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I am brand new and would like opinions on how vBulletin compares to IPB ver. 1.3 Also, how would one convert?
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I use both vBulletin and IP.Board and they are both great forum solutions. Jelsoft does have faster support than IPS in most cases from what I've seen, though. You'll have to try each one for yourself by using the demo to see which best fits your needs, and then make your decision from there.
Should you want to convert from IPB v1.3 to vBulletin 3.6.4, you would need to use ImpEx, which as stated can be downloaded from the Member's Area after purchasing vBulletin.
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I just found out that IPB changed their pricing shcemes and licensing system once again. By the looks at their prices, it seems like the IPB folks want to cater into the business and enterprise class and has become much more expensive than vBulletin.
For the Standard license, it's $149 for half a year of support and updates. After that it's another 25$ for 6 more months. So it's $149 + $25 = $174 for one year of support. Meanwhile vBulletin you get a license and one year of support for $160. The IPB Business license is just way too much for my taste. I purchased an IPB Perpetual license back in Jan of this year (1) and now I have no idea what's the status of my license and where it belongs and how to get support. I need to send the IPB folks an email soon. To the best of my knowledge, this is the third time Invision change their pricing structures in a little over two years. With vBulletin you don't have to worry about this issue and wondering about the status of your license for the forseeable future.
I own two vB lifetime licenses and one IPB perpetual license. IMO, I like vB much, much better than IPB 2.1.7 (I have no knowledge of the 2.2.xx so I can't comment on it).
(1) Back then, with IPB Perpetual license you have one year of support and access to all future IPB versions beyond the initial year for free. I wonder if I can upgrade my IPB 2.1.7 to 2.2.1 without a $25 or $50 fee or not.Comment
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The difference is you do not need to pay the $25 for support for 6 months until you need it. Its not a forced option. Some people have almost zero problems with their forums and likely will rarely ever have to pay an extra $25. And if they do need help, they just post a request for help on a site affiliated with that type of forum software. Unless its something very forum specific. The perpetual license used to be $185....PLUS you still would have to pay another $30 per year for support. The new license structure, even with 1 year of support (which is not required, but even with it), makes it cheaper than the old perpetual license cost with cost of support per year.
IPB 2.2 is considerably better than 2.1. Try IPB 2.2 and VB 3.6 and make up your mind that way with what you feel will best suit your needs.Comment
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Wow! Thanks for all the fast replies.
I am going to have to consider what I need to do.
I have had Zero problems in the past 4 years or so of running IPB...would be nice to upgrade but it's been running fine and I have even found mods that I have had zero problems installing. I have a very limited coding background but it's been enough to keep me from ever considering contacting the support for IPB.
That being said, I like how refined the later versions of IPB and vBulletin have become...not being one to sit and tweak for weeks and weeks (not to mention I am not a great PHP guy) I really think I would be ok just getting the newer version without any support...but then if I have to buy a license to access the migration program then I will have to contemplate the next step.Comment
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Impex (the tool used to convert IPB to vBulletin) is included when you buy a vBulletin license.Comment
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I decided to buy vBulletin after a long time of thinking. Why did I?- The pricing is better and cheaper in the longer term for vBulletin
- I don't like how IPB are removing features, changing to higher prices
- vBulletin's support is superior to IPB's, faster, and also IPB doesn't even have a pre-sales forum, they require you to email or call them
- I feel overall vBulletin is a better investment.
I also like the professional style of vBulletin, its features, its use of AJAX, it seem to be more powerful, more plugins, easier customized skinning/theming and so forth.Comment
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What features has IPB been removing? I've seen far more being added than taken away. IPB is considered the more professional looking of the 2 forum software. I have seen things done with IPB skins I have YET to see done with Vbulletin skins. IPB uses Ajax and is equally as powerful. I use both forum software and I find IPB's skinning to be much more detail oriented. IMO to an extent thats a good thing. I have been able to do much more with IPB's skinning than VB's. Vbulletin is too 'tabled' and less flexible.
I'm a bit more advanced at the 2 forums so both skinning systems more me are generally easy. And if worse comes to worse, just read the documentation. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. And they both seem to like to 'borrow' from each other. So if you see something popular on IPB, you will likely see it on an upcoming version of VB. Same for IPB. If you see a popular feature on VB, odds are in a future version of IPB it will be added. Mostly due to customer demand for both. Both have improved in various areas.Comment
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An example is the Card feature, which was great, but they removed it because they think it is "unneeded" but some people might think it is useful and might wanna use it. Also I don't like IPB's new style, their attitude.
vBulletin is better, that's it. I know lots about forums, and that is what I know after I have checked both of them. Al thought IPB's default style is kinda nice but I know you can skin vBulletin more easily, and IPB styles looks too much like eachother. I prefer vBulletin.Comment
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In my experience, vBulletin is certainly easier to maintain with added mods through the product / plugin system. I used ipb and remember wading through lines of code modifications to do the simplest things and eventually got fed up. Also if you use a unique design in my own opinion it is much more difficult to convert your skin with each upgrade as ipb tends to change dramatically in that area frequently. Of course both systems are great at what they do and it boils down to personal preference. Try asking opinions outside a vbulletin or invision forum though for more balanced views.Comment
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Here's a poll on a relatively impartial site: http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440565
To be honest I was surprised at the result, since I expected there to be a lot more people going for one of the free options.Best Regards
Colin Frei
Please don't contact me per PM.Comment
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I own a license for both and I personally perfer vbulletin plugin system. The most annoying thing is plugins of IPB you need to install a 3rd party mod to be able to quick install mods.
I also personally perfer the admin section of vb over ipb. I perfer the vertical menu where everything is one big list. It frustrated me to search through a whole bunch of menus for what i want.
The best skins I have ever seen are for phpBB. I havnt gotten a chance to play with IPB skinning as much though.Comment
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