About Access Masks Related General Help Topics:
Users
User Tools
User Banning
Emailing Users
Access Masks

Access Masks:
Access Masks allow you grant permission to view a forum, or alternatively to deny permission to view a forum, on a per-user basis without making an additional usergroup. This works in conjunction with the Forum Permission system.

Note that inheritance applies here; if you allow a user to view a parent forum, they will also have access to any children forums.

You must enable access masks in your vBulletin options, otherwise changes made here will do nothing.]]> Access Masks For This Forum
Make sure access masks are enabled here or these user-level permissions will not work.]]> Modifying User Forum Access
You can also view a list of the users who are granted access, denied access, or all users with access masks related to a given forum. You can remove all access masks from a forum by clicking the Reset link next to it.

At the top of the page you can use the 'Delete All Access Masks' link to remove every access mask from all forums. (You will be prompted for confirmation, but be careful as this is not undoable!)

The 'Access Masks Quick Editor' allows you to list every access on a page, with Yes, No, and Default buttons for each mask to quickly mass-modify masks.]]> Access Masks Quick Editor Delete All Access Masks About Calendars Related General Help Topics:
Calendars
Calendar Permissions

Calendars:
vBulletin's calendar system is very advanced. In addition to allowing both public and private events, it allows you to have multiple calendars with usergroup permissions for each.

Calendar administration is relatively easy. vBulletin ships with a default calendar, with most options turned on. You can reach this calendar by clicking Calendar Manager under Calendars & Moderators in the left navigation bar. (see Modifying Calendars)

You can also assign moderators to each calendar. Follow the steps above to reach the calendar modification screen, then select 'Add' on the Moderator drop-down across from the appropriate calendar to start the process. (see Adding a Calendar Moderator)

Also on the Modify screen you can edit any existing moderators - simply select their name from the moderator drop-down and press Go. (see Editing a Calendar Moderator)

From the Modify screen, you can select to edit any calendar by choosing Edit from the Controls drop-down menu across from that calendar. (see Editing a Calendar)

After you have modified the default calendar, you may wish to add more. Click Add New Calendar under Calendars & Moderators in the left nav bar to add another calendar. (see Adding a Calendar)

After adding a calendar, you can add custom fields to facilitate easy entry of information that is particular to a given calendar. From the Modify screen, select Edit from the Controls drop-down across from the calendar you wish to add fields to, then select Add Field next to Custom Fields. (see Adding/Editing Custom Calendar Fields)

Permissions are usually the last thing to be given to a calendar, since it obviously must exist before they can be added. Each usergroup has default calendar permissions that are assigned to it when a new calendar is created. You can change these by clicking Calendar Permissions under Calendars and Moderators in the left nav bar. (see Modifying Usergroup Calendar Permissions)

The Holiday Manager allows you to add or remove holidays from the calendar system. Each calendar can be set separately to show or hide holidays; the Holiday Manager is where you determine what holidays show when holidays are turned on for a calendar. (see Modifying Holidays)]]> Adding a New Calendar
An example of usage of this would be if you have a forum for multiple high school sports teams, and each team is a different usergroup. You could have a calendar for each team, and each calendar could be configured to allow only those who are in the usergroup that corresponds to that team to add events while allowing everyone to view it.

The options on this screen are described below.]]> Title This is the title of the calendar, e.g. East High Basketball or No Birthdays. Display Order Custom Fields Adding/Editing Custom Calendar Fields)]]> Email Addresses to Notify When There is a New Event Entering email addresses here will cause an email to be sent to each address when a new event is posted to this calendar. Separate each address with a space. Moderate Events If this is set to Yes, the moderators you assign to this calendar or you as the administrator must view and approve each event before it is displayed on the calendar. Date Range 2000-2006. Due to the way PHP works, the maximum range is 1970 to 2037; entering dates outside this range may result in errors or problems.]]> Default Display This sets the default display of the calendar. You can choose either Monthly, Weekly or Yearly. Start of the Week This sets the default first day of the week for this calendar. If the user is logged in and has selected a different day in their User CP, it will override this setting. Event Title Cutoff Setting this to anything greater than 0 will only show that many characters of the event title on the Monthly View of this calendar. Setting it to 0 will always display the complete title, no matter how long, on the Monthly View. Event Count Birthday Count Show Birthdays on this calendar? Determines whether or not birthdays are shown on this calendar. No matter who has access to this calendar, all users birthdays will be shown if this is set to Yes. Show admin defined holidays on this Calendar Any holidays that you have added to the system, or those that appear on the Holiday Manager by default, will be shown if you set this to Yes. (Due to complex methods of determining the actual date of several holidays, including Easter, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and Pentecost, these are built-in, with a separate option to disable them below.) Show predefined holidays on this Calendar
For all other holidays - those that appear in the Holiday Manager - use the "Show admin defined holidays on this calendar" option above to enable or disable their display.]]> Show Saturday/Sunday on this calendar? Show upcoming events from this Calendar on forumhome? Display Calendar Events? under Forums Home Page Options in the vBulletin Options.]]> Allow HTML This allows users to use HTML while posting an event. It is strongly recommended that you DO NOT turn this on as it can severely compromise security and/or severely mess up layout if users insert malformed HTML. Even if you set this to Yes, users still cannot use certain tags, including javascript: and about:. Allow BB Code This will allow users to use vB Code in their events. Even if this is set to Yes, users will not be able to use the IMG code unless the below option is also set to Yes. Allow BB IMG Code This allows users to display images inline on the event page. If you set this to No, a link to the image will be displayed instead of showing the actual image. Allow Smilies Setting this to Yes will allow your users to type things such as :) and :( and have them automatically turned into the corresponding image. Adding/Editing Custom Calendar Fields
The options on this page are described below.]]> Title This is the title of the field as shown on the screen where events are entered and the screen where they are displayed. Description This description will appear next to this custom field on event posting pages. You should enter a description of and instructions for filling in this custom field. Options Enter one or more options for the user to select from for this field. Make sure to press Enter after each option. If you do not enter anything in this field, the user will be given an empty box in which to type their entry for this field. Allow user to input their own value for this Custom Field Enabling this option will allow the user to enter their own value for this custom field instead of being forced to choose from the values you have defined. Max length of allowed user input This is the maximum number of characters a user is allowed to enter if they are allowed to enter their own text for this field. You can select any number between 1 and 255, inclusive. Field Required If you select Yes, the user will be required to fill in this field when entering a new event. Adding a Calendar Moderator
The options on this screen are described below.]]> Moderator Username Enter the username of the moderator. This must be accurate or your moderator will not be added. Calendar Select the calendar that this moderator will have permissions on. If you wish for a user to have permissions in multiple calendars, you must add them as a moderator to each calendar separately. Can Edit Events Select whether the moderator may edit events on the calendar. Can Delete Events Select whether the moderator can remove events from the calendar. Can Move Events If this is set to Yes, this moderator will be able to move events from this calendar to other calendars. Can Moderate Events If you have the moderation queue for this calendar turned on, select whether or not you want this moderator to be able to approve and deny events from being added to the calendar. Can View IP Addresses Determines whether the moderator can view the IP addresses of event posters. Delete Custom Field Editing a Calendar
An example of usage of this would be if you have a forum for multiple high school sports teams, and each team is a different usergroup. You could have a calendar for each team, and each calendar could be configured to allow only those who are in the usergroup that corresponds to that team to add events while allowing everyone to view it.

This screen allows you to edit the settings and options of an existing calendar. The options on this screen are described below.]]> Editing a Calendar Moderator
At the top of the screen, clicking the Delete Moderator button will prompt you for confirmation to delete this moderator from this calendar.

The options on this screen are described below.]]> Modifying Calendars
Next to each calendar, in the Controls column, is a drop-down menu with a number of options. These are:
Edit Calendar: This will link you to the Edit Calendar page to change your calendar's settings. You can also edit a calendar by clicking on it's title. (see Editing Calendars)
View Calendar: This will take you to view your calendar as your users see it.
Remove Calendar: After confirming your choice, this will remove the selected calendar and all of its' custom profile fields and moderator list.
Edit Permissions: This allows you to set per-calendar, per-usergroup permissions for various functions of the calendar. (see Modifying Calendar Permissions)

Next to the options are the display order of your calendars. The display order affects the order in which the calendars are displayed in the "Jump To" menu in the frontend, and on this screen in the backend. Setting a display order to 0 will prevent that calendar from showing in the Jump To menu, but a user will still be able to access it by typing in the direct URL to it. If you modify the display orders, be sure to click Update Display Order at the bottom of the screen to save the changes.

On the extreme right are a list of each calendar's moderators. You can modify the moderator by selecting their name, or add a new moderator by selecting "Add New Moderator". (see Editing Calendar Moderators and Adding Calendar Moderators)

At the bottom of the screen is a link to add a new calendar.]]> Modifying Holidays
Note that due to the complex methods used in determining the actual dates each year, several holidays are built-in and you cannot edit or remove them. (They can be disabled through a separate option on the Add / Edit Calendar screen.) These holidays include Easter, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and Pentecost.]]> Delete Calendar Delete Holiday Delete Moderator Adding/Updating Holidays Description The holiday description is displayed on the View Event screen. Short Name This is a short name for the event and is only used internally. It may only contain letters, numerals and the underscore character and must start with a letter. Title The title of the holiday is shown on the Weekly and Monthly views of the calendar as well as at the top of the View Event screen. Description The description of the holiday accepts vB Code as well as smilies. You can choose to not convert smilies if you wish. This field will not convert HTML. Recurring Option You can set this holiday to recur once every year on a certain date, or a particular day in a particular month (i.e. the first Sunday in June). Convert smilies? If this is set to Yes, typing smilies in the description (just as when typing a post) will be converted to their graphical equivalents. About User Infractions
The first step in the system is the creation of Infraction Levels. These levels will vary based on the content of the forum and the scale of the system that you wish to create. You can create just a few levels or can get very detailed with many levels covering a myriad of forum infractions.

When creating levels, keep in mind a point total at which you wish to start penalizing users by taking away permissions. If you envision taking away a certain permission when a user accumulates 10 infraction points then you need to consider how many points will be given for each infraction and how quickly the user can get to 10 points.

Each infraction level has an expiration time. When the infraction expires, the associated points are removed from the user's point total and the user's infraction groups are recalculated.

Infraction levels can also be allowed to be given as warnings. A warning does not add any infraction points to the user's point total. Warnings serve as a method to remind user's of your forum's rules and encourage them to be followed without awarding infraction points. Moderators have the ability to give an infraction or a warning for those levels that have the warning ability enabled.

The second step in the system is to create Infraction Groups that penalize users in the manner that you wish.

Normal permissions work by combining all of a user's usergroup permissions and granting a permission for any that have a yes. Infraction group permissions work in the reverse as all infraction group permissions are combined and any permission with a No is taken from the user. You should set up your infraction usergroups (in the Usergroup Manager) by setting all permissions to Yes and then setting those that you wish to take away to No.

A user can have multiple infraction groups as they will gain all groups that apply to their primary usergroupid that have a point total less than or equal to their accumulated points.]]> Override Display Adding/Editing Infraction Groups -- All Usergroups --. Every infraction group that pertains to a user's primary usergroup will be added to a user's infraction groups when the user's infraction points are greater than or equal to the infraction group's points.]]> Points Primary Usergroup -- All Usergroups-- will apply this infraction group to all users. Otherwise this infraction group will be added to a user's infraction groups when their Primary Usergroup matches this one and the user accumulates infraction points greater than or equal to the points given for this group.]]> Override with Permissions from Usergroup No then the user will lose that permission. No permissions override Yes permissions.]]> Extend Title Expires Points This is the number of points that are awarded for an infraction. Every infraction level must award at least 1 point. A users combined point score is used to determine which infraction groups to place him or her into. Warning User Infractions From this screen you can view and modify your current infraction levels and infraction groups. About Control Panel Log Related General Help Topics:
Statistics
Control Panel Log
Moderator Log
Scheduled Task Log

Control Panel Log:
The Administrator's Log allows you to keep tabs on your co-admins, or have a record of IP address(es) and activity in case of a break-in. Each time an action is performed in the Administrator's Control Panel, it is logged. The information stored includes the username, their IP address, the script involved, the script section in use, and additional information which varies depending on the action being performed.

You can restrict other administrators from viewing and/or pruning the Administrator's Log by modifying your includes/config.php file. (see Restricting Access to the Admin Log)]]> Selecting Admin Log Viewing Options
Under Viewing, you have four options to limit your log search. These are explained below.

Once you have made your selection, press View Logs.

If you wish to prune your log, the pruning selector is very similar. The options are also described below.

Keep in mind that these options are cumulative. If you select JoeBlow for option #2 and enter 40 for option #3, you will remove all entries by JoeBlow that are more than 40 days old.]]> Viewing: Log Entries to Display Per Page This limits how many entries are shown on each page. If you have a slower connection it is recommended you select a lower number. Viewing: Show only access to this script Allows you to only view accesses to a particular script, such as announcement.php or forum.php. Viewing: Show only logs generated by If you wish to only view logs that were generated by the actions of one person, select their username here. Viewing: Order log entries by You can order the entries by date created, script accessed, or the user who performed the action. Pruning: Remove entries relating script You can remove entries based on which script was being used at the time the entry was made, such as forum.php or template.php. Pruning: Remove entries logged by user This allows you to delete entries from one particular admin. Pruning: Remove entries older than days You can easily remove old logs using this option. Logs found that are older than this date will be removed. Prune Control Panel Log Reasons for an IP address not resolving There are many reasons why your IP address might not have been able to be resolved. These include a server being down, not allowing reverse DNS, or your server timing out while waiting for a response. Restricting access to the Admin Log
Access control to the admin log is not controlled through the control panel for security reasons.
Access to the admin log is controlled with two variables which are located in includes/config.php file.

Both variables can take either a single number, or a list of numbers separated by commas, each representing userids which have access to the admin log.

If you would like to change the current access permissions to the adminlog, you may do so by opening includes/config.php in a text editor and modifying the following variables

 $config['SpecialUsers']['canviewadminlog'] = '1,10';
 $config['SpecialUsers']['canpruneadminlog'] = '1';
This will restrict viewing access to this script to only you (usually userid 1) and the member with userid 10. Access to prune entries from the log is restricted to you (usually userid 1).

If the $canviewadminlog line is omitted from config.php, or if the value is blank ($config['SpecialUsers']['canviewadminlog'] = '';), all administrators will have access to view the admin log.
Conversely, if the $config['SpecialUsers']['canpruneadminlog'] line is omitted or blank, nobody will be granted pruning permission.

Example config.php
]]> Viewing the Admin Log
Log ID: This is simply an internal ID used for cataloguing.

Username: This is the person who performed the action.

Date: This is the date and time the action was performed.

Script: This is the script involved. Most scripts' names are self-explanatory. For example, viewing the admin log would generate a log item with the script "adminlog.php".

Action: This is the action that the user performed. This may not always be easily understood, as it is the internal action name, not necessarily a verbose description of the action.

Extra Info: For some actions, this records extra bits, such as what userid was being modified, or which template was being edited.

IP Address: This is the IP address that was logged while the user was performing the action. Clicking on the address will attempt to resolve the IP address; that is, put it into an actual machine name and/or domain name. Sometimes this is not possible to do; see Reasons for an IP address not resolving.

At the bottom of the page, if there are more entries than could be displayed on one screen, you will find links to view the first page, previous page, next page, and last page. These buttons appear as necessary. For example if you are on the first page, the First Page and Previous Page buttons will not appear.

To return to the main screen, choose Restart from the bottom of any page.

You can restrict access to this script, or just to the pruning function or just to the viewing function. See Restricting Access to Admin Log.]]> About Administrator Permissions Related General Help Topics:
Usergroups
Forum Permissions
Administrator Permissions

Administrator Permissions:
vBulletin allows you to restrict administrator access to the Admin CP on a per-admin basis. In this way you can create co-administrators without giving them total access to mess up your forums.

Your userid # must be given access in the config.php file in order for you to access this page. Please see this help topic for instructions.]]> Dismissed vBulletin.com News Items
To reset this, simply remove all contents from this field.]]> Editing Administrator Permissions On this screen you see the various permissions you can grant or deny for the user you chose to edit. They are described below. Can Administer Settings This setting determines whether an admin will be able to access the Options area of the Admin CP. Can Administer Styles Can Administer Languages Can Administer Forums Can Administer Threads Can Administer Calendars Can Administer Users This setting determines whether an admin will be able to access the Users, Usergroups, User Titles, User Ranks, User Reputations, and User Profile Fields areas of the Admin CP. Can Administer FAQs This setting determines whether an admin will be able to access the FAQ area of the Admin CP. Can Administer User Permissions This setting determines whether an admin will be able to access the Usergroup/Forum Permissions and Access Masks areas of the Admin CP. Can Administer Avatars/Icons/Smilies This setting determines whether an admin will be able to access the Avatars, Post Icons, and Smilies areas of the Admin CP. Can Administer BB Codes This setting determines whether an admin will be able to access the Custom BB Codes area of the Admin CP. Can Administer Cron This setting determines whether an admin will be able to access the Scheduled Tasks area of the Admin CP. Can Run Maintenance Tools This setting determines whether an admin will be able to access the Maintenance area of the Admin CP. Can Administer Plugins This setting determines whether or not an admin will be able to manage the plugins used by your forum. Control Panel Style Choice Here you can set the style this admin sees in the Admin CP. (They can override this setting on the login screen - this is merely their default.) Administrator Permissions Manager
From here you can link to the Admin Log for a particular user by clicking View Administrator Log, or edit their area permissions by clicking Edit Permissions. Click their username to edit the user's profile.]]> About User Reputations User Reputations:
vBulletin's user reputation system provides a way of rating users based on the quality of their posts. Users on your forums can add or subtract reputation points from other users by clicking the reputation link in their posts. You can set restrictions on the giving and taking away of reputation points by users in your vBulletin options.

User reputations allow the users in your community to tell vBulletin which users are quality and which users are not. And in response to user feedback, vBulletin has the ability to label and reward users for the quality of their posts, as is indicated by their reputation.

You can label quality users by defining reputation levels in the User Reputation Manager. User reputation levels work very similar to user titles and user ranks in that they are an indicator of status that are displayed next to names in posts.

You can reward quality users by creating promotions on the Promotions page. Promotions are used to change a user's group memberships when they meet certain conditions, one of which can be their reputation level. Because forum permissions can be controlled with group memberships, a user's reputation in conjunction with promotions can be used to control a user's forum permissions. And so by using a combination of user reputations, promotions, and group permissions, you can enable your community to reward and punish good and bad posters on your forums.]]> Adding a Reputation level This allows you to add a new reputation level. Level Description This is what is displayed for the user when their reputation points are above the amount entered as the minimum. Minimum amount of reputation points required for this level Delete Reputation Click View Reputation Comments This is a list of reputations clicks that match your search criteria. You can edit or delete specific clicks by selecting those links to the right of each reputation click. Editing a Reputation Level This allows you to edit an existing reputation level. Edit Reputation Rebuild User Repuation.]]> Comment This is the reason this reputation click was given. Users may be able to view this reason depending on their group permissions. Reputation This is the number of reputation points granted by this reputation click. It can be positive or negative. View Reputation Comments This page allows you to search for reputation comments left by / for specific users over the specified date range. Reputation Comments Left For To limit the comments left for a specific user, enter the username here. Leave this field empty to receive comments left for every user. Reputation Comments Left By To limit the comments left by a specific user, enter the username here. Leave this field empty to receive comments left by every user. Start Date Select a start date for this report. Select a month, day, and year. The selected statistic must be no older than this date for it to be included in the report. End Date Modifying Reputation Levels
From this screen you can also choose to edit or remove any single level. Click the Edit link to modify the Level description (see Editing a Reputation Level) or click Remove to delete a level. If you remove a level or modify the minimum reputation needed to be at a level, all users will be updated to reflect their new level if necessary.]]> Delete Reputation About Announcements Announcements:
vBulletin's announcement system allows you to communicate important information to your users. While there are other methods for doing this (such as Sticky threads), announcements have several distinct advantages: you can use HTML without enabling it in a forum (which is very dangerous), you can set the announcement to not appear until sometime in the future and automatically disappear on a certain date, and you can add an announcement to show up in all forums.

