[DeathStar1]

Anyone know of any boards that don't require text skills to customise them? I tried searching through loads of programing text on PHPBB, and I was afraid of touching anything for fear that it was the wrong thing..and I don't have time to wait for people to help me with it...

If someone knows of an easy to modify message board, that is hopefully free like PHPBB.. Please be sure to let me know.

Thanks!
neil

You can edit most of phpBB's appearance via the admin panel so you don't need to get into the raw code that much. vbulliten is more powerful and again much can be done in the admin side

[DeathStar1]

Unfortunatly, I can't afford another VBulliten liscence right now, so i'm looking for an easy to modify free version.

Otherwise I'd buy it right away

I maintain a vB and phpBB board and IMO depending on what features you want I'd find the money for vB as its got most of the toys preinstalled where as phpBB requires more hacking. I used to work on an asp board and it was brutal to tweak.

[JohnRice]

If you don't want to spend any money, I suggest finding a phpBB template based on subsilver which is easily configurable in the .css. You can often do a great deal of customizing simply by changing colors in the css file and modifying some graphics without ever touching the other files. If you want to do more, look at the overall_header and overall_footer files for easy changes, but only if you understand html. if even modifying a css file is beyond you, it is probably best you leave things alone.

BTW, it is best to leave the subsilver template largely unchanged. Find another style to mess with.

[AlyssaAnders]

Don't be afraid to mess around with phbb, just do it in the begining and always have a database back up. I was scared of using them at first too but really they aren't so bad once you figure out your way around the back end.

Using one click install is definitely helpful but then its the matter of modifying the template to how you want it. phbb.com is full of good advice and hacks too.