vBulletin Web Hosting

V Bulletin Web Hosting

vBulletin is a community forum solution which is extremely affordable, reliable as well as professional. vBulletin is the ideal choice of thousands of clients worldwide including some of the leading blue chip companies. vBulletin is effectively instrumental in giving an instant community, a platform where visitors can interact, participate in discussions, get their queries and issues resolved, provide answers and solutions to each other’s problems and express opinions. The key of this community forum solution lies in the fact that visitors will return on a regular basis as your website gradually develops into a storehouse of information and a knowledge base of related data. The development team behind vBulletin is constantly working on providing the best possible services and modifications and keeping security and peak performance as the prime focus. The customer services at vbulletin.com include professional installation, upgrade services, telephonic support options, priority support to vBulletin community forums and online documentation and resources.

vBulletin is the flagship product of Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. which is a UK based new media company specializing in developing low-cost, high-performance web applications. vBulletin has been created to offer optimum speed and security and has been tested in real-life situations with over 1000 users online at the same time, and with over 3 million posts. vBulletin is developed using PHP and MySQL which are a highly efficient open-source databases. The high end technology behind it ensures increased reliability, stability and great speed. Its key features include the following:

• General Features:
• Database server and web servers can reside on separate machines.
• MySQL back-end database
• vBulletin can be run on any machine that can support PHP and MySQL (Solaris, BSD, Linux, Windows, Mac)
• Written in PHP making the product more efficient, fast and reliable.
• Admin Control Panel
• Moderator Control Panel
• User Control Panel
• Product is compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998.

• General Forum Features:
• Thread display options – sort by, sort order, from date
• Thread and forum subscription (notification by email optional)
• Thread preview on mouse-over (optional, via Admin CP)
• Active Users viewing thread shown
• New Post Indicator
• Printer Friendly versions on threads
• Admin tools for Threads – edit/delete/move/lock/Make sticky/ etc
• Email page to a friend option
• Similar Threads displayed on all thread views

• Posts:
• Linear, Threaded, Hybrid display views are available.
• Supports BB Code and HTML in posts.
• Smilies and Avatars
• Optional WYSIWYG or standard editors for posts and Private Messages.
• Attachment images (.gif,.jpg, etc) are no longer in the database (optional, via Admin CP)
• Quick reply box and preview posts.
• Post ratings and posts and view user reputation etc.
• Preview attachments and admin tools for posts like edit/delete/move etc. available for posts.

• Members:
• Member List and search.
• Private Messaging and Buddy List.
• Member Birthday reminders displayed on forum home.
• View who’s online and search for specific members.

• Calendar Features:
• Supports multiple private and public calendars.
• View public and/or private events or developments
• Weekly, monthly and yearly views.
• Option to show calendar event on forum home page (adminCP option).
• Show events to specific user groups (adminCP option)
• Calendar Moderation and the provision to add custom fields.

• User Control Panel Features:
• User profile can be edited. The user profile can be viewed by other members. Custom user title, URL home page, date of birth, instant messaging medium, location, occupation, biography, interests, vB version, plus any other custom user fields that may be defined by the administrator.
• Profile pictures are also allowed and members can upload their pictures in the users’ profile section.
• Private Messaging features include pop up notification when new messages are received; messages can tracked and can also be filed in custom folders.
• User options include Daylight Savings options, forum style chooser, selection of notification types for PM, emails etc, thread display options, WYSIWYG editor options, language chooser; vCard downloads to allow the user profile to be placed into an address book.
• Avatar options include admin defined avatars and custom avatars which can be uploaded from either the computer or by specifying a URL.
• Other general features under this category include management and viewing of subscribed threads and forums, subscribed threads and forums, Pop-up auto-refreshing buddy list with ICQ-style alerts, Signature Editor, joinable Public User Groups and current password requirement for Email and password changes.

• Admin Control Panel Features:
• Ability to create multiple styles which can be applied to different forums and users, a templated system and the ability to upload / download styles and languages.
• Language and phrase management features which include easy translation of forums into any language, phrase manager and support of multiple languages.
• Users and user groups features include user registration options, user banning by name and IP, unlimited Moderators and Super Moderators and permission system, based on user, user group or forums.
• The board maintenance features include task scheduler, control panel, moderator and task logs, board statistics, database backups and table repair.
• Calendar moderation and moderation queues for user registration and posting.
• Import posts and members seamlessly upgrade from other bulletin board systems, including Infopop’s Ultimate Bulletin Board, UBBThreads, OpenTopic, ezboard, and Ikonboard.
• Attachment features include multiple attachments, attachment thumbnails, storage type options for attachments as well as attachment moderation.
• Other general features include multiple calendars, paid subscriptions by (PayPal, WorldPay, NOCHEX and Authorize.net), private forums, COPPA compliant, server Settings and Optimization options configurable via the adminCP, Editable FAQ for your own boards and context sensitive help throughout the adminCP.

Installation of the vBulletin does not necessarily involve any technical know how and is fairly a simple process. The process involves uploading the software onto a server equipped with PHP and MySQL installed and run the integrated installation utility. Henceforth, the forum runs smoothly. The user manual is also available which provides comprehensive guide to installing, configuring and customizing your vBulletin forums. It also includes technical guides, including installation of PHP & MySQL as well as step by step instructions on backing up and restoring the database.