Will vBulletin be right for me?

[harishankar]

Hi all,

I've been running a forum for more than a year now. It had, until recently been running phpBB 2.0.x until I converted to myBB 1.0 (final) recently.

What I want to know is if vB is right for me or not.

The thing is I have only 3000 odd posts and 150 odd members. Not much in a year. Also I required more control over my board such as disallowing members from editing their own posts after a certain period of time and a moderation queue etc. etc.

I know that vB is chock full of features. But it is expensive though. I don't know whether I should purchase or not (because I'm currently not earning). Whether a small community like mine will really benefit from vBulletin.

I also want to know whether switching to vBulletin has helped forums grow larger for many of you who might have bought vBulletin. Because if it can help me grow my forum, I'd be glad to purchase it. Also would you advise a leased or owned license to start with?

Regards.

PS. By the way, there is a myBB 1.0 converter? I searched the forums and came up with only the PR2 version converter. Is there one from myBB now?

[Bad_i_BILL]

Is it possible to ask your members to pay 1 dollar?
150 members is of coarse 150.00 & vB owned is 160.00.

[1996 328ti]

Is it possible to ask your members to pay 1 dollar?
150 members is of coarse 150.00 & vB owned is 160.00.Why not just use google adsense? I have $10/year supporters. A small precentage contribute but it is enough to cover expenses along with adsense.

[Vtec44]

It may not be the case for you, since each forum is completely different. For more than 3 years, I was running my forum with UBB.Classic. At the point of conversion earlier this year, we had about 450 members and 10,000 posts. That was our total after 3 years. Since the conversion to vB at the beginning of this year, we have gained over 1400 members and over 110,000 posts. It's not a big site, but we have gained more in one year with vB than all previous 3 years combined. I personally believe that vB was, and still is, a big part of our expansion. The money that I'm earning from advertisers right now has paid for my vB license, and then some more. So, I can't say that your forum will be the same, but switching forum software helped out mine a great deal. :)

[harishankar]

Yeah, thanks for the replies.

I like the new WYSIWYG editor too.

About Adsense. Yes, I was running it for a year now and recently opted out of it because of certain incidents on my board where a member posted a thread abusing google adsense. I had to remove his post and it caused a lot of confusion. He deleted all his posts and I had to ban him etc. etc. The point is I was afraid that he would generate fraud clicks and deny me of my revenue. I had no choice but to write to google cancelling my account. I hope to be receiving the payment sometime soon.

The real issue is that any enemy of mine online can easily rob me of my revenue by faking clicks. There are too many loopholes which don't protect me as a google publisher. Maybe I'll try out Yahoo and see if their terms protect me from parties who are against me.

As for asking for donations, I don't think it would work out. Currently out of 178 members only 5 or 10 are active on the boards. I get about 10-20 posts on a good day.

Considering these stats, would you still advise me to use vBulletin? I am strongly in favour of vBulletin because it gives me more control over my board and I can avoid incidents like the one I mentioned above (phpBB doesn't limit post editing by time expired).

Also I love the moderation queue feature which I need on a couple of boards of mine.

BTW, I run a literary community. I don't know whether I can post the URL here (it might be considered advertising) but if you want I can show you the site and you might be able to advise me on vBulletin for it.

PS: I live in India and the exchange rate roughly converts to Rs. 7200 for the owned license.

[harishankar]

Hm... still waiting for a reply! Please do advise me.

Thanks and regards.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

It is really up to you to decide if vB is for you the way to go. There are many very small boards using vBulletin, as there are also some huge boards doing so.

If you answer yes to the following, vBulletin is the way to go for you:
- Want to have full control over your board.
- Want ot have access to all features that are needed to run a successfull board
- Rely on professional software with professional support.
- Can afford the prize.

