it will remain in the 'Users Awaiting Activation'
usergroup.
Require Unique Email Addresses - The default option is to require unique email addresses for each registered
user. This means that no two users can have the same email address. You can disable this requirement by setting
this option to 'No'.
Minimum Username Length - Enter the minimum number of characters in a valid username, for the purpose
of ensuring that new members create valid usernames.
Maximum Username Length -
Enter the maximum number of characters in a valid username, for the purpose of ensuring that new members
create valid usernames.
Illegal User Names - Enter names in here that you do not want people to be able to register. If any of the names
here are included within the username, the user will told that there is an error. For example, if you make the
name John illegal, the name Johnathan will also be disallowed. Separate names by spaces.
Username Regular Expression - You may require the username to match a regular expression (PCRE). The
admin help provides some examples that may be useful. To disable this function leave the option blank.
User Referrer - If you enable the User Referrer system, then a user who visits your forum through a link that
contains 'referrerid=XXX' will give referral credit to the owner of the referrerid when they register (where XXX
is the userid of the referring user).
Default Registration Options - The user options on the New User creation form in the Admin Control Panel,
as well as the New User registration form will default to the following settings.
You can control the following settings:
Receive Admin Emails
Invisible Mode
Display Email
Receive Private Messages
Send Notification Email When a Private Message is Received
Pop up a Notification Box When a Private Message is Received
Enable Visitor Messaging
Limit usage of Visitor Messages to Contacts and Moderators
Allow vCard Download
Display Signatures
Display Avatars
Display Images
Display Reputation
Automatic Thread Subscription Mode
Message Editor Interface
Thread Display Mode
Require Birthday
Username Reuse Delay - When a username is changed, you may wish to prevent users from registering with
that name for a certain length of time. Use this setting to determine the time before a deleted or previous
username can be reused, or set it to 0 to disable this function.
User Refractions & Post Reporting Options Back to Top
Use the Settings > Options > User Infractions & Post Reporting Options setting group to manage user infraction and
post reporting notifications.
User Infraction Discussion Forum
A discussion thread can be created for each user infraction for moderators to discuss the infraction further.
Choose a forum for the discussion threads to be created in.
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If you do not wish a discussion thread to be created for user infractions, set this to Select Forum
Require Infraction Message
This option requires that the user sending an infraction include a PM or Email, depending on your forum
settings.
Post Reporting Discussion Forum
A discussion thread can be created for each reported post for moderators to discuss the post further. Choose a
forum for the discussion threads to be created in.
Note:
Reported Visitor Messages, Social Group Messages and Album Pictures & Messages also are posted in the
forum set here.
If you do not wish a discussion thread to be created for reported items, set this to Select Forum
Post Reporting User
Reported post discussion threads default to being posted under the username of the reporter. To have the threads
reported under another username, enter an existing username.
Post Reporting Email
This option sends an email to the specified users when a post is reported. It can be sent to moderators, super
moderators and administrators, moderators only, or no email sent.
Note:
If the Post Reporting Email is set to No Email and the Post Reporting Discussion Forum is set to Select Forum
then no notifications of any kind will be issued for reported items.
User Profile Options Back to Top
With these options you can control how the way your users edit their profile.
Settings > Options > User Profile Options
Enabled User Profile Features
Use this option to globally enable or disable the various user profile-related features. Additional options are available
for each feature in their respective sections.
Require Date of Birth
Require users to provide a valid date of birth (1902 to current year).
[note]When this is set to Yes users cannot edit their date of birth once it has been set.
User Title Maximum Characters
This is the maximum number of characters allowed for a user's custom title.
Censored Words for Usertitle
Type all words you want censored in the Usertitle in the field below. Do not use commas to separate words, just use
spaces. For example, type "dog cat boy", rather than "dog, cat, boy."
If you type "dog", all words containing the string "dog" would be censored (dogma, for instance, would appear as
"***ma"). To censor more accurately, you can require that censors occur only for exact words. You can do this by
placing a censor word in curly braces, as in {dog}. Signifying "dog" in the curly braces would mean that dogma
would appear as dogma, but dog would appear as "***". Thus your censor list may appear as: cat {dog} {barn} barn
Do not use quotation marks and make sure you use curly braces, not parentheses, when specifying exact words.
Exempt Moderators From Censor
Do you want to exempt your forum Moderators from the censor words? You will want to set this to yes if you censor
anything that is part of a moderator's title like 'moderator' as they have custom titles by default and will get censored.
Number of friends to display in the small friends block
The Number of Friends to display in the Small Friends Block on the Users' Profile Pages
Friends Per Page on Full Friends List[b]
The Amount of Friends to show "per page" on the large friends list.
[b]Maximum Visitors to Show on Profile Page
Set an upper limit for the number of recent visitors to show. Recent visitor records are cleaned out on a regular basis,
so keep this to a reasonably small number. Somewhere between 5 to 30 is ideal.
Show Last Post on Profile Page
Showing the last post on a member profile can cause large table scans which leads to table locking. This may increase
load time on your forums as well as the load of your server. This option should only be enabled for smaller forums.
Signature Soft-Linebreak Character Limit
When counting the number of lines in a signature, this setting controls the number of characters that can be displayed
before text wraps in the browser and is displayed as multiple lines. Once this value is surpassed, the run of text will be
counted as multiple lines.
The value in this setting should be based on the number of normal-sized characters. Other sized characters will be
scaled appropriately to this setting.
Allow Users to 'Ignore' Moderators
Allow users to add Moderators and Administrators to their ignore list?
User Profile: Album Options Back to Top
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With these options you can control the settings for User Albums.
Settings > Options > User Profile: Album Options
Albums Per Page
When listing multiple albums on one page, this controls how many will be displayed before pagination occurs.
Number of Albums to display in the Users Profile
The Maximum Number of Albums to Display on the Users' Profile Pages
Pictures Per Page
When viewing an album, this controls how many pictures are displayed before pagination occurs.
Picture Moderation
When enabled, all new pictures are placed into moderation. This can also be enabled in usergroup permissions.
Album Thumbnail Size
The maximum height and width of thumbnails in the album system. Each picture's aspect ratio will be maintained
when it is thumbnailed.
Caption Preview Length
The amount of characters from a picture's caption that will be shown when a user hovers over the picture.
Number of Pictures that can be Uploaded Simultaneously
This controls the number of pictures users can upload simultaneously. They will not be able to violate any album- or
usergroup-implied size limits if you set this value too large.
Maximum Pictures per Album
You may choose to limit the number of pictures that a user can have in one album. This is primarily useful for
encouraging your users to have albums for smaller topics, but it does have minor performance considerations as well.
Setting this to 0 disables the limit.
Enable Picture Comments
Set this option to yes if you would like to enable commenting on album and group pictures. Comments are associated
with the picture itself, so comments will be shown anywhere the picture is shown.
Moderate Picture Comments
When enabled, all new picture comments are placed into moderation. This can also be enabled in usergroup
permissions.
Default Picture Comments Per-Page
This setting allows you to define the default number of picture comments displayed per-page with a picture.
Maximum Picture Comments Per-Page
This setting allows you to limit the number of picture comments users may display per page with a picture.
Allowed BB Code Tags in Picture Comments
This setting allows you to enable and disable the use of various BB codes in picture comments.
User Profile: Style Customization Options Back to Top
With these options you can control the options for users customizing their profile page style.
Settings > Options > User Profile: Style Customization Options
Allowed Fonts
The list of allowed fonts for profile style customizations. Each font must be on its own line.
Allowed Font Sizes
The list of allowed fonts size for profile style customizations. Put each font size on its own line. You may use any size
that is valid in CSS.
Allowed Border Widths
The list of allowed border width sizes for profile style customizations. Put each border width size on its own line.
Allowed Padding
The list of allowed padding sizes for profile style customizations. Put each padding size on its own line.
User Profile: Visitor Messaging Options Back to Top
With these options you can control visitor messages on users profiles.
Settings > Options > User Profile: Visitor Messaging Options
Maximum Characters Per Visitor Message
Maximum characters to allow in a visitor message. Set this to 0 for no limit.
Default Visitor Messages Per-Page
This setting allows you to define the default number of messages displayed per-page in the user profiles.
Maximum Visitor Messages Per-Page
This setting allows you to limit the number of messages users may display per page in the user profiles.
Visitor Message Moderation
When enabled, all new visitor messages are placed into moderation. This can also be enabled in usergroup
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permissions.
Allowed BB Code Tags in Visitor Messages
This setting allows you to enable and disable the use of various BB codes in visitor messages.
Social Group Options Back to Top
With these options you can control the use of social groups.
Settings > Options > Social Group Options
Social Group Name Maximum Length
Enter the maximum number of characters allowed in social group names. Names longer than this limit will be
rejected.
Social Group Message Moderation
When enabled, all new group messages are placed into moderation. This can also be enabled in usergroup
permissions.
Enable Social Group Messages
If you select this options, members of each group will be able to post messages in the group. Users who are not part of
the group will still be able to read the messages.
Allow Groups Owners to Force New Group Messages into Moderation Queue
This option allows a group owner (with the Manage Own Social Groups' Content Permission) to set the group so that
all Group Messages are automatically sent to the moderation queue.
Enable Social Group Pictures
If this option is selected, any users with albums will be able to add pictures from an album to groups they belong to.
Allow Join-to-View Groups
When set, this allows the creator of a group the option to only show contents (messages, pictures) of the group to
members of that group (or Administrators and Moderators).
Allowed BB Code Tags in Social Group Messages
This setting allows you to enable and disable the use of various BB codes in group messages.
Allow Owners to Delete Social Group if Empty
This option will allow any group owner to delete a Social Group if they are the only member of that group (even if
they lack the "Can Delete Own Social Groups" permission)
User Picture Options Back to Top
Use the Settings > Options > User Picture Options setting group to manage the settings for the avatars and profile
pictures.
Note:
This is the section for the global switch, use the usergroup permissions to setup the permissions on a usergroup basis.
Avatars Enabled
Use this option to enable/disable the overall use of avatars.
Avatars are small images chosen by the user and displayed under usernames in thread display and user info
pages.
You can enable/disable avatars on a per-usergroup level by disabling their ability to use any avatar categories
under Avatars > Avatar Manager. You can enable/disable custom avatars in Usergroups > Usergroup Manager.
Set this option to 'no' to turn it off.
Avatar Display Width
How many columns of avatars do you wish to display of pre-defined avatars in the User Control Panel to the
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user when selecting a pre-defined avatar?
Example: 5
Avatars Per-Page
How many avatars do you want to display per-page on the 'Edit Avatar' page within the profile editor, broken
into columns by the Avatar Display Width setting above?
Example: 10
Profile Pictures Enabled
Use this option to enable/disable the overall use of profile pictures.
Profile pictures are small images (although usually larger than avatars) that users can upload to their profile
pages. You can set this per-usergroup with the Can Upload Profile Pictures setting in Usergroup Manager.
Set this option to 'no' to turn it off.
When you are done, click the [Save] button to apply the changes.
Note:
To manage your pre-defined avatars, or to control the storage of avatars, go to the Avatars section.
User Reputation Options Back to Top
This section contains many settings that dictate how users of your forum are able to affect each other's reputation
score.
Enable User Reputation system
This is the global switch for the reputation system. If you disable this, users will not be able to rate each other
nor will their scores be visible.
Default Reputation
This is the reputation score that new users will start out with.
Number of Reputation Levels to Display
When a user enters their User CP, they will see a list of their most recent reputation ratings. This affects how
many of the latest ratings to display.
Administrator's Reputation Power
If you wish to have administrator's wield a certain reputation power independent of their calculated score, enter
it here. Otherwise, set this to 0 and they will use the same calculations as everyone else.
Register Date Factor
The number of reputation points that a user is able to give or take is dependant on several factors, with the
length they have been registered as one of them. A user's power is first initialized at 1 and then this factor and
the factors that follow are used to increase it. For example if you set this to 365, every 365 days that the user has
been a member of your forum, they would gain one point. So if they have been a member for five years, they
would gain 5 points of power for a total of 6.
Post Count Factor
The amount of posts that a user has can also affect their reputation power. Set this to number of posts that you
want to award one point for. For example, set this to 50 and for a user with 500 posts, they would gain 10 points
of power.
Reputation Point Factor
The users current reputation score can also affect their reputation power. Set this to 100 and a user with a
reputation of 1000 would gain 10 points of reputation power. If you set any of the power factors to 0, that will
effectively remove that factor from having an effect on the user's reputation power.
Minimum Post Count
If the reputation system is enabled, anyone will be able to rate a post but only users with a post count above the
level you set here will be able to actually give points or take points from another user.
Minimum Reputation Count
As with the post count above, a user must have a reputation above this level to be able to give or take points
from another user's score.
Daily Reputation Clicks Limit
This sets how many unique members that a forum user will be able to rate in any 24 hour period. Administrators
can rate as many people as they wish.
Reputation User Spread
This setting dictates how many unique members that a user must rate before they are able to rate the same
member twice. The goal of this setting is to stop a member from either artificially bumping or dropping a user
by repeatedly rating their posts.
User Notes Options Back to Top
Users with permission to read / write usernotes are now able to go to a profile of a member and leave usernotes about
this person. This feature is intended to allow staff members to discuss members and keep the information organized
rather then having a variety of threads in a staff forum.
The Settings > Options > User Notes Options setting group allows you to set up the parsing for a usernote. You can
turn on or off the use of BB Code, Smilies, [IMG] tags and usage of HTML.
Note:
The ability to use usernotes, read them, read your own, allow others to reply or manage them is a usergroup setting.
Do not forget to walk through each usergroup to set the use and permissions of usernotes correctly.
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Basically the usernotes are plain-text entries that hold comments from other (staff) members. Turn on these options to
allow markup of text and insertion of smilies / images or even HTML
Allow vB Code in User Notes
If you want to markup the text with BOLD or ITALIC or other common vBulletin BB Code tags, set this option
to Yes.
Allow Smilies in User Notes
If you want a smilie like :) parsed to an image, set this option to Yes.
Allow [IMG] Code in User Notes
If you want to allow insertion of images into the usernotes, set this option to Yes.
Allow HTML in User Notes
If you even want to allow HTML to be used, set this option to Yes.
Warning! If you allow HTML to be inserted, you are open for risks of abuse - it is strongly not recommended.
User Listing Options Back to Top
Settingss > Options > User Listing Options
This section of the Admin Control Panel allows you to set options for the Member List including:
Members List Enabled
This allows users to view all users who belong to those usergroups that have "Viewable on Memberlist" enabled
(See Usergroups & Permissions).
Minimum Posts
You can define a minimum post count that a user must reach before they are displayed on the memberlist.
Member List Field Options
Allows you to select which User Profile fields are viewable on the memberlist.
Members Per Page
The number of records per page that will be shown by default in the members list before the results are split
over multiple pages.
Allow Advanced Searches
Allow the use of the advanced search tool for the Member List. If turned off, members will only be able to
search by username.
User Banning Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > User Banning Options
This section of the Admin Control Panel allows you to set the Banning Options for your forum along with IP bans.
Enable Banning Options
Banning allows you to stop certain IP addresses and email addresses from registering and posting to the forum.
Banned IP Addresses
Use this option to prevent certain IP addresses from accessing any part of your board.
If you enter a complete IP address (242.21.11.7), only that IP will be banned.
If you enter a partial IP (243.21.11. or 243.21.11), any IPs that begin with the partial IP will be banned. For
example, banning 243.21.11 will prevent 243.21.11.7 from accessing your board. However, 243.21.115.7 would
still be able to access your board.
You may also use an '*' as a wildcard for increased flexibility. For example, if you enter 243.21.11*, many IPs
will be banned including: 243.21.11.7, 243.21.115.7, 243.21.119.225.
Warning:
Use this option with caution. Entering an incorrect IP can result in banning yourself or other genuine users from
your forums.
Banned Email Addresses
Email address ban lists: You may ban any email addresses from registering and posting. Type in the complete
email address (user@example.com), or use a partial email address (as in @example.com).
Note that partial email addresses are matched from the end of the address unless you enable 'Aggressive Email
Banning' below. Therefore if you ban @example.com you will ban user@example.com, but if you ban
@example that user will not be banned. If you enable 'Aggressive Email Banning', user@example.com would
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be banned by @example.
If the email address of a user attempting to register or change their email address matches any of the addresses
you specify here will see a no-permission error. For example, if you have banned 'example.com' then a user
attempting to use 'someone@example.com' will be rejected.
Aggressive Email Banning
If this option is enabled, when checking for banned emails, incomplete addresses are matched anywhere in the
email address, not just the end.
For example, if this option is enabled 'yahoo' will block any email address with 'yahoo' in it. If this option is
disabled, no emails will be banned unless the ban was changed to 'yahoo.com'.
Allow User to Keep Banned Email Addresses
If you ban an email address and a user already uses that address, a problem will occur. Using this option, you
can specify whether the user will have to enter a new email address in their profile when they next modify their
email address, or whether the user can just keep the email address which you have banned.
Global Ignore
This option allows you to effectively add a user or users to every member's 'Ignore List'. However, users in this
list can still see their own posts and threads...
Enter a list of userid numbers, separated by spaces (for example: 4 12 68 102).
Note:
If you change this option, you need to rebuild thread and then forum information in Maintenance > Update
Counters.
BBCode Options Back to Top
vBulletin Options > vBulletin Options > BB Code Settings
Enabled Built-in BB Code Tags
This setting allows you to enable and disable various built-in BB code tags in vBulletin. The BB Codes that can
be enabled or disabled here are:
Basic BB Code (Bold, Italic, Underline)
Color BB Code
Size BB Code
Font BB Code
Alignment BB Code
List BB Code
Link BB Code
Code BB Code
PHP BB Code
HTML BB Code
Note:
Disabling a BB code tag will prevent it from working anywhere on the forum, including signatures, private
messages, user notes etc.
