Getting Started with XF (Hosting and more)

[Divinum Fiat]

Okay all, I'm getting ready to get my license here and I have some questions on which steps to take exactly.

I am currently using Host Gator for my WP Membership site. There won't be much to transfer so my hosting with HG will be basic.

Can someone tell me if I'm on the right track with this hosting package (starting from scratch)?

VPS:
CPU: 0.56 GHZ
RAM: 384 MB
Disk Space: 10 GB
Bandwidth: 250 GB

The second package up is this:

VPS:
CPU: 0.84 GHZ
RAM: 576 MB
Disk Space: 22 GB
Bandwidth: 375 GB

Will the first package be sufficient to get me started?

As far as lay-out (theme?) goes the only forum I have found so far that I like is http://general-forums.com. There is another layout I like a lot, but it's a vB site (sorry), http://www.zenhex.com (although I do not like the colors on either of these).

Does XF install the software on my server and does anyone know how I can get my site to look like the above?

And lastly, I'm planning to buy a forum that fits well with my niche to help get my forum started. Does anyone know a source that sells forums or has anyone used http://www.paidforumposting.com?

Thanks!

 

[Divinum Fiat]

Everywhere I researched I was told to never use shared hosting on a forum. You're the first to say differently. But now that I have it, might as well kick this forum in gear and get it cranked up to 10,000 in a flash.

 

[Paul B]

Unfortunately there's a lot of snobbery when it comes to shared hosting.

I've been on it for 3 years with very few issues.
Certainly nothing that I can complain about considering it costs less than £50 per year.

 

[iTuN3r]

Considering you only have 80-90 members, I'm surprised you've gone for a VPS and the cost involved with that.

I'm on shared and have 2,000+ members with up to 100 online at a time.

Which shared hosting are you using ? I am on bluehost and site goes down twice a week without any notice for hours.

 

[Paul B]

eUKhost

 

[iTuN3r]

eUKhost

Which package do you prefer for shared hosting i only have 104 members on the moment and 1-2 registrations per day . I am seriously in need of another solution to keep site up all times.

 

[Paul B]

All the shared Linux/cPanel packages are the same, it just depends how much disk space and bandwidth you need.

 

[iTuN3r]

Thanks brogan i am taking up on your word and try them out We are hosting images in our own server that shouldn't be big deal .

 

[Divinum Fiat]

Hi everyone,

Okay, so I bought my XF license on Monday and also my VPS server and had a server glitch. But my license still hasn't gotten uploaded to today and no one is responding to my eMails to tech support?

Does anyone know how long this takes? I'm eager to get going!

And while I'm at it, I need work done (well, let me clarify, I don't need work done, but the software does ), like a front page designed, by invite only, some things moved over from my WP blog, and some other things). I looked at your 'service for hire' forum and there are so many, can anyone recommend any one person in particular or is it better to hire out each section according to speciality?

 

[Paul B]

The software is available to download from your customer area as soon as payment has cleared; which is immediately in most cases.

http://xenforo.com/customers/

Log in and click on Download XenForo.

 

[Divinum Fiat]

yes, but I purchased the install with it, I don't want to mess with 'installs' - don't know enough. Mike did contact me about the issue of where exactly do install it, but I let him know a couple of times already that it's all ready for him to do the install, no answer.

 

[Paul B]

Is the server fully ready now?
I understand the software (php, sql, etc.) hadn't been installed.

 

[Divinum Fiat]

I think that was Monday. It's been ready. I just sent another message using this system, perhaps it didn't get through because I used regular email. Do you know if XF works on U.S. or European time?

 

[Paul B]

UK time

I'll make Kier and Mike aware the server is now ready.

 

[Divinum Fiat]

thank you.

 

[Divinum Fiat]

I have a question about where the notices of the responses to our forum posts land. Some go into my inbox and some go into my spam folder. How can it be that they go in different places when they are just emails notifying me of another response?

 

[SchmitzIT]

I have a question about where the notices of the responses to our forum posts land. Some go into my inbox and some go into my spam folder. How can it be that they go in different places when they are just emails notifying me of another response?

Try and make sure you add the mail addresses from XenForo to your safe senders. I would say it might be the spam filter at your host or mail program checking for specific keywords and then assigning it to a specific folder.

As for frontpage design, there are many talented people available on here. If you want a CMS kind of deal, you could have a look at Jaxel's XenPorta portal, which offers some nice additional features. Porting the articles from WordPress most likely will be a manual task, as I am not aware of any automated processes for that.

Depending on the amount of articles, I'd say you should ensure you establish the forum layout (categories, forums, subforums, etc) you want, and then just manually create threads to which you copy/paste the existing WP articles.

 

[Divinum Fiat]

Thanks, Schmitz! My XF is still not installed so I haven't been able to look at the backend. But from seeing others' sites there is a 'blog' tab, isn't it also possible to create an 'articles' tab and list my articles there once I manually upload them? I'm hoping that the software will develop in the direction where people will be able to create and upload their own articles so I can feature them on the front page for everyone to see, but they would also be listed in the person's profile tab along with their blog posts.

 

[Mike]

Just so you know, I didn't get an update until a couple hours ago. If you want to email, you need to make sure you're responding to a ticket response -- but responding by the form on the web site is preferable.

I have had to ask for more information still before I can do the install.

 

[Divinum Fiat]

yes, I finally found the 'ticket' area this morning, had been sending emails. Waiting for additional info you still need.

 

[SchmitzIT]

Thanks, Schmitz! My XF is still not installed so I haven't been able to look at the backend. But from seeing others' sites there is a 'blog' tab, isn't it also possible to create an 'articles' tab and list my articles there once I manually upload them? I'm hoping that the software will develop in the direction where people will be able to create and upload their own articles so I can feature them on the front page for everyone to see, but they would also be listed in the person's profile tab along with their blog posts.

The portal offers something like that. If people make a particularly helpful thread or post, you can have it featured on the frontpage. What you want currently does not exist in that form, though undoubtedly, it can be coded.