Noob with some (hopefully) basic questions.

[Flounder70]

Moderators: If this is in the wrong area, I apologize. Please move to the correct area.

I'm trying to start a forum and I am completely lost, right from the start.

Quick brief on me -
1) I've had a computer since the mid 80s.
2) I've built my own computers for 20 years.
3) I've been dual booting with Linux for 10+ years.

So I know a bit about computers and Linux but know nothing about website setup and hosting.

I bought a domain on GoDaddy and then got a host (A2Hosting). I do have a webpage but it is set up as a blog and seems to be using WordPress. I'm thinking that came automatically from GoDaddy but I'm not sure anymore.

A2Hosting uses cPanel and Softaculous. I tried to install SMF using Softaculous (I know. I'll do in manually soon!) but it says it is already installed. I cannot find it in the host's file system but I'm still learning how to work with that. (Their help section has been useless to me so far.)

I can edit my (unwanted) blog home page but I did that by going to [mysite].com/wp-login(?) and it seems to be using WordPress to do that.

Questions -

1) Is WordPress only/mostly blog stuff? Should I just delete/remove remove Wordpress to make a place for SMF?

2) Can I treat the host's file system like my computer's Linux file system? Can I accidentally delete very important stuff? Can I start over by doing a "clean install" of that file system?

I suspect that I'm at the base of a very steep learning curve, so I'll stop at just those questions for now. I've had more but I'll wait until I can at least see a forum on my site.

Thanks for any help!

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

I'm not familiar with A2Hosting, and usually if you get a shared host that is actually suitable for running custom scripts you wouldn't get anything preinstalled except perhaps a test page to verify the server is setup and running. You might want to ask your host about the specifics of your hosting package.

We generally recommend installing and updating SMF manually though, it's not very difficult once you get familiar with your hosting control panel first. https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Installing

[lurkalot]

Looking at their hosting plans, it sounds to me that you purchased one of their Wordpress hosting packages, as that comes pre installed with Wordpress. 

It might pay you to speak to them before deleting stuff just to make sure you purchased the correct hosting.

From their site,

WordPress Hosting Features
Auto-Setup
Don't worry about WordPress install files. WordPress is pre-installed for you!

[Sir Osis of Liver]

If you don't need Wordpress, delete the files and database.  It will bring you nothing but grief.  SMF is usually installed in /public_html or a subdirectory thereof.  There might be a couple of cpanel files already there, but shouldn't be anything else.  Clean up /public_html, then use 2.1.4 full install package to install SMF.  Follow the install instructions Lex posted.  Shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

[Flounder70]

We generally recommend installing and updating SMF manually though, it's not very difficult once you get familiar with your hosting control panel first. https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/Installing

Thank you. Yes, I saw that recommended and I plan to install manually once I figure out some very, very basic basics!

Looking at their hosting plans, it sounds to me that you purchased one of their Wordpress hosting packages, as that comes pre installed with Wordpress. 

You had me worried. I will check with them but I'm pretty sure I got their "Mach 8" VPS plan to start learning things. (Note: their invoice does not state exactly which plan I have. Disappointing.)

hxxp:www.a2hosting.com/vps-hosting/managed/ [nonactive]

It will bring you nothing but grief.  SMF is usually installed in /public_html or a subdirectory thereof.  There might be a couple of cpanel files already there, but shouldn't be anything else.  Clean up /public_html, then use 2.1.4 full install package to install SMF.  Follow the install instructions Lex posted.  Shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

Thank you. Yes, that is what I would like to do. I just wanted to make sure that WordPress is useless to me before attempting to delete it. I'll get to work on it tomorrow.

[Doug Heffernan]

2) Can I treat the host's file system like my computer's Linux file system? Can I accidentally delete very important stuff? Can I start over by doing a "clean install" of that file system?

If depends on what files you delete. What hosting files are we talking about here? Can you please give us an example? As a rule of thumb, make always a backup of your files so no matter what you delete, you can always restore it.

