Cartpauj & iComNow

Okay, so I've gone through several videos and I swear I've followed everything correctly, however I still can't view my forums.

I have created the forums page on my site, I can go the the main forum page that I created, but there aren't any forums to post in. The actual layout and everything is there along with the category headings, but not the forums themselves under each category. There isn't a "post new thread" or "post new topic" or any other similar button either. I created 4 categories and at least one forum under each category. These forums under my categories don't show up on my blog.

On my settings page, there is a check box when I go to edit a category that says something like "check this box for the user groups to have access to the forum". This option isn't there when I create a brand new category, but somehow appears afterwards.

However, I don't have any user groups, nor do I want any. I just want people to sign up before they post. However, I'm the admin and I still can't see the dang forums.

Can anyone help?