total newb here about stuff, question list

[G1]

im planning to get either classifieds or store or both. i dont know if i could merge the two into one forumsite type of thing? any suggestions?im even thinking of getting the suite jsut to see what else i can cram into my site.

is a template just a background? seems it affects the forum and gives some erros(absent functionality) when i install, the im stuck with a crappy core or default type of look.  i would want to have just one good looking template and not move a muscle for a year as long as i can install mods without having to ask in forums how to do it. how does this whole template vs mod thing
work?

i want a frontend for my forumsite, since i dont want the whole site to be "just" a forum looking one, is ezportal a cms typish kind of thing which can do that for me? i also need blogs as a feature.

generally these questions are making me think of buying vb, to be honest i just cancelled when i really browsed thru this site and installed 2.0rc4, if i can get any help i think ill go with SMF/smfhack suite and/or portal plus some solid template design instead. im currently playing around now at a locally hosted board since i keep ruining my board by installing stuff that doestn work and its been very frustrating already.

i know this is a lot of questions but i really appreciate it and im willing to pay and stick with smf. thanks and more power

[SMFHacks]

Demos for all the products includes in the suite can be found at
http://www.smfhacks.com/storedemo/

The store modification - is used if you as forum owner want to sell your own products either digital or physical products integrated with paypal.
SMF Classifieds - is used if you want to allow others to sell items. It is a listing/auction script that is similar to eBay.

Most of my modifications require few and almost no changes at all with SMF 2.0 to the themes so it works on any custom theme developed.
With SMF the best bet is to get a quality designed theme/skin to make your forum stand out.


SMF has a couple portals that you can use as a front page. I developed ezPortal http://www.ezportal.com which has built in support for my modifications.  Other options include Tiny Portal and Simple Portal.
Blogs there a couple blog modules I think ADK Blogs and PMX Blog are the main ones.


I have personally used and own all major forum software and found that SMF is the one that works the best. VBulletin was good before but their latest version after the ownership change hasn't been as good as their older versions.

Hope that helps

[G1]

honestly if i were to purchase id like to stick to mods smf hack approves of and just keep it here. i do have other mods i want from the smf forum though. can i buy just one and upgrade to community suite after i tried it out? where can i read about upgrades and stuff here?

also i keep getting install errors from just installing the blog mod u made for rc4 when i just have the default them running. i dunno whats wrong with my install since i just made a clean install of smf locally even.

can i transfer domain with licenses?

last question. do i need to install/buy a theme and just do the ezportal thing and im set without having to do any real coding?

thanks for all your help and going to buy as soon as in finalize my local board. more power to smfhacks.

[SMFHacks]

I am open to that buying a mod then upgrading to the suite at a later point.

I have that one blog SMF Blog but that is not really my mod I took that over from someone else and haven't had to chance to update it yet and do not recommend to use for blog system for a forum.

For ezPortal you are set just install and it should work on any theme.  I am mod developer so that's what I specialize in if ezPortal doesn't work out I suggest checking out Simple Portal.

[G1]

hey the blog mod actually works. just needed to set things straight in the options.