Was going to use vB, then saw it was nearly dead...

I'm a long-time vB user and admin (though not very successful), and I had another idea for a website, so I went to look at upgrading my vB license to the latest, but found their fora nearly dead and vB5 has very few mods.

vB gets a lot of flack for not being very friendly for developers, but I've always been somewhat comfortable with it, and I love its plug-in system and it's security system (until that recent major vulnerability that was found and exploited).

Anyway, I'm looking for forum software that can act like a platform for a site that is much, much more than a forum. I need to be able to build onto it, but have a unified system that allows a single sign-on with customized permissions. Basically, it needs to be very extendable.

Actually, what I'm probably looking for is Drupal, but I don't like Drupal fora, and I'm not that familiar with Drupal development. I LOVED vB3 and...ahem...accepted vB4.

What should I be looking at closest? Remember, I'm more looking for a platform rather just pure fora.

Thanks!

P.S. I used to be a member of Admin Addict, but I've long since forgotten my username, password, and most likely email.

 

If you dont like vBulletin anymore look at WBB, Xenforo or IPB. IPB is releasing a new version you can read more on their site. Xenforo is what this site uses so browse here and get a feeling. You can make demos on their site for testing.

 

@Soren before the usual crowd jumps with their "XenForo Is the future" mantra lol let me chime in with my thoughts

I recommend checking out IPB(which is soon about to debut its brand new version, which is going to be a complete rewrite from its present version.) and Burning Board.

These are two products that already have a lot of Built-in features and compatible 1st party(Apps made by the same company who makes the forum software) that can help make your site a platform more than a forum.

I use IPB and I've seen a few sites that have made the site into a platform(Neowin is one of my favorite). I like the software.

Burning Board is good from what I've seen but I have no experience with it, but I do love what I've seen on other admin forums. While I have no dsesire to switch, if I did, i'd go BB.

but IPB is certainly the best imo.....it has the experience of Vbulletin(as they were direct competitors at one point before Vb5 fiasco and the exodus many sites took from the software).

Xenforo is the new kid on the block and the one the Masses flock too(for better or worse) but it is the least powerful if you wish to make a platform simply because it truly is a forum only solution(which is does great) and most things to extend your site will require 3rd party add-ons/developers that IPB and Burning Board presently offer as 1st party add-ons.

 

I would stick with VB5, most of those slagging it haven't used it in anger.

It's very flexible and admin friendly, the 5.1.1 version is stable and works a charm, I've been using 5.1.2A and that is even better.

The only reason there aren't any MODs for it, is because of it's initial issues, now it's stabilising more will write MODs for it, and installing MODs is even easier,plus with the built in CMS and site builder, you can do almost anything you want.

I'm no coder, but if you want to see what can be done with very little experience, look at my pre-launch site http://www.premierleagueforum.co.uk

A couple of VB's support staff think it's one of the best sites they've seen on VB5

 

Im surprised Paul M has not released any mods for VB5 yet
His tracking guest visits, makes finding rouge bots and scrapers easy to spot
I still think that 5.1.3 will be the turning point looking at the updates and fixes

 

There are still issues though, Mod writers got a little annoyed when they wrote MODs in the early days, only to find that bug fixes broke them, even the styles that some have written don't work across all versions, so you can understand why the MOD development has ground to a halt.

That is what killed it, but those people that slagged it off to start with, are judging it now by what it was then, and that is a little unfair.

 

to save me looking how much is a vb 5 license??

 

$249 I think ?

 

still pretty pricy then, don't take this as vb bashing but it's a lot of cash when there are more complete usable solutions available for less, why did you decide to go for vb 5? as apposed to ib 4 or xf or bb?

 

You have to look at the relative costs as well as the initial cost.
XF starts at $149, in the UK we have to add VAT, that puts it at $169. then if you want what is included with VB in the form of Add ons etc, that will take the price over the $249 mark.
Most add ons for VB are free, when I was looking at buying a platform, most of the add ons I wanted would have cost in the region of $40 each for XF, so it was a no brainer really.

Also for $249 you get the choice of 3 versions not just one. You buy XF, you are stuck with it, I also think the support with VB is superior to XF, friendlier, and quicker.

 

I used vb 4.22 and we all found it ok but not particularly user friendly and a real pain as admin users, as for vb 3 I just hated using it on TAZ before the migration it was great in the day but it dose look very old hat now. I agree totally on the support side of things via the forums but have to say the xf ticket help has been very good.
Did you look at BB? I think I might give them a try for any future projects admin side is pretty streamlined and easy to navigate.

 

You don't have a mass of abandoned mods either
Im sure there were more vb4 mods released when that was in beta than there are total for vb5
A lot of people have left vb to use alternatives
The org used to have some very talented mod makers

 

The upgrade to vB5 will cost me $189, and I can get the mobile suite later, when I'm ready for it.

I do need to check on a couple of mods that I consider 100% necessary to see if they're still working with vB5. If not, I may just stick with vB4 until I can hire better coders than myself to do what I really need. I can do some, but not all.

I really like how easy it is to add my own, non-vB pages to a vB site , with all security and permissions in-place.

Discussion will be a HUGE part of this site, but not all. I'll look into the other solutions, but it still may be best for me to stick with what I know.

 

Says someone who's probably never used it

 

I also wouldn't use vB5 for any project and I have spent a considerable amount of time testing it and I've carried out some work on live installations. There are good intentions within the product such as the site builder but they are badly implemented and/or unfinished. The article system for example (the thing everyone claims to be a CMS) is dreadful. It contains no pre-made templates and there's no way of creating them. If you format your content elsewhere and paste it in, your layout gets trashed. An article system must have powerful formatting or it's just notepad.

There are many other problems, for example why would anyone want to use a product that doesn't cater for Apple users? vB5 is not compatible with Safari. That alone is a show stopper. The lack of modifications is another issue which will not be solved any time soon. There's a big learning curve involved and by many accounts the new system is far from complete.

IPS 4.0 on the other hand is shaping up to be a very strong product assuming you can wait for it.

If you can't wait I'd consider Xenforo, Burning Board, vB4.0. basically anything but vB5 but you obviously need to ensure that whatever chose actually meets your needs.

 

This is the bit that shows you have no credibility, how can you judge something on what others say, what you are actually saying is that you are unable to form your own opinion about something.

FYI
When I have bought a 2 VB licences, and run one forum, what am I supposed to do with the other licence, answer you use it, and if I want to spend MY money on a licence I will choose to use it HOW I F******* well please.

FYI
5.1.2A Is a much improved product, it works a lot better that any previous release. For someone like me, who isn't familiar with PHP, or that familiar with HTML ( but I'm learning) IMO its a good entry level platform, it may not be perfect, unlike you seem to think you are.

As for being a "legendary Admin" if the world listened to people like you all the time we'd all still be riding horses and dreaming of flying like the birds.