If you have multiple announcements in a forum, global announcements included, they will all be displayed in one thread, which can be accessed by clicking on the title of the most recent announcement on forumdisplay.

Announcements are never automatically removed. When the End Date set for an announcement is reached, it will disappear from end-user view. It can be removed or reactivated from the Admin CP at any time. To reactivate an expired announcement, simply change the End Date to some date in the future.

To add an announcement, click Add New Announcement under Announcements in the left navigation bar, or click New across from the forum it should apply to. (see Adding Announcements)

Once you have one or more announcements, you can view a list of them and the forums they belong to. Click Announcement Manager under Announcements in the left navigation bar to see a list of your forums and announcements. From here you can create a new global or forum-specific announcement, or modify or remove an existing one. (see Modifying Announcements)

From here, click Edit to modify the properties or text of an announcement, or Delete to remove it. (see Editing Announcements)]]> Adding Announcements Options on this page are described below. Forum Title This is what will show on the forum listing screen as the name of the announcement. Start Date This determines how long the announcement is shown. If this date is in the future, the announcement will be hidden until this date arrives. End Date not be deleted after the end date; rather it will simply be hidden from the end-user. You will still be able to view, edit, and/or reactivate the announcement from the Admin CP or Mod CP after the End Date.]]> Text This will accept HTML, vB Code, and/or Smilies, depending on how you set the following options. Allow BB Code This lets you use the standard vB Code in your announcement, as if you were writing a post on your forum. Allow Smilies This will translate text such as :) and :( into the actual smilie images, again as if you were writing a post. Allow HTML This lets you use standard HTML in your announcement. Remember to close all tags or it could mess up the layout of your announcement page when viewed by the end-user! Editing Announcements Options on this page are described below. Reset Views Counter to Zero Modifying Announcements
At the top are global announcements; these show in all forums. There is a button labeled New that you can click to add a new global announcement. (If you don't currently have any global announcements, this section will not show. In this case, to add a new global announcement, click Add New Announcement in the navigation bar.)

Below that you will find a list of every forum, along with lists of announcements in each forum. Remember that just because an announcement is listed here does not mean it is viewable by the end-user. Announcements are not automatically deleted after their end date - you must manually remove them (by clicking the Delete link next to the announcement), or you can reactivate them (by clicking the Edit link next to the announcement and choosing a new end date that is after today's date).
You can view the announcements as your users see them by clicking on a forum name.

To create a new announcement in a specific forum, click the New button across from that forum name.]]> Delete Announcement About Attachments Related General Help Topics:
Attachments
Moderating Content

Attachments:
vBulletin supports file uploads to posts, called post attachments. Post attachments are useful in attaching any kind of file that relates to a post including images, text files, pdfs, zips, and any other file type you allow to be attached to posts.

vBulletin provides you with two options for storing post attachments: 1) you can store them in the database or 2) you can store them in the file system on your web server. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. The database is more efficient with storage space and is easier to backup than individual files. However, storing attachments in the database is also an extra burden on the database when users download attachments. Other considerations include how you want to restrict access to attachments, whether you want to use vBulletin's permission system or directory permissions like htaccess.

vBulletin's attachment system allows you to specify maximum file sizes for each type of file you allow to be attached. Some file types tend to belong to larger files (videos and images versus text for example) and this ability allows you to take that into consideration.

On the topic of maximum file sizes, vBulletin allows you to limit the total size of all of a user's attachments at the group level (see the Usergroup Manager). This is useful in preventing any one user from taking up too much storage with their attachments.

Another nice feature of vBulletin's attachment system is its support for thumbnails. When a user posts an image attachment you can configure vBulletin to generate a miniature version of the image (called a thumbnail) that is linked to the larger version of the image. This is useful in preventing large inline image attachments from stretching your forum layout. You can configure thumbnails and many other attachment options in your vBulletin options. If you are using the ImageMagick library, then you may be able to create thumbnails from additional image types: BMP, TIF, PSD, and PDF. You should have the latest versions of ImageMagick and Ghostscript installed for creating thumbnails from PDF files. Thumbnailing large PDF files may still cause problems so use this option with caution.

Like other forum permissions in vBulletin, the ability of a user to post attachments can be set at the group level (see the Usergroup Manager), and at the group level for a specific forum (see Forum Permissions).]]> Delete Attachment Upload Select an attachment from your computer. The current attachment will be replaced with the selected file. The current attachmentid will be retained. Editing an Attachment You can edit or replace an existing attachment on this screen. The options are described below. Remote Upload
http://images.vbulletin.com/images_vb3/misc/vbulletin3_logo_white.gif]]> Filename You can change the filename of an existing attachment here. Views This is the number of times that the attachment has been viewed (or downloaded). Visible Moderate.]]> Searching for Specific Attachments Results of Searching Attachments)

At the top are several links to common searches. These are:
Largest Attachments: This searches attachments, ordering them by size, largest first.

Most Popular Attachments: This sorts a search of attachments by number of downloads, most downloads first.

Newest Attachments: This searches attachments and sorts them by date, newest first.

Oldest Attachments: Selecting this shows all attachments, sorted by date with oldest first.


Attachment Pruning finds attachments older than a certain date, with 30 days being the default. Enter the desired age and press View Results.

Under Advanced Attachment Search, you can use specific criteria to do a custom search. The criteria entry boxes are described below.]]> Pruning: Find All Attachments Older Than X Days You can search for attachments older than X days and on the following screen quickly prune them. Filename This is a case-insensitive search of the filenames to see if the string you enter is contained in it. This includes extensions (e.g. .jpg or .txt). Attached By If you wish to limit the search to attachments posted by one user, enter their username here. Attached Before Enter a date that attachments must have been attached before. The format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. For example, 2002-04-30 12:02:01. Use a 24 hour clock; that is, convert 01:02:02 PM into 13:02:02. Attached After You can also set a starting date, where the attachment must have been attached after this date. The format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS. For example, 2002-04-30 12:02:01. Use a 24 hour clock; that is, convert 01:02:02 PM into 13:02:02. Note if you use both Attached Before and Attached After, Attached After must be a date before Attached Before or there will be no search period! More Than X Downloads Finds attachments that have had more than X downloads, X being the number you specify. Less Than X Downloads Finds attachments that have had less than X downloads, X being the number you specify. Note if you use both More Than and Less Than X Downloads, the More Than number must be less than the Less Than number or there will be no search range! Filesize Greater Than not KiloBytes.]]> Filesize Less Than not KiloBytes! Note that if you are using both Filesize Greater Than and Filesize Less Than, Filesize Greater Than must be less than Filesize Less Than or there will be no range to search!]]> Attachment Is Visible No will find only those attachments.]]> Order By You can order your search results by several options, either ascending or descending. They are Attached By, Downloads, Filename, Filesize, Time Attached, Visible. This will not affect your search, only how the results are displayed. Attachments to Show Per Page Determines how many results are shown on each page after you click Find Attachments. It is recommended you do not set this too high for performance reasons. Delete Attachments Delete Attachment Type Results of Searching Attachments Searching for Specific Attachments)

From this screen, you are shown the following:
Filename: This is the filename of the attachment. Clicking on the filename will show you the attachment itself if it is an image, or prompt you to download the file if it is another type of attachment.

User Name: This is the user that posted the attachment. Clicking their name will take you to edit their profile.

Date: This is the date the attachment was posted. Next to the date is a link to view the post that the attachment belongs to.

Size: This is the size, in KB (KiloBytes), of the attachment.

Downloads: This is how many times the attachment has been downloaded.

At the extreme left is a column of checkboxes. You can check them individually or click the box in the header row to select them all. Clicking "Delete Checked Attachments" will remove the selected attachments.

At the extreme right is a link to delete an attachment.]]> Viewing Attachment Statistics
From top to bottom: Statistics:
Total Attachments: This is the total number of attachments on your forum.

Disk Space Used: This is how much disk space is consumed by all attachments combined.

Storage Type: Where the attachments are being stored, either in the database or the file system, and if they are in the file system, the actual path to them.

Average Attachment Filesize: This is the average size of an attachment, determined by dividing the number of attachments into the total disk space used.

Under Five Most Popular Attachments, the columns are:
Rank: The rank of the attachment.

Filename: The filename of the attachment. Clicking on it will show you the attachment, if it is an image, or prompt you to download it if it is another file type.

User Name: This is who posted the attachment. Clicking on the username will bring up the edit user page for that individual.

Downloads: This is how many times the attachment has been downloaded by users.

To the left are several other options.
View Post shows you the post that the attachment was attached to.

Delete: Choose this to remove the attachment.

The Five Largest Attachments is nearly identical, save for having a Size column instead of a Downloads column. The Size column indicates the actual byte size of the attachment, in KB (KiloBytes).

Five Users Whose Attachments Take Up The Most Space shows you at a glance who is attachment-happy. For each user in the top five (if there are not five users who have made attachments, only those who have will be shown) their name, number of attachments, and the total size of those attachments is displayed. Clicking View Attachments at the end of each row will find all of the attachments that the user has posted. (see Searching Attachments)]]> Switching Attachments from the Database to the File System and vice-versa Attachments will not be removed from the database or filesystem and your storage type setting will not be changed until the end of the process.
If the process aborts before the end, you will need to free up space or prune attachments before trying again.

If you are moving attachments into the file system, it is recommended that you do *not* place the folder under your web root (usually named public_html or www or www_root) because people will be able to bypass vBulletin's permission system and download them. Also, you will need to make the folder writeable by PHP. The easiest way to do this is CHMOD it 777 (consult your FTP, Telnet, or SSH documentation for more info on how to do this). We do not recommended that you put a folder that is CHMODed 777 under your web root - another good reason to have it located above the document root.

If you are moving attachments from the file system into the database, you must have enough storage space on the drive and/or partition where your database is located.]]> Attachment File Path Modify Attachment Types On this screen you can see all of the types of attachments that you currently allow to be uploaded. From here you can Edit or Delete any type by clicking the appropriate link, or click Add New Type to add another type of attachment. Modifying An Attachment Type On this screen you can set various options regarding the file type you are editing. Extension vb.net has an extension of net.]]> Max File Size You can set the maximum size of uploaded files per type. This number is in bytes. Max Height If this type is an image, this sets the maximum height that the image may be, otherwise it is ignored. Max Width If this type is an image, this sets the maximum width that the image may be, otherwise it is ignored. MIME Type
The correct format for this field is
Content-type: type/subtype
For example, for JPEG images:
Content-type: image/jpeg

You can find a list of types and subtypes here.]]> Enabled If this is set to Yes, users will be allowed to upload files of this type. Otherwise they will not be, but this type will still be listed in your Admin CP. Open Attachment in New Window The setting dictates how the attachment is displayed to the user. It is common to have image attachments open in a new browser window/tab while you would want compressed files to open in the same window so that the application associated with the file type opens the file directly. Opening a new window for this type of file will result in a blank window being opened for some browsers. Maximum Height If this type is an image, this sets the maximum height that the image may be, otherwise it is ignored. Can use this extension Maximum Width If this type is an image, this sets the maximum width that the image may be, otherwise it is ignored. Max Filesize You can set the maximum size of uploaded files per type. This number is in bytes. About User Picture Storage Related General Help Topics:
Avatars, Post Icons, and Smilies
User Picture Storage

User Picture Storage:
vBulletin supports two storage types for avatars and profile pictures : database or file system.

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. The database is easier to backup than individual files. However, storing user pictures in the database is also an extra burden on the database when images are loaded on forum pages. Other considerations include how you want to protect access to the images, whether you want to use vBulletin's permission system or directory permissions like htaccess.]]> Switching User Pictures from the Database to the File-System and Vice-Versa
If you are moving images into the file system, you will need to create a directory within your forums folder (/images/customavatars is a good one) for their storage. Unlike when you are storing attachments in the file system, this folder must be accessible from the web (usually CHMOD 777).

If you are moving images from the file system into the database, you must have enough storage space on the drive and/or partition where your database is located.]]> URL to Profile Pictures
./customprofilepics

for the Profile Picture File Path option, you would set this option to
customprofilepics]]> URL to Avatars
./customavatars

for the Avatar File Path option, you would set this option to
customavatars]]> Avatar File Path
A setting of
./customavatars
would mean a directory called customavatars inside your forums root directory.]]> Profile Picture Path
A setting of
./customprofilepics
would mean a directory called customprofilepics inside your forums root directory.]]> About Database Backup Related General Help Topics:
Database Backup
Repair / Optimize
Update Counters
Diagnostics
Execute SQL Query

Database Backup:
vBulletin's backup script can be used to backup your forum's database. Please note, this backup script is not the recommended way to backup your database because it is subject to PHP timeouts, especially on large databases. If you use this script to backup your database you might get an incomplete backup.

The recommended backup method is to use the mysqldump command via telnet / SSH. Please view these instructions on how to make a backup of your database using the command line via Telnet or SSH.]]> Making a Backup of Your Database
Save data to file on server is similar to how mysqldump works on the command line. This is still subject to PHP timing out, so we cannot recommend this one either if you have a choice. If you must use it, enter the path to and filename of the backup file you want to create. It can have any extension, though you might want to name it .sql to remind you what it is. As is noted on that page, PHP must have write access to the directory you specify. Usually this means you must CHMOD the directory 777. Consult your FTP documentation on how to do this.

CSV Dump of data produces a CSV (comma-separated values) file that can be imported via the command line or phpMyAdmin. This is also subject to PHP timeout as well as browser timeout since this, like the first option, is dumped to screen. You choose one table at a time, the separator character (note this; it is important when you import the file later), what quotes around the data should be, and whether or not to show column names.]]> Path and name of file to save backup to
For example, if you want to save the backup file in your user's home directory then just enter a file name here, like "forumbackup.sql". If you want to save the file in a directory below your user's home directory then enter the path in front of the file name, like "/path/to/directory/forumbackup.sql".

The filename must end with the .sql extension.]]> Table Name Select the database table you want to backup. The records in this table will be saved to the backup file. Separator Character The separator character is used to separate each field, which by default, is a comma. Quote Character Add Column Names This option will add the column names as the first line in the CSV file. This is useful for spreadsheet programs. Making a Backup of your Database via Telnet/SSH
Type 
mysqldump --opt -uUSERNAME -p DATABASENAME > /path/to/dump.sql
and press Enter. (Replace USERNAME, DATABASENAME, and /path/to/dump.sql with your MySQL username, the database name, and the path and file name of where you want to place the backup.) You will be prompted for your password. Type it in and press Enter. You will be returned to the command prompt when the command finishes; this should take between 30 seconds and a few minutes to complete, depending on your database size.

Verify that you have a dump.sql in the /path/to area you specified. If you don't, and you didn't receive any errors, double-check the path you entered is where you are looking. If you are positive you are looking where you told it to place the file, ask your host to search the server for your file, or create another backup.]]> About User Banning Related General Help Topics:
Users
User Tools
User Banning
Emailing Users
Access Masks

User Banning:
The banning pages in the Users tab of the Admin CP allow you to ban users and view users which are currently banned.

You can ban users at the Ban User page of the Moderator Control Panel. You are given a choice of ban length and banned usergroup to which you want to move the user. If you want a usergroup to be used for banning then you need to enable the "This Usergroup is a 'Banned' Group" option for that group in the Usergroup Manager; all usergroups with this option enabled will show up as selectable banned usergroups on the Ban User page.

Additionally, you can view a list of currently banned users on the View Banned Users page of the Moderator Control Panel. This page shows you all current temporary and permanent bans and gives you the option to lift any bans you choose.]]> Ban User Here you can ban a user by username. Username Enter the username of the user you want to ban. Move User to Usergroup Select your banned user group. Lift Ban After... Select the length of the ban. Reason to show the user This text will be shown to banned users when they login or try to access a forum page. Banned Users About BB Code BB Code:
BB Code is a special coding system, similar to HTML, where you type in tags around your text and the text is formatted. For example, typing:

[b]My Text[/b]

...would produce:

My Text

It is a safe and easy way to allow your users to format their posts. It does not have the security risks of allowing HTML, and users cannot mess up page layouts by accidentally leaving a tag open. You as the admin control what tags are available to your users.]]> Adding a new BB Code
Explanations of the options on this screen are listed below.]]> BB Code Title BB Code user explanation screen, along with all other below options except "Use Option".

]]> BB Code Tag eg. For the bold tag, you type [b] - the BB Code Tag for this is simply b without the brackets.

]]> BB Code Replacement eg. [b]My Text[/b] turns into My Text. To create that tag, enter
<b>{param}</b>
If you were to create a tag like the URL tag, you would use {option}. The URL tag can be used like this:
[url]http://www.example.com[/url]
which turns into
http://www.example.com/
It can alternatively be used like this:
[url=http://www.example.com/]My Site[/url]
which would turn into this:
My Site
This is actually two different tags with the same code to make it easy on the end-user.
To create the first tag, you would enter
<a href="{param}">{param}</a>
To create the second, you would enter
<a href="{option}">{param}</a>
If you are using options, option is what is entered within the tag, e.g. www.example.com in the following:
[url=www.example.com]
{param} is what is entered between tags, e.g. My Site in the following:
[url=www.example.com]My Site[/url]
You will always use '{param}', but you will only use '{option}' when "Use Option?" is "yes" and you need a second bit of input from the user as in the above example.]]> BB Code Example e.g. to demonstrate the use of the [b] tag, you would enter [b]Some Text[/b].]]> BB Code Explanation This is a piece of text to describe the BB code tag. This can include HTML tags if you wish. Use {option} Button Image (Optional) If you would like this bbcode to appear as a clickable button on the message editor toolbar, enter the URL of an image 21 x 20 pixels in size that will act as the button to insert this bbcode. Editing BB Codes This screen allows you to modify the properties of an existing BB Code. The options are explained below. Viewing/Removing BB Codes
Across, the columns are:
Title: The title of the BB Code.
BB Code: The actual code that is used for the BB Code.
HTML: The BB Code example parsed into HTML.
Replacement: The results of displaying the HTML.
Button Image: If you specified an image for this to appear on the toolbar it will be displayed here.
Controls: Edit or Delete BB codes from here.]]> Testing Your BB Codes Delete BB Code About Calendar Permissions Related General Help Topics:
Calendars
Calendar Permissions

Calendar Permissions:
By default, users will have the permissions for their usergroup (see the Usergroup Manager) for each calendar. However, you might not want users of a particular usergroup to have access to every calendar. In that case, vBulletin allows you to create custom permissions for a specific calendar for a specific usergroup. This is useful in restricting certain calendars for certain usergroups.]]> Editing Calendar Permissions On this screen you set up calendar permissions for the specific calendar and usergroup. Options are described below. Use Usergroup Default/Custom Settings If you select Use Usergroup Default, the group will be reverted to default permissions for this calendar. If you select any custom permissions and have not set this to Use Custom Settings you will be warned. If you ignore the warning and set custom permissions without setting this to Use Custom Settings, the settings will not be saved. Can View Calendar Can Post Calendar Events
Please note, the way events work has been changed from vBulletin 2.2.x. The idea of "public" and "private" events has been changed to a single event type; therefore, there is now only one option regarding posting events. Whether or not events are "public" is determined by the setting Can View Other's Events, below. (see Can View Other's Events)]]> Can Edit Own Events If this is set to No, users in this usergroup will not be able to edit events they have posted on this calendar. This is overridden when a user in this usergroup is a moderator of this calendar and is allowed to edit events according to his moderator permissions. Can Delete Own Events If this is set to No, users from this usergroup will not be allowed to remove events they posted on this calendar. This is overridden if the user is also a moderator of this calendar and has his moderator permissions set to allow him to remove events. <![CDATA[Can View Others' Events]]>
Please note, the way events work has been changed from vBulletin 2.2.x. The idea of "public" and "private" events has been changed to a single event type; therefore, there is now only one option regarding posting events. Whether or not events are "public" is determined by this setting. If it is set to Yes, events on this calendar would be "public". Otherwise they would be "private". (see Can Post Calendar Events)]]> Posted Events are Not Moderated Modifying Calendar Permissions From here you can set custom permissions for any usergroup for a specific calendar. For each calendar you have, each usergroup is listed. If the name of the group is red, they already have custom permissions set. If the name is white, they are using default permissions. To change permissions, click Edit next to the group name you wish to change, under the calendar you wish it to apply to. About Scheduled Tasks Related General Help Topics:
Scheduled Tasks
Scheduled Tasks Log

Scheduled Tasks:
vBulletin's scheduled tasks system is used to perform regularly needed tasks at certain time intervals. Scheduled tasks are basically vBulletin cron jobs.

