Is vBulletin still a good choice of software?

[Geoffrey]

When I first started going on forums, vBulletin was really the only thing to use if you wanted a serious forum on a premium software. Sure there were other options, but nothing that compared to VB.

Nowadays, that isn't really the case and honestly VB is hardly ever the choice for a new forum even if they are using a premium software. Premium users more often go for IPB or xenForo rather than anything else. VB 5 or VB Connect or whatever they're calling it is so unattractive (to me), so I'm wondering what you all think. Is VB still a good choice for a forum software? Would you use it? Do you use it?

 

[Quacker Jack]

Sadly, vB's reputation was severely tattered with v5. I remember too where that was the most serious forum software. Personally though, I now think IPB is a better option. XF has been rising in popularity, and as much as I dislike it, it is fair to acknowledge that it is also a serious contender as well.

 

[Geoffrey]

I think it'd be better for IPB and XF is VB was still a contender and considerable competition to them. Having that extra software in the race for peoples' business might encourage them all to step up their game.

Isn't the XF developer/founder a former VB developer?

 

[Smokey]

vBulletin is a joke now. I wouldn't use it if it was the last forum script available. Can't even call it a forum software anymore though it tries to be too much more than just a forum solution. I would go with either Xenforo or IPB personally.

Edit: Yes Geoffrey, Both Mike & Kier are former vBulletin developers who worked under Jelsoft. They had left after vBulletin 3 and had nothing to do with vB4 and up.

 

[John]

I haven't used some of the newer version of VB, but in the past a lot of people used it because of the security, VB (in the past) rarely had attacks and outages. I do agree that if I were to start a new forum, I'd probably use IPB.

 

[Geoffrey]

Can't even call it a forum software anymore though it tries to be too much more than just a forum solution.

Weren't they on a "we wanna be a social media" kick awhile back?

 

[Smokey]

Can't even call it a forum software anymore though it tries to be too much more than just a forum solution.

Weren't they on a "we wanna be a social media" kick awhile back?

They were. They crammed a forum, CMS and blogging software into one thing, kinda like what IPB is doing, but the difference is, IPS still knows what it is first and foremost, and that's a FORUM solution. vBulletin completely lost sight of that.

 

[Cosmic]

I have nothing against VB. I've played around with it. Pretty good, but nothing to make it better than IPB, and I think it's more expensive.

 

[Ascareus Kratos]

till the line 4.x
it was pretty good
but now they face nightmare

 

[Ashley]

I wouldn't even consider vBulletin either as an administrator or a member. Their reputation is very poor these days.

 

[VirusZero]

I've been a member on vBulletin forums, but never staff so I have no idea what the ACP is like. (EX- How easy it is to navigate to find things. What the permissions system is set up like. How difficult adding mods are. Things like that...)

But for paid software I wouldn't take a gamble on them. Not after the relative catastrophe that was version 5. Even though things may have cooled off (in terms of hate flung at them since their launch in 2013) and their software may have stabilized and improved... There are other options which just appeal to me more.

I also think that when vBulletin launched that lawsuit against Xenforo... it also solidified distaste for them also. I mean (if memory serves) they didn't really even examine the code of Xenforo at all to see if they had a case. They just launched a lawsuit and tried shutting Xenforo down. They were so afraid that people were going to jump ship to Xenforo that they had to try killing it.
And trying to shut down competition via lawsuits is an incredibly dirty business tactic. Sometimes it works. But it very often comes with a large public relations hit (regardless of whether it actually succeeds).

Plus (from a member's perspective) I just don't care that much for how vBulletin tends to look. I know this can be changed by a skilled designer (since they can get in there and really manipulate the templates/CSS) but the basic (unmodified) layouts don't really appeal to me.

 

[Chris K]

Recently I have been juggling the idea to either go with IPB or vB with my upcoming website/forum. I've tried out the trial for IPB, it didn't work and got an error every hour... So this was a slight turn off. Also comparing the prices from IPB and vB, vB would be cheaper.

I see many hate the Connect 5 version, but you also have the option to not upgrade? I still leaning towards vB as of right now, Although I will not be using the newest version, I don't really like it tbh.

Also, when I actually got the IPB trial to work, I was confused instantly, sooooo many options and code and other things I haven't touched in years (I operated a forum community in 2006) so a lot has changed. I'm going to give the vB trial a try here soon. Also, if you know the right theme to buy, you can manipulate it quite well to look attractive, I would have to agree that most vB themes are terrible.

 

[Ashley]

Recently I have been juggling the idea to either go with IPB or vB with my upcoming website/forum. I've tried out the trial for IPB, it didn't work and got an error every hour... So this was a slight turn off. Also comparing the prices from IPB and vB, vB would be cheaper.

I see many hate the Connect 5 version, but you also have the option to not upgrade? I still leaning towards vB as of right now, Although I will not be using the newest version, I don't really like it tbh.

Also, when I actually got the IPB trial to work, I was confused instantly, sooooo many options and code and other things I haven't touched in years (I operated a forum community in 2006) so a lot has changed. I'm going to give the vB trial a try here soon. Also, if you know the right theme to buy, you can manipulate it quite well to look attractive, I would have to agree that most vB themes are terrible.

I would seriously go for IPB if I were you. VB has gone downhill so fast it's crazy. Their security is pretty much a joke these days.

 

[erich]

I've used VB very briefly and didn't' personally like it. That doesn't mean it isn't a good software. I suppose when you get down to it, it is just a matter or personal preference.