Discussion: New Official vBulletin Add-on Products

[Steve Machol]

Please use this thread to discuss Kier's announcement regarding the New Official vBulletin Add-on Products (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=224441)

I'm sure that you will have a lot of questions but since these projects are still under development we do not have all the answers you will probably want, including the timing, beta test, features, pricing, screenshots etc. Please note that these details will be provided by Kier and the Development Team as they are available.

[derfy]

This is SO sweet.

[Mazinger]

Thanks vB. Can't wait, lol. :p

[osirisjem]

Where's the CMS ? Blogs (already good options), Projects (less popular).

I want articles and a solid homepage.

:confused:

[Joe Gronlund]

I am really going to be loving the blog...

Great new Project tools as well..

[AzhriaLilu]

Nice to see you guys spreading your wings and adding to an already great product. Blogs and projects aren't really my thing, but it's a first step and a good one! :D

[ManagerJosh]

Still waiting for a CMS. Blogs is lower on my lists of priorities.

Nevertheless, a great start!

[derfy]

Where's the CMS ? Blogs (already good options), Projects (less popular).

I want articles and a solid homepage.

:confused:

Would you like fries with that?

Jeez, some people aren't satisfied with any news.

[Dan]

Where's the CMS ? Blogs (already good options), Projects (less popular).

I want articles and a solid homepage.

:confused:

They give you fish and you want lobster?

[zappsan]

Great stuff, I'm excited :)

One question (I hope I didn't miss anything in the announcement thread)?
How will the licensing for these products be?
Will you have to pay for everything separately?
Will there be some advantage for vB license owners?

[Wayne Luke]

As stated in Steve's post, Licensing and Pricing is yet to be determined.

[Floris]

Those details are not determined. Probably in a later announcement

[Mazinger]

Where's the CMS ? Blogs (already good options), Projects (less popular).

I want articles and a solid homepage.

:confused:
There are so many unofficial CMS now, no need for more.

[mgaidia]

will these add-on be free?

[Floris]

will these add-on be free?
Please read this thread.

There are so many unofficial CMS now, no need for more.
Just like blog software? Which your posts says you can't wait for ..
Just like you like blog from vB, someone else might like cms from vB.

[Fusion]

Great news! Can't wait for the project tools.

[Andy Huang]

Congrats on the announcement; can't wait for follow-ups there after :D

[Mazinger]

Is the Project Tools something like Content Management?

[Wayne Luke]

Is the Project Tools something like Content Management?
No.. Its like Project Management. Many people asked us to release our bug tracker, and this is what came out of it.

[Dan]

No.. Its like Project Management. Many people asked us to release our bug tracker, and this is what came out of it.
I was wondering exactly what the Project Tools was so thanks for answering before I asked :p

[Cromulent]

I have to say this is exciting news, so exciting in fact it may help me to stop being lazy and actually start working on my website again.

[Freddie Bingham]

Project tools are used for help with managing the development and support of a project :)

What are the bugs? Who is fixing them? What features do we need to add? Who is working on them? What tasks do we need to complete? Who is going to handle them?

Items along those lines..

The project could be anything, a piece of software like vBulletin, the development of a website, the rebuilding of a '65 Mustang.

[MRGTB]

Really glad to finally see an offical add-on with full support being worked on. Great news.

[derekivey]

Awesome! Can't wait to see these. Good job vB!

[Mazinger]

So, the blog system have a temporary name 'vBulletin Blog'. What will bethe name of Project Tools?

[derfy]

vBulletin Project Tools

[Floris]

So, the blog system have a temporary name 'vBulletin Blog'. What will bethe name of Project Tools?
This is mentioned perfectly well in the announcement..

[PitchouneN64ngc]

A question: What about translations of these futures products? Integrates into the current language file? If no (and if these products must be bought to be translated), what are the possibilities to translate and release them?

Else, these products will rock (even i'm developping my proper blog system since some days, sh*t :/ ) ^^

[Mazinger]

A question: What about translations of these futures products? Integrates into the current language file? If no (and if these products must be bought to be translated), what are the possibilities to translate and release them?

Else, these products will rock (even i'm developping my proper blog system since some days, sh*t :/ ) ^^
For the blog system, I believe it will have its unique language pack which you can upload/edit through the vBulletin AdminCP.

[Steve Machol]

Good question. I do believe they will use the same vB phrase system and any new phrases will need to be translated, just as any new phrases from a version upgrade would need to be translated.

[Quillz]

Sounds good. I might look into buying some.

[Tannim]

I am definitely buying the Blog addon. My users will have some great use out of it. Same with me.

I currently use Mantis for tracking bugs. It's sort of a pain to have users register a new account on that, just to post bugs. The Project Manager should be a wonderful replacement. Which will be another thing I will use. It also allows me to basically have one script and one database to backup as the time arises.

This is great news! Please keep us informed. As long as we get to actually purchase the addons instead of the leasing joke, this will be great.

[TheFrienzNetwork]

Wow, That Is Going To Be Awesome!

[osirisjem]

There are so many unofficial CMS now, no need for more.

Like?

(1) vbadvanced (not bad)
(2) webtemplates
(3) all the rest aren't worth using.

Not what I would call choice.
That is why there are so many users try to bridge vB and Joomla! (ie. bbpixel)

[Caiman]

Really exciting, great news to see some official movement in the direction of vB Add-Ons. Blogs and Social Networking aren't for me right now, though I'm sure there are many who will love it. CMS and Gallery next, please :D

[SaN-DeeP]

wonderful show us some screenshots too ;)

[Reven]

Originally I thought it was kinda bad for people who've made blog and bug tracker addons (vBlogetin and VisionScripts come to mind), but then I realised that one of the reasons they exist is because vBulletin provides a product system. The whole point of the product system was so that the team could release addons.

I welcome this move, since it lets vBulletin compete with the likes of Invision on more levels than just forums (which it wins hands down in).

[Jose Amaral Rego]

Will we be able to ask for features for future releases of vBulletin Blog?

[Caiman]

Will we be able to ask for features for future releases of vBulletin Blog?
One imagines it will get its own forum support area which will include a feedback and suggestions section.

[Mr_Bob]

Someone pinch me, I've just died and gone to Heaven!
...

OMG it's true! :eek:
Words can not express the sheer joy that I'm feeling right now.

[Freezerator]

Great news, looking forward to the screenshots or more info :)

[creedmaniac]

Please read this thread.


Just like blog software? Which your posts says you can't wait for ..
Just like you like blog from vB, someone else might like cms from vB.

hmm...so does that mean one is in the works?...you sounded awefully 'protective' of the CMS idea...(i sure hope so...lol...that would be excellent!)

anyway...i'm looking forward to the release of the project tools :)

the blog system...could you explain a little more about the updated profile that was mentioned? (or are guys you holding off until the next thread?)

[King Kovifor]

The project manager will be helpful for many of my projects! Now only if my school's website had vBulletin installed....

[Floris]

Will we be able to ask for features for future releases of vBulletin Blog?
When the time is there I can imagine we will reorganize our forum set up a bit :)

hmm...so does that mean one is in the works?...you sounded awefully 'protective' of the CMS idea...(i sure hope so...lol...that would be excellent!)

anyway...i'm looking forward to the release of the project tools :)

the blog system...could you explain a little more about the updated profile that was mentioned? (or are guys you holding off until the next thread?)
That's now what I said at all in my post. I use his post comment as a comparison. Some like tea, some like coffee.. I am not a developer, so I can't know what's in development or not. You're trying with the wrong person. :)

[Ascor]

Yeah greats news, first thank you for the information is always bether when customer know for what there are waiting, second, i'm very happy to see social networking options capacity coming in vbulletin with official support :D
Money is ready ^^

[Subah]

Cool ,but now we will have translate problem with our arab language :(

[Reeve of Shinra]

Blog
I'm looking forward to the blog and would like to beta test it as soon as its officially ready for public beta. I have a few users that yell at me daily because I didnt upgrade the previous journal hack and this is 200x better.

CMS
A lot of people are still asking about a CMS, including myself. I think the "blog" aspect of a true CMS is being given to us with the above but I am wondering if there are any plans to release a full CMS in the next 3-6 months?

Project Tracker
At first I was like "ok"... I know a lot of people requested this so thats a positive. Thinking about ti though, I can deffinitely see a use for this myself.

[mikaelweb]

Can't wait :D

[.Tim]

This is great news.

[Floris]

Cool ,but now we will have translate problem with our arab language :(
I doubt that.

[Fusion]

Cool ,but now we will have translate problem with our arab language :(
I'm sure these add-ons will be just as flexible as the main product, this will also extend to the translations, so instead of seeing problems just imagine the possibilities.

[the geek]

Excellent news you guys. I am being picked off the floor now :)

Bring it on!