[FreshFroot_]

Well in my opinion I'd say if you can afford it then go for it however, if you can't either save up or work with what you have. vB isn't bad at all and myBB isn't too bad. You should look at your forums and decide not by opinions as everyone will say one thing or another. Mabye you should ask your members what they would like? Thats what I did, I just posted a poll and it was a major win for vB on the my poll. Which ever decision you take good luck with it. :)

[harishankar]

Whooaa! I just took a look at the admin panel of vBulletin! :o It's a monster! :D I can now understand its pricing considering all the features at the user level as well as the admin level.

I also love the template and theme editor. I think I could very quickly get my website to the theme I used earlier with phpBB with a lot less effort. (BTW, MyBB seems to be the "poor man's version" of vBulletin. It is feature rich but nowhere close to vBulletin.)

Thanks for all the inputs. I still have to decide whether I need all those features in the first place, but the admin panel demo has given me a good idea.

Any further thoughts from the team will also be appreciated! ;)

[harishankar]

I think I'll defer my purchase of vBulletin for a while now. But I'm definitely looking at it as a very good option. Until then I guess i'll be satisfied with a free board.

BTW, am I allowed to review the vBulletin online demo on my blog? I thought I'd just share my thoughts on the board, so would you mind if I do so?

[youngwun0]

You should go with IPB (I have a license with them) ;) they even have older free versions that you can find almost anywhere unlike this place that has always asked for money, money... oh and more money:rolleyes:

If you do review it make sure you give it a 1 because the forum skins are cool but otherwise it is just junk. The admincp looks like my genitals when i get blue balls and the price is outragously expensive for those who run non profit sites! (Not everyone wants to beg like bums on the street for extra cash)


But hey i'm sure people will come along and disagree and vbulletin will ban me for putting good things in your mind but what can i say "The truth hurts" Happy new years to all!!!

[ManagerJosh]

The last free version of IPB was 1.3. It is filled with security holes and people are getting hacked. I've been seeing it happen. If you downloaded 1.3 or any other version right now, then you are doing so illegally and violating IPB license agreement.

After that was a complete change in company policy and there once "Always Free Policy" went away towards a paid IPB.

I believe the general IPB sentiment in the overall webmaster community that the board is excellent; it just that the company needs a lil work.

[harishankar]

Had a look at IPB online demo and not very comfortable with it. It is a powerful forum no doubt, but somehow I haven't got myself to like it much. It looks more in the "corporate" kind if you can get my meaning ;) After looking at vBulletin 3.5 admin panel IPB doesn't look as impressive. As to 1.3 - no I won't use it not only because of the legal questionmark over using it but also because I always prefer the latest versions of any software, particularly server side software which are constantly getting fixed for security.

The price. I'll be honest here: of course conversion rates makes it a bit unviable to me at the moment as I mentioned earlier and there is always the question whether I need all those features. That doesn't make it a wrong price for everybody, but just wrong in my case. Also since I'm not in the US or Canada I cannot avail of the telephone support (I think).

So my impression is definitely postive for vBulletin. I might not buy it right now, but if I can get a growth in my community to justify a professional forum, I'll be back.

PS: Why don't vBulletin consider selling it on CDs through retail channels and then activating the software online once installed? If you could sell CDs globally with the software and all the docs and maybe even printed manuals, it would sell a lot more I guess and it would also be convenient for people in far off countries to buy without having to use online means of payment.

[gamestar]

You should go with IPB (I have a license with them) ;) they even have older free versions that you can find almost anywhere unlike this place that has always asked for money, money... oh and more money:rolleyes:

The admincp looks like my genitals when i get blue balls and the price is outragously expensive for those who run non profit sites! (Not everyone wants to beg like bums on the street for extra cash)

But hey i'm sure people will come along and disagree and vbulletin will ban me for putting good things in your mind but what can i say "The truth hurts" Happy new years to all!!!

1) if you buy vbulletin you get access to all vb versions from 2.x till latest, and also old versions get updated if there is a bug, something that can't be said from IPB
2)the admincp has multiple skins, and k, I don't like the standard skin either, so I just pikked one I liked more :)
3)vb hasn't banned you, did they? That calls democratical, own opinion etc. Also something that can't be said from IPB, have seen a lot of vb fans banned there.

Also happy new year to you.