Can someone tell me why I should buy xenForo

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Phil1ooo

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Hello

I am in need of another forum script as I have been using free forums for around 4yrs now and there times seems to have passed now.

Can anyone tell me why or what the benefits are in buying a script over using some of the many free ones that provide very good support, add-ons, themes etc and mostly for free as well.

What will this script give or provide me that other free ones won't?
From what I can see this price for a forum compared to free ones would have to provide a super fantastic forum which allows for multi forum sign-up and sign-ins, security features beyond the normal free ones coded in, mods to be installed using an inbuilt installer in admin panel and so much more.

After comparing the demo with my current script and those of other free forum scripts and finding that xenForo doesn't really offer anything special or different than what other free forums scripts do and in fact they offer much much less when it comes to usability features and controls so why should I pay so much for is available totally free.

From what I have seen the add-ons are no better and in fact do less and yet charged for.

I am asking anyone who is capable of proving to me that paying this much and even anything at all for this xenForo script is far better than using a free forum script which offers more than xenforo does from what I can see so far.

Your comments please.

NOTE; This is not an attack or what ever you may wish to call in on xenforo or it's script as I am not that kind of person.

I do however want to know what the differences are between using a free or paid forum as I am genuinely looking for a new forum script.

Cheers
 
Hello

I am in need of another forum script as I have been using free forums for around 4yrs now and there times seems to have passed now.

Can anyone tell me why or what the benefits are in buying a script over using some of the many free ones that provide very good support, add-ons, themes etc and mostly for free as well.

What will this script give or provide me that other free ones won't?
From what I can see this price for a forum compared to free ones would have to provide a super fantastic forum which allows for multi forum sign-up and sign-ins, security features beyond the normal free ones coded in, mods to be installed using an inbuilt installer in admin panel and so much more.

After comparing the demo with my current script and those of other free forum scripts and finding that xenForo doesn't really offer anything special or different than what other free forums scripts do and in fact they offer much much less when it comes to usability features and controls so why should I pay so much for is available totally free.

From what I have seen the add-ons are no better and in fact do less and yet charged for.

I am asking anyone who is capable of proving to me that paying this much and even anything at all for this xenForo script is far better than using a free forum script which offers more than xenforo does from what I can see so far.

Your comments please.

NOTE; This is not an attack or what ever you may wish to call in on xenforo or it's script as I am not that kind of person.

I do however want to know what the differences are between using a free or paid forum as I am genuinely looking for a new forum script.

Cheers

Only really you can be the judge of that. You should try the xenforo demo and experience what you find is better in xf than in other free forum software but for me what won me over were

- Styling system is superior
- updating your styles when a xenforo update comes couldn't be easier
- Navigation UI is perfectly deployed and makes things easier to get every day tasks done.
- Easy to use admincp

There is more I could list but you would need to try the demo and find what you find is better in xenforo over the free based software as everyone's specifications/preferences are different.
 
I did which is why I asking this question. I compared it to 4 other free ones and 2 won hands down which is why I can here asking what is so different that I could explain paying that cost plus the cost of the add-ons.

Cheers
 
I said yes because it is very well designed, despite his young age.
  • prefix discussion in the kernel, not as on phpbb, which is a "Mods(QTE)" installation by hand takes an hour and is still buger.
  • A new answer, it brings you directly, without going through the first page.
  • add-ons is just shoot and play (plug and play:p)
  • ditto for the upgrading
  • the "I Love" is very useful to motivate members to participate
  • bugs are resolved very quickly
  • developers discuss with us :D
  • etc...
 
I said yes because it is very well designed, despite his young age.
  • prefix discussion in the kernel, not as on phpbb, which is a "Mods(QTE)" installation by hand takes an hour and is still buger.

Hate to tell you this but I know the phpbb as I am also currently testing it out and it took me 5 mins to install and I had in your hour as you say it all my boards up and running.
Question; Why would you install it by hand when it only takes a minute through the installer. OMG
 
I did which is why I asking this question. I compared it to 4 other free ones and 2 won hands down which is why I can here asking what is so different that I could explain paying that cost plus the cost of the add-ons.

Cheers

I've listed some of the reasons in my opening post. The features/functions another example of beautifully implemented functionality which is somewhat simple and overlooked to the eye and would go unnoticed I find nice that I don't see anywhere else.