[Quillz]

So, the blog system have a temporary name 'vBulletin Blog'. What will bethe name of Project Tools?
I don't like "vBulletin Blog." It's too long and generic. I think something like "vBlog" would be better.

[bmc]

I don't like "vBulletin Blog." It's too long and generic. I think something like "vBlog" would be better.

Although I'm sure you already saw this, and I'm sure you are just giving a suggestion, it is just a temporary holding name and not the permanent name. I personally like the name vBulletin Blog, and find it a suitable name for the product. vBlog is also equally suitable, but I wouldn't know it would be for vBulletin if I was looking at it for the first time, unless I saw the word 'vBulletin' in front of it.

Anyway, this is great news, and I would love to aid in beta testing these products in a private/public environment when available, as I know I could articulate excellent feedback, as well as aid in the support of finding (a lot of, depending on how buggy the software initially is) bugs (as that's what I'm known to do in products, and I am currently beta testing for three major companies - one of them being Adobe - right now on their next major products)! Additionally, I'm certain that I will purchase the products that I find will suit my site. Great news, Jelsoft, and I can't wait to obtain more information on these New Official vBulletin Add-on Products. :)

[HappyPike]

A good start for official vBulletin addons! :)

Hope we see CMS, Downloads Database, etc, in the near future!

I don't like "vBulletin Blog." It's too long and generic. I think something like "vBlog" would be better.
I don't think they need to come up with fancy names, since it's not standalone product. Just calling it "Blog Addon" is fine and on the forum it can be just refer to as Member Blog.

[JakeS]

A step in the right direction i'd say.

[Tony]

This blog system sounds like what a lot people are looking for. Including myself. Can't wait to see some screen shots.


What would be good is if you can have this in a package. One package would be just forum another package would be blog and forum. This way if you want both it is already in vb. You don't have to add it as a plugin like third party product.

[Mazinger]

Will any coming version of that blog system work with any version of vBulletin? Or they are related?

[Floris]

Well, I think it's explained in the announcement.

Building on the plug-in architecture offered by vBulletin 3.6.....

[Reeve of Shinra]

I can pretty much gaurentee that the blog wont work with vb 1.x, 2.x or 3.0.x ;)

I bet it it will be for the latest version of vbulletin 3.6.5 since it will simplify support.

[JakeS]

I can pretty much gaurentee that the blog wont work with vb 1.x, 2.x or 3.0.x ;)

I bet it it will be for the latest version of vbulletin 3.6.5 since it will simplify support.I'm guessing for 3.6.6+ I think the first version will be released same time as 3.6.6< hope it don't cost to much as I want to review it.

[forumguy]

I hope the add-on isn't too expensive.

[jmvb]

Blogs, tools, what else? What about VBSEO, the thing that's REALLY needed? Don't answer. I already know the answer! I'll just crawl back into my little hole...

[Quillz]

Blogs, tools, what else? What about VBSEO, the thing that's REALLY needed? Don't answer. I already know the answer! I'll just crawl back into my little hole...
Crawlability's vBSEO is already a very capable third-party SEO script. I don't see how an official solution by Jelsoft could be any better or do things differently.

[MThornback]

I'm glad I was sitting down when I read it...thanks VB folks :D

[whitetigergrowl]

Good to see Vbulletin spreading beyond just forums.

The blogs to me at least are almost useless. I've used various forms of blogs for both VB and IPB. At first theres always initial excitement and people start blogging. But in the end usually after a few months at most they start to die and become useless. I see that elsewhere too. Some forums may have luck with them, but I think blogs are starting to lose popularity. And for those that are confused, MySpace is NOT a blog. Personally, I wonder of the relevance of even having a blog on a forum when most people are active on the forums and not the blogs. Doesn't matter if its IPB or VB.

The profile feature will be interesting. I just hope it doesn't look like the profile plug in thats been floating out in the wild for a nominal fee. It looks like crap IMO.

Either way, good to see VB finally coming around a bit.

[mikesz]

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1327029

I just tried to post a PM to the author and apparently he does not accept PMs and when I tried to post a response, it said I didn't have privileges for that so here I am...

I just added wordpress to my site (http://www.allaboutdatingsites.com) using the vbridge hack so I could add updates to my forums and use the blog as a front end to do that and with a little futzing is works pretty well. The problem is that it would not work with the BLOG as a subdomain because of some issue with the vBulletin cookies and authorization so I wanted to post this information for the guys who are working on the official blog so they can hopefully make their add on work with subdomains.

The vbridge does indeed make it so that vbulletin users don't have to login to use the blog and the blog knows who they are when they access it. I am assuming that all goes away when the blog in officially an integrated addon, i.e. the access to the blog will be controlled by the administrator in the admin panel, I assume.

thanks for your attention, mikesz

[subzero06]

If its less than $100 i WILL definitely buy it.

[jeffinj]

Im using vBlogetin for now but if I have to switch to vBulletin blogs would you release a converter for this?

[HappyPike]

The blog appearance should be somewhat customizable by the users (blogger) I think. It would be a little boring if all blogs look the same...

[Aurum]

Excellent news!!! http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/light_skin/clapping.gif Many thanks to vBulletin staff! http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/light_skin/drinks.gif
__________________________________________________ ________________
I wish to set to you some questions.
1. When will released vBulletin 3.6.6? (or 4.0.0??? http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/light_skin/victory.gif )
2. Whether you are going to change design for vBulletin? If yes, when?
3. Here already asked... When in vBulletin there will be built-in mechanism SEO?
Thanks!!!

[Zachariah B]

woohoo :D

[stryka]

Is the calendar ADD-ON that has been mentioned before also on the radar for the near future? This is such an underused application...

[Shelby]

It's good to see that Jelsoft is at least moving in the right direction, even if they are years behind the curve. Considering the company's motto, I would have expected these products much sooner.

1) SEO compatible URL's for blog entires?

Among the many questions remaining. Considering the quality product that has been put forth in the past, I hope to see a lot of thought put into this little number.

2) Why were blogs or Projects chosen over a CMS, that was previously talked about?

I certainly hope that with these two new products Jelsoft doesn't become mired in development like they have with Vbulletin. I hope these new products renew Jelsoft's commitment to producing quality community products.

I'm glad the product is coming. But I'm still unhappy with the reletive ease at which Jelsoft has blown off the need for these types of products for so long.

Hopefully we won't have to wait nearly as long for the next product.

CMS
Gallery

[Moparx]

Great news. I can't wait to try them :)

[Princeton]

can't wait to get my hands on the Project Tools - sounds exciting!

[Lizard King]

Great News ,

Is there any application form that we can pre apply for pre release testing ?
If there will be i will really like to test it out. Also is there any plans to import from other software like vblogetin and etc ?

[Incendium]

Great to see these being released, i'm looking forward to it!

Next stop, vBulletin Kitchen Sink. It washes your dishes for you!

[walter]

Blog: very nice, I will buy several licenses for my forums. But:

CMS: that's the one many of us are really waiting for years. I was even thinking about abandoning the best forum software I ever had :eek:

Definitely a move in the right direction, please stay on course! And do it fast. Your leadership in forums won't be worth very much in the future if you do forums only.

[Talisman]

This is great.. thank you, Jelsoft!!

I know you can't determine pricing yet at this stage. I've been hoping to add a brand-free license for my site once I can afford to. Would these official add-on products be covered as brand-free, also.. once the site/domain gets a brand-free license?

[amnesia623]

I am impressed theat vBulletin has made this announcement! I am so greatful that they are doing this but....

I hope that the current plugin/software developers of 3rd party plugs don't get discouraged and stop development of software I already installed.

I also hope that there isn't a reinventing of any wheels. I use photopost pro on my forums and love it. I use vbadvanced on my forums and love it. I use vbseo, zoints, geeks banner/links/etc... and love them all. I am afraid that if vBulletin launches any competing products that developers will stop developing software that we already rely on.

[mlx]

Can't wait to get the Project Tools. Sounds like the perfect Mantis replacement I was looking for :)

[Tommy Boy]

What about people who already bought a vBlogetin license? :confused:

[Floris]

That is not a question we can really answer. You could decide to keep using vBloggetin and not buy the official Jelsoft addon that's fully supported.

[globalbuzz]

It is worth looking at www.vbdrupal.org (http://www.vbdrupal.org)

Like?

(1) vbadvanced (not bad)
(2) webtemplates
(3) all the rest aren't worth using.

Not what I would call choice.
That is why there are so many users try to bridge vB and Joomla! (ie. bbpixel)

I am impressed theat vBulletin has made this announcement! I am so greatful that they are doing this but....

I hope that the current plugin/software developers of 3rd party plugs don't get discouraged and stop development of software I already installed.

