Getting Started

Where everything lives in the XenForo Admin CP: options, add-ons, permissions, widgets, styles, tools and logs, and which sections you will use most.

• 1 · The home page
• 2 · The ten sections
• 3 · The pages you will use most
• 4 · Some options are hidden until yo...

The four building blocks of every XenForo forum, and how an add-on changes them without touching XenForo itself.

• 1 · Add-ons: new features in their o...
• 2 · Styles: how your forum looks
• 3 · Templates: the HTML of every pag...
• 4 · Template modifications: how add-...

Three version numbers decide which add-ons you can run. Here is where to find each one, and what XenForo 2.2 and 2.3 need.

• 1 · Your XenForo version
• 2 · Your PHP and MySQL versions
• 3 · What XenForo 2.3 needs
• 4 · What D.C Style add-ons need

What 1.0.3 Patch Level 2 means, why the add-on list shows a long version ID, and how to read the XenForo requirement on each add-on.

• 1 · The version string
• 2 · What each stage means
• 3 · The version ID
• 4 · "Needs XenForo 2.3.0+"

A backup is the database plus a few folders. How to take one before every install or upgrade, and how to check it actually works.

• 1 · What to back up
• 2 · Back up the database
• 3 · Back up the files
• 4 · Check the backup works

Upgrading uses the same zip as installing: overwrite the files, then click Upgrade. Your settings and data stay where they are.

• 1 · Before you upgrade
• 2 · Upgrade from the Admin CP
• 3 · Skipping versions is fine
• 4 · If the upgrade stops

XenForo's cmd.php runs installs and upgrades without browser timeouts. The commands you need, and when to use them.

• 1 · Getting started
• 2 · Install an add-on
• 3 · Upgrade an add-on
• 4 · Other useful commands

Disabling switches an add-on off and keeps its data. Uninstalling removes its data for good. When to use each, and how.

• 1 · Disable: switch it off, keep eve...
• 2 · Uninstall: remove it and its dat...
• 3 · What gets deleted: some examples
• 4 · If uninstall refuses to run

Some add-ons build on another one. Install the one they need first, or XenForo will refuse. Which D.C Style add-ons have dependencies.

• 1 · How XenForo checks requirements
• 2 · D.C Style add-ons that need anot...
• 3 · Optional extras
• 4 · Install and upgrade in the right...

XenForo 2.3 changed enough under the hood that some 2.2 add-ons stop working. How to check yours and upgrade without surprises.

• 1 · Why some 2.2 add-ons break on 2....
• 2 · Check every add-on before you st...
• 3 · The safe order
• 4 · After the upgrade

Install any D.C Style add-on in a few minutes: upload the files and click Install, or install straight from the zip file.

• 1 · Check the add-on suits your foru...
• 2 · Method 1: upload the files and c...
• 3 · Method 2: install straight from...
• 4 · After installing: switch it on