My thoughts on vBulletin and IP.Board.
If you know anything about me, you’ll know that I ran a vBulletin powered forum for many years and just recently sold it. I’ll try to outline a few of the reasons why I “switched to the dark side” and setup an Invision Powered Services forum. The number one reason I would have even considered sticking with vBulletin is the vBSEO product. IPB does have SEO mods but they just don’t seem to match up to the power that vBSEO brings to the vBulletin platform. With that being said, I made a thread on the IPB support forums titled “How to SEO our IPB forum” I’ve picked up a few tips which I’ve implemented on my IPBSetup forum, but there has to be a few more options I haven’t found yet.
I didn’t have a problem at first with the buyout of Jelsoft to internet brands, but after seeing all the old developers leave and the drastic changes that have taken place; I see why people were getting so upset over it. I like how Invision actually uses their CMS for their homepage, vBulletin just has some generic html pages up which do look good, but it’s not showcasing the ability of their suit when they are pushing hard for sales. I had a chance to do some early beta testing on vBulletin and boy did it have a lot of bugs. I know it was in beta but I would of thought some of the major issues would be been fixed in development, it seems they just want to push something out and make it appear as if they care about the end forum user. I think they are really just interested in their own network (iNet) but I could be wrong and I hope I am because I still have a lot of friends that use vBulletin for their forums.
One thing I really like about IPB and wish vBulletin would consider adding this to their lineup is the search box in the admin control panel of IPB. You know how on yahoo if you start typing something you’ll get a dropdown box with suggestions? You’ll find the same thing in the IPB admincp area; it’s been very helpful for me since I don’t know my way around IPB yet.
I don’t think it will be long and IPB will be the #1 forum software for professionals, especially the way iNET is running Jelsoft. I do wish everyone the best, I still love vBulletin but IPB is climbing up with every chance I get to mess around and figure things out. My next big purchase is going to be IP.Content and I’ll have a tightly integrated CMS that will match my forum. This is something I had always wanted from vBulletin and even with the new vBCMS, it just doesn’t fulfill my needs like IP.Content will.
What are some things you like about vBulletin over IPB or IPB over vBulletin? I look forward to your comments. This is a dofollow blog, so search engines will spider your links.
I use neither of them. I used phpBB for 2 years and then moved to wordpress. I still have phpBB installed that I plan to use later on some day.
Before deciding to use phpBB I had searched and invested my time in VB and IPB as well but then I decided to go with the one that holds the future and the future is open source.
It won't be a big deal if you see one day Microsoft going open source.. and providing some of their products for free. I see windows xp coming in that regime first.
Anyways, coming back to the topic I think spending time with a free script is far more better than giving away money for a forum script. And believe me phpBB is really making progress.. They've got Automod now.. something like we have in wordpress.. I mean that is going to make phpBB stand out..
I use neither of them. I used phpBB for 2 years and then moved to wordpress. I still have phpBB installed that I plan to use later on some day.
Before deciding to use phpBB I had searched and invested my time in VB and IPB as well but then I decided to go with the one that holds the future and the future is open source.
It won’t be a big deal if you see one day Microsoft going open source.. and providing some of their products for free. I see windows xp coming in that regime first.
Anyways, coming back to the topic I think spending time with a free script is far more better than giving away money for a forum script. And believe me phpBB is really making progress.. They’ve got Automod now.. something like we have in wordpress.. I mean that is going to make phpBB stand out..
I think you've most likely made the right decision in jumping ship over to IPB3. vBulletin 4 quite frankly is a total disaster. Was reading today that they was going to make the last version RC release, but decided to go with Beta 5 instead. Then I read all the comments abouts old bugs still not fixed and news ones popping-up.
Many saying they were not even going to install Beta 5 going of what they're reading.
I think you’ve most likely made the right decision in jumping ship over to IPB3. vBulletin 4 quite frankly is a total disaster. Was reading today that they was going to make the last version RC release, but decided to go with Beta 5 instead. Then I read all the comments abouts old bugs still not fixed and news ones popping-up.
Many saying they were not even going to install Beta 5 going of what they’re reading.
I am using both IPB3 and vBulletin 4. Though I am about to sell my version 4 license for another IPB3 license.
Let's start with IPB:
From my perspective, the css layout for IPB3 is rather clean and very easy to maneuver around. Within the first few days of playing around with the css and html, I had 2 brand new templates. If you understand basic css and html, you will have no problem what-so-ever creating new styles IMHO. The only thing that took some doing at first… was figuring out how to change the master set of icons for my new skins. In the end, it was really simple to figure out (it is something you have to set from the very beginning when creating a new skin).
Because I have strict control over the CSS, I feel it enables me to create a better design. With this product, i'm not trying to work strictly within the confines of a table layout.
I feel that the initial template IPB gives you to work with is clean and attractive to the eye.
I also felt that the admin panel was super easy to use and again, pleasing to the eye. I had forums and permissions setup in the blink of an eye. I really like the organization of it.
In addition, i'd like to mention that I installed version 2 of IPB and version 3 is DEFINITELY a new product!
And… the customer service you get from IPB is beyond outstanding in my opinion. I place good customer service in very high regard because in the end it could be the missing link between gaining loyal customer confidence and losing your behind to the competitor.
Now… the downsides to IPB (that I can think of):
~Very simple permissions system
~ Few useful mods so far
~ Looking for more SEO (will probably have to implement myself)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
vBulletin3 is a fantastic product! vBulletin4…. eh… not so much.
I can't begin to describe the mess that is vBulletin4.
The templating system: For one thing, they took away the super simple editing panel for all of the basic css stuff. They replaced it with a variables section. It is somewhat simple to change the variables once you get used to the drastic change. However, if you want to do more than change the color or the background of a certain element of your forum then you need to go into the css files.