I want to change my avatar. I just hover over the usercp, click the avatar link *avatar overlay pops up I just find my avatar on my hardrive and upload and I didn't have to leave this page. It's those little touches the devs implement that are subtle, yet they don't force you to navigate. Same with stack alerts, your bottom of the page reading a thread unable to see the navigation alerts and you get an alert then a subtle alert fades in briefly and fades out giving you enough time to alert you that you have an alert but not being intrusive in disrupting your reading.

Same with post a status update (which works like avatars) you are not forced to leave pages. Those touches throughout and the way it's developed set xenforo apart with it's excellent thought out build quality.
 
Hate to tell you this but I know the phpbb as I am also currently testing it out and it took me 5 mins to install and I had in your hour as you say it all my boards up and running.
Question; Why would you install it by hand when it only takes a minute through the installer. OMG
Mods QTE
About this MOD
Title:​
Quick Title Edition

Description:​
That MOD ensures to add an attribute, generally called tag or prefix, like [Solved], to the topics titles.

Version:​
1.2.1
Installation level:​
Advanced
Installation time:​
~60 minutes
Author notes:​
That MOD works on all database systems supported by phpBB3 and requires PHP 5.2.0 or greater.
If your webhost uses a lower version, an alternative fix is available in the "Support" part of the MOD.
the omg you speak is a tool that is added by hand :D and do not included in the core phpbb ... and above all it is not compatible with all the "Mods phpbb"
 
Hate to tell you this but I know the phpbb as I am also currently testing it out and it took me 5 mins to install and I had in your hour as you say it all my boards up and running.
Question; Why would you install it by hand when it only takes a minute through the installer. OMG
Because AutoMod does not always handle style changes well. If you are using prosilver or similar style, you can use automod to install styles without problems unless there are conflicts between mods. But if you are using different style, you might run into issues.

XenForo's add-on system is years ahead of anything other forum software have, including phpBB 3.1 that has plug-in system (hasn't been released yet). Possibility of conflicts between add-ons doesn't exist. Possibility of add-on/style conflict is minor (close to none if add-on author reuses XenForo templates).

Add-ons are very easy to install and uninstall - just upload few files, upload add-on's xml file and click install button. No need to edit anything.

Because of how XF is written, add-ons can change almost anything without modifying core files. No other forum software can do that yet.
 
Just a few reasons: The software is just state of the art, always improving, very quick, easy to use, there just very few bugs or security problems - and these bugs and problems are solved quickly and straightforward by programmers who just know what they are doing. The communication between customers and the staff is very good - actually, if xenforo lost the trial, I had no idea what to do ... probably I would have used xenforo for the next couple of years. So if you ask me: Xenforo is actually a bargain for what you get.
 
Because AutoMod does not always handle style changes well. If you are using prosilver or similar style, you can use automod to install styles without problems unless there are conflicts between mods. But if you are using different style, you might run into issues.

XenForo's add-on system is years ahead of anything other forum software have, including phpBB 3.1 that has plug-in system (hasn't been released yet). Possibility of conflicts between add-ons doesn't exist. Possibility of add-on/style conflict is minor (close to none if add-on author reuses XenForo templates).

Add-ons are very easy to install and uninstall - just upload few files, upload add-on's xml file and click install button. No need to edit anything.

Because of how XF is written, add-ons can change almost anything without modifying core files. No other forum software can do that yet.
This was one of the main reasons I initially looked into moving away from phpBB3. Updating was becoming a nightmare with ~10 add-ons installed. Even using the auto update, each time there were still file conflicts, and wasn't 100% sure merging / over writing was working correctly.
 
Thanks For your Comments. I appreciate the different feedbacks as it all helps towards making a decision.

Because of how XF is written, add-ons can change almost anything without modifying core files. No other forum software can do that yet.
YES smf forums do that and have do so for years. Although some themes may need to be changed by hand as I'm sure with some MODS in xenforo there would/may be some aspects that would need changing/adding by hand. No installer is that perfect that it can make every single change necessary all of the time. I did read threads in this forum on problems from others so they do exist.

Because AutoMod does not always handle style changes well. If you are using prosilver or similar style, you can use automod to install styles without problems unless there are conflicts between mods. But if you are using different style, you might run into issues.

