Pre-Sale Questions about Servers and Logos.

[JFPouncey]

Okay so let me first say that, I'm learning this as I go.

I'm going to buy Xenforo, but I do not want to spare an extra $300 for the Branding removal right now.



Questions:
1.) Can I upgrade later without losing content?
2.) Will not buying the "branding removal" prevent me from uploading my own personal logo in the header, or does XenForos logo stay there, like in the demo?
3.) Can I buy a theme from ThemeHouse using these settings? Particularly this one: https://www.themehouse.com/xenforo/2/themes/io
3.) What is the cheapest All-In-One hosting service, that meets requirements, that will allow me to upload xenforo? I looked on godaddy, and their prices are in the $100+/mo, and then I go to a2hosting.com and they have XenForo hosting for around $4.90/mo, I am unsure about which one would be correct and have everything I need in order to get it up and running.

I already have the domain registered, I just need to point it to a host and get it going, right? I can build a wordpress website but this is all new to me, and I'm not rich so I want to try and limit my mistakes and do it right the first time.

 

[sbj]

1) You can get branding removal whenever you want. Until then on the footer the copyright will remain.



I would say most sites don't use the removal option, mostly bigger sites only.

And also you can add the official addons later whenever you want or need. I would also suggest anyone not to buy any kind of addons before they get the main forum up and running. Then you can see for yourself what kind of stuff you want to have and then buy addons to fill your needs.

2. Branding removal has nothing to do with the logo. You can upload your logo with or without branding removal.

3. Yes, you can.

4. The cheapest way is to go with shared hosting (1-15$). So as your forum will be completely new, shared hosting should suffice. You can also checkout this section for hosting offers. It depends on what your budget is and what resources you want to have. As said, most new sites can be hosted on a shared hosting service, which means they take care of everything and you will have a panel where you can do some settings (like upload your database, the files, etc.). However, if you want/need more power, you can go with VPS. That can also be found for 5-15$ price range, but unmanaged. Meaning, you have to take care for everything yourself, like the environment that a XF can be hosted. Managed is more expensive, 20-50$ range.

5. If you go with shared hosting or a managed one, sure, you just need to point the domain to the host (and upload the XF files and create the database). If you go with an unmanaged server, you would have to configure some stuff before you can do. But I believe this is out of your scope.