vBulletin vs. IPB

[FreshFroot_]

We'll admit that we have been a little slow lately with staff taking some vacations and handling life's issues that seem to crop up. However the primary support channel is not our forums. It is the ticket system and that is handled first. When we're done with that we have will handle the forums as we can. If it is an urgent issue then you should open a ticket. For the forums we rely on member-helping-member cooperation though we try to handle as many questions as we can. Those of us still working are dealing with 10-12 hour days and we still do have our own families to think about. So we do have to prioritize on some things. Tickets win out in this case.

Ya I had a feeling some staff was on vacation earlier. As for the suppor tickets, I wasn't aware that they are primary use for support.

Thanks for clearing that bit up.

[Chousho]

<snip>

Very good post! Brings up several thoughts that I (and maybe others) hadn't even realized. Thanks for posting it!

[apentz]

As someone trying to decide between the two, it didn't escape m notice that vb actually uses its software on its website and ipb doesn't from what i can tell.

[MRGTB]

I've admined and moderated a few large forums, powered by both vB and IPB, so this post will be based off of the experiences I had in those times. Obviously picking the software for your community is mostly a personal preference, but I feel that I could be of some help in comparing the two....


<<edit: we really don't need to quote the entire post for a one line response>>

Nice post, and you make some very good comparisons too

[TruthElixirX]

Nice post, and you make some very good comparisons too

Thanks for quoting a 200 page novel for a one line response.

[MRGTB]

it was worth quoting

[Assim]

I will take your word for it Zach!

I just have never seen one, nor heard of one.

They don't have to be big company forums, I've seen some myself, whether it's this way or that way, you can compare vBulletin with IPB, it's like comparing a skyscraper and an ant.

[FreshFroot_]

They don't have to be big company forums, I've seen some myself, whether it's this way or that way, you can compare vBulletin with IPB, it's like comparing a skyscraper and an ant.

seems like all NHL teams are using Invision Board, not even one is using a vbulletin sadly.. I told my team to get a vB, but they said they heard more stuff about IPB.

[Floris]

NHF Boards fans board uses vB hfboards.com/index.php - they're a huge vB Fan (are even use our chat network) and have millions of posts.

It's always the same with these threads .. we have a lot of baseball official forums, they have a lot of official NHL forums, we have a lot of control panel forums, they have a lot of yahoo forums, we have a lot of x, they y ..

But in the end it seems that 75% and more of the biggest forums on the net are either moving or have moved to vBulletin. Or simply chosen vBulletin in the first place. And from the tickets on both support, sales, and import I don't notice a decrease in this.

[Zenith]

The thing that always has, and always will, keep me with vBulletin is Jelsoft's open-ness in allowing threads like this, i.e. open debate about the pros and cons of other competing products, to appear on their own forum un-moderated.

The same cannot be said for other products, IPB among them. Going back over 7 years to vBulletin's infancy, InfoPop felt threatened.... http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=608

I have a couple of vB licenses, and an IPB license. I've used IPB very little and have not yet put up a live site using it, so have little to say on the functionality comparisons, but on my few visits to IPBs support forums early in the piece after having purchased a license, the attitudes of the developers to competition were clear to see and discouraged me pretty quickly.

To me, seeing that vBulletin's developers have enough confidence in their own product to allow on their own website open comparisons with their competitors, is a big selling point, and a big PLUS for vBulletin.

[Steve Machol]

To me, seeing that vBulletin's developers have enough confidence in their own product to allow on their own website open comparisons with their competitors, is a big selling point, and a big PLUS for vBulletin.

I'd like to thank you for pointing this out. This is something that a lot of fans of other systems tend to ignore, even when they are asked directly about this.

[Synda]

I do not know why we are talking about which billion dollar company uses what because if you recall to the original post, AleinBEEN said that he has 4000 members, not 40,000,000. So it does not matter if Sony uses vBulletin or Nokia uses IPB, what this man needs to know is which is going to be more user friendly and be able to suit his needs the best.

EDIT: Wow, I guess I didn't realize the last date of a reply! Sorry!

[LuckyMe]

I've lurked on these forums for a loooooong time, but I just had to register so I could chime in here.

I've had IPB licenses for several years and I toughed it out, but you know what? I finally got sick of it and sold them all off. Invision constantly lies and changes their terms on a whim. They say one thing, do it for a bit, then change their mind and totally change everything a few months later. They are the king of vaporware with products announced YEARS ago that still either aren't available or don't function nearly as described. Their lack of integrity, their licensing, their prices, and they way they treat their customers like dirt (IMHO) disgusted me. I got to where I finally could no longer in good conscience stomach giving them another cent of my money.

I am VERY happy with my switch to VB and the MUCH better supportive atmosphere the staff present here! This thread is a testament to the professionalism of the vBulletin team. Invision is infamous for heavily censoring any criticism of them in their customer forums. Conversely, Jelsoft is mature enough to let people express their opinions because their product and their professionalism speaks for itself.


BTW.. there are many more huge (website) forums out there with tens of millions of posts that run beautifully on VB than there are running IPB. So the whole "corporations using it" thing is pointless IMO. How many people on here are actually looking to buy forum software for their fortune 500 company anyway? Gimme a friggin break.

[Balthasorus]

I am Equal between both providers. It just depends on what Bells and tools you want on a forum and what you will use it for

Vbulletin and IPB are just as good as each other.

And by the way, I could care-less on what so called "Multi Million" Dollar company uses it. We all have our own oppinions

I accually made this thread: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...55#post1436455

Its a poll for IPB and VB but there was some Up's and down's.

I Have an IPB just useing there server but i think there support forums suck. Becuase they wont even let you post in "Pre-Sales Questions" And if you email them they wont respond(Atleast with my expierences).

[Comtech]

I Have an IPB just useing there server but i think there support forums suck. BEcuase they wont even let you post in "Pre-Sales Questions" And if you email them they wont respond(Atleast with my expierences).

IPB technically has no pre-sales forum and thus no forums to ask questions before purchasing. I give this a negative 20 points. vBulletin does itself a lot of good by allowing past, present and future members (sometimes even pirates!) the right to speak on the pros, cons - etc of vbulletin.

IPB - well, they are not fond of communities discussing their product in a negative light. I once wrote about leaving for vBulletin - years back...and they banned me right away. But, for some strange reason I am back at IPB and I will wait until 3.7 or 4.0 before buying another vBulletin license.