Convince me

[meursault]

Hi all,

My background/goals: Ran a forum years ago (phpBB), no longer doing so. Blogger on WordPress. Now looking to create a new forum. It will be about Russian politics and history, and I expect 100-200 registrations in the first few days (based on my current online visitor/commentator numbers).

The decision: After some online research, I've whittled it down to IPB vs. XF. Which is better for my purpose?

Requirements/preferences:
(1) Not too technically demanding, as I don't know much about online IT beyond basic HTML. As I understand it, updates are pretty easy, there being an inbuilt automatic update button as in WordPress.
(2) Good security. I say this with some paranoia having once been the victim of a pharma hack on my blogs.
(3) Moderation isn't a huge priority, at least in the beginning, when there won't be too many users.
(4) Willing to spend in the area of $200. As I understand it, both IPB and XF are similarly priced and within that range, but more of the upgrades for XF are free. Is that about correct?
(5) Is there an option of registering an account via Facebook/Twitter/other social networks?
(6) Nice aesthetics aren't a huge priority, but obviously won't go amiss either.
(7) Finally, if I decide to go for XF, is there a good case for getting the "XenForo Resource Manager"? What precisely does it do? Do you mean to say that vanilla XF doesn't have support for basic forum features like a TOS page?

Thanks in advance, any answers or advice much appreciated.

 

[Morgain]

Hi all,

My background/goals: Ran a forum years ago (phpBB), no longer doing so. Blogger on WordPress. Now looking to create a new forum. It will be about Russian politics and history, and I expect 100-200 registrations in the first few days (based on my current online visitor/commentator numbers).

The decision: After some online research, I've whittled it down to IPB vs. XF. Which is better for my purpose?

Requirements/preferences:
(1) Not too technically demanding, as I don't know much about online IT beyond basic HTML. As I understand it, updates are pretty easy, there being an inbuilt automatic update button as in WordPress.
(2) Good security. I say this with some paranoia having once been the victim of a pharma hack on my blogs.
(3) Moderation isn't a huge priority, at least in the beginning, when there won't be too many users.
(4) Willing to spend in the area of $200. As I understand it, both IPB and XF are similarly priced and within that range, but more of the upgrades for XF are free. Is that about correct?
(5) Is there an option of registering an account via Facebook/Twitter/other social networks?
(6) Nice aesthetics aren't a huge priority, but obviously won't go amiss either.
(7) Finally, if I decide to go for XF, is there a good case for getting the "XenForo Resource Manager"? What precisely does it do? Do you mean to say that vanilla XF doesn't have support for basic forum features like a TOS page?

Thanks in advance, any answers or advice much appreciated.

(1) Not too technically demanding,...
I have used e107, vbulletin and IPB. My experience of XF has been far easier.
This community is a good teacher so from a basic html Ive learned to do more. It's actually lots of fun. But a great deal can be done without any coding at all. XF is designed for that.

(2) Good security.
Never heard of any significant problems with XF.

(3) Moderation
Good system.

(4) Willing to spend in the area of $200.
After the initial purchase XF is yours to use as long as you like. Lots of community support here which is fast and helpful so you can go quite a long time without paying any more.
But if you need ticket support you need a current licence so after the first year that would be $40.
Also if you want to buy any official addons - the ESearch or Resource Manager, you need to have a current licence.
Obviously any new version of Xf you can only get if you have a current licence. You can rnenew any time, and not pay the gap since your last licence ran out.

(5) Is there an option of registering an account via Facebook/Twitter/other social networks?
Yes.

(6) Nice aesthetics aren't a huge priority, but obviously won't go amiss either.
Xf is easy and flexible to design yourself and the community mutual support is very good plus the mods here are excellent at design tweaks.. There are many theme designs some paid some free.
Addons like the TMS are very well used and respected for changing templates.
XF upgrades well without mucking up all your changes.

(7) Finally, if I decide to go for XF, is there a good case for getting the "XenForo Resource Manager"? What precisely does it do?
You can see it working under the Resources tab top navbar.
It provides information pages, with option to host a file for download, and versioning. Author can optionally link a discussion thread to the resource. You enable a group or user to be author. Resources can be paid/ unpaid, and display in categories.
There are already some useful addons like usergroup permissions. I and some others have adapted the RM as an articles manager and there are other adaptations too.

Do you mean to say that vanilla XF doesn't have support for basic forum features like a TOS page?
There is a Terms section and you can edit it.

 

[Andrej]

Check out the demo as well!

 

[Jeremy P]

Hi all,

My background/goals: Ran a forum years ago (phpBB), no longer doing so. Blogger on WordPress. Now looking to create a new forum. It will be about Russian politics and history, and I expect 100-200 registrations in the first few days (based on my current online visitor/commentator numbers).

The decision: After some online research, I've whittled it down to IPB vs. XF. Which is better for my purpose?

Requirements/preferences:
(1) Not too technically demanding, as I don't know much about online IT beyond basic HTML. As I understand it, updates are pretty easy, there being an inbuilt automatic update button as in WordPress.
(2) Good security. I say this with some paranoia having once been the victim of a pharma hack on my blogs.
(3) Moderation isn't a huge priority, at least in the beginning, when there won't be too many users.
(4) Willing to spend in the area of $200. As I understand it, both IPB and XF are similarly priced and within that range, but more of the upgrades for XF are free. Is that about correct?
(5) Is there an option of registering an account via Facebook/Twitter/other social networks?
(6) Nice aesthetics aren't a huge priority, but obviously won't go amiss either.
(7) Finally, if I decide to go for XF, is there a good case for getting the "XenForo Resource Manager"? What precisely does it do? Do you mean to say that vanilla XF doesn't have support for basic forum features like a TOS page?

Thanks in advance, any answers or advice much appreciated.

1) You must upload the upgrade yourself via FTP, unlike Wordpress. Other than that, they're just as easy.
2) There has been only one vulnerability found in XF to date, and it was in a 3rd-party upload library, not in XF itself. It was fixed quickly.
3) You could run a completely unmoderated forum if you wanted. The level of moderation is up to you.
4) That's about correct. You get 1 year of free updates after purchase, and each additional year is just $40. You don't have to pay the $40 unless you want access to newer versions.
5) Facebook is built-in, and there are addons available for Google and Twitter (among a few others I think).
6) Subjective.. I find XF pretty aesthetically pleasing, and I know many others do too.
7) The Resources manager is basically just a marketplace addon for paid or free goods. Basic forum features have nothing to do with it, and you probably don't need it.

 

[meursault]

Okay, thanks for the replies all. You've convinced me!

 

[Ingenious]

I think you've made the right decision. Xenforo "just works" so much better as a forum, and is especially good for your end users since it concentrates on your members' content, not lots of switches and options which just get in the way. Also for beginners I think it is much easier to style and colour than the competition. It's quick and slick

 

[Lee]

I agree with everything that has been said in this section. This system "just works" and allows your users to converse without having to worry about settings and things.

You will not look back! Welcome aboard and good luck in the future!