Invsion Power Services 4.0

[erich]

I'm wondering if those webmasters who are using IPBv4 can share their experiences with the software?

I've used IPBv3 in the past and the software was solid, but the lack of support was my biggest issue with them as a company. The snobby remarks by the developers to threads at times really turned me off. So, I'm wondering if 4.0 has improved the software as well as the customer experience?

 

[Mikaya]

Moved to a more suitable section. 🙂

 

[Pinky]

I'm using the 4.1 latest version. Only had it for around 3 weeks. I have used the older versions.

I'd say the support via tickets is top notch. They reply pretty quickly with a resolve.

On the forums though I have found it to be a different matter. I've put up a few different topics asking about certain features and they haven't all received replies. I find that really frustrating. I do think well if members ask me the same question then I'm not going to be able to answer them.

 

[erich]

I'm using the 4.1 latest version. Only had it for around 3 weeks. I have used the older versions.

I'd say the support via tickets is top notch. They reply pretty quickly with a resolve.

On the forums though I have found it to be a different matter. I've put up a few different topics asking about certain features and they haven't all received replies. I find that really frustrating. I do think well if members ask me the same question then I'm not going to be able to answer them.

This was my biggest frustration with that community. I personally got the impression, that if you didn't do coding for a living, then they sort of snubbed their nose at you. The ticket support I have gotten, hasn't been that impressive either. I remember one ticket I submitted was about a test board installation and I couldn't get past the license input. I spent two days going back and fourth with them (sometimes a different person asking me a redundant question I'd already answered in a previous ticket). Finally, my VPS hosting company fixed the issue for me - it wasn't even an issue with my VPS, but my tech fixed it anyways.

So I was curious about other people's experience with them.

 

[katzer]

We run it on a site and to be honest it was not my bag of tea a first. I don't know the user experience since I am an Admin so my experience is different, but not many have many problems with it other than the fact that we had a few complaints about it being bloated. It is a bit funny on some features.

After 7+ months(on the upgrade) in the ACP I think some of the options could have been coded a bit different/better. When you setup a board area you have a one time shot and your limited on editing after that. So if you do not know what your doing it can seem like a hassle. I would not recommend this package for a new person. Little things like this can be problematic to a person. Even your basic Mod accnt settings are messy.

The security is really nice and your not going to have to worry about any junk spam if you have it setup right.

Its a good package if you been messing with forums for a while and have experienced members that can adapt well, but I would not recommend it to a new person. It may confuse them a bit even with the great support. This package is meant for Admins/Mods who have been used to running a variety of forums. IP4 is not for new owners as I can see. You are going to do nothing but give yourself a headache and spend all your time online looking for answers

I could be wrong though. I only help run the forum. I do not participate.

 

[Mistress]

I can agree with @Katzer in many regards, having used both IPB3 and now running 4.

IPB4 has less third party support that IPB3 does, but if you just like to keep things simple I'd say that IPB4 is a bit easier to work with if you have some prior knowledge of configuring a forum.

I'm really, really happy with IPB4, and will probably stick with it for quite a while.

 

[erich]

I can agree with @Katzer in many regards, having used both IPB3 and now running 4.

IPB4 has less third party support that IPB3 does, but if you just like to keep things simple I'd say that IPB4 is a bit easier to work with if you have some prior knowledge of configuring a forum.

I'm really, really happy with IPB4, and will probably stick with it for quite a while.

We run it on a site and to be honest it was not my bag of tea a first. I don't know the user experience since I am an Admin so my experience is different, but not many have many problems with it other than the fact that we had a few complaints about it being bloated. It is a bit funny on some features.

After 7+ months(on the upgrade) in the ACP I think some of the options could have been coded a bit different/better. When you setup a board area you have a one time shot and your limited on editing after that. So if you do not know what your doing it can seem like a hassle. I would not recommend this package for a new person. Little things like this can be problematic to a person. Even your basic Mod accnt settings are messy.

The security is really nice and your not going to have to worry about any junk spam if you have it setup right.

Its a good package if you been messing with forums for a while and have experienced members that can adapt well, but I would not recommend it to a new person. It may confuse them a bit even with the great support. This package is meant for Admins/Mods who have been used to running a variety of forums. IP4 is not for new owners as I can see. You are going to do nothing but give yourself a headache and spend all your time online looking for answers

I could be wrong though. I only help run the forum. I do not participate.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I did give it a try and while I think it's a vast improvement over the old board, alas, the support is just lacking. I was collaborating with someone who has a larger community and only when I did a screen capture of an issue, did IPB finally acknowledge it. They also refused to help me until my board was "live". I installed it on a test environment for, you guessed it, testing. When I found bugs and reported them, the response I got was "to be consistent with all support, my board needed to be installed on a live site and not in a test environment."

I have since moved to a wordpress/xenforo platform and haven't looked back.

 

[Gio]

Maybe it's the vanilla version with no customization, but IPB4 doesn't look good. 😛

 

[Tucker933]

I've long used IPB3, and just recently made the upgrade to IPB4. It's a lot more stable, which was 3's biggest shortcoming in my opinion, and the new features are fantastic. My only complaint would be with all the features they've cut, like the Best Answer system in particular. They have a new Q/A system that's halfway between the old one and how Reddit works, with none of the advantages. Responses are sorted by votes, which sounds great on paper, but it becomes a mess that's a colossal pain to keep track of discussion in if there's ever any two-way conversation.

But overall, I'm very happy with it and am glad I made the jump.

 

[Deleted member 29704]

I generally like it, but I hate the layout. Due to the layout I avoid it...

 

[Tucker933]

I generally like it, but I hate the layout. Due to the layout I avoid it...

What in particular about it?

 

[Deleted member 29704]

I generally like it, but I hate the layout. Due to the layout I avoid it...

What in particular about it?

Everything could be much more simple and convenient, with IPS everything is just within pages, within pages 😕

 

[Tucker933]

I generally like it, but I hate the layout. Due to the layout I avoid it...

What in particular about it?

...with IPS everything is just within pages, within pages 😕

I don't understand what you're referring to. I assume you're speaking of the front-end, but from my experience it's no different in structure than any other forum software.