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Question about the forum software that this board uses

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Dennis Olson

New member
Hi!

My last visit here was in 2012. My life took me in other directions. I was just reminded of this place tonight and decided to drop by. I wanted to ask a question about the software used for this forum.

The forum that I run used to use vbulletin 3.x, but I upgraded when 4.x came out. I would have upgraded to 5.x when it came out, but the reviews were awful. Last year I upgraded my forum to xenforo, which was written by the original authors of vbulletin, who were forced out when JelSoft was acquired a few years ago.

My question is, why are you still using an ancient version of vbulletin? It’s at least 12 years old. Why not upgrade?

Just curious.
 
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eflyguy

New member
I'm not affiliated with this site, but have run and moderated forums on VBB and other platforms.

You answered your own question. There's virtually no benefit to upgrading to later versions, and upgrades are not always a smooth process.

This forum isn't active enough to justify the potential expense of switching to another platform, so better to just leave things alone.
 
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Mal H

Staff
eflyguy answered the question the same as I understand it. But, I'm leaving the final answer to tyme who is the guru that holds the keys to the secret IT workshop around here.
 
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Dennis Olson

New member
The update to vb4 wasn’t bad, but jumping to xenforo was a real chore. We ran pre-conversions on a testbed and I hired someone to make the jump. In the end, when we pulled the trigger, it was fairly seamless. I loved vb, but soured on it over time. Vb-based forums look kind-of dated these days. I originally hated xenforo, but have warmed to it. It has functionality that vb can’t match.
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
The update to vb4 wasn’t bad, but jumping to xenforo was a real chore. We ran pre-conversions on a testbed and I hired someone to make the jump. In the end, when we pulled the trigger, it was fairly seamless. I loved vb, but soured on it over time. Vb-based forums look kind-of dated these days. I originally hated xenforo, but have warmed to it.
Click to expand...
Not all change is good, or welcome. Members and moderators know their way around vBulletin. There's a reason why so many sites use it.

In addition to this site, I am also a moderator on a Jeep club web forum. About a year and a half (or so) ago, the system gurus moved us from whatever we had been using (not vBulletin) to a newer platform. Unfortunately, there is no indication on any of the pages what that platform is, so don't ask -- I won't be able to answer.

The new site looks very pretty. Speaking as a member, I hate it. Speaking as a moderator, I hate it even more.

On the member side, it defaults to a WYSIWYG mode, and there's no way to turn it off. After a year and a half, I still can't split quotes so that I can quote a multi-pronged post, split it to respond to the first question, re-open the quote, and then respond to the second question. As far as I'm concerned (from the user/member perspective) it's totally brain dead.

On the moderator side, as with pretty much any form the moderators receive an e-mail when a member reports a post. With the new Jeep forum software, when I click the link in the e-mail it takes me to a report page. Once there ... I have ZERO idea what to do. It doesn't tell me if any other moderators have seen the report, or if they have acted on it. It doesn't tell me if the member has any previous moderation actions. And, if I do anything to moderate the reported post -- there is no way for me to enter that I acted on it, or to close out the report.

So it's a pretty face with abysmal functionality.

In the Jeep world, we have a saying: "If it ain't broke ... don't fix it." IMHO, vBulletin ain't broke and I see no reason to change just for the sake of making a change. Unless some other software is going to be quantum orders of magnitude better than vBulletin AND be easier to use for both members and staff -- I see no reason to consider a change.

It has functionality that vb can’t match.
Click to expand...
What does it offer that vBulletin doesn't -- and that we need?
 
D

Dennis Olson

New member
I’ll try to gather some info. There are so many advances that it’s difficult to list them all. stop by my forum (linked above) and surf around.

I actually created sample forums in both vb5 and xenforo, and provided those links to my membership. I asked them to beat up both test forums, which they did. I had them vote on what we should do - update to vb5 or jump to xenforo. 80% voted to go with XF.

If you’d like me to set you up with a membership so you can play with the software, I’d be happy to do so. I really loved TFL when I was a regular here. The new technology gives a much more robust user experience. It’s also VERY handheld device friendly.
 
A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
Ouch!

Don't mean to offend but, as a professional designer of more than 50 years in practice ... that's pretty ugly. I don't see anything about it that would cause me to want to switch from vBulletin.
 
S

Sevens

New member
I’m not on a ton of forums these days (four, I think) but back in the day I was active on twice as many across a few subjects.

Then... now...
And without question (and not close), this one works the best. Smooth, fast, seamless, no failures. Predictable.

This site is rock solid and literally with not even a hiccup.
 
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FITASC

New member
This forum isn't active enough to justify the potential expense of switching to another platform, so better to just leave things alone.
Click to expand...

I disagree; another forum I am on is damn near dead and the owners (Vertical Scope from Canada) just upgraded the forum to the latest Xenforo with dark mode (which I like. The ability to "like" a post sure cuts down on the waste of "+1" posts; it is a LOT easier to follow threads you want to watch but might have missed for a few days
Uploading pics and videos in these newer sights is a breeze as is the ability to edit (both as a poster and a Mod)
 
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Maxwell Haus

Moderator
FITASC said:
I disagree; another forum I am on is damn near dead and the owners (Vertical Scope from Canada) just upgraded the forum to the latest Xenforo with dark mode (which I like. The ability to "like" a post sure cuts down on the waste of "+1" posts; it is a LOT easier to follow threads you want to watch but might have missed for a few days
Uploading pics and videos in these newer sights is a breeze as is the ability to edit (both as a poster and a Mod)
Click to expand...
I feel just the opposite of you on the "Like" button . I much rather see someone post a response than hit that like button . All the like button does is cause a popularity contest for the self-important , and also works in a negative way when folks are too cowardly to speak up but have no problem hitting that silly little like button when their shepherd speaks out in a negative way.
 
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Mal H

Staff
I'm closing this until tyme gets a chance to respond to the original questions. Discussion about other sites and other systems isn't necessary.
 
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tyme

Administrator
Every version of vbulletin above version 3 was completely terrible. That's why we never upgraded to vb 4 or 5.

So far there hasn't been any urgency to upgrade to xenforo. There are software constraints that will force us to upgrade eventually.
 
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