51 replies to this topic

[Luis Manson]

Hi all, im using VB4+CMS+vbseo on my site, (17K users, 10K thread) and i took a look to ip.board and im reaaaaly interested on migrating over to it, but to be honest my users are not very happy with it, so im asking here why should i move, i dont wanna look like a troll or start any flame war, just asking ppl which were on the same situation or really knows about VB and IPB

like a pro/cons list, no more no less, im really scared about harming the community with the site change....before VB i used SMF
Im also open to some links, maybe i didnt made the best work searching for this kind of threads

PS i didnt find a best forum to post

[ørret]

Considering this is a IPB forum, I'd recommend vB. (Irony)

[Luis Manson]

lol i know posting here is a biased idea, but i also posted on vb's site just to get both sides of the picture, in the software subject there is not too many neutral people ;p

[optrexnz]

luis,

It took me 6 months to get into IPB, I didn't really like it and kept revisiting and having a play but didn't really put my heart into it.
Then I took the plunge and moved 2 boards. Its the single best thing I've ever done for my communities.

The benefits far outweigh the losses and users get used to the change very quickly. Even more so if you use a similar skin design.
To have seo, gallery, nexus marketplace, downloads etc ALL covered by support from one company is great - non of this its xyz's problem not ours when you get a bug.

I went back to vB version 4 recently for a test board with 4.0.x and used it for a while, thinking it would be a cheap option to get a community started. It was so bad that after 3 months I shelved it and decided to save for a 3rd IPB license.

I've got used to IPB now and I love it, its great software, you just need to approach it with an open mind

[Midnight Modding]

Well more and more are choosing IPB now. I personally don't dislike anything with IPB except I hope the skin looks better for 3.2. I learned some programming and have made some apps so I am sticking with this software and hope to find some people wanting me to make them some apps soon. I haven't thought of enough ideas for public release of them. Only a couple I may release publicly.

[dieselpowered]

They are both good pieces of software, go with what you like best and have at it. I have three vb boards and decided to give IPB another try on a fourth board.

Best of luck, regardless of which one you choose you will find bugs in both, don't get too frustrated, I know I am trying not to, lol.

[Luis Manson]

optrexnz what would you say you had lose migrating?
thanks mmmodding

diesel, anything you could criticize on ipb or VB?

[Echelon One]

I was in your same situation about 6 months ago... I made the change, and gradually purchased the whole IP applications over the months, recently I picked up the IP.Blog for $35..

Now, IPB vs vB, vBulletin 4 is just far behind in many ways compared to IPB. If you look at vBulletin 4 from an outside point of view, you would soon see why so many are dumping vB4. IB (Internet Brands) took on vBulletin and without even telling their users added customers in to their own Google account, yes vBulletin customers are making revenue for Internet Brands, many don't even know that now. Then check vBulletin's latest level of bug's.. bear in mind that it's been released well over a year ago and if you click here you see how many bugs there still is unresolved!!!

If that doesn't convince you then perhaps this will.. - they brought in the vBcms as an addon for the vBulletin forum, and it's the biggest nightmare of all. Let's look at how it works and why people are dropping it. For example say you had 10 articles showing all nicely on your front page, and in each article you had put an image in which for this example are 200k each. Now, if you check your front page and find it loads quite slow when loading on an empty cache, reason is those images on your front page are not thumbnails they are actually your full-sized images!!! So, those 10 articles with 200k image files attached are producing a 2Mb download instantly on your front page, then add to that anything else you are displaying and the minimum of 100+ SQL queries per page and you have one serious piece of useless junk that's not helping you out in anyway. In fact if you look at the free vBadvanced CMPS, that only uses between 20-30 queries, which is why vBulletin users are switching off the vBcms and using a free alternative. That's bad news...

I still deal with people that run vBulletin 4, there is much work that needs doing to it - and what most people say is it should never been released in the state, unless it was still in beta now. If you want a forum script that is running along the same lines as Microsoft did awhile ago then you buy vBulletin, because all they do is release test versions to customers and rely on their input to fix bugs, not that it looks like it, but if you consider the bug rate was in excess of 1,700 not so long ago, they are making some progress in that department. They have already mentioned vB5 - they have yet to get vB4 to a suitable working state and then they will want yet more money off their customers. Oh wait, they will be giving them a discount! Even with a discount, you will not get your money's worth and it may look cheaper than IPB, but if you do the maths its actually dearer...

Oh well, back to my IPB...

[optrexnz]

The only losses were a couple of features around vbseo and a few weeks while google reindexed everything. Other than that all good.
Like http://community.inv...77#entry2067077 when you post a link instead of a nice neat Vbulletin or IP.Board

The other features that I lost at the time have been put into the current version as the staff at IPB listen to feedback.
Redirects and conversions covered most things for a smooth transition.