Maximum [CODE] Lines
When a user posts a block of [CODE], [PHP] or [HTML] in one of their messages, the system will place it in a
box, which expands to contain their message.
This value controls the number of lines at which the box stops adding height and inserts a scrollbar.
Allow BB Code in Non Forum Specific Areas
Allow users to include BB code in non-forum-specific areas? (Such as [b], [i] etc.)
Allow Smilies in Non Forum Specific Areas
Allow users to include smilies in Non Forum Specific Areas?
Allow [IMG] Code in Non Forum Specific Areas
Allow users to include [IMG] codes in Non Forum Specific Areas?
Allow HTML in Non Forum Specific Areas
Allow users to include raw HTML code in Non Forum Specific Areas?
Warning:
Enabling this setting is strongly not recommended.
Message Posting and Editing Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Message Posting and Editing Options
Quick Reply
If you enable Quick Reply, a box will appear on the showthread.php page allowing users to reply to the current
thread without needing to load the full newreply.php page.
When Quick Reply is enabled, you may specify whether or not users must click the Quick Reply icon in order
to start typing in the Quick Reply editor.
If you choose not to require a click, the system will not know to which post a user is replying, making both the
threaded and hybrid display modes nonsensical.
Note:
We strongly recommend that you set the option to require a click if you use Quick Reply and have Threaded
Mode available on your forums.
Quick Edit
By enabling Quick Edit, a click on the Edit button in a post will open an editor within that post via AJAX if the
visitor's browser is compatible.
Users may use the full editor by clicking the 'Go Advanced' button in the inline editor.
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Multi-Quote Enabled
If this option is enabled, an additional button will appear on posts. A user may click as many of these buttons as
they wish. Once they click a reply button, the content of each of the selected posts will be quoted and shown in
the reply window.
Multi-Quote Quote Limit
Enter a value to limit the number of quotes that can be created with Multi-Quote, once this limit is reached the
user will be unable to add any more quotes.
Note:
The Quote BB code can still be entered manually, this is not a limit on the number of quotes in a post.
Minimum Characters Per Post
If this number is set to a value greater than 0, users must enter at least that number of characters in each new
post.
Note:
Setting this to 0 will not completely disable the minimum characters per post check. Users must always enter at
least 1 character.
Maximum Characters Per Post
Posts that contain more characters than the value specified here will be rejected with a message telling the user
to shorten their post.
Set the value to 0 to disable this function.
Maximum Characters Per Thread/Post Title
Thread and post titles will be limited to this number of characters. Please choose a value larger than 0 and less
than 251.
Ignore Words in [QUOTE] Tags For Min Chars Check
Setting this option to 'YES' will cause the system to not count words in [QUOTE] tags towards the total number
of characters posted.
The primary use for this is to prevent users posting messages with enormous quotes and a single short word of
their own.
Automatically Quote Post / Thread Title
Setting this to 'Yes' will automatically fill the title field of new posts with either the thread or the parent post
title, prefixed by 'Re: '.
The user may specify their own title if they want to do so.
Maximum Images Per Post
When a new post is submitted or edited vBulletin will check the number of images and smilies in the text and
reject it if the number is greater than the value specified here.
Set the value to 0 to disable this function.
Prevent 'SHOUTING'
Prevent your users 'shouting' in their thread titles/message text by changing all-uppercase titles with at least this
many characters to capitalization only on the first letters of some words.
Set the value to 0 to disable this function.
Note:
Disable this for some international forums with different character sets, as this may cause problems.
Minimum Time Between Posts
You may prevent your users from flooding your forum with posts by activating this feature.
By enabling floodcheck, you disallow users from making another post within a given time span of their last
posting. In other words, if you set a floodcheck time span of 30 seconds, a user may not post again within 30
seconds of making his last post.
Note:
Administrators and moderators are exempt from floodcheck.
Recommended: 30 seconds. Type the number of seconds only. Enter 0 to disable this function.
Time Limit on Editing of Thread Title
Specify the time-limit (in minutes) within which the thread title may be edited by the user whom started the
thread.
Time Limit on Adding a Poll to a Thread
Specify the time-limit (in minutes) within which the thread may have a poll added to it.
Time Limit on Editing of Posts
Time limit (in minutes) to impose on editing of messages. After this time limit only moderators will be able edit
or delete the message. 1 day is 1440 minutes.
Set the value to 0 to allow users to edit their posts indefinitely.
Time to Wait Before Starting to Display 'Last Edited by...'
Time limit (in minutes) to allow user to edit the post without the "Last edited by..." message appearing at the
bottom of the edited post.
Log IP Addresses
For security reasons, you may wish to display the IP address of the person posting a message.
Post Edit History
Enable this option to log the previous versions of posts when they are edited.
Edits will not be logged if an 'edited by' notice is not displayed or updated. This occurs in the following
situations:
1. The editing user is in a group that does not show edited by notices and no reason for editing is specified.
2. The post is edited quickly enough after being posted to trigger the Time to Wait Before Starting to
Display 'Last Edited by...' option.
Note:
This will increase the amount of disk space used by vBulletin for database storage.
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Message Posting Interface Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Message Posting Interface Options
Enable Clickable Message Formatting Controls
This global switch allows you to set the available message formatting toolbar and clickable smilies for the Full
Editor, Quick Reply and Quick Edit individually. The option set for each one here is the maximum toolbar level
available for each area.
Smiliebox Total Smilies
How many smilies should be displayed in the smiliebox before the user is prompted to click for the more
smilies popup window?
Set this value to 0 if you would like to hide the clickable smiliebox completely.
Smiliebox Smilies Per Row
If the smiliebox is enabled, how many smilies should be shown per row of the box?
Smilie Menu Total Smilies
Use this option to set the number of smilies that will appear in the WYSIWYG popup smilie menu before the
'show all smilies' link is displayed.
Set this value to 0 if you would like to hide the popup smilie menu completely.
Poll and Thread Rating Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Poll and Thread Rating Options
Maximum Poll Options
Maximum number of options a user can select for the poll.
Set this option to 0 to allow any number of options.
Poll Option Length
Maximum length that a poll option can be.
Update Thread Last Post on Poll Vote
If you set this option to 'Yes' the thread's last post time will be updated when a vote is placed, thereby returning
it to the top of its parent forum listing.
Note:
This option can cause confusion. The last post time of a thread will be changed with no visible post.
Required Thread Rating Votes to Show Rating
This option specifies the number of thread rating votes that must be cast of a particular thread before the current
rating is displayed on forumdisplay.php and showthread.php.
Allow Thread Rating Vote Changes
Allow users to change their original rating of a thread
Message Searching Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Message Searching Options
Search Engine Enabled
Allow searching for posts and threads within the forums. This is a relatively server-intensive process so you
may want to disable it if you have problems.
Minimum Time Between Searches
The minimum time (in seconds) that must expire before the user can perform a new search.
Set this to 0 to allow users to search as frequently as they want.
Search Results Posts Per Page
Number of successful search results to display per page.
Maximum Search Results to Return
Any search results over this number will be discarded.
Search Index Minimum Word Length
When using the vBulletin default search, this option limits the size of indexed words. The smaller this number
is, the larger your search index, and conversely your database is going to be.
Note:
When using the Fulltext search, this option limits the size of words that may be searched for. Smaller words
take longer to search for as they are more common. MySQL Fulltext has its own minimum word length as well
that must be changed at the server level.
Automatic Similar Thread Search
Setting this option will cause a search for similar threads to be automatically done when a new thread is posted.
These similar threads are then linked to from the newly posted thread's page. This can have an effect on
performance.
Search Result Sharing
In order to conserve resources, vBulletin will allow search results to be shared among users for one hour. The
downside of this is that search results can appear out of order if a thread is updated in the interim.
Similar Threads Relevance Threshold
For a post to be matched in a search for similar threads, it must have a score of this number or greater, per
searchable word. For more information on how post scores are determined, see the Search Algorithms section.
Words to be excluded from search
If there are special words that are very common for your forum, you may wish to remove them from being
searchable. Searching for very common words on a large forum can be server intensive. Separate each word
with a space.
Tagging Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Tagging Options
Enable Thread Tagging
This is a global option to enable or disable the thread tagging system. You may choose which usergroups can
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apply tags to threads in the usergroup permissions section.
Tag Minimum Length
The minimum number of characters in a tag name. This can be between 1 and 100.
Tag Maximum Length
The maximum number of characters in a tag name. This can be between 0 and 100.
Thread Tag Banned Words
These words will be checked in addition to those listed in includes/searchwords.php to form a list of words
whose use is banned in tagging.
Separate each word with a space or carriage return.
Thread Tag Allowed Words
Words entered here will be allowed as tags, regardless of whether or not their use would be otherwise
disallowed due to length, censorship, commonality etc.
If a word is specified in the 'Banned' words group and here, it will be allowed.
Separate each word with a space or carriage return.
Tag Separators
This option allows you to specify additional tag separators. Regardless of the value here, a comma will always
be used as a separator.
Separate each tag separators with a space. If you would like to use a space in a tag separator, click the '?' for
information on the advanced separator syntax.
Maximum Tags per Thread
The maximum total tags per thread. No users may add more tags than this to an individual thread.
0 disables this.
Maximum Tags Applied by Thread Starter
The maximum number of tags the thread starter can apply. Even if this setting allows it, the number of tags in a
thread cannot exceed the "Maximum Tags per Thread" setting.
0 disables this limit. To prevent a user from tagging a thread, use user group permissions.
Maximum Tags Applied by Other Users
The maximum number of tags the users other than the thread starter can apply. Even if this setting allows it, the
number of tags in a thread cannot exceed the "Maximum Tags per Thread" setting.
0 disables this limit. To prevent a user from tagging a thread, use user group permissions.
Force Tags to be Lower Case
If you enable this option, "A" through "Z" will be replaced with "a" through "z" in tag names. Other characters
will not be changed.
Tag Cloud: Number of Tags
The maximum number of tags to display in the tag cloud.
Tag Cloud: Number of Levels
The number of levels to be shown in the tag cloud.
By default, there are 5 levels named level1 to level5, with the font size growing from its smallest size at level 1
to its largest at level 5.
Increasing this value above 5 requires a template change.
Tag Cloud: Cache Time
Amount of time in minutes before the tag cloud data cache is regenerated.
A value of 0 will generate the tag cloud on each view.
Tag Cloud: Usage History (Days)
The number of days worth of data that should be used to generate the usage-based tag cloud here.
Tags added more than this many days ago will not change the size of the link in the cloud.
Tag Cloud: Build Usergroup
The tag cloud pulls together data from threads in many forums. Users may not be able to see all the threads that
make up the tag cloud results. With this option, you can force the tag cloud to be built as if it were viewed by a
particular usergroup.
Live permission checking is the most accurate, but disables the above specified caching.
Enable Search Tag Cloud
This option controls whether a tag cloud relating to the frequency of tag searches is shown at the bottom of the
advanced search.
A usage-based tag cloud is always shown here.
Search Tag Cloud: History (Days)
Amount of days that the system will keep a record of tag searches for use in the search tag cloud.
0 means to use all data available.
Forum Home Page Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Forums Home Page Options
Script Name for Forum Home Page
This option allows you to set the script name of the page that acts as your forum home page. By default this will
be 'index' (meaning index.php but you may want to call it 'forum' or whatever else you like for your own
purposes.
Note:
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If you change this value you must manually rename the forumhome PHP script to match the new value.
Display Logged in Users?
Displays those users that have been active in the last XXX seconds on the home page, where XXX is the value
specified by your Cookie Time-Out option (Default is last 15 minutes). Not recommended for sites with
hundreds of simultaneous users. The Alphabetical option requires more resources than the random option.
Display Today's Birthdays?
Displays today's birthdays for those usergroups that have birthday display enabled (see User Groups-
>Usergroup Manager).
Display Calendar Events?
Choose the number of upcoming days that you wish to display upcoming events from.
Set to 0 to disable upcoming events.
Display Custom Holidays
Display upcoming custom holidays in the above events list?
Upcoming Event Type
Choose the method by which you wish to display the upcoming events if the "Display Calendar Events" option
is enabled.
Active Members Time Cut-Off
Enter a number of days here that represents a threshold for 'active' members. If a user has visited the board
within the past number of days you specify, they are considered 'active'.
Enter '0' to treat all members as 'active'.
Active Members Options
Using the boxes here, you can choose to show only birthdays for those members considered 'active', and to
show or hide the total number of 'active' members.
A member is considered 'active' if they have visited the board within the number of days specified in 'Active
Members Time Cut-Off'.
Forum Listings Display Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Forum Listings Display Options
Depth of Forums - Forum Home
Depth to show forums on forum home forum listings. If you set this value to '2', forum listings will show the
current forum level and any child forums one level below (etc.)
Depth of Forums - Forum Display
This setting does the same job as the setting above, but this time for forumdisplay.php pages, rather than forum
home.
Depth of Sub-Forums
If you have forums below the depth specified in the 'Depth of Forums' settings above, you can display them as
sub-forum links in each forum's display area.
Set this value to 0 if you want to display no sub-forums.
Show Forum Descriptions in Forum Listings
Show forum descriptions below forum titles in forum listings?
Show Private Forums
Select 'No' here will hide private forums from users who are not allowed to access them. Users who do have
permission to access them will have to log in before they can see these forums too.
This option applies to any forum listing, including the Forum Jump menu, and Search Results.
Show Lock Icons to Users
Do you wish to have the new post indicators shown on the index page (on.gif and off.gif) be shown with locks
to guests and other members who have no permission to post?
Last Thread Title Maximum Displayed Characters
This value will chop the title of the last thread posted down to a specific number of characters for its display on
a forum listing.
A value of 0 will not trim the titles at all.
Show Moderator Column
Turns the moderator column on and off for forumhome, forumdisplay and usercp.
Show Thread Prefix in Last Post Column?
You may choose to show a thread's prefix in the last post column, along with the title. This will increase the size
of the data included in that column, however.
Forum Display Options (forumdisplay) Back to Top
Settings > Options > Forum Display Options (forumdisplay)
Enable Forum Description
This option displays the forum description in the navbar. Helps visitors to know what the topic of a forum is, as
well as possibly increasing search engine rankings.
Show Users Browsing Forums
Enabling this option will show the current users browsing a particular forum on forumdisplay.php while adding
one query. This can have an effect on performance. The Alphabetical option requires more resources than the
random option.
Maximum Displayed Threads Before Page Split
The number of threads to display on a forum page before splitting it over multiple pages.
Note: This number must be at least 1.
Show Sticky Threads on All Pages
Select 'Yes' to show sticky threads on every forumdisplay.php page, regardless of page number. Set 'No' to only
display them on page one.
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Highlight Threads in Which User Has Posted
When this feature is enabled, a logged in user will see an 'arrow' (or whatever graphic you choose) on the folder
icons (hot folders, new folders, etc.) next to the threads that they have posted in.
Hot Threads Enabled
Hot threads indicate threads with a lot of activity.
Hot Threads Qualifying Views
If 'Hot Threads' are enabled, threads with the specified number of views or more will be shown as hot.
Hot Threads Qualifying Posts
If 'Hot Threads' are enabled, threads with the specified number of posts or more will be shown as hot.
Multi-Page Thread Links Enabled
Link to individual pages of a thread spanning multiple pages on the forum listing?
Multi-Page Thread Maximum Links
When linking to multiple pages in the forum display, this allows you to set the cut-off point on which long posts
stop adding more page numbers and are replaced by 'more...'
Length of Thread Preview Text
This setting allows you to specify how many characters of the first post in a thread to display in the 'title' tag of
the thread title on the forumdisplay page.
Set this value to 0 to disable thread previews.
Group Announcements
Combine a forum's announcements into one listing, where the newest announcement is displayed?
Setting this to No lists all active announcements individually in their applicable forums
Thread Display Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Thread Display Options (showthread)
Show Users Browsing Threads
Enabling this option will show the current users browsing a particular thread on showthread.php while adding
one query. This can have an effect on performance. The Alphabetical option requires more resources than the
Random option.
Maximum Displayed Posts Before Page Split
The number of posts to display on a thread page in linear or hybrid mode before splitting it over multiple pages.
Note: This number must be at least 1.
User-Settable Maximum Displayed Posts
If you would like to allow the user to set their own maximum posts per thread then give the options separated
by commas. Leave this option blank to force users to use the 'Maximum Displayed Posts Before Page Split'
setting above this option.
Example setting: 10,20,30,40
Show Default Post Icon
If you would like to use a default icon for messages without an icon, enter the path to the image here.
Number of Characters Before Wrapping Text
If you want posts to automatically insert spaces into long words to make them wrap after a certain number of
characters, set the number of characters in the box above.
If you do not want this to occur, enter 0.
Note:
This should be set to 0 with some language sets
Check Thread Rating
If enabled, this option will check if a user voted on a thread and show their vote if they have. Otherwise, they
will see the voting options even if they are not able to vote again. This can have an effect on performance.
Check Thread Subscription
If enabled, this option will notify the user that they are subscribed to a thread by displaying a small icon when
viewing forumdisplay and search results. It will also change the "Subscribe to this thread" text on showthread to
"Unsubscribe from this thread". This can have an effect on performance.
Show Similar Threads?
Set this value to 'Yes' if you would like to see 'similar threads' displayed on the show thread page.
Note:
This setting will only work if you have 'Automatic Similar Thread Search' enabled in the message searching
options section.
Post Elements
There is optional user information that you may display on each post. These options require a bit of processing
time to calculate. This information includes Age, Reputation Power and Infractions
Enable Social Bookmarking
Use this switch to quickly disable the display of the bookmarks section of the page, on which links to social
bookmarking sites (set up through the Social Bookmarking Manager) are shown.
Note:
Social bookmarking links will only be displayed in guest-viewable threads.
