Have very large forum - Thinking of jumping to XF over VB5 - Have questions

[Dennis Olson]

• It looks like the vBulletin product is in serious trouble, and I'm thinking of jumping ship in favor of this product. I was hoping that you'd be able to give me your thoughts as to the pros and cons of the jump, as well as some insight into what's happening with the apparent decline of the vBulletin product.
  
  I have also heard mixed things about the xenForo product, and was hoping too that you might address some of them.
  
  Any insight you could provide would be most appreciated.

• I'm actually interested in XF in terms of:
  
  
  - Featureset vs. vB4.1.x. What does XF do that vB4 did not, and, to the best of your recollection, vice versa. (Note that even though I have the CMS component of vB4, I've never used it.)
  
  - Ability to support large fora (mine is 33GB or so at this point)
  
  - Ability to support 1000+ concurrent users (depending on server capabilities of course)
  
  - Customizeability / add-ons (such as what is offered via vbulletin.org)
  
  - Import functionality from vB4 to XF.
  
  - Richness of settings and options in XF as compared to the AdminCP in vB4.
  
  - Timeliness and satisfaction overall with tech support
  
  - Forward growth path? How stable is this company, and how well funded? How likely is it to be in business a decade form now? (I know that's kind-of an impossible question, but I have to ask it.)
  
  - Mobile device compatibility and functionality. How are mobile devices supported by this product? Is there an app that iOS and Android users would have to download? What is it called? Is there an addition for the XF software that must be purchased? What is the cost if so?
  
  - Are there other forum software products that, in your personal opinion, have roughly the equivalent featureset to XF and vB? What are they?​

 

[rainmotorsports]

That is exactly what I need, but would need to be able to restrict either or both by usergroup.

Yup, not sure that dbtech's was, the addon by ragtek originally had per usergroup view permissions, be a pretty simple matter of setting up an option group for who appears on it as well.

Ill try to push it out next month. I am still working on parts of our theme and was supposed to have a roster plugin done tomorrow... fun fun.

 

[Dennis Olson]

So thread prefixes are an add-on, right?

 

[Paul B]

No.

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/thread-prefixes.19936/

 

[rainmotorsports]

Actually now that someones mention it @borbole actually has both addon's I believe and their fairly cheap like 5 or 6 euro I think. Im releasing what I am doing for free as part of my learning process but its always worth noting what exists.

So thread prefixes are an add-on, right?

No prefixes are core. Its just like in VB4.

 

[Dennis Olson]

No.

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/thread-prefixes.19936/

Thanks. I have a problem though. I have different sets of prefixes which apply to each room. When I pull up the Thread Prefixes tab for a given forum, it lists all prefixes regardless of prefix group. Because of that, I cannot assign prefixes based on group, and would have to wade through about 200 prefixes to find the specific subset that I want. Unless there's another way. (It would be helpful at a minimum, if you could group available prefixes on that tab by Prefix group, OR assign prefixes to multiple prefix groups.)

 

[Dennis Olson]

Also, add-ons are purchased for this system rather than free?

 

[rainmotorsports]

Also, add-ons are purchased for this system rather than free?

There are free addons and paid addons just like VB, IPB anywhere if thats what you are asking. The official addons like resource manager are paid (once again like IPB, dont even know if VB has anything these days).

 

[Liam W]

Also, add-ons are purchased for this system rather than free?

There are some free and some paid...

Thanks. I have a problem though. I have different sets of prefixes which apply to each room. When I pull up the Thread Prefixes tab for a given forum, it lists all prefixes regardless of prefix group. Because of that, I cannot assign prefixes based on group, and would have to wade through about 200 prefixes to find the specific subset that I want. Unless there's another way. (It would be helpful at a minimum, if you could group available prefixes on that tab by Prefix group, OR assign prefixes to multiple prefix groups.)

It lists them per-group... The group name is above the list of prefixes.

It only works if they're in a group though.