The only major thing I could do with is a competition voting system in the gallery, but thats being revamped and due out soon, so hopefully it can be looked at after the initial release

[dieselpowered]

I am going to play devils advocate for a second...I am not a fanboy of either, so do not take it that way.

While yes it is true that vb 4.X has bugs, so does IPB 3.1.4...most of the bugs I have found in IPB 3.1.4 are missing phrases, however, they are very visible to the end user.

Ok devils advocate complete.

Now between vb 4.X and IPB 3.1.4, I feel that IPB is much more tightly integrated...this was a big one for me. I think that vb is easier to design skins for, atleast that is the impression I get from my designer.

I look forward to a new IPB layout with 3.5 as well as the new gallery system...vb needs to come up with a gallery system, the album system just is not going to cut it. I do like the new vb attachment system where it stores all your attachments so if you ever want to attach the image to another post, you can just go into the asset manager and select the image. No looking around on your computer for it, it is already there. Not to mention, it is not a duplicate image on the server taking up space.

For the vbCMS vs the IP Content, lol well can't give much input as I have NO idea how IP Content works...not sure, maybe I am not smart enough to figure it out.

As I said, they are both good...I am looking forward to building my new site with the IPB Suite.

[optrexnz]

I've used both vba and ip.content. The latter is a lot more flexible and this becomes another of the vb 3rd party addons that is inhouse with IPB

Another benefit is IPB's spam service - works wonders when things like recaptcha get compromised.

[3DKiwi]

While yes it is true that vb 4.X has bugs, so does IPB 3.1.4...most of the bugs I have found in IPB 3.1.4 are missing phrases, however, they are very visible to the end user.

I'm not aware of any missing phrases.

3DKiwi

[dieselpowered]

I'm not aware of any missing phrases.

3DKiwi

Really? I have found quite a few, several within the blog as well as one in the notification options on IPB.

[Iridescent]

I was using vBulletin before I changed to IPB. Had a lot of spam bots registering even though had a few anti-spam modifications installed (apparently, it's terrible), and a few hacking attempts. After I changed to IPB, my forum members were all very happy with the new IPB features, and thanks to IPB's spam service featured installed, there wasn't any spam bots and hacking attempts anymore.

Never regretting getting IPB since then. I only regretted getting vB in the first place.

[dieselpowered]

Oh one thing to consider also is the support.

You have to renew your license every six months here in order to get support (even in the forums) whereas it is not like that with vb. With vb, even if you license runs out, you can still get support on the forums.

Take it for what its worth, now go buy the ipb software

In regards to the spam service, I have only used it shortly, however, it banned one of my sponsors...so not sure how much I like that, lol.

[Collin S.]

I do like the new vb attachment system where it stores all your attachments so if you ever want to attach the image to another post, you can just go into the asset manager and select the image. No looking around on your computer for it, it is already there. Not to mention, it is not a duplicate image on the server taking up space.

We've had that feature for quite some time.
http://community.inv...rea=attachments

Oh one thing to consider also is the support.

You have to renew your license every six months here in order to get support (even in the forums) whereas it is not like that with vb. With vb, even if you license runs out, you can still get support on the forums.

If you prefer tickets, keep in mind that theirs is $80/Year and ours is $25/6 months.

[motowebmaster]

I'm still using vb3.8 with vbSEO on some sites, never have used my vb4 license.

vbSEO is the one strong benefit of a vb-based forum. Other than that, IPB is hard to beat. I'm using only IP.Gallery and IP.Content with IP.Board, and as previously pointed out the integration is much tighter than anything I've worked with. One of my vb sites would benefit from the automated mobile-detection features of IPB Products.

That being said, my busiest vb site wouldn't appreciate a move to IPB unless I showed some immediate improvements AND maintained the existing look/feel. It's possible to do, but there isn't yet a motivating factor to make the change. Users on that site are happy with vb and PhotoPost.

Hope this helps.

[dieselpowered]

We've had that feature for quite some time.
http://community.inv...rea=attachments

But what can I do with that but delete them? If I go into a topic or post and want to add one of those images again, I need to re-upload, yes? Or maybe I am missing something, which would be great! I do really like the flash uploaded though!

For example, in vb if I attach an image to a thread and 6 months later want to attach that image to another thread, I do not need to reattach, I simply go into the asset manager (the same window that comes up when you attach an image) and select that image. No need to upload again.

Dont get me wrong, I really like IPB and prefer it now to vb, just trying to give info on either side

[Quillz]

I own licenses to both and find that both get the job done and are well worth the money. Try each out and use the one you like better.

[dieselpowered]

Right there with you Nidoking. When it comes to the ipb vs vb discussion, ask 100 people get 100 different answers, lol.

Now go buy ipb, cause I think I have more faith in their development plans.