Or did you mean files as in the forum files or wordpress files and not files as in the server configuration? If that is the case, the same backup rule applies here too, especially if you have made mnaual edits to the files. But the most important data such as members, posts, topics etc are stored in the database and not in the files. The best way to preserve all that data is to make a backup of the database regulary and to also check it to make sure that it has been done properly.

And welcome to Smf

[Kindred]

In the www directory, you can generally delete everything to clear the way for other scripts.

In directories above the www, there are things that you should not touch...

I have to ask... why would you get a vps if you know nothing about web servers?

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I bought a domain on GoDaddy and then got a host (A2Hosting). I do have a webpage but it is set up as a blog and seems to be using WordPress. I'm thinking that came automatically from GoDaddy but I'm not sure anymore.

If you only registered a domain with GoDaddy, that's all you get.  It's not a host account.

I just wanted to make sure that WordPress is useless to me before attempting to delete it.

You can always reinstall WordPress if you decide to try it, it's free software.  Your host isn't giving you anything you can't do for yourself.

why would you get a vps if you know nothing about web servers?

Good question.  Costs more than a basic host package, which is all you need to for a forum, and requires some knowledge to run it correctly.  You can always upgrade your package if you require additional resources in future.

[Flounder70]

2) Can I treat the host's file system like my computer's Linux file system? Can I accidentally delete very important stuff? Can I start over by doing a "clean install" of that file system?

If depends on what files you delete. What hosting files are we talking about here? Can you please give us an example?

I was just asking for future reference. I currently have no data to save, so I have no problem nuking everything. My standard procedure to fix software problems is to backup critical data, nuke the entire drive and then do a clean install of the OS.

I guess I was just asking if I can 'reinstall' the base system myself or if I have to ask the host to do that.

[Flounder70]

I have to ask... why would you get a vps if you know nothing about web servers?

IF I get it working, I hope it would be a replacement for a work-related forum that was recently discontinued. There should be a good number of people ready to join.

I missed the old forum and wanted a replacement. I did some searching and read some articles. They all made it sound so simple. The article I liked the best recommended a VPS for future growth and I don't consider the first year startup cost to be very much.

If you know of a simpler starting point for a forum, I would be very grateful for that knowledge. I have no problem starting small and then upgrading. Maybe I could put off bothering you folks for a little while!

[Flounder70]

Good question.  Costs more than a basic host package, which is all you need to for a forum, and requires some knowledge to run it correctly.  You can always upgrade your package if you require additional resources in future.

Hi. Thanks for your advice and questions. See above for my reasoning and request for a simpler starting point.

I started on the bigger side because I know the now-dead forum had A LOT of memes and videos uploaded to it. I got the bigger package because I wanted to know that I had some storage space for that kind of stuff.

I really dislike asking for help when I should be able to find it in FAQs and other guides, but I feel totally out of my depth right now. So I'll restate my request from above...

If you know of a simpler starting point for a forum, I would be very grateful for that knowledge. I have no problem starting small and then upgrading. Maybe I could put off bothering you folks for a little while!

Thanks to everyone for their input.

[Kindred]

A shared servers should be fine for most, except the busiest forums.

I don't know what "a good number of people" is...

But it's the number of people online at any one moment that matters.

Storage and overall bandwidth would be the secondary considerations.

On my host, icdsoft, a business package at $5 a month would be my suggestion for a starting forum.  Upgrades to larger package or vps can be fine inline at any time later if needed.

[Steve]

a business package at $5 a month would be my suggestion for a starting forum

+1

[Flounder70]

A shared servers should be fine for most, except the busiest forums.

I don't know what "a good number of people" is...

Whoops, I'm now starting to suspect I might have bitten off more than I can chew.

The original forum had (I'm estimating) 200-300 active posters and (now I'm really gussing) maybe 5x or 10x lurkers.

[Kindred]

Yeah, that's a tiny forum...

[Flounder70]

Many thanks to everyone for all the help. I am very grateful for you input.

[Steve]

Marking solved then. If you have any issues related to this topic, by all means, mark it not solved and ask.