One benefit of the scheduled tasks system is that common vBulletin tasks, like updating view counters and sending emails, can be queued up and performed all at once which reduces the average server load. This can make a huge difference on high traffic forums. You can choose to schedule common vBulletin tasks in your vBulletin options.]]> Adding a Scheduled Task On this screen you add a new scheduled task. Active If this is set to No, the script will no longer be executed automatically though it will still be possible to use the Run Now button if required. Description This is the description of the scheduled task. It is only used for your information in the control panel, and can be anything you wish. Varname This is a short name for the task and is only used internally. It may only contain letters, numerals and the underscore character and must start with a letter. Log Phrase The log phrase allows you to phrase the entries that appear in the admin log. You need to call log_cron_action() with a 1 for the third parameter to invoke the phrase in the log viewer. Otherwise the value saved in the description field will be displayed as is. You may also save the description field in serialized form if your havemore than one replacement in your phrase. Title This is the title of the scheduled task. It is only used for your information in the control panel, and can be anything you wish. Day of the Week This is the day of the week the task should run on. Set this to * to have it not apply, or for it to run every day (if Day of the Month is set to * below). Otherwise select a specific day. Note that this will override the day of the month option, unless this is set to *. Day of the Month Set this to the specific day of the month the task should run. This is overridden by the Day of the Week setting above. Set this to * to have it not apply. Hour This is the hour of the day the task should run. Set it to * to have it run every hour. Minute This is the minute of the hour the task should run. Set it to * to have it run every minute (not really recommended!). Log Actions If this is set to Yes, every time the scheduled task runs, a log will be made indicating that the task was run, and in certain cases, additional information will be provided (e.g. for the Birthday Email task, the usernames who were sent birthday wishes will be noted). Filename ./includes/cron/
Note the . at the beginning - this indicates that the following is an absolute path from the current directory, not from the root of the server (as /includes/cron would indicate). You could also write the above as
includes/cron
The file to be run should not echo anything or send output to screen.]]> Editing Scheduled Tasks On this screen you edit an existing scheduled task. Product This controls what product this task is associated with. You do not need to worry about this option unless you are planning on making an addon for vBulletin to be released. Scheduled Tasks
The columns across the top are:
m: (Minute) This is the minute that a task runs. If this is an asterisk it runs every minute.
h: (Hour) This is the hour of the day that a task runs. If this is an asterisk it runs every hour.
D: (Date) This is the day of the month (numerically) that a task runs. If this is an asterisk it runs every day.
M: (Month) This is the month of the year that a task runs. If this is an asterisk it runs every month.
DoW: (Day of Week) This is the day of the week that a task runs. If this is an asterisk, it defers to the Day setting.
Title: This is the title of the task.
Next Time: This is the next time the task is scheduled to run. You can run it immediately using the Run Now button at the far right.
Controls: This column contains a drop-down with Edit and Delete controls, and a Run Now button to run the task immediately.

At the bottom of the screen you can use the Add New Scheduled Task button to add a task.]]> Delete Scheduled Task About Scheduled Task Log Related General Help Topics:
Statistics
Control Panel Log
Moderator Log
Scheduled Task Log

Scheduled Task Log:
The scheduled task log contains log entries for every scheduled task that has been run since you last pruned the log. This log is useful in confirming that your scheduled tasks are running at their proper times. Log files can also be useful sources of information when you are tracking down a problem.]]> Viewing/Pruning the Scheduled Task Log On this screen you select the options to view or prune your Scheduled Task Log. A log entry is generated every time a Scheduled Task runs that has been set to be logged. Options are described below. Viewing: Log entries to display per page This determines how many log entries are displayed on each results page. Do not set this too high or your browser could crash. <![CDATA[Viewing & Pruning]]> Viewing: Show only entries generated by...
If you wish to only view logs generated by a particular script, select it from the list here.

Pruning: Remove Entries Related to Action
If you wish to only prune entries related to a certain script, select it from this list.]]> Viewing: Order Log Entries By Select how you wish to order your results. Choices are Date and Action. Pruning: Remove Entries Older than Days Select how many days old log entries must be before they will be deleted and enter that number here. The default is 30. Pruning Scheduled Task Logs
If no entries match your pruning criteria, you will be shown an error message.]]> Viewing Scheduled Task Log Search Results
The Result column displays extended information about each entry, if available.]]> About Common Templates, StyleVars, and CSS Related General Help Topics:
Styles & Templates
Common Templates, StyleVars, and CSS
Replacement Variables

Common Templates:
The header, headinclude, and footer templates are considered common templates because they are included / parsed on every forum page.

The header, headinclude, and footer templates are respectively represented in the templates by the $header, $headinclude, and $footer variables. The parsed contents of these three templates are substituted in for these variables when a forum page is loaded.

The header template contains the HTML code that makes up the top portion of your forum layout, including the title image and openning table code for the content table in which your forum content is displayed.

The contents of the headinclude template are inserted within the <head></head> tags on each forum page. Meta tags, style sheets, scripts, etc are added here.

The footer template contains the HTML code that makes up the bottom portion of your forum layout, including the closing table tags for the content table in which your forum content is displayed and the vBulletin copyright notice.

StyleVars:
The StyleVars on this page include the "Size and Dimensions", "Image Paths", and "Miscellaneous" tables below. These settings control various style related aspects of your forum pages. These stylevars are represented in the templates as:

$stylevar[var_name]

These stylevar variables are parsed into their corresponding values when a forum page is loaded. By representing commonly used stylevars as variables in the templates it is very easy to change them - just edit their values on this page and the changes will take effect for all forum pages.

CSS:
vBulletin uses CSS classes for its various page elements. These page elements all call on the various CSS classes defined here. Therefore, you can change the attributes of all page elements that use a CSS class by editing the class on this page. A good site to learn CSS is w3.org.

Note that several CSS attributes are color fields which use standard HTML color codes. You can click on the color box to the right to pull up the color picker window where you can visually pick a color by clicking on it. vBulletin will automatically insert the corresponding color code for the color you pick. The small button to the left of the close box allows you to switch color palettes for more choices. The dotted box on the top left represents no color (transparent).]]> Editing the Images, Fonts and other Style Options Header The header template contains the HTML code that makes up the top portion of your forum layout, including the title image and openning table code for the content table. Headinclude Footer The footer template contains the HTML code that makes up the bottom of your forum layout, including the closing tags for the content table and everything below it. Main Table Width
For example, if you want your forum content to always fill the entire browser window regardless of window size / screen resolution then you would set this to 100%. On the other hand, if you want your forum content to exist within a fixed box then you would enter a pixel value here... for example, 800 or a little less is optimal for 800x600 resolution.]]> Spacer Size options[forumhome]}.php" target="_blank">forumhome page, for example, you will notice there is a gap between the boxes that contain your forums and the outside border of your forum layout. This setting controls how large that gap is.]]> Outer Border Width
An example of a table cell is one of the boxes on your forumhome page that contains a linked forum name and its description.]]> Inner Border Width
An example of a table cell is one of the boxes on your forumhome page that contains a linked forum name and its description.]]> Table Cell Padding
An example of a table cell is one of the boxes on your forumhome page that contains a linked forum name and its description.]]> Form Element Spacer Size Form Width
Enter a number of pixels followed by a "px" (e.g., 640px).]]> User Control Panel Form Width Edit Profile page.

Enter a number of pixels followed by a "px" (e.g., 480px).]]> Message Area Width
Enter a number of pixels followed by a "px" (e.g., 540px).]]> User Control Panel Message Area Width Send New Private Message form, for example (if you have the PM feature enabled).

Enter a number of pixels followed by a "px" (e.g., 380px).]]> Code Block Width
Enter a number of pixels followed by a "px" (e.g., 640px).]]> Title Image
For example, if your title image is named titleimage.gif and you upload it to the images directory in your forum directory, then you would enter this: images/titleimage.gif]]> Button Images Folder
Enter a directory path that is relative to your forum directory (e.g., images/buttons).]]> Item Status Icon Folder
Enter a directory path that is relative to your forum directory (e.g., images/statusicon).]]> Attachment Icons Folder
Enter a directory path that is relative to your forum directory (e.g., images/attach).]]> Miscellaneous Images Folder
Enter a directory path that is relative to your forum directory (e.g., images/misc).]]> Text Editor Controls Folder
Enter a directory path that is relative to your forum directory (e.g., images/editor).]]> Poll Images Folder
Enter a directory path that is relative to your forum directory (e.g., images/polls).]]> Ratings Images Folder
Enter a directory path that is relative to your forum directory (e.g., images/rating).]]> HTML Doctype
At this time, vBulletin 3 defaults to the XHTML Transitional DTD of:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">]]> Reputation Images Folder
Enter a directory path that is relative to your forum directory (e.g., images/reputation).]]> About Diagnostics Related General Help Topics:
Database Backup
Repair / Optimize
Update Counters
Diagnostics
Execute SQL Query

Diagnostics:
The diagnostics page contains several diagnostics that are useful for troubleshooting problems with your forums.

The "Upload" diagnostic tests file uploading functionality on your server. If your server isn't configured correctly for file uploads then several vBulletin features will not work including custom avatar uploads and post attachments.

The "Email" diagnostic will send a test email to the address you specify. If you receive the test email then PHP and your mail server are configured correctly. Otherwise they are not configured correctly and you need to contact your host. Without email functionality you will not be able to use any email features on your forums including email verification on registration and "send to friend."

The "Suspect File Versions" diagnostic checks the version of every PHP file in your forum directory and tells you which ones are for different versions of vBulletin than the one you are running. Running files that are not meant for your version of vBulletin can cause any number of problems. If any files are for different versions then you should upload the originals from the vBulletin zip file for the version you are running.

The "System Information" diagnostics report on your MySQL configuration and the status of your database. vBulletin team members may ask you to give them the output of these reports to help them troubleshoot problems with your server and forums.]]> Email Settings Test This is the results of your Email Settings test. If any errors occurred during the test, they will be listed, along with the values of several pertinent settings. System Information Results
The various types of information you can be shown is described below:
MySQL Variables is a list of the MySQL variables that are set. Please visit the following pages for more information on MySQL variables and their meanings: MySQL Variables, Tuning Server Parameters.
MySQL Status shows the status of many things related to the MySQL server. For more information on the items listed on this page, visit MySQL Status.
Table Status: If you are running MySQL 3.23 or higher, you can also view this page of information. The following link provides more information about the information displayed on this page: MySQL Table Status.]]> Upload Settings Results
For more information on the various PHP settings, please visit the following links:
file_uploads
open_basedir
safe_mode
upload_tmp_dir
upload_max_filesize
]]> Suspect File Versions All files listed below are suspected to be for different versions of vBulletin than the version you are running. You should overwrite the files listed below with the original files from the vBulletin zip file for your version. Running Diagnostic Tests On this page you can run several diagnostics to try and troubleshoot file uploading and email distribution. Additionally you can view three different sets of system information. More information is available below. View... System Information Results)]]> Email In this test, you must enter a valid email address to send a test email to. After you do so and click Submit, vBulletin will attempt to email the address and will show the results, noting errors, if any, that occurred. Filename For this test, you need to select a file to upload to the server. This file will be removed immediately after the test is completed and it will not be stored on the server for more than about 1/2 second. After you select a file, press the Submit button to run the test. Test Communication Payment API Manager. If anything below fails, then that means the corresponding payment processor is not currently working with your forum - that means you either set the wrong parameters for that processor or something is wrong with the processor itself.]]> About Emailing Users Related General Help Topics:
Users
User Tools
User Banning
Emailing Users
Access Masks

Emailing Users:
The email pages in the Users tab of the Admin CP allow you to send mass emails and generate mailing lists based on the same search criteria you use to search for users on the Search for Users page.

You can email users on the Send Email to Users page and you can generate a mailing list of email addresses on the Generate Mailing List page. Both pages use the same search criteria. vBulletin emails / includes in the mailing list only users whose profiles match the search criteria you specify. One obvious application of these email features is to send out mass emails notifying your members of updates to your forums. Other applications include sending warning emails to inactive users before you prune their accounts or otherwise deal with them.]]> Generating a List of User Emails
Keep in mind all criteria are cumulative; that is, if you enter a username string to match and select a usergroup, users that match the username string AND are in the selected group will be found, but those that match only one of the above will not.]]> Text To Separate Addresses By User Name Contains
For example, the string exam would match example, anexample, and theexam, but not exsiam.]]> Usergroup Is Users must be in the specified group to be emailed if you select a usergroup here. Also Belongs to Usergroups
Users must belong to all groups that are selected!]]> Include users that have declined admin emails? Enabling this option will send emails to users who have chosen not to receive emails. Email Contains Username Contains for information on the string matching used here.]]> <![CDATA[Parent's Email Contains]]> Username Contains for information on the string matching used here.]]> Is COPPA User If this is set to Yes, the user(s) found will all be COPPA users; that is, under 13. Set this to No to not find COPPA users, or leave it blank to find both. Homepage Contains Username Contains for information on the string matching used here.]]> ICQ Number Contains Username Contains for information on the string matching used here.]]> AIM Handle Contains Username Contains for information on the string matching used here.]]> Yahoo Messenger Handle Contains Username Contains for more information on the string matching used here.]]> MSN ID Username Contains for more information on the string matching used here.]]> Signature Contains Username Contains for more information on the string matching used here.]]> User Title Contains Username Contains for more information on the string matching used here.]]> Join Date is After Join Date is Before)]]> Join Date is Before Join Date is After)]]> Last Activity is After Last Activity is Before Last Visit is After Last Visit is Before)]]> Last Visit is Before Last Visit is After)]]> Last Post is After Last Post is Before)]]> Last Post is Before Last Post is After)]]> Birthday is After Birthday is Before)]]> Birthday is Before Birthday is After)]]> Number of Posts is Greater Than or Equal To Number of Posts is Less Than)]]> Number of Posts is Less Than Number of Posts is Greater Than or Equal To)]]> Reputation is Greater Than or Equal To Reputation is Less Than)]]> Reputation is Less Than Reputation is Greater Than or Equal To)]]> IP Address Contains Enter a number in this field to search by IP address. It can be a full IP address (such as 24.23.120.15) or a partial (such as 24.23.120). In the case of a partial, it would match users with any number(s) for the last block. Mass Emailing Users
Keep in mind all criteria are cumulative; that is, if you enter a username string to match and select a usergroup, users that match the username string AND are in the selected group will be found, but those that match only one of the above will not.]]> Just a Test If this is set to Yes, no one will actually be emailed, but vBulletin will proceed as if they were, showing you who would be sent an email. Messages to Send at Once This is the number of messages to be sent in a batch. Unless you run your own server, it is recommended this is set to 100 or less. Even if you do run your own server, unless it is not very busy, you should keep this relatively low. From Subject Enter the subject line of the email here. Message $userid: This is the user's userid. Normally this won't mean much to a user, but if you are, for example, sending an email telling users what their referrer link is, you would need to include the userid like this:
www.mysite.com/myvb/index.php?refererid=$userid
which would then give the user credit if another user follows that link and registers.
$activateid and $activatelink are only applicable if you have Email Verification turned on and the user has not verified their address yet. $activatelink is the link that the user needs to visit to activate their account. $activateid would be used if you are manually typing out that link, otherwise it is of no use.
$username: If you want to personalize the email, or remind the user what their username is, use this variable.
$email: This is the email address on file for the user. It is useful if you wish to include a line to the effect of
This email was sent to $emailaddress which was used to register an account at the vBulletin Community Forums.
Please note you can not send passwords in emails because they are now encrypted in the database. You can, if you wish, direct users to the Lost Password page which is located at
http://www.yoursite.com/yourvb/login.php?do=lostpw]]> About FAQs FAQs:
The vBulletin FAQ system allows you to create infinitely nestable sets of entries, or questions, and additionally allows end-users to search the FAQs. FAQs are typically a collection of Frequently Asked Questions, while vBulletin's FAQ system is something of a FAQ / Knowledge Base hybrid because of its searchability.

vBulletin ships with a number of default sets and entries that are focused on using vBulletin from the end-user's perspective. You may wish to add additional FAQs that answer questions about your specific forum configuration - forum permissions for example.

The FAQ system also supports multiple languages. Each FAQ entry can have a translation for each language in the Language Manager. When a user loads a FAQ page vBulletin will display it's FAQ entries in the language in which the current logged in user is viewing your forums.]]> Product This controls what product this FAQ is associated with. You do not need to worry about this option unless you are planning on making an addon for vBulletin to be released. Adding FAQ Entries and Sets On this screen, you add a new FAQ entry or set. The options are described below. Short Name This is a short name for the faq and is only used internally. It may only contain letters, numerals and the underscore character and must start with a letter. Parent FAQ Item Any entry or set in the FAQ can be the parent for another item. Set the parent of this item here. Title
For entries, it can also be thought of as the "Question", which the "Text" answers. It does not have to be unique, but should be unique to this set of entries to minimize confusion.

For sets, it should be descriptive of what kind of questions are in the set.]]> Text Display Order This determines the order in which entries for a particular set are displayed. Languages Delete FAQ
Any children of this FAQ will be deleted as well. This action cannot be undone!]]> Editing FAQ Entries and Sets This screen allows you to modify each option for the selected FAQ entry or set. Options are described below. FAQ Administration
You start at the top level of the FAQ. At the very top it says "FAQ" - this will expand to become a navigation bar as you drill down into the FAQ levels. Below this is a list of the top two levels of your FAQ structure. To view lower levels, click the parent of the level you wish to view. For example, under vBulletin FAQ, click User Maintenance to view all entries associated with that topic, and child sets (if any). Or, click vBulletin FAQ to view the entries associated with all three children of vBulletin FAQ.

You can edit a set's or entry's properties from here by clicking edit across from the item name. (see Editing FAQ Entries and Sets)

You can add additional sets or sub-sets. To do so, click Add in the left nav bar, or click Add Child across from the item you wish to add an item under. (see Adding FAQ Entries and Sets)]]> About Forums Related General Help Topics:
Forums
Forum Permissions
Moderators
Viewing Permissions

Forums:
There are two kinds of forums, a forum and a category. Forums can allow new threads and posts while categories cannot. Categories are used to group forums by topic. Forums of related topics are typically created as children of a parent category to group them by topic.

When adding / editing a forum there is an option called "Act as Forum". When this option is set to "Yes" the forum will act as a forum. When this option is set to "No" the forum will act as a category.]]> Adding a Forum Options on this page are listed below. Title This is the title of the new forum. You may use HTML in this, but be aware this will also be used as the title of the page. Since HTML formatting is not valid in the title of a page, it will be shown as plain text, and will look odd. Description This description is shown under the forum name on your forums home page, and on the forums listing page (forumdisplay.php). Link to other page If you enter a URL in this box, the forum will not be a real forum. Instead it will simply be a link to the URL you enter. Display Order This determines the order in which forums are displayed anywhere they are listed. If you set this to 0, the forum will not be displayed to end-users anywhere unless the user manually types in the URL to access it. Parent Forum If you want this to be a subforum of another forum, select that forum from this list. If not, select (No One). Default View Age Default Sort Field
Note that to select sorting by thread rating, ratings must be enabled for this forum. If they are not, the forum will be sorted by last post.]]> Default Sort Order This controls the order that threads are shown in by default. Users may still selectively override this setting and resort using the controls at the bottom of the thread list. Show Private Forum
Either of the yes options will allow users to see this forum if they don't have access to it. The ability to see the forum's post count is controlled by the two yes options. If the forum is passworded, it is treated as a private forum until the user enters the valid password.