Threaded / Hybrid Mode Options (showthread) Back to Top
Settings > Options > Threaded / Hybrid Mode Options (showthread)
Enable Threaded / Hybrid Mode
Use this setting to enable or completely disable the Threaded and Hybrid thread display modes.
Use Threaded Mode by Default
Set this value to 'Yes' if you would like users (who have not explicitly set a preference) to view threads in the
threaded display mode.
Note:
This setting will have no effect if 'Enable Threaded / Hybrid Mode' is set to 'No'.
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Threaded Mode: Posts Depth
When in the threaded display mode, a list of posts within the current thread is displayed at the bottom of the
page. This option allows you to set how 'deep' this list displays beyond the currently selected post.
Threaded Mode: Maximum Cached Posts
When in the threaded display mode, a list of posts within the current thread is displayed at the bottom of the
page. This option allows you to set how 'deep' into the tree of posts that vBulletin uses the Javascript 'caching'
mechanism. This makes the initial download larger, but means that the page does not have to be reloaded for
every post that is viewed.
Threaded Mode: Trim Titles
This value will chop the title of the thread titles in the viewing pane down to a specific number of characters. A
value of 0 will not trim the titles at all.
Private Messaging Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Private Messaging Options
Private Messaging Enabled (yes/no)
Turns the entire private messaging system on and off.
Instant Messaging Support - Check for New Private Messages (yes/no)
Selecting 'Yes' for this option will cause the system to check the private message database every time a user loads a
page, and will display a visible prompt if a new message has just been saved.
Maximum Characters Per Private Message (default: 5000)
Maximum characters to allow in a private message.
Set this to 0 for no limit.
Floodcheck - Minimum Time Between Messages (default: 60)
Private Message Flood Checking. Select the minimum time that must pass before a user can send another private
message. This is to prevent a single user 'spamming' by sending lots of messages very quickly.
Set this to 0 to disable the option.
Default Messages Per-Page (default: 50)
This setting allows you to define the default number of messages displayed per-page on the private messages listings
pages.
Maximum Messages Per-Page (default: 100)
This setting allows you to limit the number of messages users may display per page on the private messages folder
view pages.
Allow Message Icons for Private Messages (yes/no)
Allow the use of the standard message icons for private messages.
Allow vB Code in Private Messages (yes/no)
Allow users to include vB Code in their Private Messages? (Such as [b], [i] etc.)
Allow Smilies in Private Messages (yes/no)
Allows users to include smilies in their Private Messages.
Allow [IMG] Code in Private Messages (yes/no)
Allows users to include [IMG] codes in their Private Messages.
Allow HTML in Private Messages (yes/no)
Allow users to include raw HTML code in their Private Messages?
(Strongly not recommended.)
Who's Online Options Back to Top
The Settings > Options >Who's Online Option allows you to control the display of
http://www.example.com/forums/online.php.
Who's Online Enabled
This is the master switch for the Who's Online page. If you select no, anyone who tries to access the page will
be shown a no permission page.
If you select yes, you may still control usergroup permissions for Who's Online via Usergroups > Usergroup
Manager.
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Who's Online Refresh Period
If you set this to a value greater than 0, after that many seconds of being on the same page in Who's Online,
your browser will automatically refresh the page.
Who's Online Display Guests
Controls whether guests are shown on Who's Online. Browsing registered users are always shown.
Who's Online Resolve IP Addresses
If you have permission to view IP addresses on Who's Online, this controls whether you will be shown a raw IP
address or something that has been resolved to a name-based host. The name-based host cannot always be
resolved, but when it can additional information about the browsing user can be more easily determined (for
example, his or her Internet Service Provider).
Resolving IP addresses to names is a very slow process. If you have problems displaying Who's Online, you
should disable this option.
Enable Spider Display
Controls whether spiders are shown as spiders instead of guests on Who's Online. Identification of spiders is
controlled via an XML file, which is discussed here.
Identifying Spiders in Who's Online Back to Top
If you have set the "Enable Spider Display" to yes, the file includes/xml/spiders_vbulletin.xml is used to determine
how a spider is identified.
The file looks similar to this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<searchspiders>
<spider ident="http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/crawler">
<name>Almaden Crawler</name>
<info>http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/crawler/</info>
<email>crawler@us.ibm.com</email>
</spider>
<spider ident="Ask Jeeves">
<name>AskJeeves</name>
</spider>
<spider ident="Googlebot">
<name>Google</name>
</spider>
<spider ident="Mediapartners-Google">
<name>Google AdSense</name>
<info>https://www.google.com/adsense/faq</info>
<email>adsense-support@google.com</email>
</spider>
Place additional spiders here!
</searchspiders>
If you want to add spiders to the list, you should add them in place of the red text (just before "</searchspiders>").
At the minimum, you should provide the ident attribute and the name tag. Other tags are simply for your information
and not used. The ident attribute is used to distinguish a regular guest from a spider. The value of this attribute is
looked up in the browsing user's user agent (what the user's browser identifies him/her as). If a match is found, the
value of the name tag is displayed on Who's Online.
Search Engine Friendly Archive Back to Top
Settings > Options > Search Engine Friendly Archive
Forum Archive Enabled (yes/no)
The Search-Friendly Archive works only under the Apache web server with PHP compiled as a module.
It provides a basic structure that search engines can spider to grab all the content on your site.
Display Simple View of Threads (yes/no)
By default, threads in the Archive are displayed in a simple manner. Set this to no to have the real threads linked from
the archive.
Forum Archive Threads Per Page (default: 250)
The number of threads to display per page in the threads listing.
This is done on a per-forum basis.
Forum Archive Posts Per Page (default: 250)
The number of posts to display per page in the thread listing.
Note:
On your own forum you can find the Archive here: http://www.yourforum.com/forumdir/archive/
(live example: http://www.vBulletin.com/forum/archive/)
Admin Control Panel Options Back to Top
Settings > Options > Admin Control Panel Options
Control Panel Style Folder
This setting allows you to specify an alternative style for the Admin / Moderator Control Panels, based on a folder
contained within the 'cpstyles/' folder. The style you select here will be displayed to all Moderators, and any
Administrators who have not expressed their own preference.
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Comes default with 5 different Admin Control Panel Styles to choose from. You can set a default here, but upon login
one could select the style they prefer.
Folders in the 'cpstyles' folder must contain at least the following:
- controlpanel.css
- cp_logo.gif
- cp_help.gif
Timeout Admin Login (yes/no)
After a period of inactivity, Administrators are logged out of the Admin Control Panel. If this option is set to yes, the
inactivity period will be the same as the Cookie Timout setting found in vBulletin Options -> Help Cookies and HTTP
Header Options (defaults to 15 minutes). If this option is disabled, then the period will be one hour.
Logins to the admincp are more secure with this enabled.
Control Panel Quick Statistics (yes/no)
Displays the 'Quick Stats' on the main index page of the Admin Control Panel.
Forum Manager Display
There are three options for the display of the Forum Manager:
Default - Displays all of the forums on one page but may not work on all browsers, especially if you have a
large number of forums.
Collapsible - Allows collapsing/expansion of certain forums within the forum manager. This may reduce the
ease of usability of the forum manager, but will prevent rendering problems with the dropdown menus with
certain browsers/operating systems.
Single - Display a single dropdown from which you may choose the forum you wish to modify. This is most
useful if you have a large number of forums.
User Editor Columns
Number of columns to display in user editor. Smaller resolutions will probably want to set this to 1.
External Data Provider Back to Top
Besides the main forums, the search friendly archive and the printable version of a thread, you can also choose to turn
on the external data provider. (Settings > Options > External Data Provider)
Here you can select which type can bse turned on/off. You can choose between javascript, rss and/or xml.
Enable External Javascript
This setting allows you to enable/disable the Javascript content syndication system that allows you to embed
vBulletin data in HTML pages.
If you set this option to 'yes', you can call it by going to:
http://www.example.com/forum/external.php?type=js
You could use javascript directly in your html pages to control the returned data.
Enable RSS Syndication
This setting allows you to enable/disable the RSS content syndication system.
If you set this option to 'yes', you can call it by going to:
http://www.example.com/forum/external.php?type=rss
(example) There is a news-plugin for Trillian which lets you use RSS feeds to get the latest information posted
in your Trillian program.
Enable XML Syndication
This setting allows you to enable/disable the XML content syndication system.
If you set this option to 'yes', you can call it by going to:
http://www.example.com/forum/external.php?type=xml
When you are done, click the [Save] button to apply the changes.
Implementing the External Data Provider Back to Top
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The External Data Provider is used to syndicate this information to external websites. This feature uses the
permissions for the Unregisted / Not Logged In usergroup. If that usergroup doesn't have permissions to view the
forum, the feeds will not work.
Below are examples on how you can control what is shown on these websites.
To syndicate in a Javascript format you would call the following URL from your external site. This will require
additional javascript on the external site (an example is listed below).
www.yourdomain.com/forumpath/external.php?type=js
Example Code:
<script src="http://www.yourdomain.com/forumpath/external.php?type=js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
for (i in threads)
{
document.writeln(threads[i].title + " (" + threads[i].poster + ")<br />");
}
//-->
</script>
The External Data Provider also gives alternative feeds in commonly used formats. These are useful if you have
external readers or a script to read them already. These feeds are available in XML, RSS and RSS2 so it should fit a
wide variety of readers. The system defaults to RSS so if you leave off the type, that is what you get.
The URLS to access these feeds are:
XML - www.yourdomain.com/forumpath/external.php?type=xml
RSS - www.yourdomain.com/forumpath/external.php?type=rss
RSS 2.0 - www.yourdomain.com/forumpath/external.php?type=rss2
You can refine the listings by specifying forumids in the path. For multiple forums separate them with a comma. This
will limit the feed to the specified forums only. (Below example uses xml as type, but it works with rss, rss2, and js
too)
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/external.php?type=xml&forumids=1,2,3,4
Error Handling & Logging Back to Top
Settings > Options > Error Handling & Logging
Log Database Errors to a File
If you would like to log all database errors to a file, enter the path to the file here. The file will be saved as
{filename}.log.
Note:
Please note that the directory in which this file is to be created must be writable by the web server.
Log Failed Admin Control Panel Logins to a File
If you would like to log all failed Admin Control Panel login attempts to a file, enter the path to the file here. The file
will be saved as {filename}.log
Note:
Please note that the directory in which this file is to be created must be writable by the web server.
Log PHP Errors to a File
If you would like to log all PHP fatal errors to a file, enter the path to the file here. The file will be saved as
{filename}.log.
Note:
Please note that the directory in which this file is to be created must be writable by the web server.
Maximum File Size of Error Logs (default: 1048576)
If you would like your vBulletin error logs to be rotated when they reach a certain size, enter the maximum file size in
bytes here.
1048576 bytes = 1 megabyte.
When a log file reaches this size, it will be renamed as {filename}{unix timestamp}.log and a new file will be created.
Set this value to 0 to disable log rotation.
Disable Database Error Email Sending (yes/no)
If you would like to prevent vBulletin from sending email to the $config['Database']['technicalemail'] address you
specified in config.php, set this value to 'Yes'.
Error reports about database connection errors will still be sent.
It is not recommended that you set this value to 'Yes' unless you are logging database errors to a file. (see above)
Paid Subscriptions Back to Top
Settings > Options > Paid Subscriptions
Paid Subscription Email Notification
An email will be sent to this email address when a paid subscription is purchased or reversed.
Note:
The main Paid Subscription settings are found at Paid Subscriptions > Paid Subscription Manager. The main manual
section relating to Paid Subscriptions can be found here
Plugin/Hook System Back to Top
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Settings > Options > Plugin/Hook System
Enable Plugin/Hook System (yes/no)
This setting allows you to globally enable or disable the plugin/hook system.
The plugin/hook systems allows for insertion of arbitrary code into specific locations in the PHP files without having
to edit the files (see Plugin Manager). This can be used to extend the functionality of vBulletin without hacking. When
upgrading to future versions you do not have to re-apply these modifications to the original vBulletin files, making
upgrading an easier task.
By switching the system off, only vBulletin-native code will be run, so it can be used to establish whether errors exist
within vBulletin itself or in plugin code.
Note:
You can code these plugins yourself or download existing ones from the official resource community at
http://www.vBulletin.org/. Please note that these plugins are unofficial and are not supported by Jelsoft.
Warning:
If you have attempted to import a product or a plugin and run into the problem of being unable to navigate/work with
your forum or control panel you might require to update the config.php file with this variable, which will force-disable
the hook system. Allowing you to restore your forum and uninstall the bad code/plugin.
define('DISABLE_HOOKS', true);
(Remove from the config.php file when done.)
Spam Management Back to Top
Settings > Options > Spam Management
Anti-Spam Service
Controls the service that is used for scanning supported data. The corresponding API key for the service has to be
entered. The current options are Akismet and Typepad Anti-spam.
vBulletin Anti-Spam Key
Enter a vBulletin Anti-Spam service key to enable scanning of user data where supported. You obtain your key from
the service selected in the option above. Entering a key, enables this functionality.
Spam Scanning Post Threshold
This setting controls how many of a user's posts will be scanned by the Anti-Spam Service. Once a user's post count
exceeds this threshold, his or her posts will not be scanned for spam content. To always scan posts set this value to 0.
Anti-Spam Data Storage Length (Days)
Whenever a post is made, extra anti-spam data is stored. This allows details about false positives and false negatives
to be submitted to the chosen anti-spam system to improve it.
This value controls the length of time (in days) for which this data is stored.
XML Sitemap Back to Top
vBulletin allows you to create and submit an XML sitemap to your favorite search engines and website management
tools. This facilitates easier indexing of your site and with various tools can even tell you if there are problems with
the content on your site. You can find the options for this here: Settings > Options > XML Sitemap
Enable Automatic Sitemap Generation
When enabled this tells vBulletin to generate your sitemaps automatically via the Scheduled Task Manager. If you
have a large forum, you may want to leave this disabled as it can be a time consuming task. Even if this is enabled,
you can always generate your sitemap files manually by clicking on Rebuild Sitemap. Default Value: No
Automatic Sitemap Generation Frequency (Days)
If automatic sitemap generation is enabled, this option controls the number of days between automatic builds. Default
Value: 14
Default Sitemap Priority
The default priority for content in the XML Sitemap. This may be configured on a per-content basis in the XML
Sitemap group. Only a limited amount of content should be listed in the sitemap as a high priority, so you shouldn't set
this value too high. Default Value: 0.5
Automatic Sitemap Search Engine Submission
Allows you to select one or more search engines to submit your sitemap to. Options include Google, Yahoo!,
Bing!/Live Search, Ask.com, and Moreover. Default Value: All selected.
Sitemap File Path
XML sitemap data must be written to the filesystem to function. Enter the full path to the directory the files should be
written to. Do not include a trailing slash. This directory must be writable by the webserver. It also must be accessible
via a web browser. Default Value: <blank>
URLs Per Page
Enter the number of URLs that will be processed per page (and placed in each sitemap file). Note that only one type
of content will be written to a file, so it is possible that there will be files that have less URLs than the number
specified here.
Enter a value no larger than 50,000. Larger values may cause more performance impact while the sitemap is being
generated. Default Value: 30000
Search Type Back to Top
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This section will show the different search engines installed in vBulletin and allow you to switch between them.
In a new installation, there is only one type of search installed. This is called "DB Search" and is an indexed
implementation of Fulltext Search allowing you to search all content types marked as "Searchable" when they are
created/installed in your system.
You can find alternative search engines from third-party vendors or possibly at http://www.vbulletin.org.
Note:
Changing search implementations will require you to rebuild the search index before the search function will return
results. This can be done via Maintenance > Update Counters. Reindex can take a long time for large boards. Some
high performance search engines may provide a faster alternate method of doing a full reindex, consult the
documentation provided with your search type.
Changing Minimum Search Characters Back to Top
The minimum and maximum length of words to be indexed is defined by the ft_min_word_len and ft_max_word_len
system variables (available as of MySQL 4.0.0). The default minimum value is four characters. The default maximum
depends on your version of MySQL. If you change either value, you must rebuild your FULLTEXT indexes. For
example, if you want three-character words to be searchable, you can set the ft_min_word_len variable by putting the
following lines in an option file:
[mysqld]
ft_min_word_len=3
To ensure that myisamchk and the server use the same values for full-text parameters, place each one in both the
[mysqld] and [myisamchk] sections of an option file:
[mysqld]
ft_min_word_len=3
[myisamchk]
ft_min_word_len=3
Then restart the server and rebuild your FULLTEXT indexes. To rebuild your indexes, you need to run the follow
queries in sequence:
Emptying your search tables will speed up this process. The queries to empty the tables are:
truncate searchcore;
truncate searchcore_text;
truncate searchgroup;
truncate searchgroup_text;
Next you need to drop the old indexes off the tables. To drop the indexes you would do:
drop index text on searchcore_text;
drop index grouptitle on searchgroup_text;
Finally, you need to build new indexes. To recreate the indexes you would do:
CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX text ON searchcore_text (title, keywordtext);
CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX grouptitle ON searchgroup_text (title);
If you have a table prefix defined in your config.php you would need to add it to the beginning of each table name in
every query. To rebuild your search indexes after this, you will need to go to the Update Counters section of
Maintenance in your Admin CP. Rebuilding the search indexes can be a time and processor intensive process.
For more on Fulltext Search from MySQL please visit:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/fulltext-fine-tuning.html
You can also empty these indices in the Update Counters section of Maintenance.
You may want to optimize the postindex and word tables afterwards by going to the Repair / Optimize Tables section
of Maintenance.
Changing MySQL's Stopwords. Back to Top
In order to make sure that fulltext searches are more efficient, common words won't be indexes. These are called Stop
Words. You can see the default stop words here:
http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/fulltext-stopwords.html
However on your site, you might have words that are common enough to cause a problem that aren't on the list. For
instance if your site is about florists, then flower might be a very common word that you want to restrict searching on.