The css files are linked to the variables. So if you get rid of the variables code for one section, be prepared that it will not work when you try to change it in the variables panel. This whole switching back and forth between css and the variables panel is enough to make one dizzy. Especially since there are a million css files to tweak and edit.
The admin panel has only changed to include the new products; the newly tweaked blog and the CMS. But not much else has changed.
The “updated” forum skin for vbulletin is comprised of nothing more than shadow-elements, bland gradients and new icons. Everything has a sort of 3d quality to it but is no more impressive than a spinning globe gif.
In my honest opinion, vBulletin 4 is by no measure “new”. I am not a programmer (yet) so I really can't tell you how the source code has changed. However, from a design standpoint it is a mess and definitely not new.
My final impression of vBulletin4: They slapped a new coat of paint on it and added in some new shiny parts to play with. Otherwise, it's vBulletin3 on generic steroids.
I HATE THE NEW V-BULLETIN BOARD. THE OLD V BULLETIN 3.0 and up well until FOUR simplified the css
cms etc. all of the fun way to just easily utilize the color pattern etc. each forum/set up fast quick CLEAN sheet
board message boards etc. i use to LOVE like LOCO(like crazy)my v-bulletin board not anymore i left after i lease it for 1 year,then i was goin to re-purchase etc. when i see the NEW VB 4 ugly typicalboring i agree no way this is a NEW set up except what your saying KELLIE was makin me dizzy using the ostensible DEMO. horrible. i was thinkin STILL to buy it cause i like it alot the vb 3.8 i had and 3.5 few years but now i am not sure anymore. might get IP board they are talkin bout i also want to say wtf?WHY DID VBULLETIN make it so hard for 1 simple UPLOAD OF A SMILIE HORRIBLE i hate V-BULLETIN BOARD 4.0 horrible and imo?NOT WORTH PAYING ALMOST THREE HUNDRED.
ADIOS.
I'm sorry to see you more a less leave the vBulletin arena as you have always provided solid information but I'm sure you will do just the same on the IPB side. I've been working with vB as long as you have so for me right now it's vBulletin all the way.
As unhappy as I am with vBulletin between the price increase, crappy new features implementation (think Social Groups), and what seems IB's general lack of giving a chit about it's current customers it would be to costly for me to move away right now. Between licenses, custom styling I'd need to have redone, relearning another system from the ground up , and still needing to know the ins and out of vBulletin for my clients the time investment would be to much, I could swing the licenses but the time to learn is my biggest issue. Heck I'm not to happy about having to re-learn the templates all over again.
I've seen a number of people jump from vB to IPB. Due to the fact that your trading one commercial product for another you and other may be in the same situation next year if IPB were to decide to pull a similar stunt.
On my desktop I use free and open source software as much as possible so that I'm never locked in. I should have followed my own advice and stuck with myBB a few years back instead of upgrading to vBulletin.
At any rate in my opinion it just sucks when Jelsoft finally implements a CMS, a feature their customers have been asking for ever since I can remember they fork the product and raise the price significantly. That's just greedy IMHO.
I am using both IPB3 and vBulletin 4. Though I am about to sell my version 4 license for another IPB3 license. Let’s start with IPB:From my perspective, the css layout for IPB3 is rather clean and very easy to maneuver around. Within the first few days of playing around with the css and html, I had 2 brand new templates. If you understand basic css and html, you will have no problem what-so-ever creating new styles IMHO. The only thing that took some doing at first… was figuring out how to change the master set of icons for my new skins. In the end, it was really simple to figure out (it is something you have to set from the very beginning when creating a new skin).Because I have strict control over the CSS, I feel it enables me to create a better design. With this product, i’m not trying to work strictly within the confines of a table layout. I feel that the initial template IPB gives you to work with is clean and attractive to the eye.I also felt that the admin panel was super easy to use and again, pleasing to the eye. I had forums and permissions setup in the blink of an eye. I really like the organization of it.In addition, i’d like to mention that I installed version 2 of IPB and version 3 is DEFINITELY a new product!And… the customer service you get from IPB is beyond outstanding in my opinion. I place good customer service in very high regard because in the end it could be the missing link between gaining loyal customer confidence and losing your behind to the competitor.Now… the downsides to IPB (that I can think of):~Very simple permissions system~ Few useful mods so far~ Looking for more SEO (will probably have to implement myself)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~vBulletin3 is a fantastic product! vBulletin4…. eh… not so much.I can’t begin to describe the mess that is vBulletin4. The templating system: For one thing, they took away the super simple editing panel for all of the basic css stuff. They replaced it with a variables section. It is somewhat simple to change the variables once you get used to the drastic change. However, if you want to do more than change the color or the background of a certain element of your forum then you need to go into the css files. The css files are linked to the variables. So if you get rid of the variables code for one section, be prepared that it will not work when you try to change it in the variables panel. This whole switching back and forth between css and the variables panel is enough to make one dizzy. Especially since there are a million css files to tweak and edit.The admin panel has only changed to include the new products; the newly tweaked blog and the CMS. But not much else has changed.The “updated” forum skin for vbulletin is comprised of nothing more than shadow-elements, bland gradients and new icons. Everything has a sort of 3d quality to it but is no more impressive than a spinning globe gif.In my honest opinion, vBulletin 4 is by no measure “new”. I am not a programmer (yet) so I really can’t tell you how the source code has changed. However, from a design standpoint it is a mess and definitely not new. My final impression of vBulletin4: They slapped a new coat of paint on it and added in some new shiny parts to play with. Otherwise, it’s vBulletin3 on generic steroids.
I’m sorry to see you more a less leave the vBulletin arena as you have always provided solid information but I’m sure you will do just the same on the IPB side. I’ve been working with vB as long as you have so for me right now it’s vBulletin all the way.
