Did you ever move from vB to IPB OR IPB to vB?

I know these are recognized as the two "big dogs" of the forum software world.

But wondering if anyone use to admin or at least very actively moderate one of the big dogs, and then by choice switch to the other.

If so...
1. Why did you want to switch?
2. What did you like most about your "new" software?
3. What did you not like about your new software?
4. What did you miss most about your old software?
5. What unexpected feature or nuance did you find with your new software (either good or bad)?
6. When all was said and done...were you glad you made the switch (would you do it again?)

 

I moved from IPB 2.0.0 (free release candidate) to vB 3.5.3

1. My IPB-version was outdated with many security holes. I was moderator on another forum which also switched from IPB to vB and that convinced me to switch too.
2. The many many many options in the admin.
3. Making my own skin looked hard on first sight. Got used to it though.
4. Hmm... I remember missing the sticky-non sticky seperator in the beginning.
5. Don't ask why, I was astunned by the change-your-joindate feature. xD
6. Yes. Although with vB4, I'm not sure yet..

 

Yes I went from vB to IPB3

1. IPB3 is far superior
2. Everything in the adminCP is laid out better and has a built in search function for help.
3. The template code
4. Nothing
5. The sidebar status and recent topics took up a lot of resources
6. Yes, I'm working on converting all our vBulletin forums into IPB eventually, pending the release and pricing of vB4

 

Yes, I have. I went from IPB 2.3.3 to vBulletin 3.6.8.

1. Why did you want to switch?
--- I always like trying new "stuff" and vBulletin seemed more acclaimed than IP.Board, so I made the switch.

2. What did you like most about your "new" software?
--- The ease and simplicity of its use, and the vast availability of a wide range of modifications and styles.

3. What did you not like about your new software?
--- Its ancient look

4. What did you miss most about your old software?
--- Its professional outward appearance

5. What unexpected feature or nuance did you find with your new software (either good or bad)?
--- I was very pleased with the ease of learning to quickly and easily navigate the AdminCP and get to anything in just a few clicks.

6. When all was said and done...were you glad you made the switch (would you do it again?)
--- Yes, I was glad I made the switch. I'm not sure if I would do it again, because lately IP.Board seems to be stepping up the game in terms of new functionality and continual innovation while vBulletin hasn't changed very much. vB 4 will either make or break my appreciation for the ongoing development of vBulletin.

 

Not really. I went from phpbb to IPB.

I considered going with vBulletin but I felt it was behind design wise and the ACP was/is just awful compared to IPB.

 

Okay, it's no secret the vB look is not the best, but you can change that, actually, with vB you have more control over what you change than IPB, no doubt in my mind I would chose vB. Not only that, but vB's admin control panel is MUCH more specific than IPB's, which just looks pretty and does not have much basic needed functions.

 

What do you feel is missing from the IPB ACP?

 

Well, when you first login the panel, you are awed by the modern look, but you dont know where to start.

I really did not like that when I was trying to make a forum, it was a hassle, plus the coding for the template system (although I still love the tabs) it was all over and seemed like a hassle to design for. You should give it a try for yourself, it is a nice experience nonetheless.

 

I do agree about the coding for templates. Its one of the bright spots of vBulletin's AdminCP honestly. IPB template coding is a train wreck imo. Php mixed with the->longest->$language->$bits['ever_known_to_man']

Code:

<li id='nav_discussion' class='left {parse variable="forumActive"}'><a href='{parse url="act=idx" seotitle="false" base="public"}' title='{$this->lang->words['go_to_discussion']}'>{$this->lang->words['discussion']}</a></li>

Just to output "Forums".

But after you get used to the AdminCP, I do find it an overall better experience (Especially permission settings )

 

I actually switched from phpbb to vbulletin because vbulletin is better than phpbb it's that simple.

 

Um, that has nothing to do with the discussion at hand.

 

I'm switching over to IPB from vB. I find it's just more professional for me and the default theme is just sexy to me. I do still have an active license for vB 3.8, but after I order my IPB3 license on the 1st I'll be moving over to IPB period.

It seems everyone and their mother has a vB forum and I don't see that many IPB boards out there. That could be a bad thing, but I find vB to be just to much and not as professional as IPB. Call me crazy, I've had people do that to me on some gaming forums, they're all vB crazy lol.

 

I think it's common to find more vB than IPB forums because of vB's high reputation, the great designers, features, etc.

IPB is great and versatile as well, but you don't see people going around boasting about them. I don't, anyway.

 

I don't think IPB is versatile... MyBB is more versatile than IPB and hands down vB [of course].

Telling you, it JUST looks pretty, nothing else, and more professional? I doubt it. They missed a lot of default features that should have and vB has, which pretty much puts vB in the lead. Plus if it is a professional software, you don't find many skins for it.

One of the good things about vB[which I freaking love] is that you can basically model it to look to YOUR liking, of course if you have the proper knowledge, not only that but there are amazing ski designers out there and pre-made skins that you can use an edit to your own. Basically, with some tinkering, your vB can look pretty much amazing. I'm a 'self-proclaimed' designer; I design MyBB forums and tinkered a bit with vB and IPB. Believe me when I tell you, if you know NOTHING about designing, in IPB you will TOTALLY get lost, meanwhile on vB I found it pleasing to tinker with, actually fell 'in-love' with it.

The only thing I like from IPB is the 'tabbed editing' in the Look & Feel section for the templates, other than that I think that IPB is OKAY but does not exceed vB in any way. As I said, it JUST looks pretty.

 

Fair enough, everyone has what they like. I just think it looks more professional to me. Though, I do like most of them. Just for me, I'm tired of seeing the same old vB forums out there or maybe it's just the forums I visit for some reason lol.

 

IP.Board can be modeled to look completely different too. It's just HTML and CSS at the end of the day.

Here are some sites that use IP.Board:

Skype Community
O'Reilly Forums
Canucks Board (Powered by Invision Power Board)
Roxio Community
Neowin Forums

I've seen some fantastic IP.Board designs. Most won't stray too far from the default theme because it's clean and easy to use and there's less to do when you upgrade.

 

Never realized that was IPB that Skype was using.

 

Nope, never did. Why? I just find IPB too, I dunno, it's just too offbeat for my taste.
I really don't know how else to describe it. It looks off.
Even when IB pretty much held everyone in suspense (like they still aren't), I was trying to find a way to cover the expenses.

 

1. Why did you want to switch? To use something different
2. What did you like most about your "new" software? The permissions editor in IPB
3. What did you not like about your new software? Lack of skins, lack of support, lacking basic functionality of what we expected, feeling of no community.
4. What did you miss most about your old software? Everything!
5. What unexpected feature or nuance did you find with your new software (either good or bad)? Support was poor and finding a skin was nightmare ending up with a waste of $15 on a non working skin bought from skinbox.net
6. When all was said and done...were you glad you made the switch (would you do it again?) Nope we switched back to vb and sold the licence.

 

SkinBox has a support forum. Any problem get fixed right away if you just point it out. Those skins were Olivier's first IPB3 skins.

My forum uses one of his skins and it's flawless.

I don't know when you tried IPB, but IPB3 was likely still pretty new then.