To add to the stop list, you would follow these steps
Create File: e.g. /etc/stopword.txt
* Change permission of this file, so that MySQL can read it.
* Don't put stopword file in /root, because mysql doesn't have permission to access it there.
Edit /etc/my.cnf file
Search for ft_stopword_file
Change Line ft_stopword_file=/etc/stopword.txt
Then run following command to restart MySQL.
service mysqld restart
Run these queries command for immediate effect of this action on the vBulletin search tables.
REPAIR TABLE searchcore_text QUICK;
REPAIR TABLE searchgroup_text QUICK;
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You should include the default words in your stopword list for optimal performance.
Human Verification Manager Back to Top
Question & Answer Options
An unlimited amount of questions may be specified and each question may have an unspecified amount of answers.
To add a new question, select the [Add New Question] button. Existing questions may be deleted, modified or have
answers modified by selecting the controls on the right of the question.
Social Bookmarking Manager Back to Top
Social bookmarking is a way for users to store and organise bookmarks of web pages. In a social bookmarking
system, a user will save a link to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. There are a number of third
party services offering social bookmarking facilities, vBulletin provides the ability to link directly to an add page and
pre-populate the data.
When a user views a publicly accessible thread they will be presented with a set of links at the bottom which allow the
addition of the page to admin defined social bookmarking sites.
The Social Bookmarking Manager Back to Top
The first thing you need to do is make sure that this option is enabled. To do that, go here:
Admin CP -> Settings -> Options -> Thread Display Options (showthread) -> Enable Social Bookmarking ->
Yes
The social bookmarking manager is where you create new and edit bookmark sites. Bookmark sites are shown in the
order they will actually display in; you can quickly change this order by clicking the arrows next to the text fields or
changing the numbers in the fields and clicking "Save".
Adding or Editing a Social Bookmarking Site Back to Top
When you are adding or editing a new social bookmark site you will be presented with the following editor, further
explanation about each of these fields is listed below.
Title -Title of the Social Bookmarking Site
Icon - A 16 x 16 icon that will be used to link to the social bookmarking site, this image should be in the
miscellaneous images directory which by default is images/misc.
Link - Link to the add page of the social bookmarking site, you can use {TITLE} and {URL} as replacements
for the current page title and link.
Display Order - The sort order for this social bookmarking site. Lower values will be displayed first.
Active - If this is set to 'Yes' then the icon will appear at the bottom of the thread template.
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vBulletin Blog Back to Top
Blog Moderators Back to Top
To add a new moderator, go to vBulletin Blog > Blog Moderators > Add New Moderator at the bottom table, if you
wish to edit on the same page just click edit next to the username of the moderator.
Moderator Username – the name of the user that will become the moderator.
Can Edit Blog Entries – allow blog entries to be edited.
Can Delete Blog Entries – allow blog entries to be soft deleted.
Can Remove Blog Entries – allow blog entries to be physically removed from the database.
Can Moderate Blog Entries – allow blog entries to be approved as well as moderated.
Can Edit Blog Comments – allow blog comments to be edited.
Can Delete Blog Comments – allow blog comments to be soft deleted.
Can Remove Blog Comments – allow blog comments to be physically removed from the database.
Can Moderate Blog Comments – allow blog comments to be approved as well as moderated.
Can View IP Addresses – allow IP addresses of blog entries and comments to be viewed.
Update Counters Back to Top
The update counters section lets you ensure that counters such as number of replies in an issue or the number of issues
in a project are correct. This is a maintenance section. You do not need to run either of the options here unless you
suspect that the counters are incorrect. They should remain correct during day-to-day use.
There are five counters that can be rebuilt:
Rebuild Blog Post Information - this will rebuild the total comments, trackbacks and last post information for
each blog entry.
Rebuild Blog User Information - this will rebuild the total entry count for categories as well as the total
entries, comments, trackbacks and last post information for each blog.
Rebuild Blog Counters - this will rebuild the total entry count for categories, total attachments and trackbacks
for a blog entry.
Clear Parsed Text Cache - this will clear the contents of the cached parsed text. Run this if you've added a new
custom BBCode or changed BBCode settings and don't want to wait for it to clear in time.
Rebuild thumbnails - this will rebuild the thumbnails of image attachments. Run this if you did not (or could
not) have thumbnails enabled in the past but wish to now or have changed thumbnail dimensions..
Permissions Back to Top
Permissions for the Blog can be found in the standard usergroup permission page, the default install attempts to create
a set of permissions that are based on the permission to create new threads / posts.
When adding / editing a usergroup at Usergroups > Usergroup Manager > Edit Usergroup in the right column you will
find the following permissions:
Can Manage Comments within Own Blog - provides the ability for users to manage their own blog
comments, allowing them to both delete, edit and moderate them as they see fit.
Can Send Pingback/Trackback - allows blog entries to ping other documents.
Can Receive Pingback/Trackback - allows entries to receive external pingbacks / trackbacks.
Can Search Blogs - allow blog entries and comments to be searched.
Can View Own Blog - allow the viewing of a user's own blog.
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Can View Other's Blog - allow the viewing of other user's blog.
Can Post New Blog Entries - allow users to post new blog entries, the can view own blog permission is
required as well.
Can Edit Own Blog Entries - allow users to edit their own blog entries.
Can Delete Own Blog Entries - allow entries to be soft deleted.
Can Remove Own Blog Entries - allow entries to be permanently removed from the database.
Can Upload Attachments - allow uploading of attachments to entries.
Can View Attachments - allow the viewing of attachments.
Follow Blog Moderation Setting - if set to yes all blog entries will follow the global settings, if set to No then
all entries will be moderated.
Allow Smilies - allow entries to contain smilies.
Allow BB Code - allow entries to contain bbcode.
Allow [IMG] Code - allow entries to contain the IMG bbcode.
Allow HTML - allow entries to contain HTML, though this isn't recommended.
Can Post Comments to Own Blog - allow users to make comments to their own blog entries.
Can Post Comments to Others' Blog - allow users to make comments to blogs that are not their own.
Can Edit Own Comments - allow users to edit their own comments after they have been posted.
Can Delete Own Comments - allow users to delete their own comments.
Follow Blog Comment Setting - if set to yes the moderation policy will follow the current blog setting, else all
comments will be moderated.
Allow Smilies - allow comments to contain smilies.
Allow BB Code - allow comments to contain bbcode.
Allow [IMG] Code - allow comments to contain the IMG bbcode.
Allow HTML - allow comments to contain HTML, though this isn't recommended.
The other permissions are self explanatory and are closely linked to their Thread / Post counterparts which can be read
at this manual entry.
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vBulletin CMS Back to Top
The vBulletin CMS allows you and your users to create, edit and publish articles directly to your site. It combines a
simple to use content manager with a unique organizational system that lets you control the smallest detail of the site
from the number of sections, to the overall layout, to the placement of widgets and displays on each page.
Content Manager Back to Top
Within the content manager you can perform bulk actions on your articles and other content types within the CMS.
There are more options to manage individual articles in the publicly viewable front-end of the CMS. Edit the article to
view them.
The checkbox to the left of each article name is used to select an article. You can use this to apply a single action to
multiple articles at the same time.
Publishing an article will make it viewable to users. To publish an article, select the checkbox beside the article and
click the <Published> button.
Un-publishing an article will make it invisible to users. To un-publish an article, select the checkbox beside the article
and click the <Un-publish> button.
To save a number of different changes to different articles, click on the <Save Changes> button.
To move an article from one section to another, select the checkbox beside the article you want to move and click the
<Move> button. A popup appears with a list of sections you can move the article to. Click the section you want the
article moved to. The article appears in the new section.
To delete an article, select the checkbox beside the article you want to delete and click the <Delete> button. A popup
confirmation appears. Click the <Ok> button.
To edit an article and its contents, click on the name of the article. This opens the article form where you can make
and save your changes to the article.
To change the order the articles appear in on the main page, select a number from the dropdown menu in the “Order”
column.
To view articles in individual sections, click the <Change Section> button. This opens a popup with the name of all
the sections. Select a name of the section you want to view. The page will refresh with a list of articles in that section.
The author of the article appears in the “by” column.
The date the article was originally written appears in the “Date” column.
The number of views the article has received appears in the “Views” column.
The number of comments the articles has received appears in the “Comments” column.
To allow any user, regardless of individual section permissions, to see previews, select the “Permission
Preview” checkbox.
Section Manager Back to Top
You can create, publish and order your sections here.
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The numbers to the left indicate the order of the sections. To change the order of the sections, click on the up and
down order buttons.
To navigate to a specific section, click on the name of the section.
To add a new section, click on the green icon with a white plus sign in the middle.
To edit an existing section, click on the pencil icon to the right of the section name.
To make the section visible to users, select the “Published” option from the published dropdown list.
To make a section invisible to users, select the “Unpublish” option from the published dropdown list.
To change the display format of the article previews, select an option from the “Content Columns” dropdown lists.
The options you can choose from are:
1 column – article previews appear in a single column
2 column – article previews appear in two columns
3 columns – article previews appear in three columns
1x2 columns – a single article appears at the top of the page with two columns beneath
2x1 columns – two articles appear side by side at the top of the page with a single column beneath them
To change the display order of article previews, select an option from the “Display Order” dropdown list. The options
you can choose from are:
Manual - a moderator sets the order in which the articles appear
Newest First – the newest articles appears first on a page
Newest per Section – the newest articles in each sub-section will appear first.
Note:
Note: To set the manual order of your articles, you need to edit the section on the front-end by clicking the yellow
pencil icon.
To change the number of article previews that appear per section, enter a different number in the “Content per Page”
text field.
The number of subsections (in a section) is displayed in the “Subsection” column.
The number of articles (in a section) is displayed in the “Content” column.
The number of views each section has received appears in the “View” column.
Category Manager Back to Top
You can manage your categories here. Categories are used as admin level tags to organize sections. Categories can be
used to manage content across multiple sections.
To edit the category, click on the pencil icon to the right of the category name.
To add a new category, click on the new category button at the top of the page or the plus icon to the right of the
category name. Clicking the plus sign to the right of the category name will create the new category as a subcategory
of the selected category.
To delete a category, click on the red minus icon to the right of the category name.
The number of articles assigned to the category is listed in the item count column.
Grid Manager Back to Top
You can manage and edit grids here.
Grids control the overall appearance of individual sections, like the number and width of the columns that content is
displayed in. To change the location of the different types of content within the grid, click on the “Layout Manager”.
To add a new grid, click on the “Add New Grid” button at the bottom of the list.
To download an existing grid, click on the <Download/Upload Grids> button at the bottom of the list. This takes you a
different form.
To upload a grid from your computer, click on the <Download/Upload Grids> button at the bottom of the list. This
takes you to a different form.
To edit the properties of a grid, select the “Edit” option from the “Controls” dropdown list to the right of a grid and
click the <Go> button.
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To edit the grid as CSS, click on the “Flatten Grid” option in the “Controls” dropdown list to the right of a grid. This
takes you to a confirmation screen. Click <Yes>. This takes you to the CSS form for the selected grid. You cannot un-
flatten a grid once this had been done.
To delete an existing grid, select the “Delete” option from the “Controls” dropdown list to the right of a grid and click
the <Go> button.
To create a layout for the grid, select the “Create a Layout” option from the “Controls” dropdown list to the right a
grid and click the <Go> button
Download/Upload Grids Back to Top
You can upload and download grids to and from your vBulletin here.
To download a grid to your computer, enter the name of the grid in the “Filename” text field and click the
<Download> button.
To clear the “Filename” field, click on the <Reset> button at the bottom of the form.
To import the XML file from your computer, click on the <Choose File> button to the right of the “Either upload the
XML file from your computer” text and click on the <Import> button.
To import the XML file from your server, enter the location of the file to the right of the “OR import the XML file
from your server” text and click on the <Import> button.
To overwrite an existing grid with an uploaded grid, select the “Yes” radio button to the right of the “Allow
overwriting of exiting grids with same name?” text.
To clear the import field, click on the <Reset> button at the bottom of the form.
Note:
-- When you upload a file it must be in XML format.
Clear CMS Cache Back to Top
To clear the CMS Cache, go to Maintenance -> Clear System Cache in the Admin CP.
The link to the CMS Cache was removed and the Cache expanded to an overall system cache for better performance.
Layout Manager Back to Top
You can manage and create layouts here.
A layout controls the location of different types of content within a grid. The overall structure of a layout is dependent
on the grid it’s created for.
The name of the layout is displayed to the left.
The grid the layout is created for is listed in the “Grid” column.
To edit a chosen layout, select the “Edit” option from the “Controls” dropdown list and click the <Go> button. This
opens a form containing the selected layout.
To delete a chosen layout, select the “Delete” option from the “Controls” dropdown list and click the <Go> button.
This opens a popup confirmation. Click <Ok>. This deletes the selected layout.
Layout Form Back to Top
You can create layouts and manage the placement of content within a grid here.
The title of the layout goes in the “Title” text field.
To change the grid the layout is using, select a new grid from the grid dropdown menu.
To add a widget to the grid, select a widget from the scrolling list beneath the “Widget” header and click the >> button
to the right. The widget appears in the grid.
To change the position of a widget or the content, click and hold your mouse over the widget or content you want to
move. Drag the box to its new location and click <Save>.
Widget Manager Back to Top
What are widgets?
Widgets are the smaller applications that fill in the layout content. Where the layout content organizes the widgets and
orders how they appear, it’s the individual widgets that define what sorts of data are displayed. Widgets can be added,
deleted, and edited through the Widget Manager.
You can view, manage and create new widgets here.
The name of the widget appears in the left most column.
The type of widget appears beneath the “Widget Type” column.
To edit a widget, select the <Edit> option in the “Controls” dropdown list and click the <Go>. This opens the widget
form. You can only change the name of the widget and the kind of widget it is in this form.
To delete a widget, select the <Delete> option in the “Controls” dropdown list and click the <Go> button. This opens
a popup confirmation.
To configure a widget, click on the <Configure> link to the right of the widget you wish to change.
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To create a new widget, click on the <Create New Widget> button at the bottom of the list of widgets. Creating a
widget only allows you to name a widget and select the kind of widget it is. If you want to define what content the
widget displays, you must configure the widget.
Add Widgets Back to Top
You can manage and create new widgets here.
To change or select the widget type, select an option from the “Widget Type” dropdown list.
To add a description to the widget, enter text in the text field to the right of the “Description” header.
To increase the size of the “Description” text field, click on either the <Large Edit Box> button or the <Increase Size>
link beneath the text field.
To decrease the size of the “Description” text field, click on the <Decrease Size> link beneath the text field.
To save your changes, click the <Save> button at the bottom of the form.
Widget Types Back to Top
What are the basic types of widgets?
· Category Navigation Widget
The Cateogry Navigation Widget controls how the category menu is formatted.
· General Search
The General Search Widget displays the most recent results for a specific set of search terms that you set.
· My Friends Widget
The My Friends Widget is a general search widget that displays the most recent results for a specific set of search
terms that you set made by members of a user’s friendslist.
· Poll Widget
The poll widget allows you to add polls and or poll results to the main page.
· Recent Activity
The Recent Activity Widget displays the most recent activity on your website. You can select what sort of activity you
want displayed. This can range from forum posts, to new blog posts, to the latest published articles.
· RSS Feed
The RSS Feed allows you to stream and RSS feed from an off-site location on to your site page.
· Section Navigation Widget
The Section Navigation Widget controls how the section menu is formatted.
· Static HTML
The Static HTML Widget allows you to create a widget that displays a piece of text with HTML markups.
· Static BBcode
The StaticBB code Widget allows you to create a widget that display a piece of text with BBCode markups.
Configure Widgets Back to Top
To configure individual widgets after saving them, click on the Configure link to the right of the widget information.
This will cause an overlay to open that has the widget's specific options in it. Set the options as you desire and click
the save button. The configuration will save and the overlay will close. Repeat this for all widgets that you have
created.
Example: Configuring the General Search widget Back to Top
Click on the <Widgets > link.
In the [Widget Manager] select the general search widget you want to edit and click the <Configure> button.
In the popup form that appears, make the changes you want to modify the search.
Click on the <Save> button.
Permissions Back to Top
You can manage permissions here.
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Permissions allow you to control what a group of users can and can not do in a section. This includes things like who
can see a section, who can contribute articles to the section, who can edit content in the section and who can publish
articles. Permissions for a section can be set and changed at any time. You can choose to modify the overall
permission for your CMS module or set different permissions for each section.
The name of the section you are managing appears in the text field to the right of the “Permissions assigned for
section” header.
To give a group the permission to do something, check the appropriate checkbox beneath the permission you want to
give them.
The dropdown list beneath the permissions allows you to make mass changes for that permission. You can select all
the checkboxes, uncheck all the checkboxes, or invert the selection of checkboxes.
To change the section you are setting permissions for, click on the name of the section in the box beneath the form.
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Advertising Back to Top
From this section of the Admin Control Panel, you can manage advertisements that show up in your community. It
will allow you to create new ads, edit them, or publish Google Adsense across your community quickly and easily.
Google Adsense Integration Back to Top
As of vBulletin 3.8, we have partnered with Google AdSense to make it easy for you to sign up with AdSense and
make money with your online community! More information is available about Google AdSense on their website
To get started, you must create an AdSense account or associate an existing account via the vBulletin Members' Area.
Once your account is associated with us, Google AdSense will automatically be available to your forum the next time
you download vBulletin.
Warning:
If you have not associated or created an AdSense account with us, the below options will not be shown in your
administrator's control panel!
After you have downloaded vBulletin with Google AdSense integrated, you should
follow the standard upgrade instructions. After logging into your administrator's control
panel, you will see an Advertising block in the left-hand navigation panel.
