Anyone else still use VB?

[AJH]

I have heard a lot of talk about why people don't like vBulletin anymore. But I know a lot of people still use VB (like me)!

I'll be honest, I still love it. In fact, my Jesus Loving Forum uses vBulletin. It has what I need for that type of forum. I love it honestly!

So, who here still uses vBulletin? If so, I would love to check out your forum!

 

[Naiwen]

Personally, I can’t stand it after having used Xenforo.

 

[Page]

vBulletin has good and bad like anything else and there are people/sites that still use them even though it might not be their cup of tea. I can't complain really. It does what people wanted to do and end of the day those that love it will use it 😛

 

[zappaDPJ]

So, who here still uses vBulletin?

Unfortunately I think you'll find the majority of forum owners still running forums on the vBulletin platform are using older versions. vBulletin 5 was not well received and while it has come along way since release, it's based on very old code and contains literally hundreds of bugs.

That said, if it works for you and your community then that's great 🙂

 

[AJH]

Honestly, as I dive deeper into XF with running and setting up Writer Promotion, I can see why XF is better in many ways.

But even that, I still like it lol maybe I’m just different. Haha

 

[PBear]

Use it no.,But I do still have 3 licenses with 2 of the being VB 5 .

 

[zappaDPJ]

But even that, I still like it lol maybe I’m just different. Haha

There's nothing wrong with being different or having alternative preferences. If we all thought the same life would be very bland. As someone once
said, vive la différence 🙂

 

[AJH]

Use it no.,But I do still have 3 licenses with 2 of the being VB 5 .

If you ever want to get rid of one of the VB 5 licenses, I may be interested. 🙂

 

[Page]

Use it no.,But I do still have 3 licenses with 2 of the being VB 5 .

Why waste it and use them 🙂 or think of something with them 🙂

 

[PBear]

Why waste it and use them 🙂 or think of something with them 🙂

I'm pretty well done with VB. Years ago those of us that were running VB 3X then 4X came out.. kinda iffy at first with it but in the end 4X didn't turn out so bad.. Then came 5X wow. They really should have rethought that.. yes it works now and all but for me there software is just going in the wrong direction..

 

[Jay™]

I have vb4, I'm not sure if there are fees to transfer, it's been years since I messed with it.

 

[Fait]

I was gonna go with VB but then I heard it has issues and I found Xenforo but your site I visited did look good with VB 🙂

On a user perspective I haven’t had issues but on an admins I’ve never used it to that extent, I did test drive VB3 years ago though.

 

[Jason76]

How bad are the bugs? I mean, is the hype against VB justified? How does VB compare to free software?

 

[zappaDPJ]

How bad are the bugs? I mean, is the hype against VB justified? How does VB compare to free software?

It very hard to assess the seriousness of the bugs currently in the software because vBulletin's bug tracker is running on a server that simply doesn't have enough processing power to allow a search result to be returned. I can tell you there are currently 1,439 open issues in vBulletin 5 that range from minor to critical.

Is the hype justified? If you mean the level of anger towards the company then yes, I'd say it's highly justified. Internet Brands turned what was arguably the leading brand of forum software into something that sales wise is now bottom of the pile. In fact Digital Point's cookie search tool suggests that vBulletin 5 accounts for only 1.5% of forum installations.

It's hard to compare the product with free software because there are so many factors to take account of, plus personal preference is always going to be a factor. Personally if SMF had to be paid for and vBulletin 5 was free, I'd pick SMF every time. It's largely bug free, more secure, faster and has a multitude of free themes and add-ons compared to vBulletin 5 which has next to none.

 

[MMOGODLY]

VB used to have the superior themes and addons back in the day. Used to be prestigious to use VB.I still have a VB license as well as an IPB license. I just found in my niche that Xenforo is far more superior for what I need

 

[Ashley]

Honestly, I haven't been on a vBulletin hosted forum in ages. When it comes to premium software, I see more Xenforo sites than anything

 

[Ravenfreak]

I can say more people are definitely using Xenforo nowdays. Most forums that either used vB or IPB have switched to Xenforo. I wouldn't want to use vB in the state it's in now. Too many bugs to squash, and there's probably not enough people managing it either. Every time I visit the support forums it's pretty much dead, unlike Xenforo or even other forum scripts like phpBB, MyBB, SMF, and IPB.

 

[Ashley]

I can say more people are definitely using Xenforo nowdays. Most forums that either used vB or IPB have switched to Xenforo. I wouldn't want to use vB in the state it's in now. Too many bugs to squash, and there's probably not enough people managing it either. Every time I visit the support forums it's pretty much dead, unlike Xenforo or even other forum scripts like phpBB, MyBB, SMF, and IPB.

They've had trouble with staffing for years though, haven't they?

 

[zappaDPJ]

They've had trouble with staffing for years though, haven't they?

After their primary team left and sales started to diminish they downsized and outsourced to a point where there was virtually nothing left of the in-house team.

The current product is still high maintenance in terms of bug count and support but there's so few active installations it wouldn't make financial sense to employ a large team.

 

[Cam]

I’ll come across an established community still using vB every so often, but they’re almost always using vB 4. I don’t think I ever see anyone using vB 5. As vB 4 gets older and older, I’m sure we’ll see it disappear.