First, you need to decide WHAT forum software you are going to use. There are many free options like phpBB, MyBB, etx. Then you can pay for forum softwares such as vBulletin and IP.Boards. IPBoards is actually very good, but the cost is like 300$.
If you decide to go the route of MyBB, you'll need to go to mybb.com and download the files for the software. After that, go to Namecheap and sign in. Somewhere in that cPanel, you'll find your FTP user/pass combo.
To use this, you'll need to install an FTP connecting software such as FileZilla (the best). Once installed, open it up. You'll see at the top 4 boxes. Host address, username, password and port. Your house address will probably be on the credentials page. It's safe to copy-paste. Type in your username and password, and set your port option to 21. Hit connect and bingo you should be into your website files.
Once inside the files, you'll need to navigate to either htdocs or to your public folder. Once you have navigated there, open up those MyBB files you downloaded earlier. You can simply drag and drop the Upload(s) folder into htdocs. After it's done moving the files, go inside the Upload file and pretty much shift-click all of the contents so you have the contents OUTSIDE the Upload(s) folder. After you've done this, you can delete the Upload(s) folder.
After you've done this, you'll need to navigate to your website by going to either example.com/install or example.com/install.php -- follow through the instructions leaving all the basic stuff. Most of it is just mindless clicking. When you get to the part about needing a MySQL database, you'll need to create one.
To create a MySQL database, go back to your NameCheap cPanel and navigate to your list of MySQL databases. After that, just create one with your chosen name/username/password combination. Go back to your MyBB forum installation page and fill the rest of it all out.
Click through the rest of the pages, and congratulations, you've created your very own MyBB forum. Now, editing it and changing things around is a completely different story.
If you need any help, you can refer to these links below.
MyBB Help Docs: http://docs.mybb.com/Help_Docs.html
YouTube Install Tutorial:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xiOaSs44MzA
All credit for this tutorial goes to @Prideful
If you decide to go the route of MyBB, you'll need to go to mybb.com and download the files for the software. After that, go to Namecheap and sign in. Somewhere in that cPanel, you'll find your FTP user/pass combo.
To use this, you'll need to install an FTP connecting software such as FileZilla (the best). Once installed, open it up. You'll see at the top 4 boxes. Host address, username, password and port. Your house address will probably be on the credentials page. It's safe to copy-paste. Type in your username and password, and set your port option to 21. Hit connect and bingo you should be into your website files.
Once inside the files, you'll need to navigate to either htdocs or to your public folder. Once you have navigated there, open up those MyBB files you downloaded earlier. You can simply drag and drop the Upload(s) folder into htdocs. After it's done moving the files, go inside the Upload file and pretty much shift-click all of the contents so you have the contents OUTSIDE the Upload(s) folder. After you've done this, you can delete the Upload(s) folder.
After you've done this, you'll need to navigate to your website by going to either example.com/install or example.com/install.php -- follow through the instructions leaving all the basic stuff. Most of it is just mindless clicking. When you get to the part about needing a MySQL database, you'll need to create one.
To create a MySQL database, go back to your NameCheap cPanel and navigate to your list of MySQL databases. After that, just create one with your chosen name/username/password combination. Go back to your MyBB forum installation page and fill the rest of it all out.
Click through the rest of the pages, and congratulations, you've created your very own MyBB forum. Now, editing it and changing things around is a completely different story.
If you need any help, you can refer to these links below.
MyBB Help Docs: http://docs.mybb.com/Help_Docs.html
YouTube Install Tutorial:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xiOaSs44MzA
All credit for this tutorial goes to @Prideful