Now you must choose the type of integration you want:
Google AdSense Publisher ID - the AdSense publisher ID that is currently being used. If you ever wish to
change the AdSense account that is associated, you can use this value to confirm the publisher ID that is
currently in use.
Change Google AdSense Package - this controls the position of the ads that are shown. Choose No Google
AdSense Ads to remove all ads. See below for more details on each specific package.
Type of Ads to Show - this is used in conjunction with the package to configure the type of ads that are shown.
Text ads are less invasive to your users but not as effective. We recommend you select Text and image ads.
The available Google AdSense packages are defined as:
Low
1. A small 5-link advertising unit under the navigation bar. This location
only shows text ads in the Low package.
2. A small advertising unit at the footer of the page.
High
1. A medium advertising unit under the navigation bar.
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2. A nearly-square advertising unit within the first post of a thread. This
only shows for guests.
3. A medium advertising unit at the footer of the page.
Note: It has been reported that some ad blockers can interfere with setting up Adsense via these instructions. If you
have a problem try temporarily disabling your ad blockers.
Manage Ads Back to Top
This screen provides a list of your current advertisements. From here you can edit advertisements or toggle whether
they are active or not.
To create a new advertisement click on "Add New Ad"
Add New Ad Back to Top
Clicking on "Add New Ad" launches a wizard to create new advertisements for your community. You can select
where they are shown on the page, include the HTML for the advertisements and set conditions on who sees the
advertisements.
The first step is to choose the location. You will see a screen like the one below.
Simply click on the highlighted ad location where you want it to show. To change the area, select a new area at the top
of the screen. Current areas include Global (Header, Navbar, and Footer), Board (Forum Home), Forum (Forum
Display), and Thread (Showthread). Additional areas will come later.
After selecting the location for your advertisement you will be presented with this screen:
This will allow you to create a new advertisement. You must fill in the following fields:
Title - A descriptive title that will allow you to recognize the advertisement on the Manage Ads screen. This
will not be shown to users.
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Ad Location - This should be pre-filled with the location you chose in the Ad Selector. If necessary you can
change this.
Ad HTML - The HTML for your advertisement. You cannot use BBCode here but you can use Template
Conditionals and vBulletin variables. If you don't know the HTML for an advertisement, contact the advertiser
and have them provide it to you.
Display Order - Sets the advertisement's display order if you have multiple ads in the same location.
Active - Determines whether the advertisement is shown or not.
Underneath the ad options, you can see several conditions. You can set these to restrict the viewing of advertisements
to specific locales, usergroups and restrict ads by dates. If your specific condition doesn't exist then you will need to
create custom conditions using Plugins or Template Conditionals within the advertising HTML.
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Google AdSense Integration Back to Top
We have partnered with Google AdSense to make it easy for you to sign up with AdSense and make money with your
online community! More information is available about Google AdSense on their website
To get started, you must create an AdSense account or associate an existing account via the vBulletin Members' Area.
Once your account is associated with us, Google AdSense will automatically be available to your forum the next time
you download vBulletin.
Warning:
If you have not associated or created an AdSense account with us, the below options will not be shown in your
administrator's control panel!
After you have downloaded vBulletin with Google AdSense integrated, you should
follow the standard upgrade instructions. After logging into your administrator's control
panel, you will see an Advertising block in the left-hand navigation panel.
Now you must choose the type of integration you want:
Google AdSense Publisher ID - the AdSense publisher ID that is currently being used. If you ever wish to
change the AdSense account that is associated, you can use this value to confirm the publisher ID that is
currently in use.
Change Google AdSense Package - this controls the position of the ads that are shown. Choose No Google
AdSense Ads to remove all ads. See below for more details on each specific package.
Type of Ads to Show - this is used in conjunction with the package to configure the type of ads that are shown.
Text ads are less invasive to your users but not as effective. We recommend you select Text and image ads.
The available Google AdSense packages are defined as:
Low
1. A small 5-link advertising unit under the navigation bar. This location
only shows text ads in the Low package.
2. A small advertising unit at the footer of the page.
High
1. A medium advertising unit under the navigation bar.
2. A nearly-square advertising unit within the first post of a thread. This
only shows for guests.
3. A medium advertising unit at the footer of the page.
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Note: It has been reported that some ad blockers can interfere with setting up Adsense via these instructions. If you
have a problem try temporarily disabling your ad blockers.
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Styles & Templates Back to Top
The Styles & Templates section allows you to change the fonts, colors or the html of any section of the board to your
preference.
The first part of this section of the vBulletin Manual deals with how the vBulletin style system actually works, and
includes a reference guide for various important elements.
vBulletin Style Reference
The second part deals with using the tools provided to you in the Style & Templates area of the Admin CP.
The Style Manager
Note:
To modify the look and feel of your vBulletin forums, a knowledge of XHTML 1.0 and CSS 1.0 is required. To learn
the basics of these markup languages please visit W3schools.com. If you have questions please visit our community
forums.
vBulletin Style Reference Back to Top
The vBulletin Styles system is the interface through which you can configure the way that your visitors see your
board.
A variety of controls are available for your use, allowing you to make both minor changes, such as the font used for
the interface, right through to changing the underlying HTML used to generate the board's individual pages.
The look of your board can be altered to your own custom preferences through a simple-to-use interface that allows
you to change fonts, colors and images etc. If you want to get down and dirty with the underlying HTML of the board,
you can also do this by editing individual templates via the Style Manager.
A vBulletin style comprises several elements that work together to create a complete look for your board.
Those components are as follows:
Templates
CSS
StyleVars
Replacement Variables
Templates Back to Top
How do Templates Work? Back to Top
The pages you see making up the user-side of vBulletin are generated using a number of templates. Templates are
fragments of XHTML code interspersed with PHP variables. These combine together to form complete XHTML
pages that are served up to visitors.
A simple example template might look like this:
<table class="tborder">
<tr>
<td class="tcat" colspan="2">My Table</td>
</tr>
$tablebits
</table>
The $tablebits PHP variable represents an area of the template that will be replaced with either some data, or
additional template contents.
For example, we may have another template that looks like this:
<tr>
<td class="alt1">$username</td>
<td class="alt2">$message</td>
</tr>
This template would have the $username and $message variables substituted with the appropriate username and
message.
<tr>
<td class="alt1">Mister User</td>
<td class="alt2">This is my message</td>
</tr>
The template would then be repeated as many times as necessary, replacing the variables with the username and
message for each repetition. Finally, this completed block of XHTML would be inserted into the first template,
replacing the $tablebits variable, resulting in a complete block of code like this:
<table class="tborder">
<tr>
<td class="tcat" colspan="2">My Table</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="alt1">Mister User</td>
<td class="alt2">This is my message</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="alt1">Another Person</td>
<td class="alt2">This message is in reply to that posted above.</td>
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</tr>
<tr>
<td class="alt1">Mister User</td>
<td class="alt2">Hey, thanks for responding to my message!</td>
</tr>
</table>
This resulting code can then be passed on to the visitor's web browser for display.
Here is the header template from a current version of vBulletin. This shows how a typical template is built in
vBulletin.
<div class="above_body"> <!-- closing tag is in template navbar -->
<div id="header" class="floatcontainer doc_header">
<vb:if condition="$stylevar['titleimage']"><div><a name="top" href="{vb:link forumhome}" class="logo-image"><img src="{vb:stylevar titleimage}" alt="{v
<div id="toplinks" class="toplinks">
<vb:if condition="$show['member']">
<ul class="isuser">
<li><a href="login.php?{vb:raw session.sessionurl}do=logout&logouthash={vb:raw bbuserinfo.logouthash}" onclick="return log_out('{vb:raw
<vb:if condition="$show['registerbutton']">
<li><a href="register.php{vb:raw session.sessionurl_q}" rel="nofollow">{vb:rawphrase register}</a></li>
</vb:if>
<li><a href="usercp.php{vb:raw session.sessionurl_q}">{vb:rawphrase user_control_panel}</a></li>
<li><a href="{vb:link member, {vb:raw bbuserinfo}}">{vb:rawphrase your_profile}</a></li>
<vb:if condition="$notifications_total">
<li class="popupmenu notifications" id="notifications">
<a class="popupctrl" href="usercp.php{vb:raw session.sessionurl_q}">{vb:rawphrase your_notifications}: <span class="notifications-numbe
<ul class="popupbody popuphover">
{vb:raw notifications_menubits}
</ul>
</li>
<vb:else />
<li class="popupmenu nonotifications" id="nonotifications">
<a class="popupctrl" href="usercp.php{vb:raw session.sessionurl_q}">{vb:rawphrase your_notifications}</a>
<ul class="popupbody popuphover">
<li>{vb:rawphrase no_new_messages}</li>
<vb:if condition="$show['pmmainlink']"><li><a href="private.php{vb:raw session.sessionurl_q}">{vb:rawphrase inbox}</a></li></vb:if>
</ul>
</li>
</vb:if>
<li class="welcomelink">{vb:rawphrase welcome_x_link_y, {vb:raw bbuserinfo.username}, {vb:link member, {vb:raw bbuserinfo}}}</li>
<vb:if condition="$vboptions['enablefacebookconnect']">
{vb:raw facebook_header}
</vb:if>
</ul>
{vb:raw template_hook.header_userinfo}
<vb:comment><p>{vb:rawphrase last_visited_x_at_y, {vb:raw pmbox.lastvisitdate}, {vb:raw pmbox.lastvisittime}}</p></vb:comment>
<vb:else />
<ul class="nouser">
<vb:if condition="$show['registerbutton']">
<li><a href="register.php{vb:raw session.sessionurl_q}" rel="nofollow">{vb:rawphrase register}</a></li>
</vb:if>
<li><a rel="help" href="faq.php{vb:raw session.sessionurl_q}">{vb:rawphrase help}</a></li>
<li>
<script type="text/javascript" src="clientscript/vbulletin_md5.js?v={vb:raw vboptions.simpleversion}"></script>
<form id="navbar_loginform" action="login.php?{vb:raw session.sessionurl}do=login" method="post" onsubmit="md5hash(vb_login_password, vb_login_
<fieldset id="logindetails" class="logindetails">
<div>
<div>
<input type="text" class="textbox<vb:if condition="!$username"> default-value</vb:if>" name="vb_login_username" id="navbar_username" si
<input type="password" class="textbox" tabindex="102" name="vb_login_password" id="navbar_password" size="10" />
<input type="text" class="textbox default-value" tabindex="102" name="vb_login_password_hint" id="navbar_password_hint" size="10" value
<input type="submit" class="loginbutton" tabindex="104" value="{vb:rawphrase log_in}" title="{vb:rawphrase enter_username_to_login_or_r
</div>
</div>
</fieldset>
<div id="remember" class="remember">
<label for="cb_cookieuser_navbar"><input type="checkbox" name="cookieuser" value="1" id="cb_cookieuser_navbar" class="cb_cookieuser_nav
</div>
<input type="hidden" name="s" value="{vb:raw session.sessionhash}" />
<input type="hidden" name="securitytoken" value="{vb:raw bbuserinfo.securitytoken}" />
<input type="hidden" name="do" value="login" />
<input type="hidden" name="vb_login_md5password" />
<input type="hidden" name="vb_login_md5password_utf" />
</form>
<script type="text/javascript">
YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle('navbar_password_hint', "display", "inline");
YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle('navbar_password', "display", "none");
vB_XHTML_Ready.subscribe(function()
{
//
YAHOO.util.Event.on('navbar_username', "focus", navbar_username_focus);
YAHOO.util.Event.on('navbar_username', "blur", navbar_username_blur);
YAHOO.util.Event.on('navbar_password_hint', "focus", navbar_password_hint);
YAHOO.util.Event.on('navbar_password', "blur", navbar_password);
});
function navbar_username_focus(e)
{
//
var textbox = YAHOO.util.Event.getTarget(e);
if (textbox.value == '<vb:if condition="$username">{vb:raw username}<vb:else />{vb:rawphrase username}</vb:if>')
{
//
textbox.value='';
textbox.style.color='{vb:stylevar input_color}';
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}
}
function navbar_username_blur(e)
{
//
var textbox = YAHOO.util.Event.getTarget(e);
if (textbox.value == '')
{
//
textbox.value='<vb:if condition="$username">{vb:raw username}<vb:else />{vb:rawphrase username}</vb:if>';
textbox.style.color='{vb:stylevar shade_color}';
}
}
function navbar_password_hint(e)
{
//
var textbox = YAHOO.util.Event.getTarget(e);
YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle('navbar_password_hint', "display", "none");
YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle('navbar_password', "display", "inline");
YAHOO.util.Dom.get('navbar_password').focus();
}
function navbar_password(e)
{
//
var textbox = YAHOO.util.Event.getTarget(e);
if (textbox.value == '')
{
YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle('navbar_password_hint', "display", "inline");
YAHOO.util.Dom.setStyle('navbar_password', "display", "none");
}
}
</script>
</li>
<vb:if condition="$vboptions['enablefacebookconnect']">
{vb:raw facebook_header}
</vb:if>
</ul>
</vb:if>
</div>
<div class="ad_global_header">
{vb:raw ad_location.global_header1}
{vb:raw ad_location.global_header2}
</div>
<hr />
</div>
Template Syntax Back to Top
vBulletin 4.0 introduces a rich new syntax for marking-up templates, reducing the need for formatting and escaping to
be performed in .php files.
Variable Access
Variables should be referenced in templates wherever possible using the following syntax:
{vb:var variable}
Variables accessed in this manner are 'made safe' by being run through htmlspecialchars as they are output.
To access array elements, use a dot operator, rather than standard PHP square brackets:
{vb:var variable.foo} // accesses htmlspecialchars($variable['foo'])
{vb:var variable.$varkey} // accesses htmlspecialchars($variable[$varkey])
Raw Variables
To access variables in the normal, pre-vB4 fashion, use the following syntax:
{vb:raw variable}
This is equivalent to simply accessing $variable in the pre-vB4 syntax. No treatment is applied to the variable. The
same dot operator is used to access array elements.
Curly-Brace Syntax
The general syntax here is
{vb:method arg1[, arg2...]}
Inside curly braces, variables can be accessed without using a separate set of surrounding braces. For example,
{vb:method {variable}} // unneccessary extra braces
{vb:method variable}
Built-in Methods
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phrase
{vb:phrase phrase_name[, arguments for phrase...]}
Inserts the specified phrase. If arguments are provided, they will be run through htmlspecialchars.
Example:
{vb:phrase welcome}
rawphrase
{vb:rawphrase phrase_name[, arguments for phrase...]}
As above, though arguments bypass htmlspecialchars.
Example:
{vb:rawphrase message_by_x_on_y_at_z, {vb:link member, {vb:raw postinfo}}, {vb:raw
postinfo.username}, {vb:raw postinfo.postdate}, {vb:raw postinfo.posttime}}
date
{vb:date timestamp[, format]}
Formats a UNIX timestamp using the default date format for the active language. A format may also be
explicitly specified. Timezone will be corrected for the viewing user.
time
{vb:time timestamp[, format]}
As above, though uses the default time format instead of date format.
number
{vb:number number[, decimals]}
Outputs a number having run through vb_number_format for correct locale formatting. Number of
decimal places to display can be optionally specified.
raw
{vb:raw variable}
Outputs the variable raw, without any formatting or escaping.
escapejs
{vb:escapejs variable}
Returns the variable prepared for use as a Javascript single-quoted string instead of running
htmlspecialchars.
urlencode
{vb:urlencode variable}
Escapes the variable using urlencode.
if
{vb:if condition, true[, false]}
Use this in instances where the full <vb:if> tag can not be used, such as within HTML tags.
Example:
<div class="{vb:if $forumid==1, forum1, forum}">...</div>
link
{vb:link type, info[, extra-info]}
Used to build a hyperlink URL of the specified type and into the correct 'friendly' format.
For more information see: Link Syntax
math
{vb:math expression}
Primarily used within CSS, this is used to evaluate the result of the mathematical expression specified.
stylevar
{vb:stylevar name[.sub-part]}
Used to output a style variable from the style system. No escaping is performed.
Tags
All tags make use of the vb namespace for ease of identification and parsing.
The following tags are available:
literal
<vb:literal>misc code</vb:literal>
Any code inside vb:literal tags will be treated as plain HTML. No curly-brace syntax or vb:tag markup will be
evaluated.
if
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<vb:if condition="condition">true result</vb:if>
If the expression specified in condition is true, the contents of the vb:if tags will be output, otherwise nothing will be
output.
elseif
<vb:elseif condition="condition" />true result
Used in conjunction with vb:if, this allows a secondary condition to be checked and the true result to be output if the
condition is met.
else
<vb:else />true result
Used in conjunction with vb:if, the true result will be output if the vb:if condition failed, and so did any vb:elseif
checks.
comment
<vb:comment>a comment</vb:comment>
In cases where a comment is necessary but the usual <!-- comment --> syntax is undesirable, the vb:comment tag
allows its contents to be completely removed upon compiling, so they will not be delivered to the browser. Useful for
internal commenting.
each
<vb:each from="array" key="key" value="value"></vb:each>
This tag will iterate through an existing array, in a similar manner to foreach. See the example use below.
Example Use of vb:each
Array:
// We have an array of users available in PHP.
