You need a few things before you start putting XenForo on your website. These include your XenForo account information, a program that helps you move files to your website like FileZilla, the login details for your server, and an empty database with its access details. Remember that these steps only work for first-time setup. If you already have XenForo and want the newer version, you must follow the upgrade steps instead. The first thing you must do is go to the XenForo customer area and download the zip file. You might need to tell them about your website first. Make sure you do not select the upgrade package when downloading for a fresh install.
After downloading, open the zip file on your computer. You will see a folder called "upload" inside. You need to put everything from this folder onto your server. Use your file-moving program to connect to your server and make a new folder where you want XenForo to be. For example, if you want people to find your forum at "example.com/community," create a community folder on your server. Remember what web address this will be because you will need it later. Transfer all the files from the upload folder to this new folder on your server. This may take some time. Wait until all the files finish moving before going to the next step.
When everything finishes uploading, open your web browser and type your website address followed by "/install." Using our example, you would type "example.com/community/install." This should show you the XenForo installer page. Sometimes, you might see an error saying that certain folders cannot be written to. If this happens, you need to change the permissions on two folders called "data" and "internal_data." Use your file program to find these folders and give them full read, write, and execute permissions. After changing these settings, refresh the installer page. The error message should go away.
The installer will ask for information about your database. If you do not know what to enter here, ask your website hosting company. They will give you the right information. After you enter the database details, the installer will try to save a configuration file automatically. If it cannot do this, you will need to download the file yourself and upload it manually. If this happens, click the download button and save the file named "config.php" to your computer. Then use your file program to find the "src" folder inside your XenForo main folder and upload the config.php file there. Follow the remaining on-screen steps until installation finishes. When everything is completes, XenForo sits ready on your website, and you can start setting it up the way you want.
After downloading, open the zip file on your computer. You will see a folder called "upload" inside. You need to put everything from this folder onto your server. Use your file-moving program to connect to your server and make a new folder where you want XenForo to be. For example, if you want people to find your forum at "example.com/community," create a community folder on your server. Remember what web address this will be because you will need it later. Transfer all the files from the upload folder to this new folder on your server. This may take some time. Wait until all the files finish moving before going to the next step.
When everything finishes uploading, open your web browser and type your website address followed by "/install." Using our example, you would type "example.com/community/install." This should show you the XenForo installer page. Sometimes, you might see an error saying that certain folders cannot be written to. If this happens, you need to change the permissions on two folders called "data" and "internal_data." Use your file program to find these folders and give them full read, write, and execute permissions. After changing these settings, refresh the installer page. The error message should go away.
The installer will ask for information about your database. If you do not know what to enter here, ask your website hosting company. They will give you the right information. After you enter the database details, the installer will try to save a configuration file automatically. If it cannot do this, you will need to download the file yourself and upload it manually. If this happens, click the download button and save the file named "config.php" to your computer. Then use your file program to find the "src" folder inside your XenForo main folder and upload the config.php file there. Follow the remaining on-screen steps until installation finishes. When everything is completes, XenForo sits ready on your website, and you can start setting it up the way you want.
