What Makes vbulletin better then others?

[CampinCarl]

What features of vbulletin are there that arent in other forums? Im currently using php 2.0.23 and its a bugg peice of crap, so im looking to get new forum. Its a close call between vbulletin and smf, so im looking to see what makes vbulletin so much better.

[Floris]

You can check our announcement forums, some releases have detailed examples of new features. You can also check http://www.vBulletin.com/features.php

One of vBulletin's biggest features is that it's coded by professional developers, hired to do a good job. They keep performance, usability, scalability, security and functionality + features and their full fledged control over options and forum/usergroup permissions in mind. Creating a flexible forum, that's not - to say it like you did - bug poc.

[Coreye]

You may want to read these threads on why others choose VB and what unique features VB has.

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264557
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264657
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264792
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=265634

[Ohiosweetheart]

Over and above being the one of - if not THE - best and most secure forum scripts available is the fact that vB has the best staff of developers, customer service reps, and other employees, of any other company out there.

They will always bend over backwards (well, they would if they could) to help you, whether the problem is on the vB end or the user end. I am so impressed with how Kier went out of his way to solve a small problem on my test board, that there's no way I'd stray from vB. :D

[Chase]

Simply put it this way.

It's worth every cent.

[CampinCarl]

does it keep the porn spammers out?

i have big issues with all of those damn spammers


and also, is it easy to make templates for? i need to make sure my forum ties in nicely with the rest of my site

[Fusion]

does it keep the porn spammers out?

i have big issues with all of those damn spammers


and also, is it easy to make templates for? i need to make sure my forum ties in nicely with the rest of my site
If you take a few basic precautions spammers aren't a problem even if they manage to sign up.
Those steps involve moderating posts of new users and not allowing them the use of the PM system, post URLs, etc. You can make their lives as difficult as you want to.

Templates are easy to make, yes, all it takes is some basic knowledge of HTML, and everything is very well documented.

[Floris]

does it keep the porn spammers out?

i have big issues with all of those damn spammers


and also, is it easy to make templates for? i need to make sure my forum ties in nicely with the rest of my site
Spammers can still sign up as a normal person, like everybody else and then start spamming. This is basically impossible to fight. But yes, there are tools to fight new users spamming on forums in 3.7 including support for Akismet. And during registration you have various means to block automated bots. There are also flood tools in place to help fight bots flooding the forums with msgs.

[CampinCarl]

ok

and my lsat question is; Is there a free version for me to use for a tempory period of time? because before I spend 160 bucks, I need to have a template set up and ready to go asap. and are there any tutorials on how to do it? I know how to make phpbb 2.0.x forum skins no problem, but I dont know if its the same with vb.

[Steve Machol]

Unfortunately due to the visible source nature of PHP (the programming language vBulletin is written in), sending out trial copies is not a feasible option, as any limitations we put in could be very easily circumvented.

We do have a live demo of vBulletin, including full access to the admin control panel. You can set one up for your own use from this page (the demo automatically expires after 24 hours):

http://www.vbulletin.com/admindemo.php

You can also download a test script to run on your server to see if it's compatible with vBulletin. You can get this script here:

http://files.vbulletin.com/vb_test.zip

The instructions for this are in this thread:

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=181384

[TitanKing]

You cannot go wrong with VB, it is the leader PHP application! You cannot compare SMF with VB, it has hundreds more to offer. SMF is not bad make no mistake, it is good, however, it is hard to match up with VB. Once you use it, you will never go back to anything else.

[Razasharp]

Things people like about vBulletin (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=264672)

[CampinCarl]

thanks to this topic ima buy VB later today! very soon :D

thanks for your help. Ill be sure to bug you with more simple questions in the future ;D

[Thomas P]

Stability and scalability.