// It looks like this:
// $users = array(
// 1 => array('username' => 'Adam', 'email' => 'adam@adam.com'),
// 2 => array('username' => 'Ben', 'email' => 'ben@ben.com'),
// 3 => array('username' => 'Chris', 'email' => 'chris@chris.com')
// );
Template:
<!-- our template code... -->
<vb:each from="users" key="userid" value="userinfo">
<li><a href="member.php?u={vb:var userid}">{vb:var userinfo.username}</a></li>
</vb:each>
Output:
<!-- will output... -->
<li><a href="member.php?u=1">Adam</a></li>
<li><a href="member.php?u=2">Ben</a></li>
<li><a href="member.php?u=3">Chris</a></li>
Link Syntax Back to Top
Creating Links in Templates
When you wish to use a url in a template the format is as follows:
{vb:link string, array[, array][, string, string]}
{vb:link [thread|member|forum|blog], {vb:raw threadinfo}[, {vb:raw pageinfo}][, 'id', 'title']}
The first argument is a string that notifies the system which type of URL is to be output. The valid types are thread,
forum, and member
The second argument is an array that contains the id and title, as the minimum requirements, of the link to be
generated. For thread, this would be threadid and title. For forum this would be forumid and title. For member this
would be userid and username.
The third argument is an optional array that contains any arguments that are required to be sent along, such as perpage
(pp), page (pagenumber), order, and so on.
The simplest forms are:
{vb:link thread, {vb:raw threadinfo}}
{vb:link forum, {vb:raw foruminfo}}
{vb:link member, {vb:raw userinfo}}
If you have an array containing the id and title but they do not follow the conventional naming conventions, then you
may specify their names with the fifth and sixth options. Both must be specified for them to be recognized. For
example, you have $post[threadid] and $post[threadtitle] and wish to output a thread url. You would use:
{vb:link thread, {vb:raw post}, null, 'threadid', 'threadtitle'}
null was specified for the $pageinfo argument array since this example had no arguments.
If you wish to output a url that uses & instead of & e.g.: to be used within javascript, append "|js" to your type
argument so that thread becomes thread|js, member becomes member|js. If you wish to not output a sessionhash, in
any instance, say for a url to be used within an email, append nosession to the type argument, so that thread becomes
thread|nosession
Examples:
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To output a link to a post, you could use
<a href="{link thread, {vb:raw threadinfo}, {vb:raw
pageinfo_lastpost}}#post$lastpostinfo[lastpostid]">$threadinfo[title]</a>
$pageinfo_lastpost would appear like:
$pageinfo_lastpost = array('p' => 1234);
Creating Links in PHP
When creating a link in the code, use the fetch_seo_url function, which accepts the same arguments.
function fetch_seo_url(string, array, array, string, string)
In fact the {vb:link thread, {vb:raw threadinfo}, {vb:raw pageinfo}} syntax is just replaced with fetch_seo_url() when
a template is compiled.
Examples:
Infractions tab of a user's profile
$linkinfo = array('postuserid' => 123, 'postusername' => 'freddie');
$pageinfo = array('tab' => 'infractions);
$memberurl = fetch_seo_url('member', $linkinfo, $pageinfo, 'postuserid', 'postusername');
Using the mod rewrite output, $memberurl would be /members/123-freddie?tab=infractions
Please refer to the code for exact examples.
Template Conditionals Back to Top
Template Conditionals are a powerful tool for controlling the XHTML output from your templates. They allow you to
create simple if/else branches within your templates, in order to display different content depending on the condition
you specify.
For example you may want to show a different welcome message on the front page of your board to registered users
and to guests. The way to know whether or not the person visiting a page is a guest, or a logged-in user is to check the
value of $bbuserinfo[userid]. If the value is 0, the visitor is a guest (or not logged-in), otherwise the visitor is a
registered member.
This is a simple conditional to show a welcome message to guests only.
<vb:if condition="$bbuserinfo['userid'] == 0">
<p>Welcome to the forum!<br />
If this is your first visit, we hope you enjoy your stay!</p>
</vb:if>
The previous example used a simple 'if' condition. We can extend that to include an 'else' condition, which will be
used if the 'if' condition is not fulfilled.
This example extends the previous conditional to show a different message to registered members from that shown to
guests.
<vb:if condition="$bbuserinfo['userid'] == 0">
<p>Welcome to the forum!<br />
If this is your first visit, we hope you enjoy your stay!</p>
<vb:else />
<p>Welcome back, $bbuserinfo[username].<br />
<a href="search.php?do=getnew">Click here to view new posts</a>.
</vb:if>
Starting in vBulletin 4.0 template conditionals natively support 'else if' as well.
<vb:if condition="$my_variable == 1">
<p>My variable is equal to one.</p>
<vb:elseif condition="$my_variable == 2" />
<p>My variable is equal to two.</p>
<vb:else />
<p>My variable is equal to neither one nor two.</p>
</vb:if>
The actual syntax of vBulletin template conditionals is fairly straight forward. To begin a conditional, you simply start
an <vb:if> tag. The <vb:if> tag accepts a single attribute, that being 'condition'. The value of the condition attribute
contains an expression written in PHP. After the opening <vb:if> tag comes the HTML that should be expressed if the
condition is met. The conditional terminates with a closing </vb:if> tag.
Perhaps the easiest way to illustrate this is to demonstrate a simple example of PHP code being embedded as a
template conditional.
Let us assume for the purposes of this example that we want to have the equivalent of this PHP code in our template:
if ($my_variable == 1)
{
echo "<p>My variable is equal to one.</p>";
}
This could be expressed as a template conditional in the following way:
<vb:if condition="$my_variable == 1">
<p>My variable is equal to one.</p>
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</vb:if>
If we were to extend our PHP code to include an 'else' condition as follows...
if ($my_variable == 1)
{
echo "<p>My variable is equal to one.</p>";
}
else
{
echo "<p>My variable is not equal to one.</p>";
}
... then our template conditional would be extended thus:
<vb:if condition="$my_variable == 1">
<p>My variable is equal to one.</p>
<vb:else />
<p>My variable is not equal to one.</p>
</vb:if>
Furthermore, we may want to extend our PHP with an 'else if' condition:
if ($my_variable == 1)
{
echo "<p>My variable is equal to one.</p>";
}
else if ($my_variable == 2)
{
echo "<p>My variable is equal to two.</p>";
}
else
{
echo "<p>My variable is equal to neither one nor two.</p>";
}
<vb:if condition="$my_variable == 1">
<p>My variable is equal to one.</p>
<vb:elseif condition="$my_variable == 2" />
<p>My variable is equal to two.</p>
<vb:else />
<p>My variable is equal to neither one nor two.</p>
</vb:if>
Using PHP Functions in Template Conditionals Back to Top
As a security precaution, to prevent malicious damage to either your database or your server itself, most PHP
functions are disallowed in template conditionals.
This, for example, would be disallowed by the vBulletin template system, as it contains a call to a 'forbidden' function:
mysql_query.
<vb:if condition="$my_variable = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM mytable')">
<!-- naughty naughty... -->
</vb:if>
At the time of writing, the list of allowed 'safe' functions is as follows:
in_array
is_array
is_numeric
isset
empty
defined
array
can_moderate*
can_moderate_calendar*
exec_switch_bg*
is_browser*
is_member_of*
Note:
Functions marked * are custom functions defined by vBulletin itself. Each function name is a link that will take you to
the documentation for that function. Use of these functions requires knowledge of PHP
This is an example of 'safe' functions being used in a template conditional:
<vb:if condition="isset($my_variable) AND is_browser('ie')">
<!-- $my_variable is set and the browser is Internet Explorer -->
</vb:if>
The Legacy Postbit Template Back to Top
The template in which most messages are displayed is called postbit. With the release of vBulletin 3, the layout of the
postbit template was altered radically, changing from a system of two columns with user information in the left
column and the message in the right to a system of two rows, with user information displayed above the message.
New Postbit
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Old (Legacy) Postbit
While most people prefer the new layout of the postbit template after using it for a short time, there are others who are
less willing to make the change.
If you would like to run your board using the old-style postbit template, you can do so by going to vBulletin Options >
Style & Language Settings and switching the Use Legacy (Vertical) Postbit Template? setting to Yes.
After clicking the [Save] button, all your styles will use the Legacy (old style) Postbit.
Note:
If your board is set to use the Legacy Postbit template you should be aware that you will need to make any postbit-
related template customizations to the postbit_legacy template instead of the postbit template.
Including External Files Back to Top
Warning:
This is considered modifying the code. To get further help and support with including external files you will need to
visit http://www.vbulletin.org/.
If you have a PHP or HTML file that you want to include in your vBulletin forum, create a plugin that references that
file. Then add a variable to the template of your choice where that file's contents should appear.
Note:
The Plugin system must be enabled in vBulletin Options -> Plugin System for plugins to work. It is disabled by
default.
Including an HTML file:
1. Create a Plugin for global_start with this code:
$includedhtml = implode('', file('path/to/this/file/myfile.html'));
Replace the path and filename with the correct path and filename of the HTML file you want to include. The contents
of myfile.html will be copied to the variable $includedhtml.
2. Place {vb:raw includedhtml} in one of your templates, such as header, navbar, FORUMHOME, depending upon
where you want the contents of your HTML file to appear.
Including a PHP file:
1. Create a Plug-in for global_start with these contents:
ob_start();
include('path/to/this/file/myfile.php');
$includedphp = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
Replace the path and filename with the correct path and filename of the PHP file you want to include. The code in
myfile.php will execute and any output generated by this script will be stored in $includedphp.
2. Place {vb:raw includedphp} in one of your templates, such as header, navbar, FORUMHOME, depending upon
where you want the contents of your PHP file to appear.
Warning:
Plugins that contain invalid or malicious code may cause your forum to stop functioning or even lead to data loss.
Using Plugins is not supported and you'll be asked to disable them in the event that you request tech support. If a
Plugin has made your forum inaccessible, please disable plugins. Troubleshooting errant plugins and products is
handled at our sister site, http://www.vBulletin.org.
What is Output Buffering?
Most PHP files that you might wish to include in your forum contain echo or other output statements in your PHP file,
it will break vBulletin because it is still in the process of initializing when it loads your PHP file. All echo and other
output commands must be output buffered using ob_start, ob_clean, etc. commands. The output of your PHP script
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will be buffered for later use and inserted into a variable. All other statements in the PHP script will execute normally.
A word about variables.
It is very important that any variables initialized in your PHP script do not overlap built-in vBulletin variables or you
will get unpredictable results. It may be advisable to create a PHP script just for inclusion in your forum rather than
including a larger script used by another part of your website.
Variables are also subject to scope. You may need to access your variable out of the $global array like {vb:raw
global.variablename} instead of simply {vb:raw variablename}. You may also need work with a hook location that is
more accessible to the template that you wish to alter.
Please see the PHP documentation for more information on variable scope:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.variables.scope.php
Registering Variables
In vBulletin 4+, you need to register variables for them to be available in specific templates and usable. You would do
this with code like this:
vB_Template::preRegister('FORUMHOME',array('includedphp ' => $includedphp));
Replace FORUMHOME with the template you want to include your value in.
Which hook should I use?
The hook used above (global_start) makes your HTML or PHP file available in almost every template on your
vBulletin forum. You may wish to include a PHP file or HTML file only on certain pages or parts of your forum.
You'll need to select the correct hook where your code should be loaded. To determine which hook you should use,
turn on Debug and then make this change to the appropriate functions php file.
How do I turn on debug mode?
Please note that you should not turn on debug mode in a live environment.
Open the config.php file.
At the top, on a new line below <?php
add: $config['Misc']['debug'] = true;
Note:
If you wish to include() multiple PHP files, make sure you use ob_clean() before each include() to reset the buffer.
CSS Back to Top
Not to be confused with XSS, CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets.
For the most part, vBulletin hides the nitty-gritty of editing CSS from you, instead presenting you with a user-friendly
interface in the Style Manager in which to enter values to control the styling of your board. However, in the interest of
a knowledge of what is going on behind the scenes in the vBulletin style system, we'll talk a little about CSS here.
CSS is a system designed to allow the style of a web site to be separated from the content itself.
Before CSS, web sites had to include HTML code defining how to display content along with the content itself. For
example, to display a page of text using a bold, red, medium-sized font, it was necessary to include <font> tags in the
actual content:
<p><font size="2" face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="red">
<b>This is my first paragraph.</b>
</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="red">
<b>This is my second paragraph.</b>
</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" color="red">
<b>This is my third paragraph.</b>
</font></p>
As is clearly demonstrated by the previous example, the HTML code has two problems. Firstly, the display code
actually represents more HTML than the content itself, and secondly, it is necessary to repeat the same display code
over and over.
The net result is HTML code that is bloated by display-related code. Worse still, if we decided at a later date that we
wanted to change all the text on our site to use an italic, blue font rather than a bold, red font, we would have to edit
the HTML code of every page on the site.
CSS allows us to get away from this far-from-ideal situation by allowing us to define style rules, known as classes.
We could set up a class wherein all content with the class applied would appear with our bold, red, medium-sized font.
For now, we'll call this 'myclass'.
<p class="myclass">This is my first paragraph.</p>
<p class="myclass">This is my second paragraph.</p>
<p class="myclass">This is my third paragraph.</p>
You can see from this example that there is now significantly less HTML code needed, and that there is no inherent
display-related code visible.
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The CSS code that defines 'myclass' looks like this:
<style type="text/css">
<!--
.myclass
{
font: bold 10pt verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;
color: red;
}
-->
</style>
With this system, were we to decide that we wanted to change all our text to use the italic, blue font, we would not
need to edit our HTML content at all. Rather, we would simply change the style rules defined in 'myclass', and all the
text with 'myclass' applied would automatically reflect the change.
Better still, the class definitions can be kept entirely separate from the HTML code by putting them into a .css file and
linking to the file from each HTML page. Therefore, updating a single .css file can change the style of an entire web
site, without having to edit a single HTML file.
To demonstrate the extent of use of CSS in vBulletin, here is a comparison of a page from the vBulletin.com web site
shown with and without CSS.
For a more complete discussion of exactly what CSS is, and how to use it, visit the following sites:
CSS Tutorial at W3Schools.com
CSS 2 Reference Guide at W3Schools.com
CSS 2 Specification at W3C.org
The following sections list and explain all the CSS classes and definitions used by vBulletin, so you can edit them
with confidence, knowing exactly what they control, where to use them, and how your edits will affect the look of the
system.
CSS Templates Back to Top
vBulletin stores all of its CSS in templates within the Style Manager. You can edit these templates in the same way
that you edit any other template. To get to them follow this process:
Styles & Templates > Style Manager > Edit Templates (on All Style Options Dropdown)
Once in the template list, double-click on CSS Templates. Then double-click on the template that you want to edit.
Additional.css Back to Top
Additional.css is a special blank template that you can use for your own customizations. It will not be overwritten or
merged on subsequent upgrades. You can also use this template to override the default CSS in the system.
additional.css is called on every page in the headinclude_bottom template.
Style Variables Back to Top
StyleVars (short for Style Variables) are PHP variables that contain a single value used for controlling the appearance
of some aspect of a vBulletin style. Stylevars are used in conjuction with CSS and Templates to control the look and
feel of your vBulletin site.
StyleVars are incorporated into CSS and Templates using the {stylevar} syntax. While Stylevars are primarily used
within CSS in vBulletin 4, they can be used in XHTML templates as well.
How Style Variables Interact with CSS Back to Top
vBulletin uses Style Variables to dynamically build your CSS during rendering either during page load or when the
files are written to the server, if you have enabled that option. This allows you to quickly and easily build different
styles that your users can choose from.
When you look at the CSS templates you will see code like this:
.postbit, .postbitlegacy, .eventbit {
margin-bottom: {vb:stylevar padding};
display:block;
width: 100%;
clear:both;
position: relative;
float: {vb:stylevar left};
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color: {vb:stylevar body_color};
border: {vb:stylevar postbit_border};
}
This code contains several style variables as denoted by the {vb:stylevar} tags. The vBulletin template engine will
retrieve the values of those style variables and insert them directly into the CSS as it is rendered.
CSS Math
Primarily used within CSS, this is used to evaluate the result of the mathematical expression specified.
{vb:math expression}
An example of this might look like:
height:{vb:math 8px + {vb:math {vb:stylevar font.fontSize}-1}};
This determines the height of an element based on the font size specified in the font style variable and an extra value
of 8 pixels.
Types of Stylevars Back to Top
There are different types of stylevars in the vBulletin 4.X system. The type of stylevar controls how it appears.
Simple Stylevars
Simple stylevars usually have a single option to set. These include strings, numbers, image paths, image names,
colors, and others.
String - Allows you to specify any string value
Numeric - Allows you to specify any numeric value
Url - These stylevars require a valid URL
Path - Simple relative path here i.e. ./images/
Color - Allows any valid CSS color value including named colors, RGB, and Hex Values. Provides a color
palette tool.
Image Directory - Allows you to specify a directory where images are located. This will be relative to the
directory the software is installed in.
Image - Allows you to specify a valid image type
Font List - Specify a list of fonts in comma delimited format for typography
Size - Set the size of elements. Includes a dropdown for the unit type (pt, px, em, etc...)
Complex Stylevars
Complex Stylevars have a variety of options usually denoting the complex nature of the setting. These stylevars
include backgrounds, fonts, text decoration, dimensions, borders, padding and margins.
Background - Specify the different attributes of a background. This includes image url, color, horizontal/vertical
offsets and repeat values.
Font - Specify the font for elements. Includes font family, size, weight, and transformation.
Text Decoration - Specify the text decoration of an element, e.g. underline, strike-through, overline.
Dimension - Sets the dimension of an element. Both horizontal and vertical be set.
Border - Sets the border of an element including left, right, top, bottom, width, variation and color.
Padding - Sets the padding around the contents of a block element.
Margin - Sets the margins of a block element. Note: To automatically center the contents of an element
horizontally, set the values for the left and right margins to auto.
Adding Stylevars Back to Top
Note:
This is a developer feature
If you are creating your own custom style, you can also add custom stylevars as of version 4.0.0. In order to do this,
your forums must be in debug mode.
To add a new stylevar, click the "Add New Stylevar" button on the Stylevar Manager. You will be able to define the
name, description, variable, group and type of stylevar. You can also assign your stylevar to a specific product for
export in a product.xml file.