As unhappy as I am with vBulletin between the price increase, crappy new features implementation (think Social Groups), and what seems IB’s general lack of giving a chit about it’s current customers it would be to costly for me to move away right now. Between licenses, custom styling I’d need to have redone, relearning another system from the ground up , and still needing to know the ins and out of vBulletin for my clients the time investment would be to much, I could swing the licenses but the time to learn is my biggest issue. Heck I’m not to happy about having to re-learn the templates all over again.
I’ve seen a number of people jump from vB to IPB. Due to the fact that your trading one commercial product for another you and other may be in the same situation next year if IPB were to decide to pull a similar stunt.
On my desktop I use free and open source software as much as possible so that I’m never locked in. I should have followed my own advice and stuck with myBB a few years back instead of upgrading to vBulletin.
At any rate in my opinion it just sucks when Jelsoft finally implements a CMS, a feature their customers have been asking for ever since I can remember they fork the product and raise the price significantly. That’s just greedy IMHO.
I'm a proud IPB user. To me, it feels more like a forum system than vBulletin does. Although vBulletin has loads of mods, I find that half of the mods that are in the database are already built into IPB. Plus in my opinion vBulletin is going downhill.
I’m a proud IPB user. To me, it feels more like a forum system than vBulletin does. Although vBulletin has loads of mods, I find that half of the mods that are in the database are already built into IPB. Plus in my opinion vBulletin is going downhill.
I switched four forum sites from vB to IPB and couldn't be more pleased. I realized I was going to need to learn how to work with IPB after nearly five years of vB experience, but I would have faced the same issue trying to upgrade from vB3 to vB4.
I don't care for the way Internet Brands has handled a lot of things, but I am thankful they gave me cause to look for an alternative.
I switched four forum sites from vB to IPB and couldn’t be more pleased. I realized I was going to need to learn how to work with IPB after nearly five years of vB experience, but I would have faced the same issue trying to upgrade from vB3 to vB4.
I don’t care for the way Internet Brands has handled a lot of things, but I am thankful they gave me cause to look for an alternative.
Thank you everyone for the great comments!
I purchased IP.Content this weekend and started setting it up, I like it so far.
I'm going to setup a few custom pages with it just to test things out at first, maybe implement something cool one of these days.
I'll be using it as my homepage of http://www.ipbsetup.com
not much to look of right now, but it has a lot of potential
I've administrated only one forum, which I started in June, 2004. Until December, 2007, I ran it on the phpBB2 software, and I was very pleased with it. My templates were quite customized (people were even telling me that my default template fooled them into thinking that I was using a software other than phpBB2), I was getting decent at customizing the software, and I was content with it. However, I liked vBulletin 3x even more, and so I converted to that.
At first, I was frustrated with updating, as ironic as that sounds, since I didn't keep decent track of every little change I made to the software. As the months passed, I grew more comfortable with the software, and the further the two templates I purchased were customized, the more I became just as comfortable and content with the aesthetics as I did with phpBB2, and the more I once again gained that desire to stick with what I have.
Additionally, now that I've had plenty of time to check out and research sites related to VB3, I am impressed with how many neat features there are, and how you can simply plug-and-play them. And I've gotten a lot more comfortable messing with the code for the styles, as I've made several meaningful customizations by now, including the Staff page on my nav bar, and the customized nav bar options in general.
That said, I read a lot of topics at administrator resource forums with VB4 as the subject, but I was never impressed by VB4, and I never even had much time to think about it. As a hobbyist administrator running a word-of-mouth, stand-alone general discussion forum, though, the upgrade price is much too steep for me. In fact, I don't consider it so much an “upgrade” as a petty discount (a mere $20, if memory serves).
Also, I have no interest in starting again with my customizations, and trying to attain that feel of comfort again with the aesthetics. This is reinforced by me not being aware of any new features that really constitute an “improvement” that me and my members would really care for, and that an equivalent or similar modification can't be found for on VB3.
As for IPB, I cannot say, as I've not used it as an administrator. As a user, though, I was OK with it.
I’ve administrated only one forum, which I started in June, 2004. Until December, 2007, I ran it on the phpBB2 software, and I was very pleased with it. My templates were quite customized (people were even telling me that my default template fooled them into thinking that I was using a software other than phpBB2), I was getting decent at customizing the software, and I was content with it. However, I liked vBulletin 3x even more, and so I converted to that. At first, I was frustrated with updating, as ironic as that sounds, since I didn’t keep decent track of every little change I made to the software. As the months passed, I grew more comfortable with the software, and the further the two templates I purchased were customized, the more I became just as comfortable and content with the aesthetics as I did with phpBB2, and the more I once again gained that desire to stick with what I have. Additionally, now that I’ve had plenty of time to check out and research sites related to VB3, I am impressed with how many neat features there are, and how you can simply plug-and-play them. And I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable messing with the code for the styles, as I’ve made several meaningful customizations by now, including the Staff page on my nav bar, and the customized nav bar options in general. Along those lines, I even made a few unique discoveries, such as how to create style-specific rank images without having to use replacement variables.That said, I read a lot of topics at administrator resource forums with VB4 as the subject, but I was never impressed by VB4, and I never even had much time to think about it. As a hobbyist administrator running a word-of-mouth, stand-alone general discussion forum, though, the upgrade price is much too steep for me. In fact, I don’t consider it so much an “upgrade” as a petty discount (a mere $20, if memory serves). Also, I have no interest in starting again with my customizations, and trying to attain that feel of comfort again with the aesthetics. This is reinforced by me not being aware of any new features that really constitute an “improvement” that me and my members would really care for, and that an equivalent or similar modification can’t be found for on VB3. As for IPB, I cannot say, as I’ve not used it as an administrator. As a user, though, I was OK with it.Regards,Kevin Malone of The Infinity Program.
Thank you everyone for the great comments!
I purchased IP.Content this weekend and started setting it up, I like it so far.
I’m going to setup a few custom pages with it just to test things out at first, maybe implement something cool one of these days.