I also hope that there isn't a reinventing of any wheels. I use photopost pro on my forums and love it. I use vbadvanced on my forums and love it. I use vbseo, zoints, geeks banner/links/etc... and love them all. I am afraid that if vBulletin launches any competing products that developers will stop developing software that we already rely on.

whereas I understand where you coming from, that unfortunately is life and competition

what it does do is hopefully provide a better service for the user

[wii]

I wonder why Blog is being done first, since all polls I´ve ever seen has Gallery and CMS as first priority for addon product, in any case, this is the great news.

[Lars-Christian]

This should definitely be interesting to see, as I have hacked my forum to bits and pieces to achieve many of the "Social Networking" features. Right now, except for some minor bugs that I'm sure I'll be able to rectify, I am really happy with what I've achieved, so you guys really have to blow me away for me to be interested in this ;)

[Atakan KOC]

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/blog.php

When can I'm test? ;)

[Mazinger]

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/blog.php

When can I'm test? ;)
Why do you think this will be the vBulletin Blog?

This page has been existing for a long time.

[---MAD---]

That is outstanding news. Can't wait :).

[---MAD---]

Yeap its a very great step foward.

[Kadi]

I like it that we are updated on future vB plans. Thanks. :)

I read through the whole thread and I still don't get what Project Tools is or what it does. Could somebody please explain it in simple terms? :confused:

Thanks

[---MAD---]

Project tools are used for help with managing the development and support of a project :)

What are the bugs? Who is fixing them? What features do we need to add? Who is working on them? What tasks do we need to complete? Who is going to handle them?

Items along those lines..

The project could be anything, a piece of software like vBulletin, the development of a website, the rebuilding of a '65 Mustang.
Sounds very good - thanks for the explanation ;).

[Toneboy]

Sounds good. I'm looking forward to seeing these in action in the near future.

[Grover]

Project tools are used for help with managing the development and support of a project :)

What are the bugs? Who is fixing them? What features do we need to add? Who is working on them? What tasks do we need to complete? Who is going to handle them?

Items along those lines..

The project could be anything, a piece of software like vBulletin, the development of a website, the rebuilding of a '65 Mustang.

Ah, so it isn't aimed at managing Thread/Userdiscussions for example? What I would like to see in the future is a TaskManager for our private Staf Zones, something like a ICT Helpdesk department uses for managing calls.

I have to say : it took a while but.... finally!! We get an official Jelsoft Blog and Social Networking product : this is fantastic news! Those 2 products will give me the much needed functionality to transfer my forum-only site to -finally!!!- a real Community. Can't wait to see the screenshots and featurelist!

Keep up the good work!

[orban]

Totally amazing!

[Neal-UK]

Good to hear vB. Nice to have a gallery also, and in next major update of vB some enhanced profile functions.

[Chroder]

Very, very cool :cool:

[---MAD---]

Ah, so it isn't aimed at managing Thread/Userdiscussions for example? What I would like to see in the future is a TaskManager for our private Staf Zones, something like a ICT Helpdesk department uses for managing calls.

I have to say : it took a while but.... finally!! We get an official Jelsoft Blog and Social Networking product : this is fantastic news! Those 2 products will give me the much needed functionality to transfer my forum-only site to -finally!!!- a real Community. Can't wait to see the screenshots and featurelist!

Keep up the good work!
And to add to that, its great to see communication between the members and the developers about plans. Usually they would announce that the product is available instead of telling us what is about to come etc. Another sign of improvement ;).

I was wondering, how will the product be secured so that no-one can install it without being a licensed member + paying for the product? (presuming that its not free off course)

[Darkblade]

That's a great news. I can't wait for it.

[Darkblade]

Good to hear vB. Nice to have a gallery also, and in next major update of vB some enhanced profile functions.
Gallery? What the hell are you talking about? The upcoming products are the Blog and Tools systems so I have no idea what you're talking about.

[---MAD---]

Gallery? What the hell are you talking about? The upcoming products are the Blog and Tools systems so I have no idea what you're talking about.
He is suggesting a gallary not saying thats what is coming soon...

[jeffinj]

That is not a question we can really answer. You could decide to keep using vBloggetin and not buy the official Jelsoft addon that's fully supported.

Ok Floris, but would I be able to integrate vBlogetin with profile addon? :)

[ReQueM]

can't wait :D

[sebbe]

Project Tools will be really interesting. We will be using it for sure. :)

[Wayne Luke]

Is the calendar ADD-ON that has been mentioned before also on the radar for the near future? This is such an underused application...
Calendar is a standard feature in vBulletin already.

[---MAD---]

Calendar is a standard feature in vBulletin already.
I think he means enhanced calendar - not sure why an addon is needed to make the calender better though :p.

[Terminatoronly]

Great news i cant wait and this will be in the new version of vb or we will have to pay for it?

[Grover]

I think he means enhanced calendar - not sure why an addon is needed to make the calender better though :p.

Well... I think it might be released in the form of an add-on product, because a lof of vBulletin customers do not use the Calendar. I myself have stopped using it, because it is not sophisticated enough. Like a lot of vB areas, the Calendar is a module that can be improved drastically (and again... integration is the keyword)

[---MAD---]

Well... I think it might be released in the form of an add-on product, because a lof of vBulletin customers do not use the Calendar. I myself have stopped using it, because it is not sophisticated enough. Like a lot of vB areas, the Calendar is a module that can be improved drastically (and again... integration is the keyword)
Yeah but I think in a future version it can be improved. Have you thought about making a suggestion thread with your ideas in it? Or even asking for someone over at vbulletin.org to make it?

You need to remember, any official plugins vbulletin makes needs to be on demand by lots of customers to pay its development and support costs ;).

MAD

[thanhdat]

Blog and CMS are cool, but ... money :(
How much are these cost?

[Mazinger]

Blog and CMS are cool, but ... money :(
How much are these cost?
Personally, I think in the range of $60.

[Wayne Luke]

Personally, I think in the range of $60.
You really have no basis for this. We will determine pricing at a future time.

[Mazinger]

You really have no basis for this. We will determine pricing at a future time.
I was just expecting. - in this range.:)

[---MAD---]

Blog and CMS are cool, but ... money :(
How much are these cost?
In that case you can use a free addon from vbulletin.org :).

[DiSpy]

First i'd like to say, I'm pretty new to vBulletin and am glad I chose it over other forum software... it surely is a great product and the best i've ever used so far. Howerver, that said... one of the only reasons that I was even considering a competitors product was because of the "social networking" features it came with. Therefore I am extatic that vB is coming out with thier own official social networking addon (I just hope it won't be too expensive).

Secondly, I'd like to ask if the project tools will either include or be able to include an SVN repository. I currently use "Trac" for all my projects and would love to see something like that implemented in a professional way. (Note: not the wiki part, but the svn and bugtracking capabilities)

Now, for all those of you who are not developers and are wondering what a project tracking tool is... let me give you some examples:
OLD vBulletin Bug Tracker - http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/bugs36.php
Trac (The free one I use) - http://trac.edgewall.org/
Kyako eSupport (The commerical one most professionals use which can integrate with vBulletin, but is expensive, $500 for the full suite!) - http://www.kayako.com/esupport.php & http://www.kayako.com/supportsuite.php

I hope that helps answer your questions about what kind of "Tool" this is. Note that i've not seen or talked to anyone from vBulletin, this is just my $0.02 cents as someone who is in thier "target market" for a tool like this.

[Thomas P]

Good one.


Will the Add Ons work with vB3.5 or only 3.6 or...?

[Reeve of Shinra]

Kier mentioned 3.6 and there was another post from a while back that stated they made some changed in the 3.6 line to better accomodate products.

[---MAD---]

Good one.


Will the Add Ons work with vB3.5 or only 3.6 or...?
Oh boy, that just made me think about something. The products will have to accommodate 3.6.x and any feature version (may 3.5.x, maybe not). This will cost quite a bit of time and I worry it will slow down future versions such as 4.x.x or whatever is next :(. I was wondering if the vBulletin Dev team will be growing to accommodate the new products?

[Dream]

Thanks, I will be using both vBlogs and vProject Tools.

[stryka]

There was a previous feature request thread that discussed calendar improvements... and it was mentioned by a few senior people that the calendar may be a seperate install in the future and they would create an enhanced calendar with requested features (ie. ATTACHMENTS)...

I think he means enhanced calendar - not sure why an addon is needed to make the calender better though :p.

[Onimua]

Is the calendar ADD-ON that has been mentioned before also on the radar for the near future? This is such an underused application...

I think it was Freddie (if not him, then another developer) who had stated that the calendar would become an add-on for vBulletin 4.x.


Anyway, glad to see the announcement of new products coming down the Jelsoft pipeline! :D I'll be sure to get my license. :)

[simsim]

Words cannot express my real joy! Thanks Jelsoft for the commitment to providing top quality products. I'm looking forward to testing & playing with the new produtcs.

the rebuilding of a '65 Mustang.
Good developers are good marketers too! ;)

[Comtech]

The announcement of official products from Jelsoft is in itself a great move by the Jelsoft developers! However, like many have posted herein...a Blog for a forum?