Stylevar Dictionary Back to Top
The StyleVar Dictionary gives you the name and definition of every style variable in the system organized by the area
they affect.
Ads Back to Top
These style variables help control the layout and design of your ads.
Name Description
ad_margin This stylevar controls the margin of ads.
ad_padding This stylevar controls the padding of ads.
ad_post_maxWidth This stylevar controls the maximum width of ads in forum posts.
Album Back to Top
These stylevars allow you to control the layout and design of the user photo albums and their contents.
Name Description
album_content_width This stylevar controls the width of the user's album column on the main
album page.
albumedit_blockrow_border This stylevar controls the border of block rows in the edit album picture
page.
albumedit_maineditor_background This stylevar controls the background of the caption textbox in the edit
album picture page.
albumedit_maineditor_border This stylevar controls the border of the caption textbox in the edit album
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picture page.
albumedit_maineditor_width This stylevar controls the width of the caption textbox in the edit album
picture page.
albumlist_blockbody_background This stylevar controls the background of the album list.
albumlist_entry_background This stylevar controls the background of the album covers in the album list.
albumlist_entry_border This stylevar controls the border of the album covers in the album list.
albumlist_image_shadow_color This stylevar controls the shadow color of the album cover pictures in the
album list.
albumtop_margin This stylevar controls the width of the Picture URL and BB Code fields in
the album picture page.
picture_background This stylevar controls the background of pictures.
picture_border This stylevar controls the border of pictures.
picturelink_img_shadow_color This stylevar controls the shadow color of pictures.
AssetManager Back to Top
These stylevars control aspects of the Asset Manager window when you are uploading file attachments.
Name Description
assetmanager_attachment_background This stylevar controls the background of attachments in the
asset manager.
assetmanager_attachment_background_selected This stylevar controls the background of selected attachments
in the asset manager.
assetmanager_attachment_border This stylevar controls the border of attachments in the asset
manager.
assetmanager_attachment_color This stylevar controls the text color of attachments in the asset
manager.
assetmanager_border This stylevar controls the border of the asset manager.
assetmanager_panel_background This stylevar controls the background of panels in the asset
manager.
assetmanager_panel_color This stylevar controls the text color of panels in the asset
manager.
assetmanager_panel_footer_background This stylevar controls the background of panel footers in the
asset manager.
assetmanager_panel_footer_color This stylevar controls the text color of panel footers in the asset
manager.
assetmanager_panel_header_background This stylevar controls the background of panel headers in the
asset manager.
assetmanager_panel_header_color This stylevar controls the text color of panel headers in the
asset manager.
assetmanager_resize_background This stylevar controls the background of the area between the
different panels in the asset manager.
assetmanager_upload_background This stylevar controls the background of the file list in the
advanced uploader. If enabled, the advanced uploader is used in
the asset manager and in the Insert Image popup of the editor.
assetmanager_upload_color This stylevar controls the text color of the file list in the
advanced uploader. If enabled, the advanced uploader is used in
the asset manager and in the Insert Image popup of the editor.
Attachments Back to Top
These stylevars control the layout and display of attachments as it is displayed within content.
Name Description
attachment_box_background This stylevar controls the background of the box that contains attachments in
content that supports them.
attachment_box_border This stylevar controls the border of the box that contains attachments in
content that supports them.
attachment_box_fontsize This stylevar controls the font size of the box that contains attachments in
content that supports them.
attachment_box_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the box that contains attachments in
content that supports them.
attachment_image_large_max This stylevar controls the maximum size of inline attached images whose
size is set to "Large" in their Image Settings.
attachment_image_medium_max This stylevar controls the maximum size of inline attached images whose
size is set to "Medium" in their Image Settings.
attachment_image_thumbnail_max This stylevar controls the maximum size of inline attached images whose
size is set to "Thumbnail" in their Image Settings.
BBCode Back to Top
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Allows you to control the design of block level BBCODE like QUOTE, PHP, HTML, and CODE
Name Description
bbcode_code_background This stylevar controls the background of the [code], [html] and [php] BB code
blocks.
bbcode_quote_background This stylevar controls the background of quotes.
bbcode_quote_border This stylevar controls the border of quotes.
bbcode_quote_font This stylevar controls the font of quotes.
bbcode_quote_padding This stylevar controls the padding of quotes.
bbcode_quote_postedby_font This stylevar controls the font of the "Originally Posted by" text of quotes.
bbcode_table_border This stylevar controls the border of tables created with BB code.
Blocks Back to Top
The basic building blocks of many display elements in vBulletin.
Name Description
blockbody_background This stylevar controls the background of the block body. A block body is the
central part of a block, which usually contains one ore more block rows.
blockbody_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the block body. A block body is the central
part of a block, which usually contains one ore more block rows.
blockfoot_background This stylevar controls the background of block footers. A block footer is the
bottom part of a block, which usually contains action buttons.
blockfoot_border This stylevar controls the border of block footers. A block footer is the bottom
part of a block, which usually contains action buttons.
blockfoot_color This stylevar controls the text color of block footers. A block footer is the bottom
part of a block, which usually contains action buttons.
blockfoot_font This stylevar controls the font of block footers. A block footer is the bottom part
of a block, which usually contains action buttons.
blockfoot_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of block footers. A block footer is the bottom
part of a block, which usually contains action buttons.
blockfoot_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of block footers. A block footer is the
bottom part of a block, which usually contains action buttons.
blockfoot_padding This stylevar controls the padding of block footers. A block footer is the bottom
part of a block, which usually contains action buttons.
blockhead_background This stylevar controls the background of block headers. A block header is the
upper part of a block, which usually contains a title for the block.
blockhead_border This stylevar controls the border of block headers. A block header is the upper
part of a block, which usually contains a title for the block.
blockhead_color This stylevar controls the text color of block headers. A block header is the upper
part of a block, which usually contains a title for the block.
blockhead_font This stylevar controls the font of block headers. A block header is the upper part
of a block, which usually contains a title for the block.
blockhead_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of block headers. A block header is the upper
part of a block, which usually contains a title for the block.
blockhead_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of block headers. A block header is the
upper part of a block, which usually contains a title for the block.
blockhead_padding This stylevar controls the padding of block headers. A block header is the upper
part of a block, which usually contains a title for the block.
blockrow_background This stylevar controls the background of block rows. A block contains one or
more rows, in which data are displayed.
blockrow_border This stylevar controls the border of block rows. A block contains one or more
rows, in which data are displayed.
blockrow_color This stylevar controls the text color of block rows. A block contains one or more
rows, in which data are displayed.
blockrow_font This stylevar controls the font of block rows. A block contains one or more rows,
in which data are displayed.
blockrow_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of block rows. A block contains one or more
rows, in which data are displayed.
blockrow_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of block rows. A block contains one or
more rows, in which data are displayed.
blockrow_padding This stylevar controls the padding of block rows. A block contains one or more
rows, in which data are displayed.
blocksubhead_background This stylevar controls the background of block sub-headers. A block sub-header is
usually located below the block header, containing a descriptive sub-title for the
block, or is used to separate multiple block rows within the same block.
blocksubhead_border This stylevar controls the border of block sub-headers. A block sub-header is
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usually located below the block header, containing a descriptive sub-title for the
block, or is used to separate multiple block rows within the same block.
blocksubhead_color This stylevar controls the text color of block sub-headers. A block sub-header is
usually located below the block header, containing a descriptive sub-title for the
block, or is used to separate multiple block rows within the same block.
blocksubhead_font This stylevar controls the font of block sub-headers. A block sub-header is usually
located below the block header, containing a descriptive sub-title for the block, or
is used to separate multiple block rows within the same block.
blocksubhead_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of block sub-headers. A block sub-header is
usually located below the block header, containing a descriptive sub-title for the
block, or is used to separate multiple block rows within the same block.
blocksubhead_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of block sub-headers. A block sub-
header is usually located below the block header, containing a descriptive sub-title
for the block, or is used to separate multiple block rows within the same block.
blocksubhead_padding This stylevar controls the padding of block sub-headers. A block sub-header is
usually located below the block header, containing a descriptive sub-title for the
block, or is used to separate multiple block rows within the same block.
Global Back to Top
Style Variables that are used Globally throughout the vBulletin System
Name Description
body_background This stylevar controls the background of the body. The body is the area below the
header, which contains all other elements.
body_color This stylevar controls the text color of the body. The body is the area below the header,
which contains all other elements.
body_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the body. The body is the area below the header,
which contains all other elements.
border_radius This stylevar controls the radius of borders.
doc_background This stylevar controls the background of the document. The document is the outer area,
that contains all other elements.
doc_margin This stylevar controls the margin of the document. The document is the outer area, that
contains all other elements.
doc_maxWidth This stylevar controls the maximum width of the document. The document is the outer
area, that contains all other elements.
doc_minWidth This stylevar controls the minimum width of the document. The document is the outer
area, that contains all other elements.
doc_width This stylevar controls the width of the document. The document is the outer area, that
contains all other elements.
font This stylevar controls the font of any element.
htmldoctype This stylevar controls the type of the HTML document.
link_color This stylevar controls the link color of any element.
link_textDecoration This stylevar controls the link text decoration of any element.
linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of any element.
linkhover_textDecoration This stylevar controls the link hover text decoration of any element.
padding This stylevar controls the padding of any element.
shade_color This stylevar controls the text color of shaded text. Shaded text is usually used for
option and input field descriptions.
shadow_color This stylevar controls the shadow color of any element.
time_color This stylevar controls the text color of the time.
Buttons Back to Top
Define the look and feel of your Form Buttons and Action Controls with these stylevars
Name Description
control_background This stylevar controls the background of buttons.
control_border This stylevar controls the border of buttons.
control_color This stylevar controls the text color of buttons.
control_content_background This stylevar controls the background of content buttons. A content button is
a button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread, Reply to
Thread, etc.).
control_content_border This stylevar controls the border of content buttons. A content button is a
button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread, Reply to
Thread, etc.).
control_content_color This stylevar controls the text color of content buttons. A content button is a
button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread, Reply to
Thread, etc.).
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control_content_font This stylevar controls the font of content buttons. A content button is a
button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread, Reply to
Thread, etc.).
control_content_hover_background This stylevar controls the background of hover content buttons. A content
button is a button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread,
Reply to Thread, etc.).
control_content_hover_color This stylevar controls the text color of hover content buttons. A content
button is a button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread,
Reply to Thread, etc.).
control_content_padding This stylevar controls the padding of content buttons. A content button is a
button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread, Reply to
Thread, etc.).
control_content_radius This stylevar controls the radius of content button borders. A content button
is a button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread, Reply to
Thread, etc.).
control_content_shadow_color This stylevar controls the shadow color of content buttons. A content button
is a button used to create new content (such as Post New Thread, Reply to
Thread, etc.).
control_font This stylevar controls the font of buttons.
control_hover_background This stylevar controls the background of hover buttons.
control_hover_color This stylevar controls the text color of hover buttons.
Calendar Back to Top
These style variables control the look of your Calendar and Event pages.
Name Description
calendar_addnewcontrols_dt_margin This stylevar controls the margin of the calendar Add New
Event button.
calendar_events_a_daynum_color This stylevar controls the link color of day numbers in the
calendar monthly view.
calendar_events_a_daynum_color_hover This stylevar controls the link hover color of day numbers in
the calendar monthly view.
calendar_events_border This stylevar controls the border of days in the calendar
monthly and weekly views.
calendar_events_height This stylevar controls the minimum height of day cells in the
calendar monthly view.
calendar_events_ol_list_margin This stylevar controls the margin of day cells in the calendar
monthly view.
calendar_events_ol_list_width This stylevar controls the width of day cells in the calendar
monthly view.
calendar_mini_othermonth_a_border This stylevar controls the border of other month days in the
calendar.
calendar_othermonth_a_color This stylevar controls the text color of other month days in the
calendar.
calendar_othermonth_background_color This stylevar controls the background of other month days in
the calendar.
calendar_sidebar_width This stylevar controls the width of the calendar sidebar.
calendar_today_border_color This stylevar controls the border of the current day cell in the
calendar monthly view.
calendar_week_daynum_font_color This stylevar controls the text color of day numbers in the
calendar weekly view.
calendar_week_daynum_font_size This stylevar controls the font size of day numbers in the
calendar weekly view.
calendar_week_eventlist_birthdays_background This stylevar controls the background of the birthday area in
the calendar weekly view.
calendar_week_eventlist_birthdays_border This stylevar controls the border of the birthday area in the
calendar weekly view.
calendar_week_eventlist_birthdays_width This stylevar controls the width of the birthday area in the
calendar weekly view.
eventbit_dl_customfield_color This stylevar controls the text color of custom field names in
calendar events.
Comments Back to Top
These style variables affect the look of the different comments around your site. Comments are seen in the CMS,
Blog, Visitor Messages, Groups, and Albums.
Name Description
postbit_lite_background This stylevar controls the background of comments. A comment is a smaller-
looking type of message, such as group messages, visitor messages, etc.
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postbitlite_header_background This stylevar controls the background of comment headers. A comment is a
smaller-looking type of message, such as group messages, visitor messages, etc.
postbitlite_header_border This stylevar controls the border of comment headers. A comment is a smaller-
looking type of message, such as group messages, visitor messages, etc.
postbitlite_header_color This stylevar controls the text color of comment headers. A comment is a smaller-
looking type of message, such as group messages, visitor messages, etc.
postbitlite_header_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of comment headers. A comment is a
smaller-looking type of message, such as group messages, visitor messages, etc.
Common Back to Top
Common Elements used through out vBulletin includes your global font definitions
Name Description
big_fontSize This stylevar controls the size of big font.
content_msg_font This stylevar controls the font of non post content types. A non post content type
is any content except forums posts, private messages, forum announcements,
calendar events and user notes.
general_hilite_color This stylevar controls the background of general highlighted elements.
giant_fontSize This stylevar controls the size of giant font.
heavy_border This stylevar controls the border of any element that does not have a specific
border defined and that needs a border that stands out against nearby elements.
highlight_background This stylevar controls the background of highlighted text. The text is usually
highlighted by either using the [highlight] BB code or when it matches search
keyword(s).
highlight_color This stylevar controls the text color of highlighted text. The text is usually
highlighted by either using the [highlight] BB code or when it matches search
keyword(s).
image_max_size This stylevar controls the maximum size of images.
imodhilite_backgroundColor This stylevar controls the background of the content selected with inline
moderation.
light_border This stylevar controls the border of any element that does not have a specific
border defined and that needs a border that doesn't stand out against nearby
elements.
line_height This stylevar controls the height of the lines of most elements. The value of this
stylevar is always and only used as part of calculations, and not directly.
mid_border This stylevar controls the border of any element that does not have a specific
border defined.
mid_fontSize This stylevar controls the size of mid font.
navlinks_background This stylevar controls the background of the navigation links.
navlinks_border_top This stylevar controls the top border of the navigation links.
navlinks_color This stylevar controls the text color of the navigation links.
restore This stylevar controls the border of table cells.
restore_padding This stylevar controls the padding of table cells.
small_fontSize This stylevar controls the size of small font.
tabslight_border This stylevar controls the border of tabs. This is used by the calendar tabs only.
tabslight_selected_background This stylevar controls the background of the selected tab. This is used by the
calendar tabs only.
tabslight_size This stylevar controls the size of tabs. This is used by the calendar tabs and profile
tabs only.
tiny_fontSize This stylevar controls the size of tiny font.
Editor Back to Top
Control the look of your Editor and its toolbars.
Name Description
editor_autosave_notice_background This stylevar controls the background of the editor auto-save notice.
editor_background This stylevar controls the background of the editor.
editor_button_background This stylevar controls the background of editor buttons.
editor_button_background_hover This stylevar controls the background of hover editor buttons.
editor_button_disabled_opacity This stylevar controls the opacity of disabled editor buttons. The
entered value should be between 0 and 1.
editor_button_enabled_opacity This stylevar controls the opacity of enabled editor buttons. The
entered value should be between 0 and 1.
editor_button_selected_background This stylevar controls the background of selected editor buttons.
editor_button_selected_background_hover This stylevar controls the background of hover selected editor
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buttons.
editor_popupbody_background This stylevar controls the background of the editor popups.
editor_popupbody_color This stylevar controls the text color of the editor popups.
editor_popupbody_frame_background This stylevar controls the background of the editor popup frame.
editor_popupbody_frame_color This stylevar controls the text color of the editor popup frame.
editor_popupbody_tab_background_hover This stylevar controls the background of the editor popup hover tabs.
editor_popupbody_tab_color_hover This stylevar controls the text color of the editor popup hover tabs.
editor_smiliebox_smiliesize This stylevar controls the maximum size of smilies in the editor
smiliebox.
editor_text_color This stylevar controls the text color of the editor.
editor_toolbar_background This stylevar controls the background of the editor toolbar.
editor_wysiwyg_table_border This stylevar controls the border of tables in the WYSIWYG editor.
Footer Back to Top
Controls the look and feel of the Footer elements at the bottom of every vBulletin Page.
Name Description
footer_background This stylevar controls the background of the footer. The footer is the horizontal bar that
is displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_border This stylevar controls the border of the footer. The footer is the horizontal bar that is
displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_color This stylevar controls the text color of the footer. The footer is the horizontal bar that is
displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_copyright_color This stylevar controls the text color of the footer copyright notice. The footer is the
horizontal bar that is displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_copyright_font This stylevar controls the font of the footer copyright notice. The footer is the
horizontal bar that is displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_font This stylevar controls the font of the footer. The footer is the horizontal bar that is
displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of the footer. The footer is the horizontal bar that is
displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of the footer. The footer is the horizontal bar
that is displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_moz_shadow_color This stylevar controls the shadow color of the footer. The footer is the horizontal bar
that is displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the footer. The footer is the horizontal bar that is
displayed at the bottom of every page.
footer_time_color This stylevar controls the text color of the footer time. The footer is the horizontal bar
that is displayed at the bottom of every page.