I’ll be using it as my homepage of http://www.ipbsetup.com
not much to look of right now, but it has a lot of potential
It's hard for me to choose one over the other. I am much more familiar with vBulletin but have migrated to IPB for new sites for a few reasons. First, I just don't have faith in the direction that vBulletin and Internet Brands is moving at this time. Second, there are many great “premium” addons that are showing up for IPB lately, and I'm expecting more now that vBulletin has started to really see a big decline in its userbase with many going to IPB.
I'm actually hoping to soon see an open source alternative to what is currently available that is built to be function over form and expandable. Think WordPress of Forums.
Great post brandon and i may move my site to ipb as well. I am so sick of ray morgan, steve machol and wayne luke, i can't stand it. My site is now stagnate because i will not pay to move up to vbulletins version 4.0. I feel it is junk and will take vbulletin.com into bankruptcy. My site isn't worth any money, so there is nothing to sell currently. Hopefully when i save up enough money, i can then try IPB and make my site more appealing.
It’s hard for me to choose one over the other. I am much more familiar with vBulletin but have migrated to IPB for new sites for a few reasons. First, I just don’t have faith in the direction that vBulletin and Internet Brands is moving at this time. Second, there are many great “premium” addons that are showing up for IPB lately, and I’m expecting more now that vBulletin has started to really see a big decline in its userbase with many going to IPB.
I’m actually hoping to soon see an open source alternative to what is currently available that is built to be function over form and expandable. Think WordPress of Forums.
Great post brandon and i may move my site to ipb as well. I am so sick of ray morgan, steve machol and wayne luke, i can’t stand it. My site is now stagnate because i will not pay to move up to vbulletins version 4.0. I feel it is junk and will take vbulletin.com into bankruptcy. My site isn’t worth any money, so there is nothing to sell currently. Hopefully when i save up enough money, i can then try IPB and make my site more appealing.
I converted over from vB to IPB when the new prices were revealed. I didn't like the idea of them pushing for me and everyone else to get a suite package whether we needed/wanted it or not. I need a great forum solution and it feels as if vB is moving away to a website in a box solution, which is fine if you need it, but I don't. Add in developers leaving in droves and leaving behind cryptic comments, a staff that seemed to be treating customers as annoyances more and more…it felt like a train wreck just waiting to happen. I can't even stand to go into the feedback forum anymore with all the fanboys and anti-IBers fighting each other with the most infamous of infamous flipfloppers standing in the middle changing sides for the 9237 time.
I might miss vBulletin 3.8, but I don't really have any desire to use 4.x as an administrator or as a user for that matter. IPB seems very promising these days with a support staff that really shines, in my opinion. I'm hoping as time passes I'll quickly get a hang of styling IPB, but even as a newbie to the system I already can see I like it more than vBulletin's, and 4.0's system sounds like something I'd rather avoid. For the past year and half I have been so let down by vBulletin, or should I say IB;I would have no problem giving them money for a quality product, key term being “quality”.
I am hopeful that with all the IB/vB issues these days IPB will step-up to the challenge, and that the mod community will get a much needed boost in activity also.
I converted over from vB to IPB when the new prices were revealed. I didn’t like the idea of them pushing for me and everyone else to get a suite package whether we needed/wanted it or not. I need a great forum solution and it feels as if vB is moving away to a website in a box solution, which is fine if you need it, but I don’t. Add in developers leaving in droves and leaving behind cryptic comments, a staff that seemed to be treating customers as annoyances more and more…it felt like a train wreck just waiting to happen. I can’t even stand to go into the feedback forum anymore with all the fanboys and anti-IBers fighting each other with the most infamous of infamous flipfloppers standing in the middle changing sides for the 9237 time.
I might miss vBulletin 3.8, but I don’t really have any desire to use 4.x as an administrator or as a user for that matter. IPB seems very promising these days with a support staff that really shines, in my opinion. I’m hoping as time passes I’ll quickly get a hang of styling IPB, but even as a newbie to the system I already can see I like it more than vBulletin’s, and 4.0′s system sounds like something I’d rather avoid. For the past year and half I have been so let down by vBulletin, or should I say IB;I would have no problem giving them money for a quality product, key term being “quality”.
I am hopeful that with all the IB/vB issues these days IPB will step-up to the challenge, and that the mod community will get a much needed boost in activity also.
No arguments there Brandon
IPB folks would have to be extremely blind to not take advantage of this opportunity which i dont think they are 
..anyways i hope that IB are able too dig themselves out of this morass
No arguments there Brandon
IPB folks would have to be extremely blind to not take advantage of this opportunity which i dont think they are 
..anyways i hope that IB are able too dig themselves out of this morass
Brandon, I am one of the VBulletinsetup orphans you left behind stuck with VB4 and a huge hole in the pocket. I am following your progress hopfuly before making a decision.
Brandon, I am one of the VBulletinsetup orphans you left behind stuck with VB4 and a huge hole in the pocket. I am following your progress hopfuly before making a decision.
@Stormraven “Although vBulletin has loads of mods, I find that half of the mods that are in the database are already built into IPB. “
Hah! No chance.
Anyway, I will be staying with vBulletin. I must be honest and say I've never liked IPB. People complain about vB's AdminCP but I think it's easier to use than IPB's. IPB just isn't my cup of tea. But, that's the good thing about competition, there are several choices available. vB is not going to be the right solution for everyone, just like IPB will not be the right solution for everyone.
I don't think this is hurting vB's business either, people like to exaggerate – I don't think many people have actually switched from vB to IPB.
Personally I think it's too soon to tell. We'll see what happens the weeks and months after the Gold release of vB4.
@Stormraven “Although vBulletin has loads of mods, I find that half of the mods that are in the database are already built into IPB. ”
Hah! No chance.
Anyway, I will be staying with vBulletin. I must be honest and say I’ve never liked IPB. People complain about vB’s AdminCP but I think it’s easier to use than IPB’s. IPB just isn’t my cup of tea. But, that’s the good thing about competition, there are several choices available. vB is not going to be the right solution for everyone, just like IPB will not be the right solution for everyone.
