hi everyone,
not sure if this is the correct forum to post this in, but i have been around vbulletin forums for a few years, and i love them. i would really like to start my own forum, but I don't know how to go about doing it. I do not have any programming skills.
i consider myself to be fairly intelligent and I do pick up on things quickly, but i'm not sure if i could set up a forum on my own. once I buy the vbulletin software, how difficult is it to get it up and running?
is this possible for a newbie to tackle something like this?
thank you,

Surprisingly, you don't need any programming knowledge in order to start your own vBulletin forum.

Once you order, have a domain name, and a server, it's really a matter of editing one text file, uploading, and going through the installation process (which is really point-and-click, with some minor information input along the way).

As always, there's also the vBulletin support to be there in case you need it, both through the ticket system and on the forums. You shouldn't run into any kind of trouble at all, really. :)

thank you for the reply.
is it ok to ask questions here, or that wouldn't be the appropriate forum to do so?
if it's ok, i will ask something else here.
i see all kinds of hacks, making backups, vbulletin upgrades... so stuff like that is easy enough for a beginner to do? are there like step by step manuals to know how to do what? i have gone to the vbulletin forum, and the .org one, and half the time I don't even know what they are talking about. coding this coding that, i guess I just want to make sure this is something I can completely handle. I guess i'm looking for a complete beginner like to me to step up and say, "oh, it's pretty easy, I do it all myself." how do you go about picking a server that is a good one? it al seems overwhelming to me.
thanks again,

Well, there was a book written about vBulletin. I am sure there would be something in that about set-up.

As for having issues. If you are really a true nOObie, then you can always get the vBulletin staff to install your forum. I think when I bought my first one (many moons ago) there was an option to pay $25 or something to get them to set it all up.

I didn't use it and don't know if they still offer it, but that might be the way to go. Like all things it is easy once you know how, and no programming knowledge is needed. But what a lot of web gurus often forget is that for the uninitiated even FTP'ing info to the server can be very daunting. ;)