Is it too late to AVOID vBulletin?

mugwump

Please, don't go the vBulletin route. It's time to think different and check out <a href="http://www.invisionboard.com/"; target="_blank">Invision Board</a>, which is the successor to Ikonboard.



1) It's free



2) Extremely snappy, VERY fast!



3) mySQL, PHP, and it mod_gzip compresses everything if you so desire. It handles very heavy loads.



4) It was created on Mac OS X.



5) Did I mention that it's FREE?



6) It's got EVERY FEATURE OF VBULLETIN, and more



7) Completely skinable.



8) UBB to Invision board converter is on the way



9) FREE



[ 08-06-2002: Message edited by: mugwump ]</p>

fran441

I just downloaded this and added it to my website. I'll try it out but so far, I'm not too impressed. I'm having trouble creating forums even though they were 'created successfully'.



I'll play around with it a little more but I don't think you'll see the admins at MacNN/AI want to use this if they've already purchased a license for vBulletin.



Edit: I feel like a moron. I figured out my problem and overall, I am impressed. If they do add a way to convert UBB to this system, it would be very cool.



[ 08-06-2002: Message edited by: Fran441 ]</p>

nebagakid

Why can't we keep things the same. i do not like change, at least, like moving side to side...moving forward is ohkay



and twirling...always twirling <img src="graemlins/surprised.gif" border="0" alt="[Surprised]" /> <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" /> <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />

groverat

Our search function is crap with UBB and many other things. A good transition to vBulletin would definitely be a step forward.

big mac

[quote]Originally posted by groverat:

<strong>Our search function is crap with UBB and many other things. A good transition to vBulletin would definitely be a step forward.</strong><hr></blockquote>



If the transition is going to be anything like MacNN Forums transition, then I won't be very pleased. The column spacing on MacNN is all wrong (the date column is much larger than the subject column), thread views take up too much space, the home page no longer shows the subject of the most recent post on each forum (only the most recent poster) and I can no longer log in with Netscape 4.79. I thought the transition was pretty smooth at first, but now many days into the process it doesn't seem as if the problems are going to be addressed. The upgrade has ruined MacNN Forums for me, for the time being. If the AI team can move over to vBulletin without the issues I mentioned, then that's fine.



The fact is I feel AI is fine the way it is. I don't use the search function on AI all that often, and when I do it's fast enough for me. All things being equal, I don't think it's worth the risk to upgrade to vBulletin. However, that's a decision the mods/admins will have to make; I just hope these issues are weighed when calculating the opportunity cost.

nebagakid

[quote]Originally posted by Big Mac:

<strong>



If the transition is going to be anything like MacNN Forums transition, then I won't be very pleased. The column spacing on MacNN is all wrong (the date column is much larger than the subject column), thread views take up too much space, the home page no longer shows the subject of the most recent post on each forum (only the most recent poster) and I can no longer log in with Netscape 4.79. I thought the transition was pretty smooth at first, but now many days into the process it doesn't seem as if the problems are going to be addressed. The upgrade has ruined MacNN Forums for me, for the time being. If the AI team can move over to vBulletin without the issues I mentioned, then that's fine.



The fact is I feel AI is fine the way it is. I don't use the search function on AI all that often, and when I do it's fast enough for me. All things being equal, I don't think it's worth the risk to upgrade to vBulletin. However, that's a decision the mods/admins will have to make; I just hope these issues are weighed when calculating the opportunity cost.</strong><hr></blockquote>



I Totally agree with Mr.B. Mac, I think thing are fine the way they are.... <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />

ghost_user_name

To address concerns:



It is certain that MacNN's transfer to vB was handled less-than optimally.





I find the graphical glitches to be too great to bear.



Rest assured that, if, or when, vB comes to AI, we will not have the same sorts of trouble, nor the aesthetic nightmare that's going on over there right now. Our position on it is that, if we are going to do it, it damn well better look right before we do it, with NO glitches.



I am unsure, as well, how much the PHP speedup is needed here, as this forum is much smaller than MacNN's - we don't place nearly the load on the servers that they do.





We *could* theoretically continue on with the UBB.classic software - newer versions include things like polls and many other nifty features that vBulletin has - but, again, since the layout of these forums is greatly changed from a standard UBB, it's difficult, and it requires hacking the upgraded forum files- something which I possess neither the talent nor the time to do.



So, don't worry, because A) it's not definite that it's coming, and if it does, it will surely look nice.

nebagakid

Thank you for quelling my fears, I just thought that the new MacNN looked weird,scarry, and I just really love the way this board looks





also t-shirts <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />

jaydog

I my self have found in the past moveing from 1 forum software to another and moving all the forums over make it all buggy and screwees up the spaceing.

I think you should do this but a lot will not aggree with me is start with a fresh forum new sellections and leave the old forum stuff in the past.

groverat

I think most everyone would disagree with that idea, myself included.

eman

[quote]Originally posted by jaydog:

<strong>I my self have found in the past moveing from 1 forum software to another and moving all the forums over make it all buggy and screwees up the spaceing.

I think you should do this but a lot will not aggree with me is start with a fresh forum new sellections and leave the old forum stuff in the past. </strong><hr></blockquote>



Ummm no

badtz

[quote]Originally posted by groverat:

<strong>Our search function is crap with UBB and many other things. A good transition to vBulletin would definitely be a step forward.</strong><hr></blockquote>



yes, search is crap

matsu

Whatever you do, DO NOT alter the look of the site one iota, not one I say: It's damn near perfect now, easily one of the easiest to read and most attractive forum layouts on the net. Great work, try not to fvck it up.

ghost_user_name

I tinkered around with making vB templates for AppleInsider a few weeks ago when Jon first mentioned that we'd be switching. It looked pretty damn close to what AI is now, but a few things weren't exactly the same. Frankly, I don't think it'd be worth the extraordinary effort to make vB look exactly like UBB, or if it's even *possible* to make it 100% identical. 95% is certainly good enough.



Don't worry guys. We'll have this all **thoroughly** tested before switching over. We've already learned from the layout problems MacNN had.

animaniac

I've used UBB and vB, and vB is simply superior. I've customized mine a good deal and I am very happy with it. I've been waiting for this move since the site will be a good deal faster and more robust. Invision board is extremely buggy and is definately not in vB's league. There are a good deal of security issues and it definitely cannot handle a large site. Neowin (http://neowin.net) has been taken down for the time being since they moved from vB to Invision board (probably because their license ran out for vB). I urge the administration to adopt vB and if any help is needed I would be glad to help.

tallest skil

The spambot does bring up an interesting point:



Is it possible to switch from vBulletin to something more modern?



From what I'm feeling on the back end, vBulletin sucks.



In terms of features, that is. Moderator control, design capability, user features, etc.



Anything we switch to can look like absolute trash on the front end for all I care. I'll just apply custom CSS to make it be gorgeous.

jeffdm

I think I asked about it a month or so ago, I heard nothing back. As it is, vBulletin 4 has been released two years ago and they haven't upgraded. Version 3.8.7 was released in February.

mr. h

I don't really know a whole lot about forum software. All I do know is that there was a lot of controversy with the development of version 4 of vBulletin, and many users have avoided upgrading.



The lead developers of vBulletin left the company during version 4 development and have since released XenForo, which does look like it has some pretty nice admin features.