I don’t think this is hurting vB’s business either, people like to exaggerate – I don’t think many people have actually switched from vB to IPB.
Personally I think it’s too soon to tell. We’ll see what happens the weeks and months after the Gold release of vB4.
My opinion, and this is just my opinion – the entire vbulletin is behind the times. This is the 21st century, jelsoft/vbulletin should have developed a content management suite years ago. And I'am not talking 1, 2 or 3 years ago, I mean more like 5 or 6 years ago.
Instead of staying ahead of the technology curve, vbulletin/jelsoft fell behind. And now, they have to play catch up.
I am sticking with vBulletin for now and the foreseeable fufutre. I don't think I will upgrade to 4.0, just staying at 3.8. I have my sites the way I want them now and don't need any extra work.
I am sticking with vBulletin for now and the foreseeable fufutre. I don’t think I will upgrade to 4.0, just staying at 3.8. I have my sites the way I want them now and don’t need any extra work.
I think I’ll be doing the same, that is til another forum software rises, and offers more and better features than vBulletin for a lower price.
To me, I currently prefer vBulletin in terms of the product, but not the support or the way the company is being managed in general. I don't think there's anything wrong so per se about the software and it's features (for example, people are being way too harsh towards the blogs), and I understand why they didn't use the CMS for their home page (again, they made it before the software publically viewable or viable), but I do agree it would have set a better impression if they'd use the vB CMS for their home page.
I don't particularly think Internet Brands are too interested in their own network though, because let's be honest, the software would be better if they really were. Most of their sites run well out of date versions of vBulletin, and hardly any of the features they need get added, so it's probably a matter of trying to rush the software rather than developing it purely for themselves.
Would I use vBulletin 4? Not at this time. Too expensive, and too many problems with bugs and HTML validation. I wouldn't use Invision Power Board 3 for similar reasons either. But I do plan to try it (vBulletin) in the future, see if I find it easy to customise myself, and if not, maybe then try IPB 3. Because hey, vBulletin 3 worked in the past, it has most of the mods I need, and it's what the members prefer.
My opinion, and this is just my opinion – the entire vbulletin is behind the times. This is the 21st century, jelsoft/vbulletin should have developed a content management suite years ago. And I’am not talking 1, 2 or 3 years ago, I mean more like 5 or 6 years ago.
Instead of staying ahead of the technology curve, vbulletin/jelsoft fell behind. And now, they have to play catch up.
vBulletin software (4.0) is actually not as revolutionary as they make it out to be. My coders and I have been playing with it, and learning to skin the new software and the way they coded some things are just plain stupid. It's kind of surprising to us that they would put so little effort into making it developer friendly but I guess that is why we have a job!
IPB on the other hand has always been looked at as 2nd place to vBulletin just because of the features offered over the past few years. I predict a shift from vB to IPB as time proceeds because of the staff differences of each company.
Personally, I will always be faithful to vBulletin because that is what I grew up on! I just hope they get their act together before their customers and competitors realize there is a place for new competition to take a piece of the pie in the forum world.
To me, I currently prefer vBulletin in terms of the product, but not the support or the way the company is being managed in general. I don’t think there’s anything wrong so per se about the software and it’s features (for example, people are being way too harsh towards the blogs), and I understand why they didn’t use the CMS for their home page (again, they made it before the software publically viewable or viable), but I do agree it would have set a better impression if they’d use the vB CMS for their home page.
I don’t particularly think Internet Brands are too interested in their own network though, because let’s be honest, the software would be better if they really were. Most of their sites run well out of date versions of vBulletin, and hardly any of the features they need get added, so it’s probably a matter of trying to rush the software rather than developing it purely for themselves.
Would I use vBulletin 4? Not at this time. Too expensive, and too many problems with bugs and HTML validation. I wouldn’t use Invision Power Board 3 for similar reasons either. But I do plan to try it (vBulletin) in the future, see if I find it easy to customise myself, and if not, maybe then try IPB 3. Because hey, vBulletin 3 worked in the past, it has most of the mods I need, and it’s what the members prefer.
vBulletin software (4.0) is actually not as revolutionary as they make it out to be. My coders and I have been playing with it, and learning to skin the new software and the way they coded some things are just plain stupid. It’s kind of surprising to us that they would put so little effort into making it developer friendly but I guess that is why we have a job!
IPB on the other hand has always been looked at as 2nd place to vBulletin just because of the features offered over the past few years. I predict a shift from vB to IPB as time proceeds because of the staff differences of each company.
Personally, I will always be faithful to vBulletin because that is what I grew up on! I just hope they get their act together before their customers and competitors realize there is a place for new competition to take a piece of the pie in the forum world.
I use vBulletin, but it may surprise those who know me that I used, and was a big fan of IBP 2.x, and when IPB 3.x came on the horizon, I didn't like the way things were going, and switche to vBulletin 3.6. Now I don't like vB4, or IPB3 hahah, funny little world aint it?
I think I'll be doing the same, that is til another forum software rises, and offers more and better features than vBulletin for a lower price.
I use vBulletin, but it may surprise those who know me that I used, and was a big fan of IBP 2.x, and when IPB 3.x came on the horizon, I didn’t like the way things were going, and switche to vBulletin 3.6. Now I don’t like vB4, or IPB3 hahah, funny little world aint it?
