💬 Platform Discussion vBulletin Thread

[Cedric]

Build your site on the world's leading community software​

vBulletin 5 Connect™
and
vBulletin Cloud™​

Now there are two great options for launching your vBulletin community site:​

• Host vBulletin 5 Connect yourself
• Use vBulletin Cloud and we'll handle your hosting, site maintenance and upgrades for you

---

Frequently updated vBulletin has been around for many years. Have any of you used the software before? What do you like about the software ?

 

[Nomad]

vBulletin is a nice forum software but I cannot afford to use it because I will have to pay $249 for a new license, and $209 for an upgrade. That's very expensive for someone who is not generating any revenue from his communities.

 

[Cedric]

vBulletin is a nice forum software but I cannot afford to use it because I will have to pay $249 for a new license, and $209 for an upgrade. That's very expensive for someone who is not generating any revenue from his communities.

I didn't know they were charging $209 for upgrades. That's expensive indeed. However I checked it out earlier and must say that I'm positively changed towards vBulletin and see that they've improved a lot since a couple of years ago. I was never a big fan of vBulletin before.

 

[Nebulous]

Was a fan back in the day but not anymore. It just feels clunky, dated and uncomfortable compared to XF or IPB.

 

[Resolute]

Build your site on the world's leading community software​

vBulletin 5 Connect™​

and​

vBulletin Cloud™​

Now there are two great options for launching your vBulletin community site:​

• Host vBulletin 5 Connect yourself
• Use vBulletin Cloud and we'll handle your hosting, site maintenance and upgrades for you

---

Frequently updated vBulletin has been around for many years. Have any of you used the software before? What do you like about the software ?

I have used the vBulletin Cloud within the last year. I liked it, honestly. I wish they would update more often. VB will always be a favorite of mine.

 

[Nomad]

I didn't know they were charging $209 for upgrades. That's expensive indeed. However I checked it out earlier and must say that I'm positively changed towards vBulletin and see that they've improved a lot since a couple of years ago. I was never a big fan of vBulletin before.

As a user, find vBulletin very good. it has a clean interface. However, the software is targeted toward people who have a lot of budget for his or her forum. I am against spending a lot of money on forum software since we already have a lot of open source forum scripts.

 

[Cedric]

As a user, find vBulletin very good. it has a clean interface. However, the software is targeted toward people who have a lot of budget for his or her forum. I am against spending a lot of money on forum software since we already have a lot of open source forum scripts.

Yes, you've got a point there. But let's face it, open source will never be as good as paid options.

 

[Resolute]

I wish MyBB would update to include a modern design for mobile. If so, I would totally use it for more projects. I loved MyBB, but the development seems non-existent.

 

[saoussen5765]

I have read a lot of recommandations to migration from vBulettin to Word Press or even to any other CMS because of the facility of use and also the security but I am not sure if this is true.

 

[Naiwen]

It’s outdated for me personally at least anyways.

 

[nana kwasi]

Many people have advised me to switch from vBulettin to Word Press or even to another CMS because of its ease of use and security, but I'm not sure if this is true.

 

[Nadiel sahmen]

As a client, discover vBulletin exceptionally great. it features a clean interface. Be that as it may, the program is focused on toward individuals who have a part of budget for his or her gathering. I am against investing a part of cash on gathering program since we as of now have a part of open source gathering scripts.

 

[Ravenfreak]

vBulletin is too expensive IMO. It's also not really worth it anymore, it used to be the best paid forum script IMO way back in the day. So many gaming forums used it, but most of the devs ended up working on Xenforo. You can get better features cheaper and better support too using other paid scripts.

 

[Arantor]

but most of the devs ended up working on Xenforo

Hardly surprising given that vBulletin was bought out, then the development team outsourced to do 4.x then 5.x, and the previous lead dev of vBulletin founded XF with another of vB's senior devs... it even produced a lawsuit.

 

[Tracy]

vBulletin is a nice forum software but I cannot afford to use it because I will have to pay $249 for a new license, and $209 for an upgrade. That's very expensive for someone who is not generating any revenue from his communities.

Well.... I can't really comment on this since I'm paying (on average) around $350 a year for "upgrades" on XF and it's associated add-ons that I use.... and I generate no revenue from my site either.
For me.. this is a hobby.... and as with most hobbies, they cost money!

But as far as vBulletin goes... it would be one of the last choices I would choose... I'll pick free script like SMF or myBB before it for use.

 

[Arantor]

Realistically, vB is on life support and has been for a while - the fact there's no vB 6 on the horizon is a huge clue that its owners aren't interested in pushing the plaform seriously forward.

 

[Tracy]

The sad thing is.. vB was the "King of the Hill" for a long time.. then XF assumed that position in the paid forum script arena... see any similarities in the "slow updates/bull shit advances" between the two now? Over 2 years later still waiting on any "major" advancements with XF. They throw their license holders a bone here and there, but forget any real meat. You want that, go pay money to outside add-on developers (and I don't begrudge XenAddons a single penny I spend on their resources personally).

 

[Arantor]

I think the XF ecosystem is a reaction to the vB ecosystem; vB 3 had a lot of stuff in the base and I think everything about XF design was to not repeat that situation because it made managing vB development harder. So XF went a lot more minimalist and reliant on the third party ecosystem.

I don't think XF's current silence is for the same reasons as vB's: Internet Brands has long had little reason to realistically develop vB beyond their own uses. Especially after the initial rounds of vB 5 vs XF absolutely did not go vB's way.

I think IB's situation is that they're maintaining it for themselves and the fleet of sites they still run and any additional sales on top are a bonus - but they have no real commercial imperative to change that situation because they're not reliant on vB sales to make them money.

XF on the other hand... I would have to guess that at least part of the problem with 2.3 is that either they haven't got enough big chunky features to justify the new version number, or they're languishing in the place SMF 2.1 spent: the 'we don't know what should be in it so we don't know when it's done' purgatory. I have often wondered how much of the real decision making was made by whom and I wonder how much of Mike's departure actually functionally broke this.

 

[Tracy]

'we don't know what should be in it so we don't know when it's done' purgatory

I'm more afraid it's this aspect... and their "flightiness" of avoiding advancing anything large 1st party is in some ways killing them.. Heck, they've got suggestions (and some are fairly major) that have existed for over a decade that they have failed to act on, even if it's only saying No Interest.

Mike's departure actually functionally broke this.

Got a sneaky suspicion that Mike as more the "backbone" of the developers. Kier is more a "see my face" type person... granted, he's probably a very decent coder.. but he's more into the "PR" aspect (or at least was). Chris knows how to code.. but the "guidance" for the vision of the script seems to be sorely lacking currently.

If it wasn't for the lack of surety of long term self-hosted script support... my pipe site would be back on IPS currently.
Although, I am contemplating updating my XF license to play with it on and then maybe getting another copy of @Bob's AMS, RMS and CAS system... but honestly, for such a niche site, it's hard to justify it. Tobacco simply isn't much of an "in" thing now, especially pipe smoking.

 

[Arantor]

Yup, that's been my take going forward. What mostly did for SMF was a lack of a single cohesive vision for their product - it seems to be happening to XF too.