It makes no sense and most Forum blogs are useless.

I'd rather have Jelsoft focus on official products for SEO, thread tagging systems, a digg style product and so forth.

[Zachery]

The announcement of official products from Jelsoft is in itself a great move by the Jelsoft developers! However, like many have posted herein...a Blog for a forum?

It makes no sense and most Forum blogs are useless.

I'd rather have Jelsoft focus on official products for SEO, thread tagging systems, a digg style product and so forth.
I'll say it again and again, vBulletin is fairly optimized out of the box, and quick solutions do not nessary grant you the biggest net return. Everyones SEO must be done on their own site for their own site. Content is king, if you have it they will find you.

[Comtech]

I'll say it again and again, vBulletin is fairly optimized out of the box, and quick solutions do not nessary grant you the biggest net return. Everyones SEO must be done on their own site for their own site. Content is king, if you have it they will find you.

I actually agree 100% with you on vBulletin being SEO friendly right out of the box & vBulletin is one of the best (if not the best) forum software solutions that takes SEO into account. I don't know anyone who would deny that (besides for the competitors) or people trying to earn some money off their products (Not everyone needs a stronger SEO solution, but it doesn’t hurt to add on extra features.)

SEO was just one of the suggestions of what would be better as a product versus a Blog (Again, in my opinion blogs are useless for forums and may take away discussions that otherwise would happen inside of the community.) and not exactly the #1 priority as I am a customer of vBSEO and wouldn't be looking at another product for SEO'ing my vBulletin powered forum. The vBSEO developers are top notch (much like the developers and support teams found here at vBulletin.com – and that is a rare breed now days where products are released and support is nearly nonexistent or rather rude.)

All I was saying is that I personally believe there could be better choices for Jelsoft to spend time, energy and their money on developing besides for a Blogging system. A blogging system for forum software is minute when compared to other products which Jelsoft could have gone with as their first products of development (vBulletin products.) But, as there are people who feel strongly against a Blogging system for forum software, I am sure there are just as many who are for it.

I’m not by any means attacking the stance taken or the products chosen as the first of the Product line. Hopefully the next few products will be something for me to seriously consider-unfortunately the Blogging System isn’t for me (Unless you were to make it a standalone product with the ability to shared the vBulletin database information but not require it, then I may consider it for another website/domain.)

Again, Good work and I will be looking forward to the forthcoming products and awaiting vBulletin 4.0.

[Headmaster]

Where's the CMS ? Blogs (already good options), Projects (less popular).

I want articles and a solid homepage.

:confused:

What is CMS?

[JakeS]

What is CMS?Content Management System.

[Mazinger]

Content Management System, like PHP Nuke.

Edit: JakeS was faster. :p

[cbiweb]

CMS = Content Management System


Edit: Holy crap a triple play! LOL

[Headmaster]

Like vbadvanced? or Somthing like this (http://www.vbulletin.com/), a frontpage? but made by vBullentin?

Thanks for the news by the way :)

[JakeS]

Like vbadvanced? or Somthing like this (http://www.vbulletin.com/), a frontpage? but made by vBullentin?

Thanks for the news by the way :)Like Joomla.org

[Headmaster]

I see, i think i am beginning to understand now. Thanks :)

[Comtech]

A CMS designed well, could become a much welcomed Product for vBulletin. I personally would never use anything like vBAdvanced.

I'd expect a professional CMS made by Jelsoft to look nice, sleek and outdo every other vBulletin CMS out there. If they can't compete at a higher level then there really is no reason to compete at all. (Goes for everyone who wants to release a product - go beyond your competition and make your product the better of the two, three..ect. - otherwise what reason would a person have to purchase yours over another?)

[Reeve of Shinra]

re: the blog... I hope users can download entries in a text or csv file like PM's.

[Anthony89]

I really appreciate the work you guys put into this despite a few ungrateful and rude customers. :)

[jasbell]

I am really glad that the VB team announced this. This is rule # 1 of running a community: Engaged the community, keep them informed, and keep transparent. Thumbs up guys.

I am confused however why you would want to get into the Blog business unless you were being bought by another company (like Six Apart). The Blog platform already has leaders and the market is saturated....why compete?

There is no question that if you can make the community work and offer the kind of custom profiling that is needed, you will kill most of the competition in the online community market (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showpost.php?p=1190086&postcount=52).

I do agree with previous posts that CMS functionality should have taken priority over Blogs.


Anyhow....you might consider calling the whole offering "vSuite":cool:

[gekko]

Awesome news! I'm definitely considering picking up the blogging system.

[Comtech]

re: the blog... I hope users can download entries in a text or csv file like PM's.

I'd expect the Blogging system to allow entries to be downloaded as a PDF file. That is the one which makes the most sense. I would also like to see vBulletin release a product for printing to PDF from within a thread, without the need for acrobat professional (for those who can't afford it.)

[Reeve of Shinra]

There is a mod on vb.org that will print a thread to PDF.

[Link00seven]

Since it would be integrated into vBulletin - would we be able to use our current template modifications or would they be incompatible with vBulletin Blog?

[Dream]

I'm curious to know the level of integration of the Blogs, if they will have a different look from the forums, or they will follow the same layout, CSS etc.

[HappyPike]

I do agree with previous posts that CMS functionality should have taken priority over Blogs.
Well, blog is much easier to make than a full fledged CMS.

Personally I am not very excited about blogs. It's a nice feature to offer to the members, but not really essential. But for a well-made CMS, I'd be willing to pay as much as the forum software, :)

[obmob]

Well, it's a good idea, and definitely they will work with vB XD

Hope they are not expensive.

[JakeS]

I see alot of people saying "I wanted CMS not blog" maybe you should think, making a blog takes time and a CMS would take even longer I'm guessing they done blog first as it is easier to make and can be done quicker, I know you all want CMS, but maybe you should think to your self "CMS is not easy to make CMS is not easy to make etc"

[Subah]

Why is peaple asking alot for the CMS and there is alot free CMS`s and its look great and intergrated with vbulletin like vbadvanced ??

[---MAD---]

There was a previous feature request thread that discussed calendar improvements... and it was mentioned by a few senior people that the calendar may be a seperate install in the future and they would create an enhanced calendar with requested features (ie. ATTACHMENTS)...
I believe attachments will be completely recoded for the next major version to be included in PMs, calenders, announcements etc.
The announcement of official products from Jelsoft is in itself a great move by the Jelsoft developers! However, like many have posted herein...a Blog for a forum?

It makes no sense and most Forum blogs are useless.

I'd rather have Jelsoft focus on official products for SEO, thread tagging systems, a digg style product and so forth.
Lots of people have requested for blogs as a community solution for community based forums.
I am really glad that the VB team announced this. This is rule # 1 of running a community: Engaged the community, keep them informed, and keep transparent. Thumbs up guys.

I am confused however why you would want to get into the Blog business unless you were being bought by another company (like Six Apart). The Blog platform already has leaders and the market is saturated....why compete?

There is no question that if you can make the community work and offer the kind of custom profiling that is needed, you will kill most of the competition in the online community market (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showpost.php?p=1190086&postcount=52).

I do agree with previous posts that CMS functionality should have taken priority over Blogs.


Anyhow....you might consider calling the whole offering "vSuite":cool:
No matter what addon they made first, someone else would say "I think they should have made this instead..". They have to start somewhere and not everyone will be happy first time around ;).
Why is peaple asking alot for the CMS and there is alot free CMS`s and its look great and intergrated with vbulletin like vbadvanced ??
Some people don't like to use big unofficial addons for security reasons.

[bboy]

I know it was just announced, but I have a couple of questions regarding the blog add-on. Here we go:
Will admins be able to add additional custom fields for profiles /or are they hard set meaning a hack/modification will be required to add extra fields?
Will the profiles support embeddable video/audio files (youtube, etc)?
When installed does the language/phrase xml file stay in a separate directory or is it merged with the vbulletin one somehow?
How easy/difficult will it be for vB skinners to adapt their existing themes to work with this add-on?
Will there be a new version of vBulletin (4.0? :p) released to coincide with the release of these add-ons?Hope you guys might be able to answer some of these. Good luck on wrapping up these addons and getting them out the door. Looking forward to the betas! ;)

[CureTheItch]

This sounds like a really great idea. I've never been into blogging. But since it's going to be released by Jelsoft, you know it's going to be a great product! Can't wait to see it.

[Pehchaan]

Blogs Add-on is very useful feature.

And I'm also requesting to vb that please include following add-ons too..
as soon as possible:

1: Video Add-on Product
2: Music Add-on Product
3: Groups Add-on Product
4: eCard Add-on Product

Thanks.