I am a beginner of community builder. I was confused to choose between vBulletin and IPB, so I considered to buy them both. You might think I'm a fool because IPB offer free evaluation, but with me 24hrs not enough to understand how system work and actually how many hr a day you can sit in-front of the computer. After install and use them for couple days, I love vBulletin cause it has Online Help in ACP, which is IPB don't. This is very importance for the beginner like me
I am a beginner of community builder. I was confused to choose between vBulletin and IPB, so I considered to buy them both. You might think I’m a fool because IPB offer free evaluation, but with me 24hrs not enough to understand how system work and actually how many hr a day you can sit in-front of the computer. After install and use them for couple days, I love vBulletin cause it has Online Help in ACP, which is IPB don’t. This is very importance for the beginner like me
I am a beginner of community builder. I was confused to choose between vBulletin and IPB, so I considered to buy them both. You might think I'm a fool because IPB offer free evaluation, but with me 24hrs not enough to understand how system work and actually how many hr a day you can sit in-front of the computer. After install and use them for couple days, I love vBulletin cause it has Online Help in ACP, which is IPB don't. This is very importance for the beginner like me
vBulletin 4.0 = vBulletin 3.8 with a new skin.
That is basically what you are getting. I can not express my disappointment enough about vB4. A complete and utter let down.
I myself am now leaving vB and moving to IPB. Since having a look at IPB I now notice that vB have really tried to make 4.0 a lot like IPB but failed massivley. To be honest I can see why vB tried to copy IPB, their software is much better looking and the front end is alot more user friendly.
vBulletin 4.0 = vBulletin 3.8 with a new skin.
That is basically what you are getting. I can not express my disappointment enough about vB4. A complete and utter let down.
I myself am now leaving vB and moving to IPB. Since having a look at IPB I now notice that vB have really tried to make 4.0 a lot like IPB but failed massivley. To be honest I can see why vB tried to copy IPB, their software is much better looking and the front end is alot more user friendly.
I prefer vBulletin because of the modification community. However, I must say since the IB takeover VB has gone _way_ downhill. The VB4 process looks like a disaster with bugs and refusing to listen to customer feedback.
We have started new forums despite the RC being out and still prefer the 3.8.X tree… an example:
http://www.nexusoneforum.net
I prefer vBulletin because of the modification community. However, I must say since the IB takeover VB has gone _way_ downhill. The VB4 process looks like a disaster with bugs and refusing to listen to customer feedback.
We have started new forums despite the RC being out and still prefer the 3.8.X tree… an example:
http://www.nexusoneforum.net
Good article, vbulletin suite is prefered for my self cause of the addition of the blog and cms
besides the standard forums ofcourse..
But there is abselutely nothing revoltionary about it, i just like a product that has everything
i need, and makes the job easyer. There are many free products availible with much better
capabilities, and more userfriendly, when require some work to get them to work together
and if one of the products get a sercurity patch, it might not connect with the other products.
Enters vbulletin, 1 engine, that combines products, and is extremely easy to modify,
costumise and developer additional products that just “plug and play” installed.
Martin from
http://www.Evisystems.org
Good article, vbulletin suite is prefered for my self cause of the addition of the blog and cms
besides the standard forums ofcourse..
But there is abselutely nothing revoltionary about it, i just like a product that has everything
i need, and makes the job easyer. There are many free products availible with much better
capabilities, and more userfriendly, when require some work to get them to work together
and if one of the products get a sercurity patch, it might not connect with the other products.
Enters vbulletin, 1 engine, that combines products, and is extremely easy to modify,
costumise and developer additional products that just “plug and play” installed.
Martin from
http://www.Evisystems.org
I really think that vB is a lot more flexible and customizable than IPB.I will vote for vB. Its more professional!
I really think that vB is a lot more flexible and customizable than IPB.I will vote for vB. Its more professional!
I have a feeling that without vbulletin.org, this version 4.0 gold release would have been off to a much more difficult start. The vb.org community is a saving grace for the new vbulletin product. No if only vbulletin could solve the incredibly high queries issue with their CMS product.
I have a feeling that without vbulletin.org, this version 4.0 gold release would have been off to a much more difficult start. The vb.org community is a saving grace for the new vbulletin product. No if only vbulletin could solve the incredibly high queries issue with their CMS product.
Good post Brandon. Personally I wish I could switch all my forums to IPS and be done with vB. I have just seen too much crap over there…
The only three things that are keeping me with vB are vBulletin-Germany, vBulletin.org and my forum members.
I still have two forums on vB and I feel like throwing up at the prospect of having to upgrade them to vB4. It’s just such a terrible piece of software. I cannot believe they went gold with THAT.
When I moved one of my vB forums to a new domain I made a change: it used to be vB3.8 + Joomla + a bridge. So I thought: since vB4 is coming out soon, I’ll just use that vB Advanced portal thing and then convert to the Suite later.
Now it looks like the CMS in the Suite is at least half a year away from being usable.
I am very disappointed with vBulletin.
I use bbs at capo classifieds – it’s old and clunky but works like a charm. Sort of like good old wine.
Good post Brandon. Personally I wish I could switch all my forums to IPS and be done with vB. I have just seen too much crap over there…
The only three things that are keeping me with vB are vBulletin-Germany, vBulletin.org and my forum members.
I still have two forums on vB and I feel like throwing up at the prospect of having to upgrade them to vB4. It's just such a terrible piece of software. I cannot believe they went gold with THAT.
When I moved one of my vB forums to a new domain I made a change: it used to be vB3.8 + Joomla + a bridge. So I thought: since vB4 is coming out soon, I'll just use that vB Advanced portal thing and then convert to the Suite later.
Now it looks like the CMS in the Suite is at least half a year away from being usable.
I am very disappointed with vBulletin.
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On new sites? most definitely IPB. On old boards I have? Beside only one that I can’t convert (because of heavy usage of social groups), most definitely IPB (Deja vu? :p ). I already converted the biggest one and TBH I can’t be happier. Yes I do have some small problems ( DB errors on profile commenting, sometimes double posting) but it makes me feel alive again. For 7 years I’ve been using vBulletin it was perfect, it made my life so much easier (specially after 3.5), my members were satisfied, but after acquisition and IB thingies! it was time to move on.
I will upgrade that one site to vB 4.0 though. that must be a lot of fun until the day Ifind a way to convert that too.