Isn't that the same thing with any script even this one. Change the styles and obviously all updates and add-ons need to be altered by hand.


I've listed some of the reasons in my opening post.
YES thank you and I do appreciate every comment. Yours have been the most helpful so far.

Just a few reasons: The software is just state of the art, always improving, very quick, easy to use, there just very few bugs or security problems
I don't know about that as I'm seeing many issues in the problem solving/support threads but that is to be expected. I understand that as each user is different and on different servers etc.


Cheers
 
This was one of the main reasons I initially looked into moving away from phpBB3. Updating was becoming a nightmare with ~10 add-ons installed. Even using the auto update, each time there were still file conflicts, and wasn't 100% sure merging / over writing was working correctly.
This is exactly what I was getting twitchy about and why I moved away. Spent so much time messing around with my development server each time installing, testing, rolling back, documenting, installing, testing, rolling back, testing, closing the live board, installing, testing.

All of the add-ons I have installed either manually or using the auto installer have just worked (always take a sypex SQL dump first), and take a few minutes. Not had any which have affected any other feature, and they all install with complete consistency.

Oh, and the support from this forum is awesome! Not had to log any support tickets yet because of it.
 
I too moved from phpBB, which isn't the easiest forum to use for add-ons as you either have to manually edit core files (which then makes it more difficult to upgrade) or you use AutoMod. I tried that once and frankly it's horrible because if you want to uninstall a mod it reverts the forum files back to the way they were prior to installation of that mod. That may sound fine but if you have installed mods after that they are also removed! It's because Automod takes a snapshot of the files prior to a mod being installed and uses that snapshot to restore things on uninstallation.

Xenforo looks a heck of a lot better and more 'modern' than the likes of phpBB (and some other free forum software I looked at). It's very easy to install add-ons and it's easy to upgrade with these installed. I've also found various add-ons here that I've not found on other free forums.

Xenforo is a paid-for forum but at least I know that it will continue to be developed and at a reasonable pace as this is how the developers make their living. Comparing that to phpBB which has made little progress in the last few years and I'm glad I made the move.

On top of all of this is the Xenforo community itself. I've only been here a few weeks and I have found this to be a very welcoming and friendly group of people who are always willing to help each other. I feel far more at home here than I did on the phpBB forums.
 
So what your all saying is that xenforo is worth every bit of it's 500 bucks (including link removal)(excluding installation) plus the fact that your paying for mods and 65 bucks a year for support otherwise you get left out to dry.
Well I can tell you that, that is a lot of money for getting something that many others offer for free so for that price I would expect to be allowed to try it out first on my server.
I will request a free 1 month trial on my server and if it's correct then I will look at purchasing it. If they agree they may have a sale is what you guys say is true but if they disagree then I will stay with the free or find some other forum else where because 500 bucks on uncertainty is a lot of money especially when for all I know some of these users may be fake or work for xenforo in some way which means they would say anything to get a sale.

Thank you al for your comments so far. But currently still looking at this.
 
65 bucks a year? For what?

It's $40 for 1 year of support ticket + update and you can choose to use it or not.

I'm buying xenforo during last sale ($110) and it was really, really, underpriced.
 
So what your all saying is that xenforo is worth every bit of it's 500 bucks (including link removal)(excluding installation) plus the fact that your paying for mods and 65 bucks a year for support otherwise you get left out to dry.
Well I can tell you that, that is a lot of money for getting something that many others offer for free so for that price I would expect to be allowed to try it out first on my server.
I will request a free 1 month trial on my server and if it's correct then I will look at purchasing it. If they agree they may have a sale is what you guys say is true but if they disagree then I will stay with the free or find some other forum else where because 500 bucks on uncertainty is a lot of money especially when for all I know some of these users may be fake or work for xenforo in some way which means they would say anything to get a sale.

Thank you al for your comments so far. But currently still looking at this.
IMHO, pricing removal isn't needed, I am a proud XenForo user and I like to display that, also the 40$ is just for updates, you can still use the software.
 
@ phil
are other much more expensive than that forum script and do not work!
I prefer to pay $ 40 annually if necessary.
The brand trying to sell a product just to launch a new sale
for these customers because they have paid a one time license for life.
and the money made ​​goes over this then they find an excuse to launch a new sale
without worrying about how this new product (kernel code) is.
 
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