8 replies to this topic

[Frank Wulfers]

Our car site is about 2 years old now and we're thinking of expanding from a single car brand to a more general automotive site. vB5 is supposed to come out in 2012 but it will be a completely new system and all add-ons will have to be rewritten. I imagine it will take at least a year after the initial release of vB5 before many sites will be able to upgrade.

So it seems instead of waiting and going through the painful process of upgrading, perhaps now is a good time to switch to IPS. vb4 is finally stable and has some good features, it still feels a bit old when it comes to the user interface. CMS content is also a pretty clunky system and confuses search engines with duplicate content. There are a great number of add-ons for vB4 but integration can be clunky, developers come and go and there still isn't a good classifieds system available.

Because I am not very familiar with IPS, I am looking for some more information.

1. Will IPS meet our needs?

Our site would need these features:

• Community and personal blogs
• Garage
• Gallery
• Video sharing section (YouTube, Vimeo etc)
• Downloads
• Classifieds / Marketplace

From what I have seen so far, all of this is available with IPS. I understand the Garage, DownloadsII and Photopost Gallery and Classifieds on our current site will not convert over to IPS, sometimes to have to take a few steps back to make a larger leap forward for the longterm future.

2. What would be the best upgrade path?

1. Move our existing site content and current domain name (saabworld.net) to IPS and get that to work properly first. When everything is all set, change domain name to automobileworld.org.

2. Switch to the new domain on our vB4 site first and then move the site to IPS.

We use vBSEO on out site and it ranks pretty good in search engines. I am sure it is obvious but we really would like to keep the good search engine rankings.

3. CMS content

When you promote a personal blog article or forum post to a CMS article on vB4, you can choose to dupliacte the content or move the content from the forum to the CMS. Neither is perfect. Is this any different with the IPS software?

Any info will be greatly appreciated!

[Pete T]

1)
Community and personal blogs Yes it called IP.Blog and cost extra $50 but I believe can get discount with package.

http://www.invisionp.../products/blog/ more info there

Garage There is app done by third party by DevFuse Cost $35

http://www.devfuse.c...-garage-system/ more detail here

Gallery yes its called IP.Gallery and it's extra $65 but again believe might get discount with package

http://www.invisionp...roducts/gallery

Video sharing section (YouTube, Vimeo etc) I know of one maybe more it's third party add on by devfuse

http://www.devfuse.c...-videos-system/

Downloads yes it's called IP.Downloads Again it's paid $50 and might get discount.

Classifieds / Marketplace Yes you have few option can add IP.Nexus to IP.Downloads that create marketplace or search thou marketplace self see if add on you like.

2) best way use new domain in my view saves less work long run but but both ways is good

As for SEO there on here free when become part of the client side of IPS and very good called IP.Seo.

3) There few options can use IP.Content that paid version very good or there few other add on in marketplace but not used them.

If like find out what discount might get as package email [email protected] there happy help or maybe one staff might tell you on here.

[bfarber]

I just want to note, you may be able to contract someone to write you custom converters for the third party software you're talking about. You can look here to find a developer if you are interested:

http://community.inv...m_services.html

[Frank Wulfers]

Thanks for the repsonses. With the hosted plans, can you add additional apps from developers like the Garage System and different skins you purchase?

[Pete T]

Skins will not problem not sure about the third party apps unsure best email [email protected]

[ΑndyF]

As far as I understand it third party applications will be OK as long as they do not impact excessively on resources, which is unlikely.

[8central]

I'm doing some similar work to you. My VB sites are moving without regard for VB 5 since URLs will need to change with VB 5 unless you want them to remain without being user friendly. VB 4 was a disaster to be avoided and VBSEO was the only way to accomplish it, now discontinued.

The benefit I find here is that add-ons are already created - many of them and they are getting better. It will be light years until VB 5 gets addon support and I cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind would donate addons and plugins to VB 5. They are always changing things, adding items to the software to sell, etc. I'm not confident of that happening soon and am far more confident with what is here.

In addition, I've found that more is built into the software and you don't need addons (like thank you, reputation replacements, etc.)

[Frank Wulfers]

Looking back, I wish I chose Invision over vB4 two years ago but vB seemed to be the default choice and vB4 looked promising at that time.

With all the addons that needed to be purchased (vBSEO, Photopost Gallery and Classifieds, Garage) and all the others that needed to be installed and updated regularly, I can really appreciate an integrated package like Invision. Not too mention every vB update messed up the purchased skins which had to be updated, modifications reapplied and so on.

Especially a hosted Invision package seems like a no-brainer for a smaller site. On the other hand, our site is currently running great and going through the conversion and perhaps buying the Invision software with all applications ($350 or so) is something I am not looking forward to. I think for now, it is best to leave the site as is and maybe start with a new one with a hosted Invision package plan.

[Frank Wulfers]

After seeing the initial release of vB5, I doubt we'll ever upgrade..! IPB seems to be light years ahead of vB5 and confirms my desire to move from vB4 to vB5. I started a new site and, besides limited content, am very impressed with IPB.

Thanks for the support and feedback so far! Now I just have to decide if I want to move my existing site from vB4 to IPB but probably wait a while.