ubb buys wwwthreads

[The_Net_Muppet]

http://ubbforums.infopop.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=27&t=001747

Anyone seen this?, I never really liked wwwthreads anyway.

I also find it Ironic that ubb uses a new php wrapper

[Raz Meister]

Hmm..I wonder if Jelsoft have been approached by UBB's goons in suit?

[Martin]

that would be a clear admission that they were wrong about the direction of development and future of accessibility to PHP. I wouldn't hold my breath on it.

if they did, I'm sure John and James would give them the old "up yours" once they stopped laughing.

[Jake Bunce]

*yawn*

i'm hungry

[Valkyre]

UBB going to PHP? How did I not see that one coming

[fury]

They're not programming the thing in PHP, in a nutshell they basically gave it a PHP wrapper so they could use zlib compression. *yawns louder than Jakeman*

[The_Net_Muppet]

wwwthreads does suck, but it is actually a good move by Infopop to purchase it. Now they have a ubb, Opentopic (which is worse than wwwthreads), and now a php based board. It also integrates with Gossamer-mail

[Jake Bunce]

Originally posted by fury
*yawns louder than Jakeman*

you mock me sir!

[Skeptical]

It's obvious that the sale of ubb is going down the tube (look at the fall sale they've got going on in their home page). There are a few reasons for this, as I'm sure most of you know.

Anyways, now that they're finally waking up and "probably" doing a php/sql port, I will encourage Jelsoft to watch them carefully and keep a step ahead of them. vB is currently light years ahead in features and scalability, and I'd love to keep it that way.

[IanMFT]

ya know....

As a poster at ArsTechnica(OpenTopic) and [H]ard|OCP(vBulletin), I've come quite accustomed to both systems.

Let me say that I have HIGH respect for Infopop's OpenTopic. As I go to their IRC channel a lot, i got to ask Caesar (the owner) some questions about OT and I'm not going to quote him, but OT can handle the traffic of 10000+ users at once (there are more then that on the Ars forums, I'm sure).

Now, on [H]ard|OCP, the forums can be quite slow at times (granted, they probably have to upgrade the server). Noth that I dislike vB, christ, own a liscence.

however, IP have done somethings well...IMHO, OT is one of them. Yes, it is expensive, BUT if you get in their Beta program you get a large discount.

Just MHO, but I think IP gets a lot of unwarranted bashing around here (And I'm a huge vB fanboy saying this).

to quote Fight Club

I say forget about all that stuff. Lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may

[samtha25]

W3T is actually a pretty nice script and runs some impressive boards, but lacks notably vBulletin's template system. The developer, who will continue with what is now called UBBThreads, will be focusing on developing a template system and improving the ease of use. Infopop's executives and staff posted some interesting messages in the W3T forums after the announcement, saying, in part, that they don't know how a small company (25 employees) like them became the evil empire of the BB world and professing their desire to learn from W3T, which has always had a very nice relationship with its users. Of course, they then ignored everyone's comments/suggestions/complaints about some of the decisions, such as using OT instead of W3T for the support forums.

It's obvious, to me anyway, that InfoPop is looking for a PHP competitor to vBulletin and with W3T, they will have a nice headstart on one. I wouldn't yawn over a challenge from InfoPop. UBB has a very large installed base from which Jelsoft draws many of its customers. Yet, many of those people may prefer to stay with a company they know. Infopop has also shown that they know how to develop very easy to use software for the masses. OTOH, Infopop is saying that they see the target market for UBBThreads to be small-to-medium boards, while they see UBB as a product for the low-end of the market. (I will be surprised, however, if UBB doesn't go by the wayside fairly soon.) The pricing of UBBThreads is not geared toward the hobbyist, with $229 for a license, $125 a year annual renewal, and $229 a year for support.

Anyway, it's fun to watch the developments. Gossamer Threads is mounting its own formidable challenge with new BB software that is the latest piece in its long-term plan to provide an integrated set of Web site development tools with a single user authenication.

[Pilot]

UBBThreads could eventually become a major challenger to VB.

However this changeover period is a perfect time to capture the W3T users who are worried about the future and the UBB users who can see a migration in prospect anyway.

Perhaps a discount for "trading in" your old UBB or W3T license would be the way to go.

[tubedogg]

IMHO our greatest strength in the coming months is going to be IP screwing themselves over with their "support" and attitude. UBB's installed base has been eroding for months and it will only continue and intensify as W3T owners start running once they get a taste of IP's attitude.

Let me say that I have HIGH respect for Infopop's OpenTopic. As I go to their IRC channel a lot, i got to ask Caesar (the owner) some questions about OT and I'm not going to quote him, but OT can handle the traffic of 10000+ users at once (there are more then that on the Ars forums, I'm sure).

If vB used Oracle we'd be able to do that too.

[Martin]

Originally posted by samtha25
Gossamer Threads is mounting its own formidable challenge with new BB software that is the latest piece in its long-term plan to provide an integrated set of Web site development tools with a single user authenication.

I'm probably speaking out of turn here, but it's been alluded to already, so what the hell. I wouldn't be too surprized if this is the direction that vBulletin takes in the near future...

[samtha25]

Originally posted by Martin
I'm probably speaking out of turn here, but it's been alluded to already, so what the hell. I wouldn't be too surprized if this is the direction that vBulletin takes in the near future...

It's been said by some of the developers that that is the direction they are looking at. GT has a big headstart, though. If I were Jelsoft, I'd be talking to the folks who make In-Links (a very nice script) about a partnership, but then I'm not Jelsoft.