On new sites? most definitely IPB. On old boards I have? Beside only one that I can't convert (because of heavy usage of social groups), most definitely IPB (Deja vu? :p ). I already converted the biggest one and TBH I can't be happier. Yes I do have some small problems ( DB errors on profile commenting, sometimes double posting) but it makes me feel alive again. For 7 years I've been using vBulletin it was perfect, it made my life so much easier (specially after 3.5), my members were satisfied, but after acquisition and IB thingies! it was time to move on.
I will upgrade that one site to vB 4.0 though. that must be a lot of fun until the day Ifind a way to convert that too.
My site, http://www.CheersandGears.com is an IPBoard site, but waaaay back in the day before I bought it, it was apparently a Vbulletin site. I have 20k dead links that are out there that I’m trying to mod_rewrite into something on the new page.
I have very little experience with VBulletin, but my time with IPBoard has been very positive. I opened a ticket with them today, a Sunday, and they had a response to me in 2 hours. I don’t expect that it’s typical, but at least it’s possible.
My site, http://www.CheersandGears.com is an IPBoard site, but waaaay back in the day before I bought it, it was apparently a Vbulletin site. I have 20k dead links that are out there that I'm trying to mod_rewrite into something on the new page.
I have very little experience with VBulletin, but my time with IPBoard has been very positive. I opened a ticket with them today, a Sunday, and they had a response to me in 2 hours. I don't expect that it's typical, but at least it's possible.
I have VB and like others have said will be sticking to it for the time being. I’ve done my homework on both IPB & VB 4.0 and IMO IPB seems to have jumped from seemingly nowhere to the top spot in forum SW.
What I like about VB.
3.8 is like an old reliable truck. It just works. I have no issues with it and the issues that do come up are usually user created. I also love the large community which provides free mods at VB.org.
What I don’t like about VB.
First all the drama. Life has enough drama in it without getting more from a product/service which is supposed to be providing me with a product. Next, by nearly all accounts 4.0 is not all it is cracked up to be and appears to be a rushed product.
What I like about IPB.
They seem to have built the better mousetrap. The software seems sleek and very intuitive for the end user. The reviews of IPB have been impressive. This is one of the things that originally led me to VB 2 years ago.
What I don’t like about IPB.
Well there doesn’t seem that many of the mods my members enjoy are available (or reasonably similar ones), but I figure those will come shortly. Nearly all the IPB sites I’ve visited seem to have the same, or very similar, look. Being different through the look and use of mods can be huge in the eyes of someone visiting a site for the first time. It goes with the branding of your site. I found some info on an IPB site I wanted to go back to, but couldn’t because I couldn’t tell the difference between the 4-5 sites I’d been to, but if one had a distinctive style I probably could have found it easier.
When IPB has a few more resources I use and I have the cash I will make the jump, but for now I’m sitting tight and praying 3.8 doesn’t reach EOL too soon.
Warren
I have VB and like others have said will be sticking to it for the time being. I've done my homework on both IPB & VB 4.0 and IMO IPB seems to have jumped from seemingly nowhere to the top spot in forum SW.
What I like about VB.
3.8 is like an old reliable truck. It just works. I have no issues with it and the issues that do come up are usually user created. I also love the large community which provides free mods at VB.org.
What I don't like about VB.
First all the drama. Life has enough drama in it without getting more from a product/service which is supposed to be providing me with a product. Next, by nearly all accounts 4.0 is not all it is cracked up to be and appears to be a rushed product.
What I like about IPB.
They seem to have built the better mousetrap. The software seems sleek and very intuitive for the end user. The reviews of IPB have been impressive. This is one of the things that originally led me to VB 2 years ago.
What I don't like about IPB.
Well there doesn't seem that many of the mods my members enjoy are available (or reasonably similar ones), but I figure those will come shortly. Nearly all the IPB sites I've visited seem to have the same, or very similar, look. Being different through the look and use of mods can be huge in the eyes of someone visiting a site for the first time. It goes with the branding of your site. I found some info on an IPB site I wanted to go back to, but couldn't because I couldn't tell the difference between the 4-5 sites I'd been to, but if one had a distinctive style I probably could have found it easier.
When IPB has a few more resources I use and I have the cash I will make the jump, but for now I'm sitting tight and praying 3.8 doesn't reach EOL too soon.
Warren
Thanks everyone for your comments, you all have made this my top commented and views blog post!
I’m supposed to say “hi, it is nexia… the bitch”… but i’m not used to be rude, so think whatever you want… this article is great… white background, black font… good….
rofl
I’m pleased to have you stop by
it’s been good chatting with you on IM today
Thanks everyone for your comments, you all have made this my top commented and views blog post!
I'm supposed to say “hi, it is nexia… the bitch”… but i'm not used to be rude, so think whatever you want… this article is great… white background, black font… good….
rofl
I'm pleased to have you stop by
it's been good chatting with you on IM today
I think that vbulletin is more of a secure form and it bases its expertiese on the fourm security , rather than the look of the fourm, Ipb in my opinion is a good looking fourm and it has many good looking skins. But it lacks the security and the ammount of moderations vbulletin has. In my opinion thou i would choose ipb mainly becouse it “attracts” more users.
I think that vbulletin is more of a secure form and it bases its expertiese on the fourm security , rather than the look of the fourm, Ipb in my opinion is a good looking fourm and it has many good looking skins. But it lacks the security and the ammount of moderations vbulletin has. In my opinion thou i would choose ipb mainly becouse it “attracts” more users.
I am coming from the vbulletin forum, and I am going to go with vbulletin for now. Anything with more security on the web tends to wieght heavy with me. Btw, great site. Not too complicated and pleasing to the eye. Here is my site: http://msafi.com/software-reviews/
I have very little experience with VBulletin, but my time with IPBoard has been very positive. I opened a ticket with them today, a Sunday, and they had a response to me in 2 hours. I don’t expect that it’s typical, but at least it’s possible.
