My review of vBulletin

I posted a review on this site today, I didn't go out looking for it I just found it and was re-reading the other reviews and thought the truth should be heard.

Here is the review I posted..

 

Internet Brands purchased vBulletin in 2007. They kept using the Jelsoft name for a while though.

 

Yup. almost on the same day 6 years ago.

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/foru...-jelsoft-s-future-acquisition-news#post241138

Scott

 

The ratings at this site aren't great either.

http://amplicate.com/hate/vbulletin

The last love post being in 2010.

Edit: Oh, but wait. IB won't care. All these people and critics are just the vocal minority. All the quiet customers just love vB and are paying for vB5 as we speak.

Scott

 

I usually get slapped if I post about viral sites, but just about all the latest "love posts" on http://amplicate.com/hate/vbulletin are so viral it is unbelievable.

Any link with t.co in it is to be avoided like the plague. Some of the links are to "Omsk dating " It is posted in Russian.

There are many Russian dating or romance scammers. Many times "naughty but nice Natasha " is in fact big hairy Boris and his scammer pals.

Of course some MAY be false positives, but I for one will not be clicking on any of them with an unprotected PC.

 

You mean the Twitter feed? Yeah, it looks quite "sick".

Scott

 

That's Twitters url, all links on Twitter are converted to the t.co link, so that's for the advice but I'll pass.

Also that's interesting @s.molinari I guess I didn't remember it being in 2007 but to the exact day of the take over, could it be fate..lol

 

I'd be skeptical of that amplicate site to be honest. I mean, look at the ratings carefully.

http://amplicate.com/software/6189-top-forum-software/

Both lists have the same software in the same list positions. Also, if a forum software hasn't been commented on, then they count it as '100% of people like this'. Because 100% of 0 is such an indication of quality...

Add how quite a few opinions seem to be pretty misinformed on both sides (not just vBulletin, the arguments there in general make no sense) and I wouldn't class it as too meaningful, even if I do dislike vBulletin as a forum script.

 

Ya I’m not sure what possessed me to write that up, I had remember seeing it a whole back when all the staff were ousted for posting their positive reviews of the software even though it was still broken and slow.. etc

I noticed if you back out to the last year option you’ll get a few more results.

It looks like March 2013 was a busy month though..

http://amplicate.com/software/6189-top-forum-software/?months=12

 

Yeah, looks like Mybb ran a campaign. It's interesting Xenforo doesn't even have a mention.

Scott

 

My review of vBulletin 5

 

Here is mine.

 

I understand your dissatisfaction but your review is factually incorrect.

The VB5 Feedback Forum is and always has been viewable to the public / guests-

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forum/vbulletin-5-connect/vbulletin-5-connect-feedback

People are allowed, and have, left their honest feedback of the product.

 

Not true!

My thread was just deleted.

 

To be fair though, you have to admit most 'hard hitting' feedback posts are moved to Licensed Customer Feedback where guests can't view them. The vBulletin 5 feedback forum is nice, but unfortunately it's not the full picture. Just the one Internet Brands wants to give out.

Not trying to defend them... but doesn't Mark B use vBulletin 5 on one of his sites?

He's probably the only vB staff member that does though, so I see what you mean.

 

Just wanted to say that I'm pretty sure @Mark.B is a member here, maybe he can answer some questions?

 

Yes and no. If a thread is made in an inappropriate forum, like pre-sales, yes it gets moved to license customer feedback. But I have never personally seen or heard of a thread in VB5 Feedback being moved to licensed customer feedback.

 

Here is my review of vBulletin.

- IB as a company is bloated with assets they cannot manage, including vBulletin.
--- Some of the staff managing their assets are bringing the ship down.

- vBulletin isnt what it used to be. At one point it was cutting edge, what everyone wanted and full of useful tools.
--- Now we have options that just work better, XenForo. And while XF isnt a perfect solution for me, it's a better solution than any vB product when starting from scratch. Unfortunatly for some of us porting out of vB, things aren't that simple.

- Steve Machol is gone, so customer service likely is better over at vBulletin. Oh hai, whats your favorite icecream from 7 years ago????. lol. Guy was such a doofus. Now in his defense he was likely dealing with a bunch of crap daily and it is hard to stop being a dink when you are in the dinky rut. But the guy was awful and being the face of vB really turned people off that had to deal with him. Yes, I know he was likely super nice to some people and the best customer service agent in the world, but my experience working with him since 2006 has been full of fail, guy was an [****][****][****][****][****][****][****], incompetent and unwilling to do much beyond what the script told him to.

- vBulletin.org the modding community is dead. IB / vB staff could care less about the paying customers. Some of the staff are allegedly affiliated with a scamming sex offender. Their actions speak louder than the criminal words since we see them censoring and deleting posts criticizing the scammer, they are protecting one of their own I suppose. That community has nothing left to offer me, so I am openly critical. I never thought there would be a day I couldn't give a shit about that site but I stopped giving a shit when they started supporting thieves.

- vB 3.x is still a better platform than anything they have ever released since. And while I wouldn't expect them to reproduce vB3 or what it brought to the table for users back in the day, I would expect them to at least produce something that works. But with shareholders looking for dividends and share value increases its no surprise that a board moved to expedite to release a product in hopes of general more revenue.

- vB staff & IB openly lie to the public about vulnerabilities. When a problem arose recently vB lied to the users stating there were no issues while behind closed doors IB looked for a fix. All the while customers lost money, sites went offline etc. My best guess is that the vBorg staff weren't even privy to that seeing as how special they really are. lol


There was a time when I was sold on vB, that time is long gone. And while IB (Hellman & Friedman) as a company during our transactions was great to work with, they certainly do not manage their properties in the way I would. Then again, i'm not valuated at $14+ billion or whatever, so what do I know. To be fair I don't follow the IB or the HF parade like some or do I care if they exist or not, or if vB continues on. Can't even sell these licenses, so their value is $0. That is the value of the vB product for me, it's dead.


Xenforo is still not a perfect solution but its a better option than vB5 for a new comer. And out of all my transaction on xF, I have yet to be scammed.

 

I'm glad you started your review calling Steve Machol an [****][****][****][****][****][****][****] because 99% of the vBulletin community will now know what kind of person you are and see through your poorly veiled attempts to associate vb.org staff members with a peerson who didn't refund your money so you cry like a baby to everyone there. When they tell you we don't get involved in disputes you cry everywhere else. When crying gets you nowhere you find some likely imaginary link to pedophilia. You are aware the vast majority of sex offenders aren't pedophiles, right? Even if he is a Sex Offender which you told me in PM you won't say how you know. That is code for you are full of bologna. Man up, learn from your mistake- don't dwell on it. You got swindled. It happens. Deal with it. This BS you post all around only makes you look worse.

 

Steve Machol was one of the best employees JelSoft / Internet Brands / vBulletin had. When your job is to deal with technical support issues, 98% of which are answered in the manual no one bothers to read, it's hard to maintain patience and a positive attitude. At some point you have to be curt with customers who are wasting your time. I couldn't do that job. And neither could anyone who thinks he was bad at it.