please help

[shellspectrum]

createaforum as go daddy only in the domain manager of my forum,so i assumed that was the one they used I will look into paid hosting today.
Is all very confusing isnt it,I just wanted a nice forum,

[Chalky]

Gosh, if they've modified it that much, I'm not sure we can help either.  Restrictions are restrictive...  Yes, I'd seriously think about getting a paid host 

Anything confusing you come across, please ask.  We're all here to help you

[kat]

I just had a small brainwavette...

The way your forum looks, now, I wonder if it'd look slightly more "Rainbowy", if you simply put a rainbow image in the background?

I'll try and do a quick mock-up of what I'm babbling about and get back.

[kat]

I know this is a different theme and it's a v1 forum... But, you see how we have that odd denim background, there?

http://www.tlakoc.org.uk/index.php?theme=1

How would it look, do you think, if the theme you're using had a rainbow background, like that?

[kat]

I've just changed the background to your rainbow, to give you a batter idea of what I'm babbling about.

[shellspectrum]

chalkcat,it all modded with something called ezblocks.which are so hard to understand,i should have looked more closley but you cannot see the admin panel on a demo forum
K,thankyou but it wont let me change the background just the header can be changed
wow that is wondeful

[kat]

'tiz a shame... You seem to have a host that's more restrictive than almost every other one on the entire internet, sadly.

To achieve what I did is terribly easy to do and you'd only need FTP access, to do it. But, I suspect you don't even have FTP access, do you?

[shellspectrum]

no,there is no mention of data files at all just a link to go daddy
i choose them because they was SM and i had seen such good responses about them
I lost a lot of work i.e visuals and social stories for children with autism as they would not let upload the files i did not find this out until i had set up the forum and transferred each post one by one,it took a very long time,as freeforums also did not have the option to migrate.
i am so mad at myself for being so stupid about it all.i moved from a poor forum host to what seems is worst,

[kat]

It's not stupidity, at all. There are a lot of sharks, out there, just as there are in the real world. We all fall prey to these people sometimes, unfortunately.

Maybe it'd pay you to have a look around, here:

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?board=4.0

I don't know if there're any free hosts, there. But, you can read through the posts and see what members experiences have been, with the hosts.

Some of the hosts are members, here, too. Some are even on the SMF team.

Why not have a look around and, perhaps, ask some questions, there?

You might just get lucky, this time.

[shellspectrum]

I will thank you for your time and trouble.you have all been so helpful and kind it is very much appreciated,thank you

[kat]

Any time, at all.

[shellspectrum]

may i ask,what the file is called i need to have in order to migrate all my posts members etc

[kat]

That'll be the database.

Everything else can be rebuilt, from scratch, if required.

But, that database holds all of your members, posts, etc.

[shellspectrum]

thank you

[kat]

Always a pleasure.

Although it's not, really, solved, I'll mark this as such, for now. If you need anything more, just mark it as unsolved and post away.

[shellspectrum]

they say
No direct database access is not allowed.
It is hosted with us.
Can't install mods
Can't install themes. You can setup custom styles though.
We charge a fee for database backup.
You could move but we charge fee for export.
but they have not said how much the file is.so i   will find out pay for it and look for another forum and domain
thank you again

[kat]

Sadly, that doesn't surprise me, with that lot.

As far as I'm concerned, personally, they're a bunch of crooks, at best.

I wish there was a way that we could stop them using SMF, because it reflects badly, on us, because people tend to assume they we're involved, with them, in some way, and we are, most certainly, not.

[shellspectrum]

yes i thought it was SM forum as that is what it was advertized on google with I am going to look for a new forum host to transfer everything over then get a domain,once i get the data files how do i give it to my new host i have never done this before i was with freeforums from when i started in 2007, i thought oh a sm already set up ,how wrong was I lol

[winniethepooh]

yes i thought it was SM forum as that is what it was advertized on google with I am going to look for a new forum host to transfer everything over then get a domain,once i get the data files how do i give it to my new host i have never done this before i was with freeforums from when i started in 2007, i thought oh a sm already set up ,how wrong was I lol

it varies from host to host, but basically you create a database. set the password/username/dbname. and hit enter. after its done working to create the database. login to phpmyadmin and hit import. upload the file. if it doesn't work the first time play with the settings. also its worthy to note, when you get the database from this company try to get it in an _smf prefix or it won't work. also, on some services such as mysql, it is easier to import as a single file ( .sql) than a zipped archive ((.tar.gz, or .zip) if i was you i would have a very experienced user help you get the db files from this scam company, as there is no telling what settings will have to be used when exporting that will be compatible with smf, not to mention if the hybrid smf/whatever db structure is different from smf's. maybe the support team can elaborate on that...

[kat]

When you get everything, give us a shout and we'll guide you through it.

There's a lot of "How the heck do I do this?" stuff, here:

http://wiki.simplemachines.org

It can all look incredibly complicated. But, it really isn't as bad as it looks, really.

But, don't worry about it. Once you have the database and the new host sorted out,  give us a yell and we'll help you out.

If you get in a bit of a panic, send me a PM, with a link to this topic and I'll arrange something. But, if you post in the forum, any of us'll be only too happy to do whatever we can, to help you out with this. Especially as you've been somewhat"stung", by others.