[ttk_2k]

Like?

(1) vbadvanced (not bad)
...

:eek: Oh no.. cuz the first eye on it I was thinking it was vbadvanced... sorry...

[---MAD---]

:eek: Oh no.. cuz the first eye on it I was thinking it was vbadvanced... sorry...
Its vb-advanced.

vb for vbulletin.

[King Kovifor]

I am really glad that the VB team announced this. This is rule # 1 of running a community: Engaged the community, keep them informed, and keep transparent. Thumbs up guys.

I am confused however why you would want to get into the Blog business unless you were being bought by another company (like Six Apart). The Blog platform already has leaders and the market is saturated....why compete?

There is no question that if you can make the community work and offer the kind of custom profiling that is needed, you will kill most of the competition in the online community market (http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showpost.php?p=1190086&postcount=52).

I do agree with previous posts that CMS functionality should have taken priority over Blogs.


Anyhow....you might consider calling the whole offering "vSuite":cool:

Getting into the blogging market may bring customers. I use WordPress for my blogs, because I don't have vBulletin forum for those sites. Personally, I would purchase vBulletin Blog and install it instead of try to rework WordPress to include vBulletin features. Saves time and vBulletin Blog will (hopefully) be integrated beyond what competitors would want.

:eek: Oh no.. cuz the first eye on it I was thinking it was vbadvanced... sorry...

That gave me a chuckle. Just had to say that.

[osirisjem]

It is worth looking at www.vbdrupal.org (http://www.vbdrupal.org) [For a vB CMS]



vbdrupal is an interesting product, I have looked at it. I shy away from it because I've heard concerns drupal can be hard to manage, from a non-full time admin perspective.

I don't mind sacrificing some $$ or flexibility for robust easy management. It's all about the balance.

[Kadi]

First i'd like to say, I'm pretty new to vBulletin and am glad I chose it over other forum software... it surely is a great product and the best i've ever used so far. Howerver, that said... one of the only reasons that I was even considering a competitors product was because of the "social networking" features it came with. Therefore I am extatic that vB is coming out with thier own official social networking addon (I just hope it won't be too expensive).

Secondly, I'd like to ask if the project tools will either include or be able to include an SVN repository. I currently use "Trac" for all my projects and would love to see something like that implemented in a professional way. (Note: not the wiki part, but the svn and bugtracking capabilities)

Now, for all those of you who are not developers and are wondering what a project tracking tool is... let me give you some examples:
OLD vBulletin Bug Tracker - http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/bugs36.php
Trac (The free one I use) - http://trac.edgewall.org/
Kyako eSupport (The commerical one most professionals use which can integrate with vBulletin, but is expensive, $500 for the full suite!) - http://www.kayako.com/esupport.php & http://www.kayako.com/supportsuite.php

I hope that helps answer your questions about what kind of "Tool" this is. Note that i've not seen or talked to anyone from vBulletin, this is just my $0.02 cents as someone who is in thier "target market" for a tool like this.

Thanks for taking the time to explain.

[Alfa1]

This is great news. I'll be waiting in suspense to buy this. Is there an ETA?

Crawlability's vBSEO is already a very capable third-party SEO script. I don't see how an official solution by Jelsoft could be any better or do things differently.
Yes, it is, but it chooses not to serve a large part of vbulletin owners.

As long as Jelsoft will not offer a SEO add on/solution, customers will keep asking for it. I think that's pretty obvious now.

[roscoe36]

This is interesting news. I need an integrated blog in place within 3 months. I've been holding out to see if there was going to be anything better than the Wordpress vb bridge.

vB makes great software, so I am desperately hoping they do not drop the ball on the blog software. Stuff like vBlogetin is just a personal thread system , blogsicles is the same with a vbadvanced look.

Blogs are clean, tableless (that's the standard that has been set folks, get used to it) and feature post and comment RSS. Comment (or reply) RSS has been a missing feature in vB anyways.

Hopefully we get something that looks like a blog, and not like personal threads with useless blogger profile data like member since, post count, reputation etc. Hopefully it's a blog that is coded like Wordpress, Blogger or TextPattern but integrated tightly with vB and it's permission/post scheme.

I'm anxious, excited and curious. We'll wait for a great product vB.

[roscoe36]

Content is king, if you have it they will find you.
And if it is coded/presented properly, you will rank higher for it. :)

[Onimua]

I hope they do what they did for vBulletin 3.6.x and announce a small set of the total features spread over a week of announcements. That way we could talk about that day's announced features and provide feedback/ask questions and not be overwhelmed by all of it was once.

That was fun. :D

[roscoe36]

Just wanted to add regarding what I wrote previous,

Some folks assume that we want all of our members to have blogs. For many serious boards, this is undesireable. We would like a FORUM blog that can be used for news, announcements, events, opinion and tie that into the forums.

The idea of having 50 members blogging when they should be posting to threads on the board is (in my opinion) anti-social networking in the greater forum community concept.

For instance, I have zero interest in John, Mary or Kenneth's blogs. But I definitely want to read the admin's blog and maybe the staff writer blogs. Who bought a new dog, or took a trip to Mexico or had a lousy birthday is trivial nonsense that doesn't fit into many themed forums.

Just my $1.50 ;)

[Tony]

I see a lot of people are not to excited about this blog add on. But I'm indeed very excited about this. Do you realize how big blogging really is? I have tons folks that have their own where they get many visitors. Add a blogging system to vb you will see your community grow.

And if this system is a cross between myspace and google's blogger where the user can have their own look to their blog and profile, this will be big and well worth the money. Heck if that can be done why not for the forum!

[---MAD---]

I hope they do what they did for vBulletin 3.6.x and announce a small set of the total features spread over a week of announcements. That way we could talk about that day's announced features and provide feedback/ask questions and not be overwhelmed by all of it was once.

That was fun. :D
Yeah I agree :p.

[Ati2]

These add-ons sound great! Thanks a lot for the info on these, keep us posted about the status. :)

[ThorstenA]

Great news. Hopefully users can have multiple blogs.

[bboy]

I know it was just announced, but I have a couple of questions regarding the blog add-on. Here we go:
Will admins be able to add additional custom fields for profiles /or are they hard set meaning a hack/modification will be required to add extra fields?
Will the profiles support embeddable video/audio files (youtube, etc)?
When installed does the language/phrase xml file stay in a separate directory or is it merged with the vbulletin one somehow?
How easy/difficult will it be for vB skinners to adapt their existing themes to work with this add-on?
Will there be a new version of vBulletin (4.0? :p) released to coincide with the release of these add-ons?

Any feedback for the above points possibly?

[Steve Machol]

Kier has provided all the info we have currently about these add-ons. When more info is available it will be posted.

[Chousho]

Blogs are clean, tableless (that's the standard that has been set folks, get used to it) and feature post and comment RSS. Comment (or reply) RSS has been a missing feature in vB anyways.
By tableless you mean correctly using tables, right? ;D If a calendar is set up in divs then... yeah
And if it is coded/presented properly, you will rank higher for it. :)
Taking a hint from VBulletin and some threads on what's in store for future versions, I would assume it would be coded/presented properly. It's been said a few times that VB isn't going to get rid of tables yet due to backwards compatibility issues. A new product would definitely not suffer from this.

Also, content is king. The more liked your site is, the more links in, the more spread around it becomes. So I'm not getting your retort. We can pretty much assume it already will be.

[Masiello]

Hi, this is a good news :) ,
I hope it have a low proce if isn't FREE

[sensimilla]

Great news, long time awaited. Thanks alot guys!

[jeffinj]

Hi, this is a good news :) ,
I hope it have a low proce if isn't FREE

:D That will be a surprise. :D

[---MAD---]

Hi, this is a good news :) ,
I hope it have a low proce if isn't FREE
vBulletin are much better with pricing products etc than IPB are. They (invision) have changed their pricing strategies quite a few times now for it main product (the forum).

[jasbell]

Just wanted to add regarding what I wrote previous,

Some folks assume that we want all of our members to have blogs. For many serious boards, this is undesireable. We would like a FORUM blog that can be used for news, announcements, events, opinion and tie that into the forums.

The idea of having 50 members blogging when they should be posting to threads on the board is (in my opinion) anti-social networking in the greater forum community concept.

For instance, I have zero interest in John, Mary or Kenneth's blogs. But I definitely want to read the admin's blog and maybe the staff writer blogs. Who bought a new dog, or took a trip to Mexico or had a lousy birthday is trivial nonsense that doesn't fit into many themed forums.

Just my $1.50 ;)
I totally agree! Giving a blog to each member is the equivalent of giving 1000 3 yr. olds a set of colored felt tip pens. Blogs are all about the "ME" and what "I think", as opposed to forums are all about the "WE" and what "we think". These are two totally different strategies. Hopefully there would at least be permissioning so that only designated members can lead a blog or contribute. I wont be using this piece anyway, as I am looking forward to the community and profile stuff which is more "WE" focused.

