As we look ahead to the launch of vBulletin 5 Connect later this year, we want to provide information on some of the new functionality that will be included in this version. In particular, here's an overview of how the new Site Builder tool and in-page editing will make it easier to set up and manage sections of your site. vBulletin 5 Connect's new Site Builder will provide easy-to-use tools to let users set up a site, with much of this set-up not requiring any use of admin control panel. The Site Builder controls will be equally convenient for managing existing sites. Site Builder will provide a convenient way to set up a site's header, footer, navigation and forum/thread taxonomy, as well as other aspects of site administration. Site Builder will provide easy-to-use page templates both for new sites and existing ones. The content and layout of these pages then can be specified with drag-and-drop modules for the various page elements. These modules will include ones for core site content as well as options such as an activity stream and a tag cloud. Other modules will facilitate the placement of video content and provide a convenient means of inserting ad tags on pages. There also will be HTML and PHP modules to provide an easy interface for adding such code to pages. Other page content such as announcements, online users, top active users, today's birthdays, etc. will be module-based for easy placement in page templates without requiring any coding. vBulletin 5 Connect will also provide in-page editing capabilities for page templates, module layout, color schemes and many other site options. This will significantly streamline site management by facilitating these changes being made while browsing the site rather than needing to navigate through the admin control panel to make these changes. ^ Looking nice!
Just saw this on their facebook page. Looks pretty awesome. It might be worth the price. Just worried that it might leave us all out of pocket.
Hopefully, the template system isn't as confusing as it was in vB4. vBulletin 4 was trying to be a bit on the customizable side. The side bars were the first step in this direction. This is just an upgrade to that original idea. Creating new sidebar properties were [a tad bit] confusing, and this is what I meant by "hopefully the template system isn't confusing."