 

[Lisa]

Thanks. I have a problem though. I have different sets of prefixes which apply to each room. When I pull up the Thread Prefixes tab for a given forum, it lists all prefixes regardless of prefix group. Because of that, I cannot assign prefixes based on group, and would have to wade through about 200 prefixes to find the specific subset that I want. Unless there's another way. (It would be helpful at a minimum, if you could group available prefixes on that tab by Prefix group, OR assign prefixes to multiple prefix groups.)

You can group prefixes by a Prefix group

 

[Dennis Olson]

In vB4, under the thread title, I have the name of the thread starter and the date/time the thread was started, i.e.:

"Started by Cardinal‎, Today 12:29 PM"

Is that a feature of this software, or is it a "resource" that can be added?

 

[Dennis Olson]

There are some free and some paid...



It lists them per-group... The group name is above the list of prefixes.

It only works if they're in a group though.

I have my test prefixes in two groups, but when I go to add them to a forum, the groups don't list at the checkbox level. they *DO* list in the "Default Thread Prefix" dropdown, but I don't want to use a default prefix for any of my forum rooms.

 

[Lisa]

In vB4, under the thread title, I have the name of the thread starter and the date/time the thread was started, i.e.:

"Started by Cardinal‎, Today 12:29 PM"

Is that a feature of this software, or is it a "resource" that can be added?

In XF, as you can see in any post, the information is at the bottom of the post.

 

[Lisa]

I have my test prefixes in two groups, but when I go to add them to a forum, the groups don't list at the checkbox level. they Do list in the "Default Thread Prefix" dropdown, but I don't want to use a default prefix for any of my forum rooms.

Did you set the options per prefix?

 

[rainmotorsports]

In vB4, under the thread title, I have the name of the thread starter and the date/time the thread was started, i.e.:

"Started by Cardinal‎, Today 12:29 PM"

Is that a feature of this software, or is it a "resource" that can be added?

In XF, as you can see in any post, the information is at the bottom of the post.

He was asking about the thread under title which as well IS there:

"started by Dennis Olson"

 

[Dennis Olson]

Geez... I see it, and thanks! I hate a learning curve.

And I'm a software developer. Been one for many years.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Okay Azhira, I see that now, and thanks!


But that method (forums allowed for a specific prefix) seems cumbersome. I have 25+ rooms, and each room has between 15-40 individual prefixes. It would take forever to set them up that way.

 

[HappyWorld]

vb 4 features that don't exist in XF core :
- reputation system (no really similar mod for it - yet).
- social groups (there is a mod for it).
- sidebar blocks (there is a mod for it).
- thread post icon (there is a mod for it).
- user note (there is a mod for it).
- user title based on post count (there is a mod for it).
- can not create custom PM folders.
- show moderators on each forum (there is a mod for it).
- show users browsing this thread.
- thread tags (there is a mod for it)
- pm tracking.

And the private message system is very different. XF uses "conversation" style.

If i remember other things i will post it here.

 

[Dennis Olson]

vb 4 features that don't exist in XF core :
- reputation system (no really similar mod for it - yet).
- social groups (there is a mod for it).
- sidebar blocks (there is a mod for it).
- thread post icon (there is a mod for it).
- user note (there is a mod for it).
- user title based on post count (there is a mod for it).
- can not create custom PM folders.

And the private message system is very different. XF uses "conversation" style.

If i remember other things i will post it here.

We don't use:

- Reputation system
- Social groups (Some folks do have "friend" lists though)
- Sidebar blocks
- User notes
- Custom PM folders.

We DO use user titles based on post count, as well as a changing "rank" image as well. I want to keep those two things.

I like the PM system in this product. It was easy to get used to.

 

[HappyWorld]

We don't use:

- Reputation system
- Social groups (Some folks do have "friend" lists though)
- Sidebar blocks
- User notes
- Custom PM folders.

We DO use user titles based on post count, as well as a changing "rank" image as well. I want to keep those two things.

I like the PM system in this product. It was easy to get used to.

User title based on post count mod

About "rank image", i think it doesn't exist on XF core. Closest thing on XF core is ribbon but it's not custom image if i remember correctly.
But i find this mod, maybe it will work for user rank images.

 

[Dennis Olson]

The rank images are very important to the membership.