I too have a very positive experience with IPB community. I haven’t purchased the software yet but I am very eager to. As soon as I’m done with my current project, I’ll devote all my free time to learn IPB. I haven’t felt this excited to work on my website for many many years.
My current website is using phpBB with custom portal to pull stuff from it onto the main page. I’ve always wanted a CMS for my website and ip.content just got me really, really excited.
I am from a totally different base. I have use ActiveModules in a DotNetNuke Portal. So… now i am looking for new software to run a forum. I have used a simplemachines forum, but i dont like it. so searching for something new.
So many choices, so much to compare… its a difficult choice. I am still wondering why i would pay for a vB or IPB forum if the one everybody refers to is phpBB.
I guess it is about 40% personal choice (looks, feels, menu, style, layout, logic), 30% added functionality (easy to mod), 15% speed (compared to other forums) and 15% other things.
Platform choice also makes a difference. MS platform and MSSQL is much more expensive to use then the LAMP platform. So i primary look at does it have the keyfeatures i like, does it work the way i expect? what are reactions of other people (like here) How does comment from other people on a product relate to my wishes directly, short and long term?
difficult choices.
I also see movements between several types and that does give some info, but also again a lot of discomfort…
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Hi Brandon -
Thanks for the great, insightful article.
It's Michael "The Law Professor" from http://www.thelaw.com/forums/ – one of the oldest free legal advice forums online. I began using vBulletin way back when it was just hitting version 2.0. It was poetry through version 3.x and I used a number of add-ons to create a community like many of you have.
The problem is that version 3.x is gone and is a dead product. As PHP marches onwards (and LAMP for that matter), it will not be supported. We have not moved to version 4 as continued problems with styles and other aspects lead me to believe that moving now, if at all, would be a very poor decision. We'd need to redo all the integrations of our scripts with vBulletin 4.0 and that will just not happen without a discernible benefit from moving to vBulletin 4.
I have 2 custom hacks in vBulletin that have kept us there. I am still toying with the idea of switching over to Invision Power Board but am still hedging on what to do with almost 10 years of search engine indexing and site backlinking. Some of you are managing and this will be my next step – investigating the pros/cons of moving. As it stands right now, several of our favorite mods are not available in vB 4 (such as vB Experience) and if we can hire a programmer to modify the two necessary addons and find a way to permanently redirect our traffic without losing our draw in search engines, I'd move and never look back, unfortunately. I think that IPB has a far superior vision as to what a community site is and vBulletin is playing a long, long game of catch up.
And most of all, I don't want to be caught paying for vBulletin version 5 when I haven't been able to use vBulletin 4 at all almost a year after I bought it in the presale. I'm remarkably impressed by everything at IPB, including the software architecture, flexibility and process thus far.
Hello everybody,
I am scott.This is my first .lol..:D
I just wondering if anyone can recommend some good backlinks service. I just made my site and I need to get good rankings in google. What do you think which is best service for getting backlinks. I want to build many links and want to get it as cheap as possible. Thanks Jay.
I used to be a VB lover…not anymore….I am tired of paying BS rake hikes…vbulletin is not worth what they are charging these days. I am moving to IPB – it is cheaper, yes it will cost to customize, and there are less mods for IPB, but honestly, I am not a mod horder anyway. Yes VB is driving their customers away, and they will go to second best, IPB…only vbulletin to blame…
I too have a very positive experience with IPB community. I haven't purchased the software yet but I am very eager to. As soon as I'm done with my current project, I'll devote all my free time to learn IPB. I haven't felt this excited to work on my website for many many years.
My current website is using phpBB with custom portal to pull stuff from it onto the main page. I've always wanted a CMS for my website and ip.content just got me really, really excited.
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For me V – Bulletin is still the way to go to reduce extra work.
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Great post! Nice!
Thank you for the tips. I really look forward to using an IPB in the future. I’ve heard many webmasters praising this software recently and I even saw another big forum change from vb to ipb. I even did some testing on my localhost and found IPB more powerful and attractive.
I’m new to http://www.brandonsheley.org and just saying hello. I really like this great site.
Hello, Neat post. There’s an issue together with your website in internet explorer, could test this? IE nonetheless is the marketplace leader and a big component of other folks will pass over your excellent writing due to this problem.
Which website are you talking about, exact page and what version of IE?
Thanks
Me personally…..confius over whether to decide ip or Vbulletin…both has a good script…but i think maybe Ip is slightly better….:)
We have just started an IP.board website, and are also doing the research to see which is better for our purpose, Vbulletin, or IP.board.
We are still not sure.
I’ve actually moved my forums to xenforo, I need to do a new post comparing vbulletin and xenforo.
I do not know if this can be the correct spot to post this in but I’m definitely searching for somebody here on **link removed** to give me some data on the way to make a living by writing or blogging. I see a lot of individuals producing dollars by writing and I just can not figure it out. It would actually aid if some of it is possible to give me some suggestions on what to do or where to visit to get the information and facts. II thank you so much ahead of time.
Hey, can someone please point me to a few websites where I might get a good price on a 3-month old vB4 license?
I would *tremendously* appreciate it!
We’ve had a few for sale in our admin marketplace John
Have you had a chance to check those out?
Hi there, just became aware of your forum through Google, and found that it’s truly interesting. I’m gonna watch for more posts. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Many people will enjoy this. Cheers!
I currently use Invision Power Board and it works quite well. However, I do kind of miss all the modifications that were available for vBulletin, it seems like anything interesting has to be paid for if you want it for Invision Power Board whereas for any other software such mods are usually free.
It also feels like updates don’t work quite as well as they did for vBulletin, as I’ve had a few more technical issues and errors after each upgrade. Not to mention the stupid omission of avatar galleries in general…
But IPB is still nice software, and is miles ahead of vBulletin 4 at this time.