Forms Back to Top
Name Description
form_columnleft_width This stylevar controls the width of the left column in forms. The left column of forms
usually contains option and input field names.
form_columnright_width This stylevar controls the width of the right column in forms. The right column of forms
usually contains option descriptions, the available option settings and input fields.
form_maxWidth This stylevar controls the maximum width of forms in new content creation pages. A
form is usually contained in a block, and it contains the block body and/or one or more
block rows.
formrow_background This stylevar controls the background of forms. A form is usually contained in a block
body, and may contain one or more block rows.
formrow_border This stylevar controls the border of forms. A form is usually contained in a block body,
and may contain one or more block rows.
input_background This stylevar controls the background of input fields.
input_border This stylevar controls the border of input fields.
input_color This stylevar controls the text color of input fields.
input_focus_background This stylevar controls the background of input fields when they have focus.
input_font This stylevar controls the font of input fields.
input_padding This stylevar controls the padding of input fields.
Forums Back to Top
Use these stylevars to determine how your forum lists look. Forum lists are shown on the Forum Home and Forum
Display pages.
Name Description
announcement_background This stylevar controls the background of forum announcements.
Announcements are displayed at the top of forumdisplay pages.
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forum_sidebar_width This stylevar controls the width of the forum sidebar.
forumbits_border This stylevar controls the border of forum rows in forum lists.
forumbits_shadow_color This stylevar controls the shadow color of forum rows in forum lists.
forumbits_text_color This stylevar controls the text color of forum rows in forum lists.
forumhead_background This stylevar controls the background of forum list headers.
forumhead_border This stylevar controls the border of forum list headers.
forumhead_color This stylevar controls the text color of forum list headers.
forumhead_font This stylevar controls the font of forum list headers.
forumhead_top_corner_radius This stylevar controls the radius of the top corners of forum list headers.
forumicon_size This stylevar controls the size of the space forum icons can take in forum lists.
forumrow_background This stylevar controls the background of forum rows in forum lists.
forumrow_firstentry_background This stylevar controls the background of the first forum row in forum lists.
To customize your "What's Going On" box on the Forum Home page, please see SecondaryContent
Groups Back to Top
Name Description
groups_row_background This stylevar controls the background of group rows.
icon_background This stylevar controls the background of group icons in the group main page.
Header Back to Top
This controls the look and feel of the header at the top of each page within vBulletin.
Name Description
header_background This stylevar controls the background of the header. The header is the horizontal bar
that is displayed at the top of every page, which contains the logo.
header_border This stylevar controls the border of the header. The header is the horizontal bar that is
displayed at the top of every page, which contains the logo.
header_color This stylevar controls the text color of the header. The header is the horizontal bar
that is displayed at the top of every page, which contains the logo.
header_font This stylevar controls the text font of the header. The header is the horizontal bar that
is displayed at the top of every page, which contains the logo.
header_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of the header. The header is the horizontal bar
that is displayed at the top of every page, which contains the logo.
header_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of the header. The header is the horizontal
bar that is displayed at the top of every page, which contains the logo.
header_margin This stylevar controls the margin of the header. The header is the horizontal bar that
is displayed at the top of every page, which contains the logo.
header_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the header. The header is the horizontal bar that
is displayed at the top of every page, which contains the logo.
toplinks_background This stylevar controls the background of the links in the top right corner of the
header.
toplinks_color This stylevar controls the text color of the links in the top right corner of the header.
toplinks_hilite_background This stylevar controls the highlighted background of the links in the top right corner
of the header.
toplinks_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of the links in the top right corner of the header.
toplinks_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of the links in the top right corner of the
header.
ImagePaths Back to Top
Tell vBulletin where to find the different images used to build the look and feel of the site.
Name Description
imgdir_attach This stylevar controls the path of the attachment image directory. This folder contains the
various icons used to represent different attachment file types.
imgdir_button This stylevar controls the path of the button image directory. This folder contains the various
images of the buttons that can be clicked to perform actions.
imgdir_cms This stylevar controls the path of the CMS image directory. This folder contains the various
images used in the vBulletin CMS.
imgdir_editor This stylevar controls the path of the editor image directory. This folder contains the button
and interface images for the editor.
imgdir_misc This stylevar controls the path of the miscellaneous image directory. This folder contains the
various images that do not fit into other image categories.
imgdir_pagination This stylevar controls the path of the pagination image directory. This folder contains the
various images used by the pagination.
imgdir_rating This stylevar controls the path of the rating image directory. This folder contains the various
images used to illustrate the rating applied to a content (such as threads).
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imgdir_reputation This stylevar controls the path of the reputation image directory. This folder contains the
various images used to display a user's current reputation.
imgdir_searchresults This stylevar controls the path of the search result image directory. This folder contains the
various images used by different content showed in search results.
imgdir_siteicons This stylevar controls the path of the site icon image directory. This folder contains the
various common icons used across all the site.
imgdir_statusicon This stylevar controls the path of the status icon image directory. This folder contains the
various icons representing the status of content (such as forums, threads, etc.).
titleimage This stylevar controls the file path of the logo. The logo is the image that is displayed on
every page in the top left corner of the header.
titleimage_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the logo. The logo is the image that is displayed on
every page in the top left corner of the header.
favicon This stylevar controls the file path of the favicon. The favicon is the small image displayed
in the browser address bar and near browser page title.
unknownsgicon This stylevar controls the file path of the icon used as group icon by groups that do not have
an icon specified.
Navbar Back to Top
Navbar
These style variables control the navigation tabs and submenus shown under the Header on every page.
Name Description
navbar_background This stylevar controls the background of the navigation bar.
navbar_border This stylevar controls the border of the navigation bar.
navbar_color This stylevar controls the text color of the navigation bar.
navbar_font This stylevar controls the font of the navigation bar.
navbar_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of the navigation bar.
navbar_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of the navigation bar.
navbar_margin This stylevar controls the margin of the navigation bar.
navbar_menu_height This stylevar controls the height of the navigation bar menu.
navbar_popupmenu_link_background This stylevar controls the background of the navigation bar popup
menu rows.
navbar_popupmenu_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of the navigation bar popup
menu rows.
navbar_popupmenu_link_hover_background This stylevar controls the background of the navigation bar popup
menu hover rows.
navbar_popupmenu_link_hover_color This stylevar controls the link color of the navigation bar popup
menu hover rows.
navbar_tab_background This stylevar controls the background of the navigation bar tabs.
navbar_tab_bevel This stylevar controls the inner top border of the navigation bar
tabs.
navbar_tab_border This stylevar controls the border of the navigation bar tabs.
navbar_tab_color This stylevar controls the text color of the navigation bar tabs.
navbar_tab_font This stylevar controls the font of the navigation bar tabs.
navbar_tab_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the navigation bar tabs.
navbar_tab_selected_background This stylevar controls the background of the selected navigation
bar tabs.
navbar_tab_selected_color This stylevar controls the text color of the selected navigation bar
tabs.
navbar_tab_selected_top_height This stylevar controls the height of the selected navigation bar
tabs. This is an extra height added to the normal height of the
navigation bar tabs.
navbar_tab_size This stylevar controls the size of the navigation bar tabs.
Notices Back to Top
Notices are announcements you can conditionally place on pages. This controls the appearance of those
announcements.
Name Description
notices_background This stylevar controls the background of notices. Notices appear at the top of every page, if
their conditions are met.
notices_shadow_color This stylevar controls the shadow color of notices. Notices appear at the top of every page,
if their conditions are met.
Mobile Back to Top
Mobile
These style variables only appear in the vBulletin Mobile Style
[table]NameDescriptionpadding_mobileThis stylevar controls the padding of any element.titleimage_mobileThis
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stylevar controls the file path of the logo. The logo is the image that is displayed on every page in the top left corner
of the header.htmldoctype_mobileThis stylevar controls the type of the HTML
document.imgdir_button_mobileThis stylevar controls the path of the button image directory. This folder contains
the various images of the buttons that can be clicked to perform actions.imgdir_cms_mobileThis stylevar controls the
path of the CMS image directory. This folder contains the various images used in the vBulletin
CMS.imgdir_misc_mobileThis stylevar controls the path of the miscellaneous image directory. This folder contains
the various images that do not fit into other image categories.imgdir_mobileThis stylevar controls the path of the
mobile style image directory. This folder contains the various images used in the mobile
style.imgdir_mobile_mobileThis stylevar controls the path of the mobile style image directory. This folder contains
the various images used in the mobile style.imgdir_rating_mobileThis stylevar controls the path of the rating image
directory. This folder contains the various images used to illustrate the rating applied to a content (such as
threads).imgdir_searchresults_mobileThis stylevar controls the path of the search result image directory. This folder
contains the various images used by different content showed in search results.imgdir_siteicons_mobileThis stylevar
controls the path of the site icon image directory. This folder contains the various common icons used across all the
site.imgdir_statusicon_mobileThis stylevar controls the path of the status icon image directory. This folder contains
the various icons representing the status of content (such as forums, threads, etc.).
Page Title Back to Top
Controls the look and feel of the page title on each vBulletin Page.
Name Description
pagetitle_background This stylevar controls the background of the page title.
pagetitle_border This stylevar controls the border of the page title.
pagetitle_color This stylevar controls the text color of the page title.
pagetitle_color This stylevar controls the text color of the page title description.
pagetitle_font This stylevar controls the font of the page title.
pagetitle_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of the page title.
pagetitle_linkhover_color This stylevar controls the link hover color of the page title.
pagetitle_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the page title.
Pagination Back to Top
These stylevars control the look and feel of the Page Navigation controls.
Name Description
pagination_background This stylevar controls the background of the page navigation.
pagination_border This stylevar controls the border of the page navigation.
pagination_color This stylevar controls the text color of the page navigation.
pagination_current_background This stylevar controls the background of the selected page in the page
navigation.
pagination_current_border This stylevar controls the border of the selected page in the page navigation.
pagination_current_color This stylevar controls the text color of the selected page in the page navigation.
pagination_font This stylevar controls the font of the page navigation.
pagination_hover_border This stylevar controls the border of the hover pages in the page navigation.
Polls Back to Top
Controls the look and feel of the poll result output within threads.
Name Description
poll_background This stylevar controls the background of polls.
pollbar1_background This stylevar controls the first background of the poll bars. This background will be
used once every six poll options.
pollbar2_background This stylevar controls the second background of the poll bars. This background will be
used once every six poll options.
pollbar3_background This stylevar controls the third background of the poll bars. This background will be
used once every six poll options.
pollbar4_background This stylevar controls the fourth background of the poll bars. This background will be
used once every six poll options.
pollbar5_background This stylevar controls the fifth background of the poll bars. This background will be
used once every six poll options.
pollbar6_background This stylevar controls the sixth background of the poll bars. This background will be
used once every six poll options.
pollbar_border This stylevar controls the border of the poll bars.
pollbar_height This stylevar controls the height of the poll bars.
pollbars_margin_size This stylevar controls the margin of the poll bars.
pollbars_result_bit_width This stylevar controls the width of the poll result area.
PopupMenus Back to Top
Controls the look and feel of various popup menus used in tools through a vBulletin Site. For the Navbar, see the
Navbar Stylevars
Name Description
popup_padding This stylevar controls the padding of popups.
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popupmenu_background This stylevar controls the background of popup menu.
popupmenu_border This stylevar controls the border of popup menu.
popupmenu_border_radius This stylevar controls the radius of popup menu borders.
popupmenu_color This stylevar controls the text color of popup menu.
popupmenu_font This stylevar controls the font of popup menu.
popupmenu_height This stylevar controls the height of popup menu rows.
popupmenu_link_background This stylevar controls the background of popup menu rows.
popupmenu_link_color This stylevar controls the link color of popup menu rows.
popupmenu_link_hover_background This stylevar controls the background of popup menu hover rows.
popupmenu_link_hover_color This stylevar controls the link color of popup menu hover rows.
popupmenu_padding This stylevar controls the padding of popup menu.
Postbit Back to Top
This controls the various aspects of the postbit templates. The postbit is the code for each post within a thread. If
you're looking for the stylevars to edit CMS Comments, Blog Comments, Group Comments, see Comments
Name Description
diff_add_background This stylevar controls the background of added text in the post edit history.
diff_remove_background This stylevar controls the background of removed text in the post edit history.
diffadd_color This stylevar controls the text color of added text in the post edit history.
diffremove_color This stylevar controls the text color of removed text in the post edit history.
post_title_font This stylevar controls the font of post titles. This includes forums posts,
private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user notes.
postbit_background This stylevar controls the background of posts. This includes forums posts,
private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user notes.
postbit_border This stylevar controls the border of posts. This includes forums posts, private
messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user notes.
postbit_color This stylevar controls the text color of posts. This includes forums posts,
private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user notes.
postbit_control_background This stylevar controls the background of the post buttons. This includes
forums posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and
user notes.
postbit_control_border This stylevar controls the border of the post buttons. This includes forums
posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user
notes.
postbit_control_color This stylevar controls the text color of the post buttons. This includes forums
posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user
notes.
postbit_control_font This stylevar controls the font of the post buttons. This includes forums
posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user
notes.
postbit_control_hover_background This stylevar controls the background of the hover post buttons. This
includes forums posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar
events and user notes.
postbit_control_hover_border This stylevar controls the border of the hover post buttons. This includes
forums posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and
user notes.
postbit_control_hover_color This stylevar controls the text color of the hover post buttons. This includes
forums posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and
user notes.
postbit_control_padding This stylevar controls the padding of the post buttons. This includes forums
posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user
notes.
postbit_deleted_background This stylevar controls the background of soft deleted posts.
postbit_font This stylevar controls the font of posts. This includes forums posts, private
messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user notes.
postbit_foot_background This stylevar controls the background of post footers. This includes forums
posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user
notes.
postbit_foot_separator This stylevar controls the line between different buttons in post footers. This
includes forums posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar
events and user notes.
postbit_userinfo_background This stylevar controls the background of the user information area in posts.
This includes forums posts, private messages, forum announcements,
calendar events and user notes.
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postbit_userinfo_border This stylevar controls the border of the user information area in posts. This
includes forums posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar
events and user notes.
postbithead_background This stylevar controls the background of post headers. This includes forums
posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user
notes.
postbithead_border This stylevar controls the border of post headers. This includes forums posts,
private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user notes.
postbithead_color This stylevar controls the text color of post headers. This includes forums
posts, private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user
notes.
postbithead_font This stylevar controls the font of post headers. This includes forums posts,
private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user notes.
postbitlegacy_userinfo_width This stylevar controls the width of the user information area in posts when
using the vertical (two column) post model. This includes forums posts,
private messages, forum announcements, calendar events and user notes.
postbittitle_border This stylevar controls the line between the post title and the post content.
This includes forum posts, forum announcements and private messages.
signature_border This stylevar controls the line between the signature and the post content.
This includes forum posts, forum announcements and private messages.
Profile Back to Top
These stylevars control the default user profile style and colors[/td]
Name Description
profile_content_subsection_border This stylevar controls the line between each infraction in the user
profile infraction tab.
profile_sidebar_avatar_backgroundColor This stylevar controls the background of profile pictures in user
profiles.
profile_sidebar_avatar_border This stylevar controls the border of images in the profile sidebar. This
includes profile picture, avatar, friends' avatars, group icons and album
covers.
profile_sidebar_avatar_maxWidth This stylevar controls the width of images in the profile sidebar. This
includes group icons and album covers.
profile_sidebar_width This stylevar controls the width of the profile sidebar.
profile_tiny_avatar This stylevar controls the size of avatars in the profile sidebar friend
block.
postbit_lite_background This stylevar controls the background of the left column.Warning: this
stylevar also controls the background of Comment areas.
SecondaryContent Back to Top
Secondary Content appears at the bottom of the Forum Home page. This is commonly referred to as the "What's
Going On" box.
Name Description
secondarycontent_background This stylevar controls the background of the "What's Going On?" block
on the forum home page and of the blocks at the bottom of forumdisplay
and showthread pages.
secondarycontent_border This stylevar controls the border of the "What's Going On?" block on the
forum home page and of the blocks at the bottom of forumdisplay and
showthread pages.
secondarycontent_color This stylevar controls the text color of the "What's Going On?" block on
the forum home page and of the blocks at the bottom of forumdisplay and
showthread pages.
secondarycontent_font This stylevar controls the font of the "What's Going On?" block on the
forum home page and of the blocks at the bottom of forumdisplay and
showthread pages.
secondarycontent_header_background This stylevar controls the background of the header of the "What's Going
On?" block on the forum home page and of the blocks at the bottom of
forumdisplay and showthread pages.
secondarycontent_header_border This stylevar controls the border of the header of the "What's Going On?"
block on the forum home page and of the blocks at the bottom of
forumdisplay and showthread pages.
secondarycontent_header_color This stylevar controls the text color of the header of the "What's Going
On?" block on the forum home page and of the blocks at the bottom of
forumdisplay and showthread pages.
secondarycontent_header_font This stylevar controls the font of the header of the "What's Going On?"
block on the forum home page and of the blocks at the bottom of
forumdisplay and showthread pages.
secondarycontent_subheader_fontSize This stylevar controls the font size of the sub-header of the "What's
Going On?" block on the forum home page and of the blocks at the
bottom of forumdisplay and showthread pages.
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Sidebar Back to Top
Sidebars are shown in the CMS, Forums and Blogs. These style variables control the global aspects of these sidebars.
CMS Widgets also take their formatting from the Sidebar Style Variables.
Name Description
sidebar_background This stylevar controls the background of sidebars.
sidebar_border This stylevar controls the border of sidebars.