[hornstar6969]

Will a conversion tool be available so we can convert from another software eg. vblogetin to to vb blog? Currently I am very happy with vblogetin and dont plan on switching over, but if vb blog prooves it self to be heaps better then I suppose I wouldnt give up the chance to switch over if there was a tool so i wouldnt loose all the members blogs etc.

[akulion]

have to agree there with roscoe and jasbell, never really thought of it that way...but now that u point it out...makes total sense

[jeffinj]

Will a conversion tool be available so we can convert from another software eg. vblogetin to to vb blog? Currently I am very happy with vblogetin and dont plan on switching over, but if vb blog prooves it self to be heaps better then I suppose I wouldnt give up the chance to switch over if there was a tool so i wouldnt loose all the members blogs etc.

Im using vblogetin and I like it. But i dont want miss on the profile enhancement thing. Im confused. :confused:

[roscoe36]

By tableless you mean correctly using tables, right? ;D If a calendar is set up in divs then... yeah
What I mean is not using tables for blog entry or comment layout. Tables are for presenting tabular data. Without getting into a big CSS discussion, Blogger, WordPress and many others are able to present blogs, and be the industry leading software without cluttering up the page code with extraneous tags.

Taking a hint from VBulletin and some threads on what's in store for future versions, I would assume it would be coded/presented properly. It's been said a few times that VB isn't going to get rid of tables yet due to backwards compatibility issues. A new product would definitely not suffer from this.
I hope it would not. Of the alternatives (vBlogetin, blogicles etc.) they all suffer from tabular layout and incredibly "busy" blog index pages.

Also, content is king. The more liked your site is, the more links in, the more spread around it becomes. So I'm not getting your retort. We can pretty much assume it already will be.
Once it is designed, there won't be sweeping design changes, of this I am sure. It's not so much a retort, as someone mentioning what is important to bloggers about blogs before this rolls too much further down the development road.

I blog within my niche successfully. My site performs within it's niche successfully. Trying to copy Zoints, or MySpace or create a multi-user blog engine, with all of the moderation required (for those of us who run clean boards) is not the way to go IMO.

Hey vB, if you are reading, please give us some way to handle spam on pingbacks and unregistered comments. The ability to integrate Akismet (http://akismet.com/) or Bad Behavior (http://www.bad-behavior.ioerror.us/) would be a big plus. Heck, it would be a big plus for forums as well.

[---MAD---]

What I mean is not using tables for blog entry or comment layout. Tables are for presenting tabular data. Without getting into a big CSS discussion, Blogger, WordPress and many others are able to present blogs, and be the industry leading software without cluttering up the page code with extraneous tags.


I hope it would not. Of the alternatives (vBlogetin, blogicles etc.) they all suffer from tabular layout and incredibly "busy" blog index pages.


Once it is designed, there won't be sweeping design changes, of this I am sure. It's not so much a retort, as someone mentioning what is important to bloggers about blogs before this rolls too much further down the development road.

I blog within my niche successfully. My site performs within it's niche successfully. Trying to copy Zoints, or MySpace or create a multi-user blog engine, with all of the moderation required (for those of us who run clean boards) is not the way to go IMO.

Hey vB, if you are reading, please give us some way to handle spam on pingbacks and unregistered comments. The ability to integrate Akismet (http://akismet.com/) or Bad Behavior (http://www.bad-behavior.ioerror.us/) would be a big plus. Heck, it would be a big plus for forums as well.
A simple "report message" button would sort that out. Most user's would report things they dont like seeing :).

[john_rsd]

Although late to the thread I must say this development is fantastic news.

The blogs will appeal to the more socially orientated boards (although most communities are like that anyway) but I think your decision to release an official project / bug tracker will suprise you.

For me the blogs are of no interest but I eagarly await the release of the project tools.

Within project tools, as some people might still use it on servers without proper access for mysql dumps, it would also be good if you could include a tool for database restore/backup that does it in (logical) chunks while keeping chunk sizes to below say 1.8MB each.
It will be especially important with project data and there will still be users who will not / can not get the right host or afford high fees (so no ssh or other root access). Might be nice additional feature

Well done

John

[Silver_2000]

I have almost no experience with Blogs

I have installed wordpress a few times and used it a few times but admit I dont understand alll the hype and interest in blogs

as was mentioned what I understand about blogs is 180 apart from what a forum is - If the idea is to have an Admin blog for announcements and changes - how is that much different than a section of the forum dedicated to the site and questions/updates..

Im sure there is a piece Im missing - perhaps someone can explain

As far as the project management piece - I dodge project management at work as much as possible. In my experience project managers are people who slow down progress and get big salary's for other peoples work. Its a tool to track people that don't communicate or cant be trusted.

Having said that if this product helps me track the changes / mods and hacks to the forum and keep up with those things it might be worth while

All depending on the cost ....

[petertdavis]

Crawlability's vBSEO is already a very capable third-party SEO script. I don't see how an official solution by Jelsoft could be any better or do things differently.

Well, the product is good, but there are some huge problems with the way they run their business that would make a lot of their current and prospective customers jump on a Jelsoft product.

[simsim]

Well, the product is good, but there are some huge problems with the way they run their business that would make a lot of their current and prospective customers jump on a Jelsoft product.
You mean encryption? I guess it will take a long time before companies that devekop web application realize that encryption does nothing but making customers' lives harder, not hackers!

[Mike Warner]

Good work - the Blog idea would be a great addition - maybe for subscribed members only too, so even more incentive to join up!

I really hope a CMS is released though. vBA works, but it isn’t slick. The version of VBA I run is extremely hacked to do what I want it to do, I can see any vB attempt at a CMS would be much more customisable and intuitive.

[Tannim]

Addons for any product should never cost more then the product itself :) Therefore, I believe these addons will be less then $100.

The only company that broke the golden rule was Microsoft, which released the XP addon known as Vista :(

[petertdavis]

You mean encryption? I guess it will take a long time before companies that devekop web application realize that encryption does nothing but making customers' lives harder, not hackers!


That's a big part of it. NO way of knowing what kind of things they're running on my server.

Plus, I'm fuming about the lack of a branding-free option. It just seems in general that they're not responsive as they should be to customer needs.

[Lizard King]

That's a big part of it. NO way of knowing what kind of things they're running on my server.

Plus, I'm fuming about the lack of a branding-free option. It just seems in general that they're not responsive as they should be to customer needs.
You shall discuss vBSEO matters at vBSEO forums (http://www.vbseo.com) .

I only wish the timeline between the Release Candidate stages and this news will be held so long.

I also am an owner of vblogetin and after checking features of vbulletin blog , i may switch "if there is an importer"

[petertdavis]

You shall discuss vBSEO matters at vBSEO forums (http://www.vbseo.com) Yea, I do, and they usually lock the threads.

[HappyPike]

The project tool sounds great. I hope there is a way to give each project its own set of project leaders, so they can deal with bug reports and stuff. It would also be a good thing to make it possible so all the projects don't have to be placed in one place. If a project can have a regular forum as parent, that would make it very flexible.

[JakeS]

I've now noticed alot of people saying "I want it cheap or free" Guys, if you get it for free their is no guarantee on support etc as its only a free product and really doesn't matter I'd rather pay for a product because I know i#m going to have updates from the devs if they make it free their is no guarantee it will be updated and stuff.

[Bolton]

Soon it will be something new plugin vBulletin Gallery, which will replace Photopost.

Ideas on Invision Power?

[Stoebi]

Bad news :(

[Fusion]

Bad news :(
Eh?

Care to elaborate?

[0ptima]

None of these new addons are of interest to me.... I'd buy a gallery (would need a vbgallery converter) and a CMS in a heartbeat.

[jeffinj]

I've now noticed alot of people saying "I want it cheap or free" Guys, if you get it for free their is no guarantee on support etc as its only a free product and really doesn't matter I'd rather pay for a product because I know i#m going to have updates from the devs if they make it free their is no guarantee it will be updated and stuff.

May be the blogs should have been intergrated with the enhanced profile. It should have stayed seperate. Enhanced profile for free and the blog section for a price. That was what I expected. This vBulletin blog sounds a bit different. Also this would only allow one blog per person and there's not much you put into the profile page with the blog filling up most of its parts. Just my suggestion. May be Im the only one thinking like this.
:o

Why do I think like this is because we had a poll for enhanced profile (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212008) and thats a clear indicator what so many expect. The blogs addon wasn't really popular and combining them both might have had a clashing effect on both groups (enhanced profile supporters and blog supporters). This poll (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=224608) might not have been a real indicator of what we all want. I dont know. :D

Just an update to the above post.
May be we need to have a look at the addon, some screenshots probably. Doesn't matter even if it is in developmental stage. We could all comment on that and help vb staff make a really informed decision. Thats how vb's always been different from the rest of the gang.
vb listens. ;)

[Eagle Eyes]

This should be core part of the vbulletin.

