vBulletin

[Ravenfreak]

vBulletin used to be the most popular paid forum software and many different forums I used to visit used this software. Just recently version 6 was released, though it feels like not much has changed between 5 and 6. They've also lowered their self host price to $175 too. Anyways have you ever used this software before? I used it for a little bit, but then I ended up merging the forum with a couple other ones and now I use Woltab. It's okay but all the other paid platforms (aside from UBB Threads) are much better than vBulletin these day.

 

[PGen98]

I started back in the tail end of the vB1 days and then hit my stride with vB in the 2.x era. Absolutely adored it, and vB3 was a masterclass, as well. Once IB took over and v4 was in the cards it just felt...off. It wasn't vB anymore, the quality was lacking and the sense of community had died off. I switched to XenForo when version 1 was released and that's been just fine for me since. I have an Invision license, a Woltlab license, and UBB.threads license (oh how I miss .classic), and there are lots and lots of freeware options out there, so there's no need for me to ever go back to vB again. You can see how little work they're putting into it these days with the extremely underwhelming launch of v6...no thanks!

 

[McConnaughay]

I liked vBulletin when I used it. I will be honest, when I ran a forum with it, I wasn't as hands on as I was other times with other software, and I had other staff members who did a lot of the tweaks and adjustments for it. I eventually did learn the basics and get the hang of it. Overall, I liked it, and, in its heyday, I would say it was the best forum software on the market (now, that title belongs to XenForo).

 

[~ True Legend ~]

I liked vBulletin when I used it. I will be honest, when I ran a forum with it, I wasn't as hands on as I was other times with other software, and I had other staff members who did a lot of the tweaks and adjustments for it. I eventually did learn the basics and get the hang of it. Overall, I liked it, and, in its heyday, I would say it was the best forum software on the market (now, that title belongs to XenForo).

Yeah everyone switched over from vBulletin to Xenforo. Why was that? I believe there were more third party add-ons? Is that why?

How was customer support with vBulletin btw? I hope not as bad as ppl say about XF.

 

[McConnaughay]

Yeah everyone switched over from vBulletin to Xenforo. Why was that? I believe there were more third party add-ons? Is that why?

How was customer support with vBulletin btw? I hope not as bad as ppl say about XF.

I mean, I believe it was more so that XenForo was the natural evolution from vBulletin. Progression was stunted with vBulletin, which wasn't the case with XenForo.

I can't recall how support was, we never ran into any problems where we had to call upon them for aid.

 

[Sinistra]

I think vB's days are numbered. With Invision Board releasing their v5 soon and it looks amazing? What innovations has vBulletin had in the past decade? Nothing. Think about it the Evolution of Invision Board Version 2 introduced the Pages app along with the gallery and blogs inversion 3 Version 4 had the commerce They have dropped their price to remain competitive with everyone! So I think they are done. And yes if you haven't already learned I'm a IPB fanboy!

 

[PGen98]

I think vB's days are numbered. With Invision Board releasing their v5 soon and it looks amazing? What innovations has vBulletin had in the past decade? Nothing. Think about it the Evolution of Invision Board Version 2 introduced the Pages app along with the gallery and blogs inversion 3 Version 4 had the commerce They have dropped their price to remain competitive with everyone! So I think they are done. And yes if you haven't already learned I'm a IPB fanboy!

IPB is good software, no question there. vB has been on borrowed time since v4, honestly, and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Here’s a decent vB forum: https://www.movieforums.com

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I think vBulletin will always have a user base. It is good software.

The one thing I notice about vBulletin though is that none of the sites I frequent that are using vBulletin are up to date. They are all stuck on some version back in the 3.x series.

 

[PGen98]

I think vBulletin will always have a user base. It is good software.

The one thing I notice about vBulletin though is that none of the sites I frequent that are using vBulletin are up to date. They are all stuck on some version back in the 3.x series.

Because that's the last good version, honestly. 3.x was still the core developers, the people that knew and had a passion for it. Minimal iB interference.

 

[Smokey]

Because that's the last good version, honestly. 3.x was still the core developers, the people that knew and had a passion for it. Minimal iB interference.

^^^ This. vBulletin 3.x was still all Kier & Mike prior to leaving and starting up Xenforo. Kier's version 4.0 was denied and made into something else, which is what led to them leaving vBulletin and starting up Xenforo.

I love the 3.x line of vBulletin and have fond memories of forums I used to frequent that used it, but I wouldn't touch vBulletin now with a 10 foot pole.

 

[PGen98]

^^^ This. vBulletin 3.x was still all Kier & Mike prior to leaving and starting up Xenforo. Kier's version 4.0 was denied and made into something else, which is what led to them leaving vBulletin and starting up Xenforo.

Kier's v4 mockups we're amazing, I can only imagine where vB would be right now had they gone that direction. Glad we got XF because they didn't, though!

I love the 3.x line of vBulletin and have fond memories of forums I used to frequent that used it, but I wouldn't touch vBulletin now with a 10 foot pole.

Totally agreed, vB now is a total no-go.

 

[Sinistra]

I still have a vB4 license I'm trying to get rid of lol it tells you how much vB has fallen, I did like the vB4 to an extent but it was hard to theme

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I was a big vB user in the 3.x.x days. I had a license too. My other forum (OT) was on vB for a while way back in the day.

 

[Sinistra]

After the user experience I had with them a few days ago, I am glad I am looking into getting rid of my vB License!

 

[PGen98]

After the user experience I had with them a few days ago, I am glad I am looking into getting rid of my vB License!

Sorry to hear that, sadly customers are not their priority

 

[Uncrowned]

I still get flashbacks from the golden days when dealing with a vB forum, but then get almost immediately reminded about their problems whenever looking into starting a vB forum. They are a great case of a company that lost their way to service large companies and now lost those large companies.

 

[Sinistra]

I still get flashbacks from the golden days when dealing with a vB forum, but then get almost immediately reminded about their problems whenever looking into starting a vB forum. They are a great case of a company that lost their way to service large companies and now lost those large companies.

I feel like vB is nothing but a group of fanboys that didn't want to see the company go under so they started a go fund me page to buy it, or they are that arrogant thinking they are still top dog and want to run the company like crap.

 

[Cory]

vBulletin was the first forum software I ever stepped foot on and I enjoyed the features and setup at the time. I don't think I've ever been a staff member of a vBulletin board, though. I haven't used it in a very long time, so I have no idea what it's like now.

 

[Shortie]

Before Xenforo was released, vBulletin was the forum software I always used. I love it when it was vBulletin 3 but as soon as they went to vBulletin 4 and really changed the look of the software, I couldn't get used to it and was thankful that Xenforo was available when it was.