Setting this option to 'Use Default' will use the setting in Forum Display Listings Options for this forum.]]> Email addresses to notify when there is a new post Email addresses to notify when there is a new thread Moderate Posts If this option is enabled, then posts will not show up in this forum until a moderator approves them. Thread Moderation Queue Determines whether threads will require a moderator to approve them before being displayed. Attachment Queue Determines whether new attachments will require a moderator to approve them before being displayed. If you have this set to Yes and Moderator Queue set to No, until the attachment is approved the post will be displayed with a message indicating that the attachment has successfully been posted but requires moderation. Custom Style for this Forum You can select which style to use for this forum. This will override the Default forum style if selected. Override Users Custom Styles Selecting this will force the custom style you selected above to be used instead of the style a user has chosen to browse with. Password to Access not be allowed to access it.]]> Can Have Password If you set this to Yes, moderators will be able to set a password for this forum (even if you have given them the ability to do so in general). You as the administrator can still manually set a password for this forum, but unless you do so, if this option is set to Yes, it will not be password-protected even if parent forums are. Act as Forum If you set this to No, this forum will act as a category (that is, a non-posting forum that only exists to group other forums). Is Active This is equivalent to setting Display Order to 0, in that the forum will not be displayed anywhere but can still be accessed by typing in the URL manually. Open for New Posts This allows you to create a forum that acts as an archive - no one will be allowed to post to it, but you can still move threads into it. New Posts are Indexed by Search Engine not be indexed by the search engine. Such posts will not able to be searched for. This is desirable if you have a "Testing" type forum, or a forum that is chit-chat that you don't want indexed.]]> Allow HTML Code in posts strongly recommended that you DO NOT turn this on as it can severely compromise security and/or severely mess up layout if users insert malformed HTML. Even if you set this to Yes, users still cannot use certain tags, including javascript: and about:.]]> Allow vB Code in posts This will allow users to use vB Code in their posts. Setting this to Yes will not allow users to use the IMG code unless the below option is set to Yes. Allow BB IMG Code in posts This allows users to display images inline on the showthread page. If you set this to No, a link to the image will be displayed instead of showing the actual image. Allow Smilies in posts Setting this to Yes will allow your users to type things such as :) and :( and have them automatically turned into the corresponding image. Allow Icons for posts Setting this to Yes will allow users to select one icon for each post. This icon is displayed next to the title (if any) of each post and is also displayed on forumdisplay next to the thread title if an icon is set for the first post in a thread. Allow Thread Ratings in this Forum Setting this to Yes will allow your users to rate threads in this forum. They can rate them either at the bottom of showthread or while replying to a thread. Count posts made in this forum towards user post counts Show On Forum Jump Enable this option to show this forum and its children on the forum jump menu. <![CDATA[Editing a Forum's Settings]]>
If you change any of the posting options at the bottom of this page then you should rebuild your post cache to update the existing posts in this forum.]]> Apply this password to Child Forums will not have any effect if you do not change the existing password or add a new one.]]> Modifying Forums
Under the Forum Controls, across from each forum title, are the following options:
Edit: Lets you modify forum settings. (see Editing Forums)

Remove: Deletes the forum, any subforums, and posts in the forum and any subforums. This action cannot be undone, so it is highly recommended that you make a backup of your database before doing this.

Add Sub-forum: This allows you to add a forum that will be a child of the forum you select this for. (see Adding Forums)

Add Moderator: Lets you add a moderator to this forum. Moderators moderate the selected forum and any subforums of that forum. (see Adding Moderators)

Add Announcement: Allows you to add an announcement to this forum. (see Adding Announcements)

Move Contents: You can quickly move all the posts from the selected forum into another forum.

Empty Forum: Selecting this will (after confirmation) remove all the threads in a forum.

In the next column is Display Order. This determines what order forums are displayed in anyplace they are shown, including in the Admin CP. Setting this to 0 for a forum will make the forum not show anywhere to the end-user, but it can still be accessed if the user types in the direct URL to the forum. Be sure to select Update Display Order if you have changed any of them.

The last dropdown shows how many moderators you already have in each forum. If you have any, they will be listed. You can modify a moderator's permissions by selecting their name from this drop-down and pressing Go.]]> Owner Name This name will be used to contact the owner of the podcast for communication specifically about their podcast. Subtitle The contents of this tag are shown in the Description column in iTunes. The subtitle displays best if it is only a few words long. If this is left blank, the Summary will be used. Media Author This is shown in the Artist column in iTunes. Summary Explicit This is used to indicate whether or not your podcast contains explicit material. Owner Email This email address will be used to contact the owner of the podcast for communication specifically about their podcast. Category Category is a required field for adding your podcast to iTunes. Keywords This tag allows users to search on text keywords within iTunes. Use commas to separate keywords. Image URL This tag specifies the artwork for your podcast. iTunes prefers square .jpg or .png images that are at least 300 x 300 pixels. Enable This options enables the output of iTunes specific tags. Podcasts will still work in iTunes without the information contained on this page but they can not be added to iTunes for others to find. Delete Forum
Deleting this forum will also delete all thread and posts in it as well its subforums and their threads and posts. If you want to save the threads and posts in this forum and its subforums then you should move them first.]]> About Forum Permissions Related General Help Topics:
Forums
Forum Permissions
Moderators
Viewing Permissions

Forum Permissions:
By default, users will have the permissions for their usergroup (see the Usergroup Manager) in each forum. However, you might not want users of a particular usergroup to have access to every forum. In that case, vBulletin allows you to create custom permissions for a specific forum for a specific usergroup. This is useful in restricting certain forums for certain usergroups.]]> Using the Permission Duplicator
To use the Group-Based duplicator, select the group to copy permissions from. Then, use the checkboxes to select which groups the permissions should be copied to. Select which forum(s) permissions should be copied from in the drop-down. This will include any subforums of the forum you choose. Finally, select whether the incoming permissions should overwrite existing custom permissions, and whether they should apply to forums that are currently inheriting custom permissions from a parent forum. Click Duplicate Permissions to proceed.

The Forum-Based duplicator works in a similar way. First, select the forum to copy permissions from. This will *not* include subforums. Next, select the forums that the permissions should be copied to. If you wish to overwrite existing custom permissions, select yes to Overwrite Duplicates. Overwrite Inherited set to Yes will overwrite permissions in forums that are being inherited from parents. Click Duplicate Permissions to proceed.]]> Copy Permissions from User Group forum permissions for the forum you select will be applied to the usergroups you select below.]]> Copy Permissions to User Groups Only Copy Permissions from Forum Select the forum(s) from which you want to copy permissions. The permissions of the source usergroup for this forum will copied to the destination usergroups for the forum(s) selected here. Overwrite Duplicate Permissions Overwrite Duplicate Entries prevents you from overwriting any existing permissions set for a forum (that is, they’re in red) for one of the usergroups you are copying to Overwrite Inherited Permissions Overwrite Inherited Entries prevents you from overwriting any inherited permissions, from a parent, set for a forum (that is, they’re in orange) for one of the usergroups you are copying to Copy Permissions from Forum Select the source forum from which to copy usergroup permissions. The permissions for the usergroups for this forum will be applied to the destination forums you select below. Copy Permissions to Forums Overwrite Duplicate Permissions Overwrite Duplicate Entries prevents you from overwriting any existing permissions set for a forum (that is, they’re in red). Overwrite Inherited Permissions Overwrite Inherited Entries prevents you from overwriting any inherited permissions from a parent (that is, they’re in orange). Editing Usergroup Permissions Per Forum
If you have edited permissions for this group and forum before, you will need to select "Use Custom Settings" to make your settings save. If you attempt to change a setting before selecting Use Custom Settings, you will be reminded to do so by clicking OK. If you click cancel on the popup, the setting will change but when you attempt to save your changes they will not be saved.

Settings on this page will override a usergroup's default permissions. If there are subforums of the selected forum, these settings will be inherited by any subforums unless the subforum has custom settings explicitly set for it already.

If you want to revert the permissions for this group, select "Use Usergroup Default" and press Save Changes. If any subforums of this forum are currently inheriting these settings, they will also be reverted to the default.]]> Custom Settings vs. Usergroup Default Can view forum? If this is set to No, the rest of the settings on this screen are unused as the user will be denied access if they try to view any page that involves this forum. Can View Thread Content This permission controls whether or not users can view posts within a thread. This permission is independent of whether or not users can view the actual thread links within a forum. <![CDATA[Can view other's threads]]> Can See Deletion Notice If this is set to Yes, this group will be able to see deletion notices in this forum. Deletion notices are what is left behind after a user deletes a post or thread. Moderators will always be able to see deletion notices in forums they moderate - this setting does not affect them. Can search? If this is set to No, the user will not be allowed to search this forum, even if they can view it or perform other actions in it. It will not appear in the list of forums to search from on the search screen, and it will not be included if the user opts to search all forums. <![CDATA[Can use 'email to friend' feature?]]> If this is set to No, the user will not be allowed to use the Email to Friend feature (which is linked from the bottom of every thread). This setting is disregarded if you have set Email Functions to Off under general options - no one would be allowed to use Email to Friend in that case. Can download attachments Can post new threads? If this is set to No, the user will not be allowed to post new threads in this forum. They may, however, post replies to existing threads unless you revoke that permission below. Can reply to own threads? If this is set to No, users will not be able to reply to threads that they are the first poster in (started the thread). If you have Can post new threads set to No above, this setting is irrelevant. <![CDATA[Can reply to other's threads?]]> If this is set to No, users will not be able to reply to threads that other users start. New Posts Bypass Moderation Queue? If this is set to No, when a user from this group posts in this forum, their post will be put in the moderator queue regardless of whether or not you have turned on the moderator queue for this forum. Can post attachments? If this is set to No, users will not be allowed to attach files to their posts. They will still be allowed to use the BB IMG code to show images if you have turned that on for this forum. Can rate threads if thread rating is enabled in this forum? If this is set to No, users in this group will not be allowed to rate threads in the forum regardless of whether or not thread rating is enabled for this forum. Can edit own posts? If this is set to No, users will not be allowed to edit their own posts. Can delete own posts? If this is set to No, users will not be allowed to delete their posts. Note that if Can delete own threads below is set to No, they will not be able to delete their post if it is the first post in a thread, even if this is set to Yes. Can move own threads to other forums? If this is set to Yes, users will be able to move their own threads between forums that they have access to. It is generally recommended to leave this set at No, leaving the thread moving to your moderators or yourself. Can open / close own threads? If this is set to Yes, users will be able to close and/or reopen threads that they started. It is generally recommended to leave this set at No. The reason is if a moderator closes a thread and this is set to Yes, the user will be able to reopen that thread by themselves. Can delete own threads? If this is set to Yes, a user will be able to delete threads that he has started by deleting the first post in that thread. Can post polls? If this is set to Yes, users will be able to add a poll to new threads that they create. Can vote on polls? If this is set to Yes, users will be able to vote on polls in this forum. Modifying Forum Permissions
The color of each usergroup is significant. If the usergroup text is in white, it is using the default permissions for the group. If the usergroup text is in red, it is using permissions customized for that forum. If it is in yellow, it is using custom permissions from a parent forum. If you are using Internet Explorer 4+ or Netscape 6+, the circle next to each usergroup name is also significant. A hollow circle means the usergroup cannot view the forum, while a full circle means they can.

To edit the permissions for any group, or to revert them to default, click Edit next to the appropriate group under the appropriate forum.

The Permission Duplicator, accessible from the link at the top of this screen, allows you to quickly duplicate an existing permission set between usergroups or between forums. (see Using the Permission Duplicator)

You can also access the Quick Editor from here. The Quick Editor allows you to quickly revert permissions to default. (see Using the Quick Editor)

The last link at the top is Quick Forum Setup. You can use this to mass-apply permissions to multiple usergroups for a particular forum. (see Using Quick Forum Setup)]]> Permissions Quick Editor Using the Quick Editor From this screen you quickly revert custom permissions to default by selecting the checkboxes of the forums you wish to revert and clicking Delete Selected Permissions. You can also edit a particular set of permissions by clicking Edit across from the forum and usergroup combination you wish to edit. Using Quick Forum Setup
Start by selecting the forum to which these permissions should apply. Note that this will also apply (though inheritance) to any subforums of the selected forum, unless such forums already have custom permissions set for them. Existing permissions for the selected forum will be overwritten.

Next select which usergroup(s) these permissions should apply to. You can select any number that you wish.

Finally, set the actual permissions. You can use the All Yes or All No buttons to quickly change all of the radio buttons. Click Save Changes to apply the new permissions.]]> Apply Permissions to Forum Apply Permissions to Usergroups Check all usergroups you want these permissions to apply to for this forum. Any previously set permissions for the selected groups for this forum will be overwritten with the new permissions below. Script This is the name of the script which you want to add help for. Use the script name minus the extension. I.E. forum instead of forum.php. Display Order This field allows you to sort multiple help entries into a logical order. Option Action Text Product Use this field to attach an admin help item to a particular product or plugin. Title Specify a title for the admin help entry you are adding or editing. vBulletin Default About Avatars, Post Icons, and Smilies Related General Help Topics:
Avatars, Post Icons, and Smilies
Avatar Storage

Avatars, Post Icons, and Smilies:
The same system is used to manage avatars, post icons, and smilies. The help topics in this section apply to the Avatar Manager, Post Icon Manager, and Smilie Manager. Avatars, post icons, and smilies are referred to as "images" in these help topics.

vBulletin's image system is used to manage avatars, post icons, and smilies. These images can be arranged into categories and their access restricted by post count and usergroup. Usergroup restrictions are set at the category level while post count restrictions are set at the image level. To have access to an image category the user must be a member of at least one group (either primary or secondary group membership) that has access, as is explained in the general help topic for Usergroups.

]]> Add New Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie
You can either add a single image or add multiple images at the same time.]]> Path to Images - vBulletin
-- images
--- avatars
--- icons
--- smilies
and you were uploading a smiley, you would type
images/smilies
Do not put a filename on this path, and do not put a trailing slash on it either.]]> Number of Images to Display Per Page This is the number of images to display per page while adding them. Title This is the title of the image and will be displayed with the image (except in the case of smilies). Minimum Posts to Use this Avatar This only applies to Avatars]]> Text to Replace This only applies to Smilies]]> Path - vBulletin
-- images
--- avatars
--- icons
--- smilies

and your smiley was called tongue.gif and located in the smilies directory, you would specify:
images/smilies/tongue.gif]]> Image Category This is the category to which the image will be added. It can be changed later. Display Order This determines the order in which images are shown. This can be changed later. Add New Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie Category On this screen you can add an image category. Images are displayed by category and you can set permissions per category as to who can use them (except for smilies). Title This is the title of the category. It is displayed with the images in the category to your users. Display Order This determines in what order categories are displayed to the user. Edit Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie This page allows you to edit the settings for this image. If you have any questions about specific settings please see the individual help topics. Edit Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie Category On this screen you can edit an existing image category. Images are displayed by category and you can set permissions per category as to who can use them (except for smilies). Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie Permissions Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie Manager
At the bottom of this page you can click the [Add New Category] link to create a new category for images to go into. Click the [Show All] link to view all images for all categories.

Below is a list of your image categories. The "Title" column tells you the name of each category. You can click on the category name to view its images.

The "Contains" column tells you how many images are in the corresponding category.

The "Display Order" column tells you the display order of each image category. The display order is used to order the image category listing in this Image Manager as well as on your forums. You can update the display orders shown on this page by changing the number values and clicking the "Save Display Order" button.

On the right side you will find several options for each image category. The [Mass Move] link takes you to a page where you can select a new category for each image in the corresponding category and submit the changes all at once.

The [View] link does the same thing as clicking on the category name to the left, it takes you to a page where you can view all images in the corresponding category.

The [Edit] link allows you to edit the title and display order of the corresponding category.

The [Delete] link takes you to a page where you can delete the corresponding category and all of its images or mass move the categories images to another category and then delete the original category.

The [Permissions] link takes you to a page where you can specify which usergroups can use the images in the corresponding category.]]> Delete Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie Delete Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie Category This page provides you with options for deleting this category. First of all, you can choose to delete all images in this category or not. And second, if you do not choose to delete all images in this category then you can select another category to which this categories images will be moved. Upload Avatar / Post Icon / Smilie On this screen, you can upload one image at a time through your browser for use on your forum. To do this, both your web server and PHP must have permission to write files to disk. If they do not, this will fail. The directory that you are trying to put the file in must be CHMODed 777 (consult your FTP program documentation for how to do this). Image file This is where you select the file from your computer to be uploaded. View Avatars / Post Icons / Smilies
At the bottom of this page you will see two links. Click the [Add] link to add a new image to your forums. Click the [Edit Categories] link to return to the Image Manager.

Viewing Images:
If you are viewing images then each image shown in the gallery below will have options associated with it. Click the [Edit] button to edit the settings for the corresponding image. Click the [Delete] link to delete the corresponding image.

The numbers under each image are the display orders of the images. These display orders are used to order the listing of images in this Image Manager as well as on the forums. You can change the displays orders on this page by changing the numbers and clicking the "Save Display Order" button at the bottom.

Mass Moving Images:
If you are mass moving images then each image shown in the gallery below will have a menu below it. Select a category from the menu under each image. When you click the "Mass Move" button the images below will be moved to the categories you selected.

Leave the menu set to the "blank" option if you don't want to move an image. If you want to move all images on this page to the same category then you can select that category in the menu at the bottom which will cause all menus on the page to be set to the category you choose.]]> Control Panel Home
If you have permission to run the "top" command on your server then you will see your server load averages under the "Quick Administration Links" section on this page. Click here for a detailed explanation of load averages.

The Quick User Finder allows you to quickly search for users based on a partial or exact username match.

The PHP Function Lookup will search the functions on the PHP site for the search string you enter. The results will be displayed in this frame.

The MySQL Language Lookup will search the documentation on the MySQL site for the search string you enter. The results will be displayed in this frame.

The Useful Links menu contains several useful vBulletin, PHP, and MySQL links that will open in a new window when you select their menu item.]]> About Languages Related General Help Topics:
Languages
Phrases

Languages:
vBulletin's language system allows you to translate your forum into other languages without editing any templates or files. This is thanks to the phrase system (see "Phrases" link above) which makes vBulletin's templates language-independant. The end result is that you can serve multiple languages from a single style.

Each phrase can have a translation for each language specified in this Language Manager. When a forum page is loaded, vBulletin checks what language the current logged in user has selected and parses the phrase variables into the appropriate translated text.

In addition to translated phrases, vBulletin's language system supports translated images (by allowing you to override a style's images folder setting), and language-specific date / time / number formats.]]> Creating a New Language On this screen you can add a new language. From there you will be able to translate all phrases into this language just as with the default languages that come with vBulletin. Language Name This is the name of the language as displayed in the Administration area as well as to users. Allow user selection? If this is set to No, users will not be able to select this language (it will not appear to them). This is useful if you are just adding a language but have not yet added any translations for it. Text Direction Is this language read from left to right or from right to left? Language Code this site for a list of language codes.]]> HTML Character Set
Setting this to ISO-8859-1 results in this charset being specified:

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />]]> Image Folder Override
You may use <#> to represent the style ID the user is currently using. This allows you to support different styles for this language. For example, you can name the images folder something like images_name of language_style ID of style and then set this setting to images_name of language_<#>]]> Locale Date Format Override here. Leave blank to use the format that is set in your vBulletin options.

Consult this page for a list of date variables. You can use these variables in combination with other characters to define a format.

For example, European format (e.g., 25-04-98): %d-%m-%y

If you have defined a locale for this language then you can use %x to let the locale decide what format to use.]]> Time Format Override here. Leave blank to use the format that is set in your vBulletin options.

Consult this page for a list of time variables. You can use these variables in combination with other characters to define a format.

For example, AM/PM Time Format (eg, 11:15 PM): %I:%M %p

If you have defined a locale for this language then you can use %X to let the locale decide what format to use.]]> Registration Date Format Override here. Leave blank to use the format that is set in your vBulletin options.

Consult this page for a list of time variables. You can use these variables in combination with other characters to define a format. See the "Date Format Override" and "Time Format Override" settings above for examples.]]> Birthday Date Format Override with year format that is specified in your vBulletin options, here. Leave blank to use the format that is set in your vBulletin options.

Consult this page for a list of time variables. You can use these variables in combination with other characters to define a format. See the "Date Format Override" and "Time Format Override" settings above for examples.]]> Birthday Date Format Override without year format that is specified in your vBulletin options, here. Leave blank to use the format that is set in your vBulletin options.

