vB4 Beta 3 is OUT!

You have to use StyleVars - http://www.adminaddict.net/forum/vbulletin/vb4-main-css-changes-not-taking-effect-4852/

 

Thanks Nick. That is a shame I was so used to how it currently is, it does look more powerful and usable however daunting that list looks right now.

 

Just downloaded beta 3

 

I have to say, as impressed as I am with vB4 itself, I can't see how I'm ever going to get mine upgraded.

A nose through the templates and it might just have well have been written in Chinese! I haven't got a clue what's going on in them, not even slightly. Well apart from the standard html bits obviously.

And the stylevar system...sheesh!

I mean, it's not that they're not good, they're just too...daunting. I've spent years teaching myself vB in my spare time, I'm not sure I have quite the energy and motivation to rip it all up and start again....

Wayne did say it would be a steep learning curve but for me it's actually a cliff face. I've just no idea what everything means now.

I can't now say for certain that I will ever upgrade, I'd like to, but I don't see that I stand a chance of replacing several years of self-taught knowledge in a few months. I'm simply too busy in life now to learn all that again.

This isn't entirely unexpected to be honest, so it's no great shock. I still think the product is extremely good, but I have my doubts that I will be able to run it on my site.

 

true css is foreign too me but just do what i plan to do, one step at a time.. learn bit my bit and you'll eventually get there

 

Well I know a reasonable amount of CSS. I just don't "get" the way everything's implemented and the new way of doing variables. it just seems hideously confusing.

 

LOL this thread fills me with confidence! I'm such a novice when it comes to VB, but as somebody before me said, just learn step by step and through any mistakes you may make!

 

yeah a bit lost too but the vB 4 stylevar visual dictionary pdf download helps explains things and also vBCodex - Upgrading to vBulletin 4.0 - Part 2

 

The CMS is a train wreck. I realize its beta software, but generally beta software has at least the core functionality working decently, this is more of a alpha release for the CMS than anything. The usability is in the gutter imo and the simpliest of layouts take forever to achieve.

Enabling URL rewrite at its highest level is broken, because they haven't supplied a proper .htaccess for it. Other core SEO features such as canonical URL's aren't in there and some other basic SEO features should have made the cut even for an initial release.

I'm still playing with it, I only played with it for about 45 minutes yesterday when I decided I hated it, so I gave it a rest and am back at it again now to see what I can come up with. (Either good or bad)

 

Join the party :shrug:

 

I have about an hour into the CMS and I'm still cornfuzzled with it's use. Of course the video thats out there make it look so easy but in reality its a bugger to use. Nothing about it is intuitive.

The ad manager as it stands right now is also difficult to use. Advertisers supply me with banners not with html code. Also not thrilled about the locations provided. I fear we are going to see some really bad ad placements on sites with the tool in its current version.

On the upside, those that have dev skills will find lots of new areas to work with.

 

It'll become easy once you adapt to the new structure, code etc. Like with everything there will be a learning curve. Now stop complaining.

 

I hope you've posted this in the alpha/beta forum.

 

I, for one, am glad it was released even if it is not working "insert adjective here".

I have a LOT of trouble following the instructions of how to use something like this without having the 'thing being described' in front of me. And so far, it works well enough for that.

 

I'm certainly not complaining. I'm completely impressed with the product and the more I see the new style, the more it grows on me. I just find the new system really odd and confusing....it's not a complaint as such, more an observation.

I am keen to make different coloured versions of the default style (red, green, brown etc) as that's basically how my current site works. At this stage....I have no idea how to do it. But I daresay I'll get there. At the moment I barely know where to start. It mkes me feel like a n00b all over again.

And personally I preferred $post[username] rather than {vb god knows what : username} or however it works now. But I think that's probably just me.

 

It's not. That's for sure.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that while there are a lot of changes in 4, 3x was with us for many years so all those little things learned slowly over time in 3x are going to take a quick learn to use in 4 to get to the same level of proficiency.

 

Well, THIS blog post helps quite a bit...although I still don't know how or where you "declare" them for a template.

The trouble is, for those of us like me who "speak" php, saying "$post[userid]" just flows off the tongue and makes sense in the brain, whereas "{vb:raw post.userid}" (which, If I've understood it right is how it would be used now) just doesn't...."flow".

 

What I don't like about vB 4

I was asked in another thread:

I figured that my response belongs in this thread, so here goes:


- The CMS isn't that great.
- Default style is so unappealing. I know that's not important, but to some degree - yes it is.
- The blogs are still so detached that they serve little to no purpose.
- Many little things here-and-there have been changed, but these changes seem redundant. Why change the name of the UserCP to "Settings"? There are a load more of changes that in my opinion, as Mike said somewhere else, I think they changed just so they could say they changed some things.
- Friendly URLs, just like many past new features, seem to have been implemented half-a**. This feature is pretty much useless without being able to define custom rewrites. (WordPress does this; why can't vBulletin? )

IB could have done a much better job with vB 4, in my opinion. It just seems thrown together and rushed. For what reason? Who knows, who cares. All I know is that the product isn't supreme as it used to be.

I just don't get the "vibe" of excitement, oohing and aahing like I used to. Like the switch from 3.6 to 3.7 was fairly exciting to me. Although many of the new features in 3.7 were (and still are) implemented half-a**, I got a feeling of solid support and dedication from the developers. Nowadays, I hardly even know who is on the dev team anymore, they hardly ever come into direct contact with the community (now Ray Morgan and Bob Brisco seem to do all of the talking for the devs)... and it all just seems like a hostile takeover. The image they are maintaining doesn't attract me one bit.
I wish vB was still Jelsoft, a tight-knit (albeit large) community with a productive development team.


I haven't used IP.Board for two years now, but every time I look at their website, their company forums, their announcements, etc. it all is so appealing: they seem to know what they are doing, they know how to sail smoothly, and their product gets better and better. I'm like the little refugee trapped in a horrible situation, ready to escape to IP.Board.

I honestly think vBulletin is going backwards while IP.Board is advancing - and both are moving at fast rates.

vBulletin used to be way up here
.
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.
.
.
.
.
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And IP.Board way down here



But now,

.
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IP.Board is here (moving upwards)
vB is here (moving downwards)
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.
​

(Please pardon that cheap illustration. )



I know many of you will disagree with my views, so I apologize in advance. I also probably shouldn't be posting my opinions since I'm an admin here, so if it makes you feel any better, just imagine somebody else wrote this post - not me.

 

Re: What I don't like about vB 4

I completely agree with you, couldn't have said it better. I guess the time has come, again. It's like good things never last forever. :p