Found my own answer.

I had to run ./nodebb build tpl && ./nodebb dev

Then the changes showed up

I am watching this closely. I cant figure this out either. Would you mind explaining what you mean by bootstrapping and tracing classes.

I think I am missing some steps. I copied the quickstart theme into node_modules and renamed all the files it says to.

Then I have been editing various tpl files, but nothing seems to change.

Found my own answer.

I had to run ./nodebb build tpl && ./nodebb dev

Then the changes showed up

This is what I have done so far

cd /nodebb/node_modules
mkdir nodebb-theme-nameoftheme
git clone https://github.com/NodeBB/nodebb-theme-quickstart.git nodebb-theme-nameoftheme
Edit package.json, plugin.json and theme.json.
In each file replace nodebb-theme-quickstart with nodebb-theme-nameoftheme
In theme.json change the name and description

Activate the theme
Rebuild and Restart

Edit header.tpl to add some text

<title>{browserTitle}TEST123</title>

Save and refresh the page. No change. I am sure I missed some steps. I am documenting how I do this so I can share with the group

Is there anyway to remove the word category and the category ID from the URL? Right now its https://website.com/forum/category/2/categoryname

I was hoping to have https://website.com/forum/categoryname

TL:DR I need help integrating nodeBB into an existing WordPress site. Everything is up and working on both ends, but I dont quite understand how to build a menu at the top of the Forum pages with links back to the main site, categories etc.

This is a new deployment of both Wordpress and nodeBB. I tried a few Wordpress forums and they were not good enough. I used to run a form with about 200 active members on vBulletin and I used the CMS system that came with it and it was fine, but I want to try something new and nodeBB seems like it.

I am not a developer, but do work in IT as an SRE, so I am familiar with GIT, some Python, etc. The template system seems familiar to me for some reason, but I dont know where I have seen it before, maybe Drupal?

Anyway, I am hoping to get my Wordpress site and nodeBB to look as similar as possible in terms of look and feel. I figured I would start on the menu.

Is there a plugin, or some docs on how to build a menu at the top of the page?

@MoJo It does work, except for the admin area, but i have asked that in a seperate post.

I didnt see anything in the docs about assets and plugins. Ill go look again.

This is the final config that works. See any issues?

server {
    server_name www.mywebsite.com;
    return 302 https://mywebsite.com$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name mywebsite.com;  # notice no subfolder defined here
    root /var/www/html;
    index index.php;

        
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/mywebsite.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/mywebsite.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; # managed by Certbot

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }

    location = /favicon.ico { log_not_found off; access_log off; }
    location = /robots.txt { log_not_found off; access_log off; allow all; }
    location ~* \.(css|gif|ico|jpeg|jpg|js|png)$ {
        expires max;
        log_not_found off;
    }

    location /forum/ {  # but it is defined here
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;

        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4567;  # no subfolder defined here
        proxy_redirect off;

        # Socket.IO Support
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }

}


server {                                                                                                                                                               
    listen 443 ssl http2;                                                                                                                                              
    server_name www.mywebsite.com;                                                                                                                                     
    return 302 https://mywebsite.com$request_uri;                                                                                                                      
}

That is what I want, I am sorry if I explained it wrong. My whole goal is to end up with http://mywebsite.com for my regular site and https://mywebsite.com/forum for nodebb. I dont want any www in there at all

Brand new install. Having trouble getting www to redirect to non www.

redirects to https://www.mywebsite.com # Notice http to https works, but its sending me to www
redirects to https://www.mywebsite.com # Sends me to www

redirects to https://mywebsite.com/forum #which is ok and works as it should
does not redirect to non http and gives me a messed up looking forum, cant find any icons, etc

                                                               
server {

    server_name www.mywebsite.com mywebsite.com;  # notice no subfolder defined here
    root /var/www/html;

    location / {
        #try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
        try_files $uri /index.php$args;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
    }

    location ~ /\.ht {
        deny all;
    }

    location = /favicon.ico { log_not_found off; access_log off; }
    location = /robots.txt { log_not_found off; access_log off; allow all; }
    location ~* \.(css|gif|ico|jpeg|jpg|js|png)$ {
        expires max;
        log_not_found off;
    }

    location /forum/ {  # but it is defined here
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
        proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
        proxy_set_header X-NginX-Proxy true;

        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:4567;  # no subfolder defined here
        proxy_redirect off;

        # Socket.IO Support
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }

    listen 443 ssl; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/mywebsite.com/fullchain.pem; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/mywebsite.com/privkey.pem; # managed by Certbot
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf; # managed by Certbot
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem; # managed by Certbot


}
server {
    if ($host = www.mywebsite.com) {
        return 301 https://mywebsite.com$request_uri;
    } # managed by Certbot


    if ($host = mywebsite.com) {
        return 301 https://$host$request_uri;
    } # managed by Certbot


    listen 80;

    server_name www.mywebsite.com mywebsite.com;
    return 404; # managed by Certbot