[jeffinj]

This should be core part of the vbulletin.

Even better. Otherwise it might confuse who dont want them. :rolleyes:

[john2k]

Absolutely fantastic news! :):D

What is the ETA on these new products?

[Bad Bunny]

They have no ETA, as stated before.

I am curious if the Tools addon would be able to be easily used by a team doing something like...community service...or something of the like. Where projects could be assigned and progress could be tracked?

[riverdale]

I hope that the BLOG continues the IMPEX tradition with tools to import from the best-known systems: Wordpress and MovableType. This would definitely stir interest, especially if the blog can "front" for the entire site. On the SOCIAL NETWORK side, hoping for the MEMBER PROFILES to be really customizable, this feature alone built MySpace, perhaps you can let go of the tables there.

By the way, I don't understand this practice of announcing something they don't have ready... wouldn't it be better to announce availability directly? Or is it that after lagging behind for a few years, suddenly there is an "eagerness" to catch up by doing an early announcement? I think this is also more stressful for the programmers... puts the pressure on them to condense and solidify vaporware.

[jeffinj]

I hope that the BLOG continues the IMPEX tradition with tools to import from the best-known systems: Wordpress and MovableType. This would definitely stir interest, especially if the blog can "front" for the entire site. On the SOCIAL NETWORK side, hoping for the MEMBER PROFILES to be really customizable, this feature alone built MySpace, perhaps you can let go of the tables there.

By the way, I don't understand this practice of announcing something they don't have ready... wouldn't it be better to announce availability directly? Or is it that after lagging behind for a few years, suddenly there is an "eagerness" to catch up by doing an early announcement? I think this is also more stressful for the programmers... puts the pressure on them to condense and solidify vaporware.

The developers are probably doing this for the feedback. But there should have been more information through screenshots etc. That would help them and us too.

Impex kinda thing for this addon is needed. I have vBlogetin and I know others who have wordpress etc. When such a convertor is available, it helps us make a faster decision whether to move to vBulletin blogs or not.

[Shelby]

Lol, too bad these are going to be such a long ways away.

[mtha]

... wow, waiting for the add-on to be released.

I hope it will support more on "social networking", like classmates.com, or facebook.com, not just a "blog"

cant wait to see.

[Zachery]

Lol, too bad these are going to be such a long ways away.
A long time is weeks now?

[john_rsd]

hmmm

The add-on should never cost more than the product itself.

Why is that again?

The project tools depending on how they turn out would be worth more, especially compared to the currently available commercial offerings with similar deployment capability and support included.

As far as release dates go, as far as I know the vb team already stated they were going to deploy it on the site and let everyone have a look see and play so it cannot be that much of a project if thats going to happen in a few weeks.

I was just getting my comments in quick with regards the backup solutions (which I would regard as a project tool).

i wonder if it will include email into forum integration :rolleyes:

John

[bboy]

A long time is weeks now?

This means we'll be seeing these in a few weeks?

*jumps for joy* (literally from my chair in an office surrounded by 155 Japanese people). I didn't scream "Yatta" though. :cool:

[bboy]

I'm hoping that the social network aspect of the add-on will make it simple for users to block/allow other users from contacting them.

ie: Management of their blocked list and friends list via simple buttons visible in the CP.

[JakeS]

The developers are probably doing this for the feedback. But there should have been more information through screenshots etc. That would help them and us too.

Impex kinda thing for this addon is needed. I have vBlogetin and I know others who have wordpress etc. When such a convertor is available, it helps us make a faster decision whether to move to vBulletin blogs or not.Yes I think the devs should have posted some screenshots but really, do you need the screenshots I'd rather see screenshots which I know its going to look like rather than ones that it may look nothing like at all.

[roscoe36]

A simple "report message" button would sort that out. Most user's would report things they dont like seeing :).
One should automate spam killing because it is efficient and instant. Another paradigm shift when we start talking about blogs vs. forums. Software can confirm that the referrer is spam faster and more accurately than any human can.

On forums, everything has to be done by hand. Blogs are meant to be low overhead to run. Probably why we see admins on TAZ that claim to be burnt out (been there myself), but I have never heard of a burnt out blogger. Blogs are just plain simpler to run because someone thought of how to take care of the little things.

You shall discuss vBSEO matters at vBSEO forums (http://www.vbseo.com) .
Yea, I do, and they usually lock the threads.
How true.

[WoodiE]

Call me skeptical, but I'll believe all this news about add-on products being released when I see them released. I can clearly remember a time when vBulletin said they was going to make a CMS for vBulletin and said it was already in development - lets see where are we on that now? And that was YEARS ago and still not even a single screen shot of this so called product that they are working on.

While a blogging system would be nice I'm not getting my hopes up at all on this press release.

[Onimua]

Yes I think the devs should have posted some screenshots but really, do you need the screenshots I'd rather see screenshots which I know its going to look like rather than ones that it may look nothing like at all.

Well, they already said more details, including screenshots, would be released soon. So we'll just have to wait. :)

[Sarthek]

Just unofficial:

is this expected to be developed in:

weeks :)
months :rolleyes:
years (dont laugh) :confused:

as in the past some coders from other applications (not vB) promised programs to be developed within weeks and after year nothing happend

[Onimua]

Just unofficial:

is this expected to be developed in:

weeks :)
months :rolleyes:
years (dont laugh) :confused:

as in the past some coders from other applications (not vB) promised programs to be developed within weeks and after year nothing happend

Since they're announcing it, I would assume it would be weeks. I don't think Jelsoft has ever made an official announcement about something that will be released unless it's nearly ready to be released (maybe not as final, but at least in beta or other form that can be used/tested).

[---MAD---]

Addons for any product should never cost more then the product itself :) Therefore, I believe these addons will be less then $100.

The only company that broke the golden rule was Microsoft, which released the XP addon known as Vista :(
Vista is not an addon. Its a new product, new OS. Only difference between vista and the time of XP is that you couldn't upgrade from windows ME to XP (I dont think so anyway).
Since they're announcing it, I would assume it would be weeks. I don't think Jelsoft has ever made an official announcement about something that will be released unless it's nearly ready to be released (maybe not as final, but at least in beta or other form that can be used/tested).
Kier said weeks in his post.

[Sarthek]

Since they're announcing it, I would assume it would be weeks. I don't think Jelsoft has ever made an official announcement about something that will be released unless it's nearly ready to be released (maybe not as final, but at least in beta or other form that can be used/tested).
thanks

[JakeS]

Just unofficial:

is this expected to be developed in:

weeks :)
months :rolleyes:
years (dont laugh) :confused:

as in the past some coders from other applications (not vB) promised programs to be developed within weeks and after year nothing happendI'm guessing in 50 years - 5 months into the year and 2 weeks into that month.

[Sarthek]

lol?

[Wayne Luke]

By the way, I don't understand this practice of announcing something they don't have ready... wouldn't it be better to announce availability directly? Or is it that after lagging behind for a few years, suddenly there is an "eagerness" to catch up by doing an early announcement? I think this is also more stressful for the programmers... puts the pressure on them to condense and solidify vaporware.

We actually don't announce until we are closer to release than most. I use Project Tools every day on this site. As it was said in the announcement, we are using these products internally for initial testing.

[feldon23]

Amazed at the negativity here.

"I don't need it"
"I wanted the gallery"
"Where's the CMS?"
"I won't believe it until I see it."

People are all but calling Jelsoft liars as far as releasing these add-ons.

[Bad Bunny]

Amazed at the negativity here.

"I don't need it"
"I wanted the gallery"
"Where's the CMS?"
"I won't believe it until I see it."

People are all but calling Jelsoft liars as far as releasing these add-ons.
Well, I'm not really surprised. I am grateful they are releasing some addons, but skeptical of time-frames. It has taken a long time to get the core upgrades to vB, if you recall. And while this was 1000% more officially announced than the talk of a vb cms years ago, it was that very talk by a developer that got me to buy vb.

It's awesome news, but it's hard to please everyone...and many-many-many people have wanted to see an official cms for a long time. It's not like insults are flying toward the developers. People are just expressing their thoughts and reactions.

[The_Sisko]

First of all I want to say thank you for this decision to finally release a JELSoft addon for vbulletin. I like the idea of a blog system and looking forward to see it in action.

On the other hand (and I hope I can express my concerns, as English isn’t my mother tongue) I am a little afraid what will happen to next major vbulletin releases? Let me explain my concern: Let say vBulletin 3.7 is ready to release but the JELSoft blog addon won’t work properly with the new 3.7 version. What will we accept? Will JELSoft wait for the final release of the 3.7 version until all JELSoft vBulletin addon will work with this new version? Will it be released and everybody running an official JELSoft vBulletin addon will have to wait upgrading?