Consult this page for a list of time variables. You can use these variables in combination with other characters to define a format. See the "Date Format Override" and "Time Format Override" settings above for examples.]]> Log Date Format Override here. Leave blank to use the format that is set in your vBulletin options.

Consult this page for a list of time variables. You can use these variables in combination with other characters to define a format. See the "Date Format Override" and "Time Format Override" settings above for examples.]]> Decimal Separator Use this setting to customize the way floating point (decimal) numbers are displayed for this language. Thousands Separator Use this setting to customize the way every thousands place is separated in large numbers for this language. Directional Markup Fix
The problem usually manifests itself when RTL user names and thread titles are used on a LTR forum (and vice versa). If you do not expect this to be an issue then leave this option disabled.]]> Delete Language Editing Phrases
Each phrase row gives the phrase name (that is, how it is shown in the templates), the phrase as it exists for that language (translated or not), and a link to revert a phrase to the default (English) value. Make sure to click Save Changes to save your work on this page.]]> Edit Language Settings On this screen you can edit the settings for a particular language. Is Default Language
You can also change the default on the Language Manager screen.]]> Downloading and Uploading Language Sets vBulletin.org and vBulletin.com forums.

You can also download a language set from your vBulletin to share with others if you have translated the vBulletin user interface into another language.]]> Language to Download Select the language you wish to download from this list of all languages installed in your vBulletin. Product Select the Jelsoft product for which you want to download. Filename for your language file. This is what your file will be named when you download it. It is suggested that you name it with something regarding the language you are downloading. Just fetch phrases Language Manager. If this language is just translated phrases and no custom settings then you can select "Yes" here. Otherwise you should select "No" to keep the language whole as it is now.]]> XML Language File to upload Select the XML language file to upload from your computer. Import XML File
For example, if the name of the language file is vbulletin-language.xml and you uploaded it to the install directory inside your main forum directory then you would enter this value: ./install/vbulletin-language.xml]]> Overwrite language If you wish to overwrite an existing language with the file you are uploading, select it from this menu. Otherwise make sure (create new language) is selected. Title For New Language This is what your language will be called on the forum. If you are overwriting a language, that language will be renamed with this title; otherwise, your new language will be named with this title. Use language file even if it was created for a different version of vBulletin?
Typically it is ok to use language files from newer versions but not from older versions. The reason is that newer versions may have extra phrases that your version doesn't have, but at least it will have all of the phrases that yours does, whereas an older version might not.]]> Modifying Languages
Selecting an item on the (edit) drop-down list will take you to edit the type of phrase you select, e.g. Privatemessage related phrases, or Error phrases, etc.

Clicking Settings takes you to edit the settings of the language.

Delete removes the language from your vBulletin

Download lets you download a language set, which consists of all phrases you have translated for that language. You can distribute this to fellow vBulletin owners.
The 'Set Default' button allows you to set a language as the default for your forum. The default language is what is shown to registered forum members who did not select a language at registration, and to unregistered users or those who are not logged in.

At the bottom of the list are links to add a new language and download or upload existing language sets.]]> Rebuild Languages About Update Counters Related General Help Topics:
Database Backup
Repair / Optimize
Update Counters
Diagnostics
Execute SQL Query

Update Counters:
This page allows you to update several vBulletin counters. Not all information that is displayed on vBulletin forum pages is dynamically generated. "Counters" are used instead of some costly queries in order to reduce the server load associated with retrieving information.

User post counts are a good example of a counter. vBulletin doesn't count the number of posts a user has every time their post count is displayed on the forums. Instead the user has a post counter that is incremented every time they make a post. This way when vBulletin wants to display a user's post count it only has to read a number instead of all of the records in the post table.]]> Update Counters
Update Forums:
This feature will update the information for each forum including: last post info, thread count, and post count. This may need to be done after mass moving / pruning threads and posts.

Update User Titles and Ranks:
This will go through every user on your forums and determine their correct user title and rank. This may need to be done after changing your user title ladder or user ranks.

Update User Names:
This will update user names everywhere they occur on your forums. This may need to be done after changing a user's name in the Admin CP.

Update Post Counts:
This will update the number of posts for each user by counting each user's posts in the database. If you have artificially inflated / deflated a user's post count by editing their profile in the Admin CP then this will reset it to its true value.

Fix broken user profiles:
Incomplete profiles are usually the result of hacks making user insertions from outside of vBulletin. Run this to fix any broken profiles.

Rebuild Forum Information:
This feature will update your forum counters and check for orphan moderators. This may need to be run after managing your forums.

Rebuild Thread Information:
This feature will update your thread counters including: last post info, reply count, view count, etc. You may need to run this after moving / pruning threads and posts.

Rebuild Similar Threads:
This feature will run a similar thread search for all threads on your forums. To show similar threads you need to enable the option in your vBulletin options. If you want your forums to search for similar threads when a new thread is posted (rather than having to update this counter later) then you need to enable the option on this page.

Rebuild Search Index:
This needs to be done after changing the max / min search word length in your vBulletin options.

Rebuild Statistics:
This feature rebuilds the information that is dislplayed on your Statistics page.

Rebuild Post Cache:
vBulletin doesn't parse vB code in posts every time they are displayed. Instead the parsed posts are saved in the "postparsed" table. In this way vBulletin reduces the processing time needed to display a post. Update this counter to rebuild the parsed posts. This needs to be done after changing vB codes, posting allowances (like HTML code), etc.

Delete Duplicate Threads:
Sometimes duplicate threads are created during the posting process. Updating this counter will remove those duplicates.

Rebuild Styles:
Update this counter to rebuild your style structure.

Rebuild Attachment Thumbnails:
Rebuilding thumbnails is necessary after changing your thumbnail settings in your vBulletin options.

Rebuild User Reputation:
You need to update this counter if you change the default reputation value in your vBulletin options.

Remove Orphan Threads:
This function will delete any threads that belong to forums that no longer exist. Such threads are not accessible via the forums but they do add to your totals. You will see the number of orphan threads in parenthesis.

Remove Orphan Posts:
This function will delete any posts that belong to threads that no longer exist. Such posts are not accessible via the forums but they do add your your totals. You will see the number of orphan posts in parenthesis.]]> Number of forums to process per cycle Here you can specify the number of forums / users / threads / posts / attachments to be processed at a time. This number may need to be set lower for extremely large forums because of time out concerns. Post ID to start at The post ID to start indexing at. If you were reindexing and the process stopped for some reason, you can resume where you left off. Total number of posts to process Here you can specify the total number of posts to process, starting at the starting post ID specified above. Include automatic JavaScript redirect to next page Check For Styles With No Parent Styles with no parent are broken. This option checks for those broken styles. Renumber all templates from 1 Base Reputation Value All users with reputations greater than or equal to this value will be processed. About Moderating Content Moderating Content:
vBulletin allows you to moderate forum content before it is publicly displayed. This is useful in preventing inappropriate or unworthy content from being posted in forums whose content needs to be of a minimum quality. This section of the Admin CP allows you to moderate content that is awaiting moderation.

Thread, post, and attachment moderation can be enabled at the forum level (see the Forum Manager), the group level (see the Usergroup Manager), and at the group level for a specific forum (see Forum Permissions). Similarly, event moderation can be enabled at the group level and at the calendar level (see the Calendar Manager).]]> Moderate Attachments
Validating an attachment removes it from this moderation queue and makes it visible on the forums. Deleting an attachment does exactly that. Ignoring an attachment leaves it in this moderation queue so you can handle it another time.

If you want to validate, delete, or ignore all attachments awaiting moderation then you can click the appropriate button at the top which sets all actions appropriately.]]> Action Select an action to take for this attachment. Validating an attachment removes it from this moderation queue and makes it visible on the forums. Deleting an attachment does exactly that. Ignoring an attachment leaves it in this moderation queue so you can handle it another time. Moderate Events
Validating an event removes it from this moderation queue and makes it visible on the calendar. Deleting an event does exactly that. Ignoring an event leaves it in this moderation queue so you can handle it another time.

If you want to validate, delete, or ignore all events awaiting moderation then you can click the appropriate button at the top which sets all actions appropriately.

You can edit the content of events on this page while moderating them. For example, an event might have an inappropriate title... just change the text for the title and then validate the event.]]> Subject This is the subject of this event. If the subject is not appropriate or you want to change it, simply edit this field before validating the event. Event This is the message for this event. You have the option of editing the message before validating this event. Simply change the message in this textarea before validating the event. Action Select an action to take for this event. Validating an event removes it from this moderation queue and makes it visible on the forums. Deleting an event does exactly that. Ignoring an event leaves it in this moderation queue so you can handle it another time. Moderate Threads / Posts
Validating a thread or post removes it from this moderation queue and makes it visible on the forums. Deleting a thread or post does exactly that. Ignoring a thread or post leaves it in this moderation queue so you can handle it another time.

If you want to validate, delete, or ignore all threads and posts awaiting moderation then you can click the appropriate button at the top which sets all actions appropriately.

You can edit the content of threads and posts on this page while moderating them. For example, a thread might have an inappropriate title... just change the text for the title and then validate the thread.]]> Title This is the title of this thread. If the title is not appropriate or you want to change it, simply edit this field before validating the thread. Message This is the message for this thread. You have the option of editing the message before validating this post. Simply change the message in this textarea before validating the thread. Notes The notes field records any moderative action that is made on this thread. You may want to enter a comment about this thread in the notes for reference. Action Select an action to take for this thread. Validating a thread removes it from this moderation queue and makes it visible on the forums. Deleting a thread does exactly that. Ignoring a thread leaves it in this moderation queue so you can handle it another time. Title This is the title of this post. If the title is not appropriate or you want to change it, simply edit this field before validating the thread. Message This is the message for this post. You have the option of editing the message before validating this post. Simply change the message in this textarea before validating the post. Action Select an action to take for this post. Validating a post removes it from this moderation queue and makes it visible on the forums. Deleting a post does exactly that. Ignoring a post leaves it in this moderation queue so you can handle it another time. About Moderators Related General Help Topics:
Forums
Forum Permissions
Moderators
Viewing Permissions

Moderators:
Moderators can be added to forums to help you manage your forum content. Moderator privileges should only be given to users whom you trust.

Moderators can perform several actions on threads including but not limited to: closing threads (thread no longer open for replies), moving / copying threads to other forums, sticking threads (stays at the top of the forum listing), editing threads, deleting threads, merging threads (two threads become one), splitting threads (one thread becomes two).]]> Add New Moderator On this page you can add a new forum moderator. Below is a list of permissions and options you can set for this moderator. <![CDATA[Change Moderator's Primary Usergroup]]> Make Moderator a Member of This option allows you to specify additional usergroups to make this user a member of upon making them a moderator. Forum Moderated This is the forum that the user will moderate. Keep in mind that any child forums of this will also be moderated by this user. Moderator Username Enter the username of the individual who will be the moderator. Make sure you spell it correctly or they will not be added. Can Edit Posts Can Delete Posts This determines whether a moderator can delete and undelete posts. Can Physically Delete Posts There are two levels of deletion in vBulletin 3... deletion with the option to undelete, and complete physical deletion so the posts cannot be undeleted. This option has to do with the later. Can Open / Close Threads This permission determines whether or not this moderator can open and close threads. A closed thread appears with a lock on it and no one can reply to it except admins and mods. Can Edit Threads Can Manage Threads
Sticking a thread makes it so it always appears at the top of the thread listing. Merging allows a moderator to combine the posts of two threads into one thread. Splitting allows a moderator to split the posts from one thread into two threads.]]> Can Edit Polls This permission determines whether or not this moderator can edit poll options and results within their forum. Can Post Announcements This permission determines whether or not this moderator can post announcements in their forum. Can Moderate Posts Can Moderate Attachments Can Mass-Move Threads This permission allows this moderator to mass-move threads out of their forum. Can Mass-Prune Threads This permission allows this moderator to mass-prune threads from their forum. Can Set Forum Password If this forum has a password, this permission will allow this moderator to change this password. Can View IP Addresses Every post has an IP address recorded with it. This permission allows this moderator to click the IP address link in a post and view the IP address. Can View Whole User Profile Can Ban Users This permission allows this moderator to ban users, temporarily or permanently. Can Restore Banned Users This permission allows this moderator to unban users who are banned. Can Edit User Signatures Can Edit User Avatars Can Edit User Profile Pictures Can Edit User Reputation Comments This permission allows this moderator to edit reputation comments. Receive Email When a New Thread is Created Enabling this option will notify this moderator by email whenever a new thread is created. This is useful for low traffic forums that require close moderation. Receive Email When a New Post is Created Enabling this option will notify this moderator by email whenever a new post is made. This is useful for low traffic forums that require close moderation. Edit Moderator This page allows you to edit this moderator. Below is a list of permissions that can be edited for this moderator. Delete Moderator Remove this Moderator from All Forums Show All Moderators
Click the [Edit] link next to a moderator's forum to edit their moderator permissions for that forum. Click the [Delete] link next to a moderator's forum to revoke their moderatorship in that forum. Click the [Remove this Moderator from All Forums] link to do exactly that.]]> About Moderator Log Related General Help Topics:
Statistics
Control Panel Log
Moderator Log
Scheduled Task Log

Moderator Log:
The moderator log allows you to view the activities of your moderators. Each time a moderator action is performed on your forums it is recorded in the moderator log. The information stored includes the moderator's username, the date, the action performed, and additional information which varies depending on the action being performed.]]> View / Prune Moderator Log This page allows you to view / prune log entries in the moderator log. If you have questions about specific options on this page please see the individual help topics below. Log Entries to Show Per Page This limits how many entries are shown on each page. If you have a slower connection it is recommended you select a lower number. Show Only Entries Generated By If you wish to only view / prune logs that were generated by the actions of one person, select their username here. Order By You can order the entries by date created, script accessed, or the user who performed the action. Remove Entries Older Than (Days) You can easily remove old logs using this option. Logs found that are older than this date will be removed. Prune Moderator Log Viewing the Moderator Log
Log ID: This is simply an internal ID used for cataloguing.

Username: This is the person who performed the action.

Date: This is the date and time the action was performed.

Action: This is the action that the user performed.

Extra Info: For some actions, this records extra bits, such as affected threads and forums.

At the bottom of the page, if there are more entries than could be displayed on one screen, you will find links to view the first page, previous page, next page, and last page. These buttons appear as necessary. For example if you are on the first page, the First Page and Previous Page buttons will not appear.

To return to the main screen, choose Restart from the bottom of any page.

You can restrict access to this script, or just to the pruning function or just to the viewing function. See Restricting Access to Admin Log.]]> About vBulletin Options vBulletin Options:
This section of the Admin CP contains all configurable vBulletin options. The options are categorized into groups whose names indicate what kind of options they contain.

When configuring these options you have the choice of displaying all options (there are a lot of them) for all groups or displaying the options for one group at a time. If you are going through all of the options after a fresh installation or upgrade from vBulletin 2 you may find it more convenient to display all options so you can configure and save everything all at once. Otherwise you can just open the group containing the options you want to configure.

If you are looking for a specific option and you don't know what group it's in, you can display all of the options and do a page search in your web browser. Internet Explorer users can press Ctrl - F to pull up a search box. Other browsers may be different.]]> Resize Images
GD
JPEG => JPEG
PNG => JPEG
GIF => JPEG

Imagemagick
JPEG => JPEG
PNG => JPEG
GIF => JPEG
BMP => JPEG
TIFF => JPEG
PSD (N/A)*
PDF (N/A)*

*PSD and PDF image types aren't resized as you would want to retain their current setting.]]> Cache Lifespan By default, content generated by external.php will be cached for one hour. This setting alleviates the problem of abusive users repeatedly requesting updates from external.php. Some RSS applications do not respect the 60 minute refresh request that vBulletin sends with the information. Welcome Private Message If you enable this setting, the user will be sent a private message after registration. Note if you enable Verify Email Address in Registration below, the user must verify their address before a private message will be sent. If you have Moderate New Members enabled above, the private message will be sent when the user is approved. Post Reporting Email Post Reporting User If you enable this setting, Post Reporting discussion threads will be created under the set username. Otherwise the posts will be made under the name of the user reporting the post. Thumb Color #000000 (black) to #FFFFFF (white).]]> Log Emails to a File
C:\logs\vbulletin.log

Or on a *nix server it might be something like:

/home/yoursite/logs/vbulletin.log

This option should only be enabled to troubleshoot email issues. Your server performance can decrease while this option is enabled.]]> Guest Post Image Verification If you enable this option, guest users will be required to pass a test during posts where an image is displayed that has a random number on it, and the user must type in the number they see in order to prove they are not an automated system attempting to post. PHP must have GD support enabled for this option to work. Modifying vBulletin Options On this screen you can select the group of options you wish to modify. You can also opt to view all settings on one screen by choosing Show All Settings. Internet Explorer users can double-click on their choice to be taken to that page automatically. Require Infraction Message Coppa Registration System Cookie Check
This will stop users from trying to register with an age older than 13. Users can still circumvent this check by manually removing the cookie.]]> Paid Subscription Email Notification An email will be sent to this email address when a paid subscription is purchased or reversed. Maximum External Records
Changing this value will not increase or decrease the amount of records that are returned by default. This option simply gives your users the ability to request more records if they desire by adding &tackon=X to their RSS feeds.]]> Post Reporting Discussion Forum The Post Reporting system can automatically create a discussion thread for each reported post. When a post is reported multiple times, new posts will be added to the discussion thread. Session IP Octet Length Check Rss Enclosures (Podcasting) Use SkypeWeb Graphics No will cause the Skype™ icon (used in the im_skype template) to be loaded from the local webserver. This can be useful as the SkypeWeb server has proven to be a little flakey at present.

If set to Yes, the icon will be loaded from the SkypeWeb server and will show the Skype™ online-status of the user in question.

Additionally, SkypeWeb offers the ability to display online status in non-English languages. This ability can be used on the 'Send message using Skype to user' page, to show whether or not the selected user is logged-in to Skype and available.

In order for this to work, this option must be set to Use Language-Specific SkypeWeb Graphics and the Language Code specified for vBulletin languages must be one of the following:
  • En
  • De
  • fr
  • it
  • pl
  • Ja
  • Pt
  • Pt/br
  • Se
  • zh
  • Cn
  • Zh/cn
  • hk
  • tw
  • Zh/tw
These language codes are not case-sensitive, and you may use a dash instead of a slash if you wish (pt-br instead of Pt/br).

At the time of writing (mid March 2006), non-English graphics are not yet available from Skype, though it is hoped that they will be available in the very near future. If you enable this option and the graphics do not load, switch it off again and try again in a few weeks.]]> User Infraction Discussion Forum The User Infraction system can automatically create a discussion thread for each infraction. The thread will be updated if the infraction is reversed. Forum Active
Note that admins will still be able to use the forum while it is off, but they will see a notice on the top and bottom of the screen that says the forum is offline.]]> Reason For Turning Forum Off When the forum is turned off, this message will be displayed for users who try to load a forum page. Forum Name This is the title of your forum. This title appears in the title bar of every page, the navigation bar at the top of every page, as well as other places. Forum URL
http://www.example.com
http://www.example.com/forum

Examples of incorrect URLs:

http://www.example.com/ (should not have final slash)
http://www.example.com/forum/index.php (should not have final slash or index.php)]]> Homepage Name This is the title of your homepage. A link to your homepage appears in the footer of every page by default. Homepage URL Contact Us Link
mailto:admin@example.com

If you use the built-in contact form, you can specify predefined subjects below in "Contact Us Options".]]> Contact Us Verification Contact Us page.

If you decide to allow this access for guests then you may wish to enable image verification to prevent bots from using the form. This will prevent possible spam in your inbox. The image verification will only be used for guests who use the form.]]> Contact Us Options
Each subject must be placed one per line, meaning that you need to enter a carriage return between subject (press <Enter>). If you wish to direct the email from a subject to a particular user, you can either specify the user's userid on the forum or their email address. You do this by placing the item in brackets at the start of the subject.

