so whats next

[Twoofus]

I have my host server up and ready to go, do I just purchase the licence and install, or is the general consensus that it is worth paying the installation fee.?
If paying the installation fee what is the procedure, what information is needed and how long does it take?

 

[sbj]

The installation is in general easy to do.

Install or upgrade? | Manual | XenForo

End-user documentation for XenForo

xenforo.com

 

[Twoofus]

Thanks for that, having browsed that I think I might choose to pay the installation fee..

 

[Mr Lucky]

I would suggest trying it yourself, there are plenty nice people here to guide you. Then if you really don't get it then use the installation service. Sooner or later you will appreciate learning how to (a) upload via FTP and (b) backup/restore a dtabase. It's useful knowledge if you are going to be running a forum.

 

[Twoofus]

I would like to learn to do it but concerned that I might do something fundamentally wrong that might affect the performance further down the line, as you say though the more knowledge I have about the systems operation the better.

 

[sbj]

I would like to learn to do it but concerned that I might do something fundamentally wrong that might affect the performance further down the line, as you say though the more knowledge I have about the systems operation the better.

Well, don't worry. It is basically moving files from your PC to the server. And then you enter "MYWEBSITE.com/install" and that is it basically. Of course you have to create also a database first and enter the credentials in your config file. The installation process has only 3 points. There is nothing you can do fundamentally wrong, other than maybe creating the wrong database collation, which should be: .
You create the database with phpmyadmin, where you can create a database with 2-3 clicks. You write down the name of the database, which username has access to it and what the password is. You enter that in the config file of XF. Then you move the XF files to the server and hit install. Done.

But it is up to you, however you like it. If you are worried, you can practice also on your PC or laptop (create a XF forum on your own machine).