Will this official addons delay the development of upcoming vBulletin version in any way? I hope you understand my question, if not, I’m happy to try it again or answer questions.

[WoodiE]

I don't think Jelsoft has ever made an official announcement about something that will be released unless it's nearly ready to be released (maybe not as final, but at least in beta or other form that can be used/tested).

Amazed at the negativity here.

"I don't need it"
"I wanted the gallery"
"Where's the CMS?"
"I won't believe it until I see it."

People are all but calling Jelsoft liars as far as releasing these add-ons.


The "negativity" as you call it is rightfully so, this wouldn't be the first time Jelsoft has said something was in the works only to get nothing. Just do your research and you'll see yourself... going back to my vbCMS example I mentioned in a post above, take look at this...

I've already coded a large chunk of the functionality iinto the CMS, but development of the CMS is currently on hold so that we can concentrate all our efforts on getting vB3 released.

Nearer the time that development is due to resume, we will probably post a thread for suggestions on functionality you would like to see added to the product.

The above quote from Kier himself was from Oct 4th 2002, only about 5 years ago.

Or even take a look at this thread: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108858 started by myself and answered by Zach stating it was in active development - this thread 3 years ago.

It's nothing to be negative about, but truthful. Jelsoft has time and time again mentioned "add-on's" to be in the works only to be handed nothing even after years of "active development". Don't get me wrong I'm not here for a CMS I'm ultimately here for the forum software and in fact own three owned licenses of vBulletin and love all three of them very much. vBulletin will probably be the only forum software I use for any site I run.

Getting back on topic this isn't negative but purely skeptical that's all.

[Tannim]

Vista is not an addon. Its a new product, new OS. Only difference between vista and the time of XP is that you couldn't upgrade from windows ME to XP (I dont think so anyway).

Kier said weeks in his post.

Lol, I know better then to believe everything that comes out of microsoft's mouth. I have used both and ended up going back to a real OS ... XP. This is off topic, if you want to continue this, we should do so in an off topic forum.

[john2k]

They have no ETA, as stated before.
I know it was stated before. I wasn't looking for exact timing, just an estimated time. Within 3/6/12 months, etc. We should have at least some kind of idea about approximately when this will be available.

It just so happens that I have been preparing to start transitioning new community development for my business away from vB in the coming weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy vB customer and have many licenses - but if vB is unwilling or unable to grow their offerings so that my business can also grow (with their software, of course), I will go elsewhere to get what I need in order to move forward.

I am going to try and hang in there with vB to see how things turn out with the new add-ons, before making any big changes. As long as it's within a reasonable time-frame.

Lol, too bad these are going to be such a long ways away.
A long time is weeks now?

Weeks? Zachery, thanks, that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

[walter]

It just so happens that I have been preparing to start transitioning new community development for my business away from vB in the coming weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy vB customer and have many licenses - but if vB is unwilling or unable to grow their offerings so that my business can also grow (with their software, of course), I will go elsewhere to get what I need in order to move forward.

I know what you are talking about and I'm in the same boat. If vB isn't willing to develop a CMS in an overseable timeframe (one year?) I will jump the boat.
Don't get me wrong, I really love the forum software! I currently have 7 vb licenses and I am ready to buy at least 5 CMS licenses on the day it is released. Instead of adding feature after feature in a single product already very feature-rich they should develop more products.

[void]

I would like to join the choir for requesting a basic CMS. I would be satisfied with some low-feeatured frontpage tool that lets me build static pages and place them in some dynamic drop down menus and that lets me place forum-stuff on them. Like blogs :)

Oh, I am gonna buy 2 blog licenses and 1 project license. But I sure need some integrated non-forumish-canned-looking CMS FRAMEWORK to replace my current frontpages.

[Zachery]

A long time is weeks now?
Just to make sure I clearify myself I was refering to Kiers original announcement


Next Update....

We are keen to keep you informed during the final stages of development of these new products. Keep an eye on the vBulletin announcement forum over the next few weeks for feature lists, screenshots and details of our plans for beta testing!

[---MAD---]

Lol, I know better then to believe everything that comes out of microsoft's mouth. I have used both and ended up going back to a real OS ... XP. This is off topic, if you want to continue this, we should do so in an off topic forum.
Ok then dont believe the people that make the product. That made me laugh.
The "negativity" as you call it is rightfully so, this wouldn't be the first time Jelsoft has said something was in the works only to get nothing. Just do your research and you'll see yourself... going back to my vbCMS example I mentioned in a post above, take look at this...



The above quote from Kier himself was from Oct 4th 2002, only about 5 years ago.

Or even take a look at this thread: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=108858 started by myself and answered by Zach stating it was in active development - this thread 3 years ago.

It's nothing to be negative about, but truthful. Jelsoft has time and time again mentioned "add-on's" to be in the works only to be handed nothing even after years of "active development". Don't get me wrong I'm not here for a CMS I'm ultimately here for the forum software and in fact own three owned licenses of vBulletin and love all three of them very much. vBulletin will probably be the only forum software I use for any site I run.

Getting back on topic this isn't negative but purely skeptical that's all.
I see your point but things get moved around the to do list quite a lot at vBulletin. Hopefully the project manager they use will use will solve this. I am not sure buy vBulletin seems to be a lot slower than IPB and other competitors (both free and paid software) when it comes to development. Maybe this is their strategy to see what works and what doesn't by looking at competitors and then improving upon it, who knows.

[Steve Machol]

FWIW Kier also posted the reasons that the CMS idea was abandoned at that time and apologized for the confusion. It was exactly this type of reaction that caused us to reconsider how and when we broadcast any future plans, and this thread confirms why that decision was made and why we became a LOT more cautious. :)

[---MAD---]

FWIW Kier also posted the reasons that the CMS idea was abandoned at that time and apologized for the confusion. It was exactly this type of reaction that caused us to reconsider how and when we broadcast any future plans, and this thread confirms why that decision was made and why we became a LOT more cautious. :)
Yeah I know. But I don't know if this is the place to discuss it or not, but don't you think this will be too much for the current number of developers to handle?

Bug fixing, testing, developing the forum software and now the 2 addon products + testing/bug fixining/developing staff tools and the website?

It just worries me slightly..

[Floris]

Yeah I know. But I don't know if this is the place to discuss it or not, but don't you think this will be too much for the current number of developers to handle?

Bug fixing, testing, developing the forum software and now the 2 addon products + testing/bug fixining/developing staff tools and the website?

It just worries me slightly..
If they can't do it, they will for example a) not do it, b) find a solution.
Thankfully customers don't have to worry about this, because this is the job for the CEO/Business manager and the developers to worry about.

Personally I don't worry.

[---MAD---]

If they can't do it, they will for example a) not do it, b) find a solution.
Thankfully customers don't have to worry about this, because this is the job for the CEO/Business manager and the developers to worry about.

Personally I don't worry.
They can't just "not do it", every part in development is important for each product ;).

And also, I must say, the support team is fantastic - I have seen an improvement in the support at vBulletin even though it has always been excellent ;). I guess our thanks goes to Steve and his support staff :).

[Tannim]

Ok then dont believe the people that make the product. That made me laugh.



The fact is, you should try the product out before forming opinions. I have done so and posted the findings. Laugh all you want :) I'm just glad I'm not an MS fanboi ;)

[WoodiE]

...this type of reaction that caused us to reconsider how and when we broadcast any future plans, and this thread confirms why that decision was made and why we became a LOT more cautious. :)

Hog wash, if you tell your customers 5 years ago you're working on something and then a few years later tell them you're still working on it and after all that time you've still got nothing I think that gives customers plenty of reason to speak up.

I'm all for product updates and like to hear that the company is actively working on the product I purchased and possibly other new products - false promises is what I'm NOT looking for.

At any rate it doesn't matter to me any more, after all this time I've since found a CMS solution that works very well. I'm just using this as an example of why I'm skeptical over any new add-ons being released. As far as I'm concerned so long as vBulletin continues to be in development than I'm happy - that's what I've purchased and that's all the concerns me at this time.


-Michael

[feldon23]

If you are worried about Jelsoft maintaining the Blog, Project Tools, and Forum and keeping them all compatible with each other, what are we going to do when there is a heavy-duty add-on like Gallery or CMS?

Don't you think this is why we have not seen these add-ons before? Because the forum software had to get more and more flexible to handle these add-ons? And the development requirements of the add-ons will lead Jelsoft to make the forum even better at handling add-ons.

[Steve Machol]

Hog wash, if you tell your customers 5 years ago you're working on something and then a few years later tell them you're still working on it and after all that time you've still got nothing I think that gives customers plenty