Example:

{1} Site Feedback
{example@example.com} Help
Registration

Feedback sent to the first option "Site Feedback" would be directed to the email address of Userid #1. Feedback sent to the second option "Help" would be directed to the email address "example@example.com". Feedback sent to the third option "Registration" would be directed to the Webmaster's email address.]]> <![CDATA[Webmaster's Email]]> This is the email address of the webmaster. It will be used as the From address for certain emails sent by the system. Privacy Statement URL Copyright Text Company Name User Registration Options) this will be displayed.]]> Company Fax User Registration Options) then this fax number will be displayed as an option to allow people to send you faxed parental authorization.

If you need a fax number, you may wish to look at eFax who provide internet-based faxing services.]]> Company Address User Registration Options) then this address will be displayed as an option for those wishing to send their parental authorizations via snail mail.]]> Meta Keywords
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.]]> Meta Description
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.]]> 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. 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. Relative jumps for 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 option selects what pages can be jumped to relative to the current one. For example, by adding 10 to the list, links will appear for current page -10 and current page +10. Separate each number with a space. 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.) Show Instant Messaging Program Icons Add Template Name in HTML Comments 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. <![CDATA[Use Login "Strikes" System]]> Enable Forum Leaders this page.

You can control which groups are displayed on this page in your Usergroup Manager. Edit the usergroup in question and set the Viewable on Show Groups option. It is recommended you don't enable this option for large groups like the Registered Users group.]]> Post Referrer Whitelist For example, if you have multiple sites that tie into this forum, or if you have vB-integrated hacks that POST data externally, then you may want to put those referrers on the whitelist. Thread/Forum Read Marking Type
  • Inactivity/Cookie Based - once a user has been inactive for a certain amount of time (the value of the session timeout option) all threads and forums are considered read. Individual threads are marked as read within a session via cookies.

    This option is how all versions of vBulletin before 3.5 functioned.

  • Database (no automatic forum marking) - this option uses the database to store thread and forum read times. This allows accurate read markers to be kept indefinitely. However, in order for a forum to be marked read when all threads are read, the user must view the list of threads for that forum.

    This option is more space and processor intensive than inactivity-based marking.

  • Database (automatic forum marking) - this option is the same as a previous option, but forums are automatically marked as read when the last new thread is read.

    This is the most usable option for end users, but most processor intensive.
    • ]]>         Database Read Marking Limit
    This setting allows you to force unread markers to switch to "read" after a so many days. This would be the amount of time after which the user probably has no interest in reading that thread and therefore does not need to know that it contains unread posts.]]>         Disable AJAX Features
    Due to the nature of AJAX, some functions may not work fully with non-Latin languages without additional modules, such as IconV. For example, AJAX-based quick reply may work correctly on the board, but thread subscription emails do not display correctly. If something like this occurs for you, you should select "Disable Problematic AJAX Features".]]>         Datestamp Display Option
    Set this to Normal and set the Format For Date and Format For Time options below to show the full date and time.

    Set this to Yesterday/Today and for dates which fall into those two periods, the words will be shown, otherwise the full date and time will be shown.

    Set this to Detailed to show "friendly" times such as "1 Minute Ago", "2 Hours Ago", or "3 Weeks Ago".]]>         Default Time Zone Offset
    Note that vB3 gets your server's time zone from PHP. If you need to change your server's time zone, then you need to change your server configuration. You should contact your host for help with this.]]>         Enable Daylight Savings If the time zone for the Default Time Zone Offset is currently in Daylight Savings time, set this to Yes. Remember, this only affects guests and those not logged in. Registered, logged-in users can set their own DST options in their User CP. Format For Date date function formatting options.

    Some examples:
    m-d-y becomes 04-25-98 (Standard short US format)
    F jS, Y becomes April 25th, 1998 (Standard long US format)
    d-m-Y becomes 25-04-98 (Standard short European format)
    jS F Y becomes 25th April 1998 (Standard long European format)]]>         Format For Time date function formatting options.

    Some examples:
    h:i A becomes 11:15 PM
    H:i becomes 23:15]]>         Format For Registration Date date function formatting options. (Usually you only want to show the month, day, and year, or even just month and year.)]]> Format For Birthdays with Year Specified date function formatting options. You should not enter any time formatting options.]]> Format For Birthdays with Year Unspecified date function formatting options. You should not enter any time formatting options, and you should not enter any year code.]]> Log Date Format here.]]> Session Timeout
    If you use "Inactivity Based" read marking (see General Settings), then an expired session also means that all unread markers will be turned off for posts made before the session expired.

    In any case, the user will be removed from the "Currently Active Users" list when their session expires.]]>         Path to Save Cookies
    If you want your forum cookie to work in every directory on your site, then use "/" for the path (no quotes). This means your forum cookie will work at "yoursite.com/forum", "yoursite.com/contact", and any other directory. You might need your forum cookie to work in any directory if you have external scripts that tie into vBulletin, like portals or other external pages.

    If you want your forum cookie to work in a single directory (your forum directory), then use "/forum/" (insert the name of your forum directory). The path should always start and end with a "/".]]>         Cookie Domain
    For example, leaving this setting blank will allow your forum cookies to operate on any domain on your site. If you have multiple domains parked on your site, then a forum cookie can be recorded for any of those domains depending on which domain is used to login to your forum.

    You can use a value of ".yoursite.com" (no quotes, using your domain name) to allow your forum cookies to operate anywhere within that specific domain. That includes "yoursite.com", and "*.yoursite.com" (where * is any subdomain).

    You can use a value of "subdomain.yoursite.com" (no quotes, using your domain and any subdomain) to allow your forum cookies to operate on that specific domain and subdomain.]]>         GZIP HTML Output
    The client's browser must support GZIP for this to work. If the browser does not support GZIP, then the uncompressed page will be sent instead.

    If you are using mod_gzip on your server, then you are already compressing outgoing pages and there is no need to enable this option.]]>         GZIP Compression Level
    The valid numbers are 0 (none) through 9 (maximum). Most people use level 1 compression because it offers the greatest compression per unit of work for the server. Higher numbers have diminishing returns.]]>         Add Standard HTTP Headers Some IIS servers may need this turned on; for most web servers, it will cause the server to not function correctly. This sends HTTP 200 OK headers if turned on. Add No-Cache HTTP Headers If you enable this option, no-cache HTTP headers will be added to each page. These cause full page data to be rerequested from the server every time the user gets a page, which will increase bandwidth; it may additionally cause an increase in server load as it will cause more pages to be served. Remove Redirection Message Pages
    Some pages still require the redirect screens to avoid potential issues with cookies. These will be shown regardless of this setting.]]>         Public phpinfo() Display Enabled Cached Posts Lifespan
    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 threads 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 threads 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. Number of Emails to Send Per Batch vBulletin has a mail queue that prevents bottlenecks when sending large numbers of emails (for example, when a new post is added to a thread that has a lot of subscriptions to it). By default, 10 emails are sent from the queue at a time. If you have a more powerful server, you can probably safely increase this number, but we do not recommend going too high on this regardless. *NIX Server Load Limit Image Processing Library
    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.

    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 dynamic image verification image.

    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. With GD you have the choice of using an internal font or True Type fonts. It is preferable to use True Type fonts as you can randomize the display to make it tricker for those pesky bots. The True Type option requires that you have PHP compiled with freetype2 support. Having PHP compiled with freetype1 will sometimes result in the font not displaying.

    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 must be compiled with Freetype support in order to display the proper image verification.

    It is suggested that you provide your own background images and true type fonts to make your image verification unique. Background images should be 201x61 pixels. Fonts should be True Type fonts. Place the files in the proper directory beneath the images/regimage folders. The name of the files do not matter as long as images end in .jpg, .png, or .gif and fonts end in .ttf.]]>         ImageMagick Binary Path Path to the ImageMagick 6 binaries (convert and identify). Example: Unix: /usr/local/bin/ Windows: C:\imagemagick\ Image Verification Options The difficulty of the image verification image can be controlled with these settings. The more options that are enabled, the more difficult it will be for your users to identify the text. Enabling a setting will cause that option to be applied to each character. Safe Mode Upload Enabled phpinfo page and searching for Safe Mode.]]> Safe Mode Temporary Directory Duplicate Search Index Information on Thread Copy? It is not strictly necessary to index a copied thread since the original thread is already indexed. However, you may wish to index copied threads for the sake of completeness. Use Mailqueue System <![CDATA[Enable "-f" Parameter]]> Default Language This setting is the default language for your forum, of all the language(s) you have installed. This language will be used for guests, and for members who have not explicitly set a language in their preferences. Default Style You can set the Default Style for your forum from the styles you have created or added in the Styles and Templates section. All guests, and members who have not explicitly set a style choice in their preferences, will be shown this style. Allow Users to Change Styles Location of clear.gif Store CSS Stylesheets as Files? If this is enabled, you can store the CSS for your pages as files which will reduce the size of pages (since the CSS file can be cached locally and referred to from each page, instead of having all the CSS information within each page). If you enable this, you must create a directory named vbulletin_css in the clientscript folder of your vBulletin installation and the web server must have permission to create, write, and remove files from that directory. (Normally this is accomplished by CHMODing the directory 777.) Use DHTML Popup Menus?
    Not all browsers support popup menus. vBulletin automatically detects the client browser and disables popup menus when appropriate.]]>         Use Legacy (Vertical) Postbit Template Enable Email Features? This setting must be enabled for email functions. This includes activation emails, post notification emails, etc. Allow Users to Email Other Members If you disable this setting, users will not be able to contact other members via email through the forum. Even if you enable this setting, you can disable the display of actual email addresses by enable Use Secure Email Sending below. Use Secure Email Sending Email Flood Check This is the number of seconds that must elapse between emails that a user can send to other members. This is primarily to prevent a user from easily spamming members. Set it to 0 to disable this option. SMTP Email this page.

    You can enable this option so you can specify your own mail server info below. This allows your forum to send emails through a mail server other than the one specified in your PHP configuration.]]>         SMTP Host
    Use "localhost" (no quotes) if the mail server is on the local machine.]]>         SMTP Port SMTP servers usually serve from port 25. If the SMTP host uses a different port, then you can specify that here. SMTP Username Some SMTP servers require authentication. In this field you can specify a username with which to authenticate. SMTP Password If your SMTP server requires authentication, then you need to specify a username and password with which to authenticate. This field contains the SMTP password. SMTP Secure Connection Censorship Enabled You can censor words on your forum anywhere they appear in message titles or bodies. To turn on the censor, set this option to Yes. Character to Replace Censored Words Censored Words
    Sentence:
    Dogs and cats fight when it's raining.
    Censor List:
    {dog} cat rain
    Censor Result:
    Dogs and ***s fight when it's ****ing.
    Censor List:
    dog {cat} {rain}
    Censor Result:
    ***s and cats fight when it's raining.

    Do *not* use quotation marks or the results may be unexpected or it may cause errors. Make sure you are using curly brackets {} and not parentheses () when specifying exact words. Also note that you cannot censor phrases here because spaces are used as delimiters.]]>         Blank Character Stripper
    You may enter character codes in two ways:
    1. The character code number only. If this number is between 0 and 255, it is treated as a raw character code. Anytime a byte with that value appears, it will be changed. If this number is greater than 255, it is treated as if it was preceeded by a "u".
    2. "u" followed by a character code, such as "u8204". This forces the character code to be treated as a Unicode code point. In this case, &#8204; and the UTF-8 representation for this character will be stripped out.
    Some double-byte character sets may have their display broken by using this setting. If this happens, you should remove the contents of this setting.]]>         Allow New User Registrations You can temporarily or permanently prevent new users from registering by disabling this setting. Use COPPA Registration System this page.]]> Moderate New Members If you enable this setting, all new users will be placed into a validation queue for you to approve before they are allowed full privileges. (You can determine what permissions these users have while they are awaiting validation by modifying the permissions for the (COPPA) Users Awaiting Moderation group.) If you also have Verify Email Address in Registration enabled, below, the user must first verify their email address, and then they will be put into the validation queue. Image Verification If you enable this option, users will be required to pass a test during registration where an image is displayed that has a random number on it, and the user must type in the number they see in order to prove they are not an automated system attempting to register. PHP must have GD support enabled for this option to work. Send Welcome Email If you enable this setting, the user will be sent an email after registration. Note if you enable Verify Email Address in Registration below, the user must verify their address before an email will be sent. If you have Moderate New Members enabled above, this setting will have no effect as the user will be sent an email once validated regardless of this setting. Email Address to Notify About New Members If you would like one or more people to be notified when a new user registers, enter their email address(es), separated by spaces, in this field. Allow Multiple Registration Per User vBulletin will, by default, stop people from signing up for multiple accounts by checking for a vB cookie on their machine; if one is found, they will not be able to sign up again. If you wish for users to be allowed to have multiple accounts, disable this setting. Keep in mind that a user can log out and remove all vB cookies for your site and then reregister if they wish. Verify Email Address in Registration Require Unique Email Addresses By default, vBulletin requires a unique email address for each user. If you disable this setting, multiple users will be allowed to have the same email address. Minimum Username Length This setting is the minimum number of characters that a username must be to be valid. Maximum Username Length This setting is the maximum number of characters that a username may be to be valid. Illegal User Names This setting is the usernames, or parts of usernames, that you do not wish users to be able to register, separated by spaces. If you enter John, for example, no one will be able to register John, but the name Johnathan will also be disallowed. Username Regular Expression
    (Do not start or end the expression with an escape character)

    Examples:

    ^[A-Z]+$ - Characters from A-Z only
    ^[A-Z ]+$ - Characters from A-Z including space
    ^[A-Z0-9 ]+$ - Alphanumeric characters including space
    ^[\x20-\x7E]+$ - ASCII characters from 32-127

    See PHP.net for more information on regular expressions.]]>         User Referrer referrid=XXX
    on the end (where XXX is the userid of the referring user) and if a person registers after following such a link, the user will be credited with a referral.]]>         Default Registration Options Select the default setting you want for each option on the registration form. Require Date of Birth When this option is enabled, users will be required to enter a valid date of birth when registering. Any users without a birthday will be required to enter one when modifying their profile. A valid birth year is from 1901 to the current year. Once a date of birth has been entered, the user will not be allowed to change it. User Title Maximum Characters This setting is the maximum number of characters a user may enter for a custom title. Censored Words
    To censor a word even if it appears as part of another word, for example 'dog' as part of 'dogma', simply enter the word. If you wish to be more selective, and only censor the word if it appears as a whole word by itself, you can enclose it with curly braces, like so:
    {dog}

    Following are some examples. This is the sentence they will be matched against:
    Dogs and cats fight when it's raining.
    Censor list: {dog} cat rain
    Censor result: Dogs and ***s fight when it's ****ing.
    Censor list: dog {cat} {rain}
    Censor result: ***s and cats fight when it's raining.

    Do *not* use quotation marks or the results may be unexpected or it may cause errors. Additionally be certain you are using curly brackets {} and not parentheses () when specifying exact words.]]>         Exempt Moderators From Censor Signature Soft-Linebreak Character Limit
    A line of text without a hard linebreak may wrap when displayed in a browser and actually appear as two lines. This option controls how many characters (other than linebreaks) that are allowed before the text counts as multiple lines.]]>         Maximum Length of Signature This setting is the maximum number of characters that a user can use in their signature. Allow vB Code in Signatures Allow Smilies in Signatures If you enable this setting, users can type such text as :) and :( and they will be converted into smilie images in their signatures. Otherwise, the text will be displayed as text. <![CDATA[Allow [IMG] Code in Signatures]]> Allow HTML in Signatures strongly recommended that you do not enable this setting. It will allow users to use HTML in their signatures, which could be used maliciously.]]> <![CDATA[Allow Users to 'Ignore' Moderators]]> If you enable this setting, users will be able to add Moderators and Administrators to their ignore lists. Avatars Enabled Avatar Manager. You can enable/disable custom avatars in Usergroups > Usergroup Manager.]]> Avatar Display Width This setting is the number of columns of avatars you wish to display for the display of predefined avatars in the User CP. Avatars Per-Page This setting is the number of predefined avatars displayed per page on the Edit Avatar screen, broken into columns by the Avatar Display Width setting above. Profile Pictures Enabled If you enable this option, users will be able to use profile pictures, which are small images (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. Enable User Reputation System This enables or disables the user reputation system. Allow Users to Hide Their Reputation If you enable this option, users will be able to disable the display of their reputation to the public. (Users will still be able to give reputation to users who have disabled the public display of their reputation.) Reputation Undefined
    For example, if your lowest reputation is -300, any user with a reputation of -301 or smaller will have this description.]]>         Default Reputation
    If you change this value then you may want to rebuild your reputations to give existing users to same base reputation level.]]>         Number of Reputation Ratings to Display This is how many of the most recent ratings that a user has received to show them in their User CP. <![CDATA[Administrator's Reputation Power]]> This setting is the number of reputation points that an administrator gives or takes with each reputation click. Set this option to 0 to have administrators follow the same rules as all other users. Register Date Factor For every X number of days that a user has been registered, they are given one more point of reputation-altering power. Post Count Factor For every X number of posts that a user makes, they will gain one more point of reputation-altering power. Reputation Point Factor For every X points of reputation that a user gets, they gain one more point of reputation-altering power. Minimum Post Count Minimum Reputation Count Daily Reputation Clicks Limit This is the number of reputation clicks that a user may give over any 24 hour period. Administrators are exempt from this limit. Reputation User Spread This setting is the number of different users that a person must give reputation to before they can hit the same person again. Administrators are exempt from this limit. Allow vB Code in User Notes If this is enabled, user notes can contain vB code and it will be parsed. Allow Smilies in User Notes If this is enabled, smilies will be parsed in User Notes. <![CDATA[Allow [IMG] Code in User Notes]]> Allow HTML in User Notes strongly not recommended!)]]> Members List Enabled Minimum Posts
    This can be used to prevent new registrations from being listed.]]>         Member List Field Options member list page.]]> Members Per Page This setting determines the number of members displayed per page on the members list. Allow Advanced Searches If you enable this option, users will be able to perform advanced searches on the Member List. Show Last Post on Profile Page Enable Banning Options If you enable this option, the following ban settings will apply. Banned IP Addresses Enter any IP addresses you wish to ban in this box, separated by spaces. You can enter a full IP address, or any partial IP address. vBulletin starts at the beginning of an IP address and matches out. You should be very careful when banning IP addresses, especially partials, as you will in all likelyhood hit at least one innocent person for every one who is a legitimate banning target, if you even manage to hit a legitimate target at all. Banned Email Addresses
    You can use a partial email by entering the @ symbol followed by the domain name: @example.com. You can opt to disallow current users from keeping banned email addresses below.]]>         Agressive Email Banning
    If you do not enable this option, emails will only be banned if the entry is matched at the end of the email address. For example:
    Enabled: Banning "example" bans example@something.com and something@example.com.
    Disabled: Banning "example" effectively bans nothing. If you wish to ban something@example.com, you must enter "example.com".]]>         Allow User to Keep Banned Email Addresses You can disallow users from keeping an email address after you ban it by enabling this option. If you do so, the next time any users affected by the email ban attempt to modify their profile they will be prompted to enter a different address. Tachy Goes to Coventry This setting allows you to set certain users as being globally ignored. Their posts etc. are not seen by any users except themselves. This gives them the illusion that they are still functioning members of the forum when in reality nobody is seeing their posts. Enter a list of userids separated by spaces. Enabled Built-in BB Codes
    Disabling a bbcode will prevent it from working anywhere on the forum, including signatures, private messages, user notes etc.]]>         <![CDATA[Maximum [CODE] Lines]]> Code is displayed as preformatted text which does not wrap when it reaches the edges of the table. By placing the code within a scroll box we avoid the situation where the preformatted text streches the forum layout. This setting allows you to specify the maximum height of the scroll box before a scroll bar is displayed. Quick Edit Quick Reply Enabled but this has the expense of making Threaded/Hybrid view not very useful, as the system has no way of knowing which post a user is replying to and will simply at it at the end; threaded/hybrid views will become non-sensical.]]> Multi-Quote Enabled
    Since this feature allows users to respond to multiple posts at once, any posts made using this feature will not fit into a threaded hierarchy so beware!]]>         Multi-Quote Quote Limit
    It should be noted that this will not restrict the number of quotes that can be added to a post, potentially a user could enter the Quote tags manually.]]>         Minimum Characters Per Post This setting is the minimum number of characters a user must put in a post before it is allowed to go through. Set this to 0 to disable it. <![CDATA[Ignore Words in [QUOTE] Tags for Min Chars Check]]> Automatically Quote Post / Thread Title Maximum Characters Per Post Set this option to the maximum number of characters you wish to allow in one post. If you set this to 0 it will disable the maximum character check. Maximum Images Per Post/Signature Set this to the maximum number of images you wish to allow per post and signature. For the purposes of this count, the post and any signature the user has are counted together. Set this to 0 to disable the images count. <![CDATA[Prevent 'SHOUTING']]> If you set this to 0, this function will be disabled.
    For some international forums with different character sets this setting may cause issues, and in that case should be disabled.]]>         <![CDATA[Allow Dynamic URL for [IMG] Tags]]> Minimum Time Between Posts If you enter a number other than 0 (which will disable this function) here, it will cause a user to be forced to wait at least this many seconds between posts. It can prevent a user from attempting to flood your forum with new posts, through either manual or automatic means. Administrators and moderators are always exempt from floodcheck. Time Limit on Editing of Thread Title This setting is the number of minutes in which a user may edit the title of a thread that he starts, and have it apply to the thread listing screen (forumdisplay). After this time period, the change will only apply to the title shown in the first post of the thread. (Administrators and moderators with permission may always edit the title of the thread as shown on forumdisplay through the Edit Thread function.) Time Limit on Adding a Poll to a Thread Time Limit on Editing of Posts This is the time in minutes after the post was posted. If a user posted a post at 1:00 PM and this setting is set to 5, then that user will not be able to edit that post after 1:05 PM. <![CDATA[Time to Wait Before Starting to Display 'Edited by...']]> Edited by xxx message being appended at the bottom of an edited message.]]> Log IP Addresses If this setting is set to Do Not Log IP, no IPs will be logged when messages are posted. If set to Display, But Require Admin or Mod, then the IP will be logged and an administrator or moderator with permission can view it. Display Publicly will show the IP on the post itself for all to see. Enable Clickable Message Formatting Controls WYSIWYG editor, which allows users to use a Word-like editing box. Using Disable Controls will also keep the Clickable Smilies box from showing.

