[Guide]Complete Tutorial on Setting up Free forums

[Teh MM Returns]

Hello,and welcome to my tutorial on setting up your free forums!

Yes,they aren't the best forums,but they are FREE and you can play around and learn a lot with HTML and such.You can also park your DOMAIN using the SMF Service to get their forum layout/designs.

Step 1: Getting Your Website Created

• First,go to Here to begin making your website.

Now onto the settings for setting up your forum.For the first part you should see something like this:​

Forum Name: What it will say when they access the website(Welcome to My website!)

Forum URL: What your URL will be(www.examplewebsite.smfforfree4.com)

Category: This is not required but if you select a certain type,you can receive updates on how to make your forum like that design(I.e.,Gaming website; New game releases and more!)

Now onto the second part.You should see something like this:​

Username & Password: Customize to your liking(No restrictions here)

Email Adress: Enter a valid email address to receive the latest news about SMFforFree Service

Image Code: Enter Correct image code displayed in the box

Service level: I'm not going to go into detail about it but,you can get your forum stickied on the smfsupport forums and a special user rank for donating each month.

Step 2: Editing your website

• Editing your forum news and giving your guests a welcome:​

Now that you have your forum made,why not customize it?There are thousands of features and options to chose from!You can even select your own forum style layout and make your own!

Okay,now to even begin editing your forum you must go to the top row of tabs:Admin--->Enter Password(Password for your account)

Want to make your guests feel welcome? Why not try editing the forum news to add a welcoming message!​

Now that you are at the Administrator/Home Center do the following:​

Okay,Now that we've added that,where does the news display?!?
Calm down there partner,this is where ALL News is Displayed(At the top of the page for easy viewing):
​

Okay,we have now added News and made our guests feel welcome,why not add a new stylesheet to make the forum look even better?​

• Setting up a stylesheet and making your forums look good​

Okay,now go to the Admin Tab at the top of the page
Then Under Configuration go to Manage Styles

Now,you can request your own stylesheet at www.smfsupport.com, you can make your own,or you can choose one of the defaults(They are great for starters)

Now,you can use the sample styles:

or you can use User Created Styles(Which are a lot more cooler with more detail):​

Then,after you have found what style you would like all you do is click on the "Thumbnail" Image and it changes automatically!​

• Adding a Banner to your website​

Why add a banner?Well you can customize it and add anything you want on it,including your forum name and just about anything you can think of!​

First,go to Admin Panel--->Under Configuration--->Current Theme

and then go to the "Themes & Settings" Tab.It should now look like this:​

The part we are editing only requires the "Logo Image URL"
You upload your banner to a website like www.tinypic.com then copy the link without

[IMG][/IMG]

Tags.Copy & Paste that link into there,scroll down and save then it will appear at the top of your website!​

• Taking Care of your forum and prevent errors​

Yes,we have mostly all of the beginners tips down,now how can I keep my website free of errors and keep it running fast?​

That's a very good question,and today I will show you how to take care of your forum(It's fast and simple)​

First,go to Admin Tab--->Under Maintenance--->Forum Maintenance​

Now,it should look like this:​

Now,to keep your forum 100% Free of errors click on all 3 of the options at the top:

Find and repair any errors

Recount all forum totals and statistics

Empty out unimprtant logs​

You can also delete old topics,you can set a certain amount of days that they had to be posted on and you can delete them!​

To keep your forum safe and running fine,do Forum Maintenance every 1-2 weeks,just to be safe ​

**FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SMFFORFREE FORUMS GO TO WWW.SMFSUPPORT.COM**

Well,this is the end of my guide.
I hope you guys liked
Please leave feedback and opinions​

 

[The Dark]

I think in comparison to your other guides, this is a bit short and rushed. Including more features, and showing what the features do is a great way to make your guide better.

 

[orlando_jordan]

Where is The Guide?

 

[masterkiller]

you ARE a ban evader. Get out.

 

[leechers]

Wheres the guide?????

 

[Teh MM Returns]

Guide put back on,application moved thanks to macroman