    Setting this option to Enable Standard Controls will allow users to opt to use a vB2-style toolbar for quick use of BB Codes.

    Setting this option to Enable Standard & WYSIWYG Controls will allow users to choose between the standard and WYSIWYG controls.]]>         Enable Clickable Message Formatting Controls
    The full editor option controls all areas other than quick reply and quick edit.]]>         Smiliebox Total Smilies Enter the total number of smilies you wish to be shown in the clickable smiliebox before the user must click to see more. If you would like to hide the clickable smiliebox for all users, set this to 0. Smiliebox Smilies Per Row If the clickable smiliebox is enabled, enter the number of smilies that should be shown per row here. WYSIWYG Smilie Menu Total Smilies
    Set this value to 0 if you would like to hide the popup smilie menu completely.]]>         Limit Space Taken Up By Attachments (Total)
    1024 bytes = 1 kilobyte
    1048576 bytes = 1 megabyte

    The total file size of a post's attachments cannot exceed this number. If you allow users to attach multiple files to a post then the combined file size of the post's attachments cannot exceed this number.]]>         Attachments Per Post
    vBulletin allows users to attach multiple files to a single post. This setting defines the maximum number of files that a user may attach to one post.]]>         Attachment Inputs
    For example, if a user wants to attach 5 files to their post (assuming you allow at least 5 attachments per post) and you only allow 3 files to be uploaded at a time (this setting), then the user will need to select and upload 3 of the 5 files first and then select and upload the last 2 files after the first 3 are done.]]>         Attachment URL Inputs
    "URL attachments" are copied to your server at post time, similar to custom avatars.]]>         Allow Deletion of Attachments Beyond Edit Time Limit here (Time Limit on Editing of Posts).]]> Allow Deletion of Attachments in Closed Threads here (Time Limit on Editing of Posts).]]> Allow Duplicate Attached Images View Attached Images Inline
    Enabling this option makes for convenient viewing of attached images but also increases the load time of threads with lots of attached images, increases bandwidth usage, and increases server resource usage when a user loads a thread with lots of attached images.]]>         Enable Thumbnails
    Enabling thumbnails is useful in conserving bandwidth on forums where attachments are displayed inline and in preventing large (dimensions) attached images from stretching the forum layout.

    The border and dimensions options require either the GD2 or Imagemagick image processing libaries. These options will not add anything if you are using the GD1 library.

    If you are enabling this option and have existing image attachments on your forums, you will need to rebuild your thumbnails to generate thumbnails for those existing attachments.]]>         Thumbnail Size
    If you are changing this value and have existing image attachments on your forums, you will need to rebuild your thumbnails to update those existing attachments.]]>         Thumbnail Quality Thumbnails Per Row
    This setting can be used to appropriately fit thumbnails to your forum layout.]]>         Maximum Poll Options This setting limits the number of choices a user can put in a poll. Poll Option Length When typing the text for a poll option, the number of characters in the input field cannot exceed this number. Update Thread Last Post on Poll Vote Required Thread Rating Votes to Show Rating
    Thread ratings are relatively inaccurate with just a few votes. This setting can be used to delay the results until enough votes have been cast to give a more accurate rating.]]>         Allow Thread Rating Vote Changes Enabling this option allows users to rate a thread and then change that rating later. Search Engine Enabled Searching is a very useful feature but it can be quite server intensive on busy forums. If you are concerned about server load you can disable this feature. Minimum Time Between Searches This setting can be used to limit the number of searches any one user can perform within a certain time period. This is useful in preventing the search feature from taking too many server resources on busy forums. Search Index Minimum Word Length
    For example, if this is set to 4 then users can't search for 3 letter words. You can reduce the size of your database by increasing this number and reindexing here.]]>         Search Index Maximum Word Length
    For example, if this is set to 15 then users can't search for 16 letter words. You can reduce the size of your database by decreasing this number and reindexing here.]]>         Words to be Included Despite Character Limit Use this setting to include special words in the search index that are outside the range of word lengths to be indexed. Search Results Posts Per Page For example, if this is set to 25 then the user will need to go to the second page of search results to see matches 26-50. Maximum Search Results to Return For example, if this is set to 200 and a search finds 300 results then only the first 200 matches will be displayed. Allow Search Wild Cards Enabling this option allows users to use wildcards (an asterisk *) in their searches. The asterisk respresents any number and combination of characters in the part of the search word in which it is used. Automatic Similar Thread Search here.

    If you are concerned about server load you can disable this feature.]]>         Search Result Sharing Similar Threads Relevance Threshold
    You can see and change the scoring system here.]]>         Words to be excluded from search includes/searchwords.php file.]]> Guest Search Image Verification If this option is enabled, guests will need to verify that they are human by entering the contents of a verification image into a text box. Search Relevance Multi-Word Match Bonus Score
    For example, if your search string consists of two words then posts that contain both words will be given higher relevance than posts that only contain one of the two words.]]>         Search Relevance Date Score
    This can be deceiving for multi-word searches. For example, for multi-word search strings a search result might only match one of the words but end up with a higher relevance score than an older search result that matched all of the words.]]>         Search Relevance Thread Title Score This setting allows you to give a higher relevance score to search results whose threads contain search words. Search Relevance Post Title Score This setting allows you to give a higher relevance score to search results whose titles contain search words. This is for post titles, not thread titles. Search Relevance Reply Score
    Remember that quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality. In this way, this setting can skew the search results.]]>         Search Relevance Reply Function Search Relevance View Score
    Remember that quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality. In this way, this setting can skew the search results.]]>         Search Relevance View Score Search Relevance Rating Score This setting allows you to give a higher relevance score to search results contained within threads that have a high thread rating. Search Relevance Rating Score Script Name for Forum Home Page Display Logged in Users?
    There are 4 options:

    Yes, Alphabetical to all visitors - This option will show an alphabetized list of users to guests and members.
    Yes, Random to all visitors - This option will show a random order list of users to guests and members.
    Yes, Alphabetical to members only - This option will show an alphabetized list of users to members only.
    Yes, Random to members only - This option will show a random order list of users to members only.]]>         <![CDATA[Display Today's Birthdays?]]> Show birthdays for active users only Display Calendar Events? This setting can be used to limit the number of upcoming events that are displayed on your forum homepage. Display Holidays here.]]> Upcoming Event Type This setting lets you group upcoming events by event or by date. Active Members Time Cut-Off
    By specifying a number of days for this setting, the system will treat members who have not visited the board within that time as 'inactive'.

    This option is used as the cut-off mechanism for the 'Active Members Options' settings.]]>         Active Members Options Depth of Forums - Forum Home
    parent
    --child
    ----child's child

    Then you will only see the first two levels on your forum homepage:

    parent
    --child]]>         Depth of Forums - Forum Display
    parent
    --child
    ----child's child

    And you are currently viewing the "parent" forum then you will see the first two levels of the parent forum's subforums on the forumdisplay page:

    --child
    ----child's child]]>         Depth of Sub-Forums
    For example, if your forums are setup like this:

    parent
    --child
    ----child's child

    And your forum depth is set to 2 and this setting is set to 3 then you will see the first two forums displayed "fully" on the forum homepage while the level 3 "child's child" forum will appear within the "child" forum's description:

    parent
    --child
      child forum's description.
      Sub-Forums: child's child]]>         Show Forum Descriptions in Forum Listings here.]]> Show Private Forums
    Either of the yes options will allow users to see all forums that they don't have access to. The ability to see the forum's post count is controlled by the two yes options. If a forum is passworded, it is treated as a private forum until the user enters the valid password.]]>         Show Private Forums
    If you enable this option then users will be able to see private forums but not access them.]]>         Show Lock Icons to Users Enable this option to display a lock icon on forums that the logged in user does not have access to. Last Thread Title Maximum Displayed Characters This setting is useful in preventing long thread titles from taking up too much space and stretching the table cells. Show Moderator Column Enable Forum Description Show Users Browsing Forums
    There are 4 options:

    Yes, Alphabetical to all visitors - This option will show an alphabetized list of users to guests and members.
    Yes, Random to all visitors - This option will show a random order list of users to guests and members.
    Yes, Alphabetical to members only - This option will show an alphabetized list of users to members only.
    Yes, Random to members only - This option will show a random order list of users to members only.]]>         Maximum Displayed Threads Before Page Split This is the maximum number of threads per page on forumdisplay.php. Show Sticky Threads on All Pages Sticky threads are shown at the top of the forum thread listing. Enable this option to not only show sticky threads at the top of the listing, but also at the top of each page of threads. Highlight Threads in Which User Has Posted This feature is good for helping users keep track of their footsteps on busy forums. On less busy forums this feature is less useful. Hot Threads Enabled A thread is hot if it has at least X number of views and/or X number of replies. You can set the minimum number of views and replies below. Hot Threads Qualifying Views This is the minimum number of views required for a thread to be hot. Hot Threads Qualifying Posts This is the minimum number of posts required for a thread to be hot. Multi-Page Thread Links Enabled This option allows users to go from the forum thread listing directly to a specific page in a thread without having to view the first page of the thread first. Multi-Page Thread Maximum Links Length of Thread Preview Text When you mouse-over a thread link a small hovering windows appears that shows the content of the first post in the thread. This setting is the maximum number of characters to show. Group Announcements Show Users Browsing Threads
    There are 4 options:

    Yes, Alphabetical to all visitors - This option will show an alphabetized list of users to guests and members.
    Yes, Random to all visitors - This option will show a random order list of users to guests and members.
    Yes, Alphabetical to members only - This option will show an alphabetized list of users to members only.
    Yes, Random to members only - This option will show a random order list of users to members only.]]>         Maximum Displayed Posts Before Page Split User-Settable Maximum Displayed Posts Here you can give your users the option to pick a different number of posts per page setting. Show Default Post Icon Number of Characters Before Wrapping Text
    Remember that, unless you are using preformatted text, X number of characters does not equal a specific width because different characters are different widths.]]>         Check Thread Rating It only makes sense not to present the user with a voting form if they have already voted, but you may wish to disable this option is you are concerned about performance. Check Thread Subscription It is convenient for the user to have this option enabled so they know when they have subscribed to a thread they are viewing, but you may wish to disable this option if you are concerned about performance. Show Similar Threads? Automatic Similar Thread Search option does the actual work to find similar threads. Disable both options if you don't want this feature.]]> Post Elements
    Keep in mind that these post elements add processing time to thread pages. For example, to get a user's age vBulletin needs to do some math on the user's birth date and the current date in order to get an age out of it. This calculation is done for each post being displayed on a thread page. The additional overhead is small but is there nonetheless. If you are wanting to optimize your forum for speed then you should disable these post elements.]]>         Enable Threaded / Hybrid Mode
    Threaded mode shows a tree of links to individual posts within the thread. The tree shows the threadedness of the posts by indenting reply posts under the post they are in reply to. Only one post is viewable at a time.

    Hybrid mode shows the threaded tree of post links as well as the linear expansion of those posts.]]>         Use Threaded Mode by Default Threaded mode shows a tree of links to individual posts within the thread. The tree shows the threadedness of the posts by indenting reply posts under the post they are in reply to. Only one post is viewable at a time. Threaded Mode: Posts Depth
    firstpost
    -reply1
    --re: reply1
    ---re: re: reply1
    -reply2
    --re: reply2

    If you are viewing "firstpost" then both "reply1" and "reply2" are one level deep. If you are viewing "reply1" then "re: reply1" is one level deep and "re: re: reply1" is 2 levels deep.]]>         Threaded Mode: Maximum Cached Posts Maximum Displayed Posts Before Page Split setting in terms of thread load time. If this setting is set to 40 then vBulletin will load a maximum of 40 posts "in the background" so the page doesn't have to reload for each of those 40 posts.]]> Threaded Mode: Trim Titles
    Limiting the length of these post titles in the pane can help to make the post tree more readable and prevent it from running off of the pane and forcing a horrizontal scroll bar. This becomes more of a problem with threads that have deep post trees.]]>         Private Messaging Enabled Private messaging allows users to send eachother personal messages using your forums, similar to email. Only the recipient of a private message can read it. Instant Messaging Support Enable this feature to alert users of new private messages while they are browsing your forums. This is not true instant messaging because the recipient of a private message must load a forum page to initiate the prompt. Maximum Characters Per Private Message Use this setting to limit the length of private messages. Floodcheck - Minimum Time Between Messages Enter the minimum number of seconds that must pass before a user can send another private message. Use this setting to prevent users from spamming your users with private messages. Default Messages Per-Page For example, if a user has 100 private messages in their inbox and this is set to 50 then their private messages will be split over 2 pages. Maximum Messages Per-Page If a user has more private messages than are allowed on one page by this setting then they will be split across multiple pages. Allow Message Icons for Private Messages here.]]> Allow vB Code in Private Messages vB Codes allow you to add certain html elements to messages (bold text, italic text, underlined text, lists, etc). Allow Smilies in Private Messages here.]]> <![CDATA[Allow [IMG] Code in Private Messages]]>
    [IMG]http://www.domain.com/image.gif[/IMG]]]>         Allow HTML in Private Messages HTML code allows the user tremendous freedom in formatting their messages but also allows for malicious code to be inserted. Allowing HTML code is not recommended. <![CDATA[Who's Online Enabled]]> online.php page. This page shows a detailed list of currently active users, their locations, etc. This option only applies to online.php, not the "Currently Active Users" list on the forumhome page.

    Reported locations do take forum permissions into consideration. For example, if a user in the online list is viewing a forum that the current logged in user doesn't have access to, then online.php will only report that they are viewing a forum and not give the name of the forum.]]>         <![CDATA[Who's Online Refresh Period]]> who's online page auto refreshes itself. This setting determines how often it refreshes.]]> <![CDATA[Who's Online Display Guests]]> A guest is a user that does not have a forum account or is not logged in. <![CDATA[Who's Online Resolve IP Addresses]]> group permission.]]> Enable Spider Display
    See this page in the vBulletin manual for information on how spiders are identified.]]>         Forum Archive Enabled Display Simple View of Threads
    http://www.yoursite.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1.html

    ...you will get:

    http://www.yoursite.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1]]>         Forum Archive Threads Per Page Forum Archive Posts Per Page Control Panel Quick Statistics here.]]> Control Panel Style Folder Select a style for the Admin and Moderator control panels. Timeout Admin Login Enabling this option will force admins to relogin if they are in the Admin CP for too long. This is more secure but potentially annoying. Enable Collapsing in Forum Manager? this page.]]> User Editor Columns this page.]]> Enable External Javascript
    The option refers specifically to a Javascript feed.]]>         Enable RSS Syndication
    The option refers specifically to an RSS feed.]]>         Enable XML Syndication
    The option refers specifically to an XML feed.]]>         Thread Cutoff 1. If a forum only receives a few updates a day, then increasing the value past 24 hours would be advisable.]]> Log Database Errors to File Enter a full server path. You might want to record database errors to a file if you chose not to have them emailed to you. Log Failed Admin Control Panel Logins to File Enter a full server path. Recording failed Admin CP logins is useful for knowing when some one is trying to hack into your forums. Log PHP Warnings to a File
    C:\logs\vbulletin.log

    Or on a *nix server it might be something like:

    /home/yoursite/logs/vbulletin.log]]>         Maximum File Size of Error Logs Enter a byte size. 1048576 bytes = 1 megabyte Disable Database Error Email Sending If you do not want to be notified about database errors by email then set this option to Yes. It is recommended that you keep at least one of the error reporting features enabled, whether that is email notification or a log file. Enable Plugin/Hook System
    For troubleshooting purposes, you can turn off the plugin/hook system with this setting so you can eliminate your code as a possible cause.]]>         Search Type Delete Indices
    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.]]>         About Phrases Related General Help Topics:
    Languages
    Phrases

    Phrases:
    vBulletin's phrase system is used to make the templates language-independant. Everywhere there would normally be a hard coded, language-specific phrase there is a variable that parses to the value of the phrase for the language in which the user is viewing your forums. Some phrases will be represented in the templates like this:

    $vbphrase[phrase_identifier]

    While other phrases that have variables in them will be represented like this:

    <phrase 1="value for variable 1" 2="value for variable 2">$vbphrase[phrase_identifier]</phrase>

    In the above example, the variables {1} and {2} in the phrase "phrase_identifier" will be replaced with the values you see definied in the template.]]>         Adding a new Phrase Phrase Type The phrase type is a way of categorizing your phrases to make it easier to find them later. This consists of several built-in types, as well as any you have added. Select what type your new phrase is from the list. Variable Name
    To call the phrase from the templates, use
    $vbphrase[variablename]
    where variablename is what you put in this box.]]>         Text to insert Delete Phrase Editing a Phrase On this screen you can edit an existing phrase for use in the templates. You cannot change the variablename or text to insert; you can only change the translations of the phrase. Language Find Orphan Phrases
    For each orphan phrase you are given the option to keep it or not. Select the "Keep" or "Delete" radio button on the right. If you want to keep all or delete all orphan phrases then click the appropriate button at the top. Click the "Continue" button at the bottom to perform the selected action and proceed to the next orphan phrase.]]>         Find Updated Phrases Manage Orphan Phrases These orphan phrases need parents. Below is a list of all translations for each orphan phrase. You need to choose one translation to be default... the orphan phrase will then be adopted by that parent language. Modifying Phrases
    Clicking 'Edit' to the extreme right of any phrase allows you to modify, add, or remove translations for that phrase. If this is a custom phrase, there will be a link to Delete it.]]>         Quickref Searching Phrases On this screen you can search for a specific phrase. This searches all languages for the text you specify. Find phrases containing text This is the text you want to search for. Search in Language Select the language in which you want to search. Search for text in Use case-sensitive search If this is set to Yes, the search being performed will be done in a case-sensitive manner, meaning exactly what you type will be searched for. Replace with Text The search text will be replaced with this text.     Allow Overwrite
    If you are upgrading an existing product, simply set this to yes. Your customized options, templates, and phrases will not be altered.]]>         Product ID This is the unique identifier for your product. It may only contain a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and _. This is used to associate all related data with your product. It may not be changed after the product is created. Product Title This is the name of your product. It is shown to users when they view their list of currently installed products. Version
    Product Version
    This is the current version of your product. It is important to increment this when you make changes to your product so install codes can be managed properly and your users will know when there is a newer version out.

    Install/Uninstall Code Version
    This is the version the install/uninstall code is associated with. When you release a product that requires code to be run during installation or uninstallation, you should associate it with the first version of the product that requires the code.]]>         Product Description This is simply a description of the product. It is shown to the user when viewing the list of installed products. Product URL Version Check URL
    For the version check to function properly, data returned from the specified URL should be in the format of: 
    <version productid="x">1.2.3</version>
    x should be replaced with the ID of the product that the version applies to. 1.2.3 should be replaced with the latest version of the product.

    Note: A POST request will be made to the server. Some configurations deny this for static files so you mad need to use PHP to serve the data.]]>         Dependency Type
    This option controls what the required item is. You may select from:
    1. PHP Version
    2. MySQL Version
    3. vBulletin Version
    4. Product ID - this option allows you to specify the ID of another product that must be installed and enabled before this product can be installed
    Using the Compatibility Starts With Version and Incompatible With Version options, you may specify a range of versions that are compatible with your product.

    Note:. If you specify multiple entries for a specific dependency type, the person installing your product must only meet one dependency per type. For example, if you require PHP to be less than 4.2.0 and PHP to be greater than or equal to 4.3.0, as long as the user meets one of those two requirements, the install will continue.]]>         Incompatible With Version
    This version is not considered compatible. For example, if you specify that your product is incompatible with PHP 5.0.0, a user with PHP 5.0.0 Beta 1 will be able to install your product, while a user with PHP 5.0.0 or 5.0.1 would not.]]>         Compatibility Starts With Version
    This version is included in the compatibility. For example, if you require PHP 5.0.0, 5.0.0 will qualify. However, 5.0.0 Beta 1 will not.]]>         Install Code
    It will only be executed if the version the code is associated with has not been installed. For example, if you select a version of 1.0, when a user first installs your product, this install code will run. If he/she later upgrades from 1.0 to 1.1, install code associated with 1.0 will not run.

    When multiple install codes must be run (such as if you have install codes for 1.0 and 1.1 and the user does not have any version of your product installed), they will be executed in ascending version order. That is, 1.0 code will execute before 1.1 code.]]>         Uninstall Code This code will be executed when a user uninstalls your product. Code will be executed from newest version to oldest version. For example, if there is uninstall code associated with versions 1.0 and 1.1, the 1.1 code will run before the 1.0 code.     About User Profile Fields User Profile Fields:
    User profile fields have two main applications. First, they can be used to hold information about your users. For example, a default vBulletin profile field is the "Location" field where a user can enter their location. Second, profile fields can be used as forum options to drive conditionals in your templates. This application is explained in this help topic.

    There are different types of profile fields that can be selected when creating a new profile field on the Add New User Profile Field page. Below are examples of each kind of profile field:

    Single-line Text Box (input): In HTML, this is
    <input type="text" name="" />
    which equates to this:


    Multi-line Text Box (textarea): In HTML, this is
    <textarea name=""></textarea>
    which equates to this:


    Single-selection Radio Buttons (radio): In HTML, this is
    <input type="radio" name="a" /> Option 1
    <input type="radio" name="a" /> Option 2
    which equates to this:
    Option 1
    Option 2

    Single-selection Menu (select): In HTML, this is
    <select name="sel">
    <option value="1">Option 1<option>
    <option value="2">Option 2<option>
    </select>
    which equates to this:


    Multiple-selection Menu (select multiple): In HTML, this is
    <select name="sel" multiple="true" size="3">
    <option value="1">Option 1</option>
    <option value="2">Option 2</option>
    <option value="3">Option 3</option>
    <option value="4">Option 4</option>
    <option value="5">Option 5</option>
    </select>
    which equates to this:


    Multiple selection Checkboxes (checkbox): In HTML, this is
    <input type="checkbox" name="name" value="1" /> Option 1
    <input type="checkbox" name="name" value="2" /> Option 2
    which equates to this:
    Option 1
    Option 2

    ]]>         Adding a User Profile Field On this screen you can add a user profile field. A user profile field is a field that the users fill in during registration (or afterwards on their Edit Profile page) that can then be displayed in various places. Title This is the title of the profile field as displayed to your users and in the admin control panel. It can be up to 50 characters long. Description This is the description of the field as shown to your users. You should describe here what the field is intended for, and if it is required field or not, and/or if it is private from other users or not. Multiple Choice Fields Select Fields
    In this box, put each value that should appear as an option. Make sure to press Enter after each option or it will not work correctly!

    Radio Fields
    In this box, put each value that should appear as a radio button. Make sure to press Enter after each option or it will not work correctly!

    Checkbox Fields
    In this box, put each value that should appear as a checkbox. Make sure to press Enter after each option or it will not work correctly!]]>         Maximum Input Length Maximum Input (Input, Textarea only)
    This setting is how many characters a user is allowed to enter into this field.

    Maximum Input (for Optional Field, Select, Radio only)
    This setting is how many characters a user may enter into the optional field.]]>         <![CDATA[Field Length & Limit Boxes]]> Field Length (Input, Textarea only)
    This is how many characters long the input should appear on the forms. This should be less than or equal to the maximum number of characters allowed to be entered into this field.

    Field Length (for Optional Field, Select, Radio only)
    This setting is how many characters long the input field should appear as on the form. It is recommended that you set this to be equal to or less than the maximum number of characters the user may enter as set above.

    Limit Boxes (Select Multiple only)
    This is how many options the user may choose. Set to 0 to allow the user to select all options.

    Limit Boxes (Checkbox only)
    This setting is how many checkboxes the user may check total for this field. Enter 0 to allow them to select all checkboxes.]]>         Profile Field Type Select a field type for this profile field. Please see the General Topics for examples of each type of profile field. <![CDATA[Field Height (<i>Textarea only</i>)]]> This only applies to Textarea type fields]]> Set Default? Select Fields
    If you wish to have the first option set as the default choice for this field, set this to Yes. Otherwise, a blank line will be the default. This is useful to force users to select an option at registration if this is a required field.

    Radio Fields
    If this is set to Yes, the first radio button will be preselected for the user. Otherwise, none will be selected. This is useful if you wish to force a user to select one if this field is required.]]>         <![CDATA[Items Per Line (<i>Radio, Checkbox only</i>)]]> This setting is how many controls to display per line on forms. Set this to 0 to show all controls on one line, unless they wrap naturally due to screen width. <![CDATA[Box Height (<i>Select Multiple only</i>)]]> This setting is how tall the box should be. If you have 12 options and want 3 of them displayed without the user having to use the scrollbar, set this to 3. It is recommended that you set this to at least 3 for user sanity reasons. Display Order Field Required? Yes, at registration and profile updating - User will be required to complete this field at registration and when updating their profile.

    Yes, always - User will be required to complete this field at registration. Enabling this setting will force all users to complete it before they can continue using your forum.

    No - Completion of this field is optional.

    No, but display at registration - Completion of this field is optional but it will appear at registration.]]>         Field Editable by User? Yes - User may edit this field at any time.

    No - User may never edit this field.

    Only at registration - User may only edit this field at registration or if it is set to be required and it is blank.]]>         Private Field If this is set to Yes, this field can be filled in by the user but will only be viewable to those with the proper usergroup permission. <![CDATA[Field searchable on member's list]]> <![CDATA[Show on member's list?]]> <![CDATA[Allow Additional Field? (<i>Select, Radio only</i>)]]> If this is set to Yes, the user will be allowed to fill in a text input field as an alternative to the options you have given for this field. <![CDATA[Regular Expression (<i>Select, Input, Radio, Textarea only</i>)]]>
    Example: (Do not start or end the expression with an escape character)

    ^[0-9]{7,8}$

    If you want to allow an empty response to be given, you need to account for it within the regex:

    ^[0-9]{7,8}$|^$

    See PHP.net for more information on regular expressions.]]>         Which page displays this option?
    As mentioned, you can use template conditionals to add additional options for your users. For example, you can make this profile field a "one option" check box field under one of the "Options" categories. You can then use the field as a conditional to display something in your postbit template. If the "Name" of this profile field is field1 then you can use this code in your postbit template:

    <if condition="$post['field1']">
    code to display if the user has checked the profile field
    </if>

    The green code in the middle will only be displayed if the user has checked the profile field in their options.]]>         Edit Profile Field On this screen you can edit this user profile field. A user profile field is a field that the users fill in during registration (or afterwards on their Edit Profile page) that can then be displayed in various places. User Profile Field Manager
    Click the [Edit] link to edit the settings of the corresponding profile field. Click the [Delete] link to do exactly that (this will lose information if users have information in the field!).

    User profile fields can be displayed in posts next to the author's name. If you want to display a profile field in posts then you need to edit your postbit or postbit_legacy template (depending on which one you use as is indicated by the "Use Legacy (Vertical) Postbit Template" option in your vBulletin options) and add $post[fieldX] where X is the field ID of the profile field as shown under the "Name" column on this page.

    Below is a list of existing profile fields. The "Title / Profile Field Type" column tells you the name and type of the profile field. Please see the General Topics for examples of each type of profile field.

    The "Options" column tells you which options are enabled for the corresponding profile field. Profile fields can be required, editable, private, searchable, and shown on the member list - or not.

    The "Name" column tells you the field number of the corresponding profile field. You can use a profile field's field number to make it show in user posts (see above).

    The "Display Order" column tells you the display order of the corresponding profile field. Display orders are used to order profile fields on the various pages of the User CP on which they can be displayed. You can change display orders on this page by editing the display order fields and clicking the "Save Display Order" button.

    ]]>         Delete Profile Field     About Execute SQL Query Related General Help Topics:
    Database Backup
    Repair / Optimize
    Update Counters
    Diagnostics
    Execute SQL Query

    Execute SQL Query:
    This page can be used to run queries on your forum database. This can be useful for mass-updating records in your database. You should always backup your database before querying it. Any valid MySQL query can be run here. See mysql.com for more information.]]>         Execute SQL Query This feature lets you run queries on your vBulletin database. You should backup your database before querying it. Automatic Query Manual Query Here you can manually type in the query you want to run. Only one query can be run at a time. Once a query is executed it can not be reversed. Results to Show Per Page Queries return results after they are executed. Here you can specify the number of returned results to show per page.     About User Ranks User Ranks:
    Users ranks are rank insignia based on post count and usergroup that are displayed next to names in posts. User ranks work very similar to user titles, the main difference being that user titles are for all usergroups while user ranks can be created for specific usergroups. In this way you can create different rank insignia for different usergroups. User ranks appear next to names in posts.]]>         Add New User Rank Here you can add a new user rank. Please see the individual help topics below if you have questions about the options. Number of times to repeat rank
    For example, if you specify a rank text of "Captain" and this setting is set to 2, then the user's rank will be shown as "CaptainCaptain".]]>         Minimum Posts This is the minimum number of posts required for a user to obtain this rank. When a user in the specified usergroup reaches this many posts then they will be given this rank. Usergroup or secondary groups will receive this rank. If you select "If Displaygroup = This Group", then only users that identify themselves as this group will receive this rank.

    Select "All Usergroups" to have this rank apply to everyone regardless of their usergroup.]]>         User Rank File Path
    Alternately, you can leave this field blank and fill in the next one instead.]]>         Rank Text
    Some HTML tags you might want to use here include:

    <b>rank</b> = rank
    <i>rank</i> = rank
    <u>rank</u> = rank
    <font color="red">rank</font> = rank
    <font size="4">rank</font> = rank]]>         Stack Rank Display Type Always: This rank will always be displayed if a member has this rank's usergroup as their primary or one of their secondary groups.

    If Displaygroup = This Group: This rank will only be displayed if a member's displaygroup is equal to this rank's usergroup.]]>         Edit User Rank Here you can edit this user rank. Please see the individual help topics below if you have questions about the options. User Rank Manager
    Below is a list of all existing ranks (if any). The ranks below are grouped by the usergroups to which they apply. The "User Rank" column shows the image or text that is granted to the user when they qualify for the corresponding rank. The "Minimum Posts" column shows you the post count that is needed to acquire the corresponding rank.

    Click the [Edit] link to the right of a rank to change its target usergroup, minimum required post count, and the image / text that is the rank. Click the [Delete] link to delete the rank completely.]]>         Delete Rank     About Repair / Optimize Related General Help Topics:
    Database Backup
    Repair / Optimize
    Update Counters
    Diagnostics
    Execute SQL Query

    Repair / Optimize:
    This script can be used to repair / optimize your database. If you are getting database errors caused by corruption then running this script might fix them. An alternative to repairing your database with this script is to run a REPAIR TABLE query from the mysql prompt through a telnet / SSH connection to your server (if you have access).

    You can also use this script to optimize your tables. You should optimize your database tables if you have recently pruned a large number of threads, posts, users, etc. Optimizing helps you reclaim unused space which can reduce the size of your database.]]>         Optimize Tables Database tables should be optimized if you have deleted a large part of a table or if you have made many changes to a table with variable-length rows (tables that have VARCHAR, BLOB, or TEXT columns). Optimizing helps you reclaim unused space which can reduce the size of your database. Repair Tables Repairs the selected database tables if errors are found. Repair / Optimize Tables Select the tables below and then the appropriate action to repair your tables if they have been corrupted or optimize to improve speed.     About Replacement Variables Related General Help Topics:
    Styles & Templates
    Common Templates, StyleVars, and CSS
    Replacement Variables

    Replacement Variables:
    Replacement variables are raw string replacements for your templates that are case-insensitive.

    For example, if you create a replacement variable using the variable string "vbulletin" and the replacement string "is cool", then these template strings will be parsed into the following strings upon loading a forum page:

    Template string: Powered by vBulletin
    Parsed string: Powered by is cool

    Template string: vBULLetin3
    Parsed string: is cool3

    You can use replacement variables the same way vBulletin uses stylevars (see "Common Templates, StyleVars, and CSS" link above). If you use the same string in several templates then you can create a replacement variable for it. You can use the replacement variable in the templates and set its value in this Replacement Variable Manager. If you need to change the value of the string then you can edit the replacement variable which will change its value in every template where the variable occurs.]]>         Add New Replacement Variable
    First you need to select a style to which you want this replacement variable to belong. The "Search for Text" field is the variable you will use in the templates. The "Replace with Text" field is the value that will be substituted in for the replacement variable everywhere it is used.]]>         Style Select a style to which you want this replacement variable to belong. Search for Text Replace with Text This field is the value that will be substituted in for this replacement variable everywhere it is used. Edit Replacement Variable
    The "Search for Text" field is the variable that is used in the templates. The "Replace with Text" field is the value that is substituted in for the replacement variable everywhere it is used.]]>         Replacement Variable Manager This page shows you replacement variables for all styles. Replacement variables can be used in templates. When a forum page is loaded all of the replacement variables in its templates are parsed into their replacement values. Delete Replacement Variable     About Viewing Permissions Related General Help Topics:
    Forums
    Forum Permissions
    Moderators
    Viewing Permissions

    Viewing Permissions:
    vBulletin's permission system is very powerful and flexible, but it can be complex to work with if you are inexperienced with vBulletin. Sometimes it is hard to know if you have permissions setup correctly. This page allows you to confirm correct permissions for a forum for a usergroup.

    For a detailed explanation about usergroups and forum permissions, see the general help topic for Usergroups.]]>         View Forum Permissions
    First select a forum and usergroup for which you want to view permissions. Then put a check next to the permissions you want to view. Click "Find" to view the permissions.]]>         Forum Select a forum for which you want to view permissions. Usergroup Select a usergroup for which you want to view permissions for the selected forum. Permissions Below is a report showing the forum permissions for the forum and group you selected. View User     Reset Last Checked Time will be checked the next time the RSS Poster scheduled task is run, regardless of the TTL setting for the feed.]]> Feed is Enabled
    Use this to temporarily disable a feed without deleting it.]]>         Title This should contain some text that describes the source of the feed for easy identification in the RSS Feed Manager. URL of Feed
    For example: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/external.php?type=RSS2&forumids=1]]>         Check Feed Every... While the RSS Poster scheduled task runs every ten minutes, you can limit the frequency at which this feed is checked. Maximum Items to Fetch
    For example, if you specify '5', any items over this number will be ignored.

    Enter '0' to fetch all items.]]>         Search Items for Words
    If any of the words listed here are contained within the title (or the title and description if 'Search Titles Only' is not ticked) then the item will be posted. If not, the item will be ignored.

    Separate each word with a space or a new line.]]>         User Name
    The user name must exist, though you could add a new user specifically for the purpose of posting RSS items.]]>         Forum
    Ensure that the forum can contain posts (is not a category) when selecting.]]>         Allow Smilies Display Signature Convert HTML to BB Code When this option is enabled any HTML found within the RSS feed item will be converted to BB Code prior to posting, it is not retroactive so when enabled only new posts will have this conversion. Title Template
    You may use any node from the RSS XML document by entering {rss:x} into the template, where 'x' corresponds to an <x> node.

    For the most part, you will use {rss:title} to show the <title> node from the current RSS feed item.]]>         Body Template
    In the same way as can be done with the Title Template, you may use any node from the RSS XML by specifying {rss:x}. The main node to include in this template is the <description> and <link> nodes, which can be referenced with {rss:description} and {rss:link}.

    For example: 
    [b][i]My RSS Feed[/i] Has Just Posted the Following:[/b]

{rss:description}

[url="{rss:link}"]Click here to view the article.[/url]
    ]]>         Post Items as Threads or Announcements
    Different options apply to each post type and are detailed below.

    Remember that users can not reply to announcements, so if you want discussion of RSS items it's probably best to post items as threads.]]>         Post Icons Allows you to pick an icon for threads posted by this RSS feed. Make Thread Sticky Select this option if you would like threads posted from this feed to be made into sticky threads, which remain at the top of the forumdisplay list. Moderate Thread Thread Action Delay
    For example, you could specify a delay of 6 hours, then have the system close threads posted by this RSS feed after that delay.

    A setting of '0' disables the thread action delay, so no actions will be automatically applied to threads after they are posted.]]>         Unstick Sticky Thread After Delay Close Thread After Delay Allow HTML in Announcements as HTML in announcements posted by the feed.

    Do not enable this option unless you trust the RSS feed source completely, as your board could be hacked if the RSS feed source contains malicious HTML.]]>         Days for Announcement to Remain Active Announcements posted by this RSS feed will become inactive and disappear from public view after this number of days.     About Statistics Related General Help Topics:
    Statistics
    Control Panel Log
    Moderator Log
    Scheduled Task Log

    Statistics:
    vBulletin's statistics page contains various stats for your forums. The stats on this page include "top" stats (newest member, top poster, most users online, etc) and various forum activity stats.

    You can run reports for a specific stat over a specific time period to view patterns of activity on your forums. Patterns of forum activity can be used for many different things. For example, if you run an advertising campaign for your site and want to check its effectiveness in terms of new forum registrations then you can run reports showing new registrations from before and during the campaign.]]>         Statistics
    The [Registration Statistics], [User Activity Statistics], [New Thread Statistics], and [New Post Statistics] links will take you to a page where you can run a report by date showing corresponding statistic on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.]]>         Statistics Report Start Date Select a start date for this report. Select a month, day, and year. The selected statistic must be no older than this date for it to be included in the report. End Date Scope Order By Date Empty Results Top Statistics Below is a list of trivial statistics for your forums. You can click on the individual links in the statistics to view the corresponding user, thread, or forum.     About Subscription Permissions Related General Help Topics:
    Subscriptions
    Subscription Permissions

    Subscription Permissions:
    By default, users will have the permission to purchase any of your available subscriptions (see the Subscription Manager). However, you might not want users of a particular usergroup to have access to purchase a subscription. In that case, vBulletin allows you to deny any subscription for any usergroup. The user must not have the denied usergroup as their primary usergroup or as one of their secondary groups.]]>         Editing Subscription Permissions On this screen you set up allow or deny access for the specific subscription and usergroup. Options are described below. Can Use Subscription No then this usergroup will be denied access to purchase this subscription. Please be aware that a user can have a primary and secondary groups. If permission is allowed for one of the user's secondary groups then they will be able to purchase the donation, even if their primary usergroup does