Have you already planned your migration?

John L.

Well-known member
After taking a good look at the features this software has, it definitely shows promise and is already better than vB4 in many key areas. My only concerns would be some of my forums that are reliant on many 3rd party vBulletin plugins. But I do have 1 forum I would like to give this a shot with. So my question to you guys is how many forums do you plan to migrate and do you have any outstanding issues holding you back when available?

Also a question to the developers, will there be a special offer available to users who have vBulletin licenses and wish to switch (I currently have 3)? So some type of savings would be great :). Thanks for your time and YAY first thread for me!
 
Haven't planned anything yet. It's a bit too early for me to start planning.

As for a discount for users of other software, see this thread specifically this post.

Thank you for that, ah I see where he is coming from with his post, more to the point though I wouldn't imagine anyone thinking they could get this software for very cheap after the amount of hard work put into it. I would just think that a fair discount should be applied to users willing to switch platform, might be a good way to win users away but aren't willing to pay what they just dished out for the other software.
 
Thank you for that, ah I see where he is coming from with his post, more to the point though I wouldn't imagine anyone thinking they could get this software for very cheap after the amount of hard work put into it. I would just think that a fair discount should be applied to users willing to switch platform, might be a good way to win users away but aren't willing to pay what they just dished out for the other software.

IPB and vBulletin don't offer such discounts to people willing to switch so why should XenForo?
 
IPB and vBulletin don't offer such discounts to people willing to switch so why should XenForo?

I would imagine XenForo would have more to gain by offering such a discount than vBulletin offering it to people willing to switch. Also IPB did for a time offer a refugee program for people who wanted to switch from vBulletin to their software. I don't think it's still active, but you might want to double check your information before making snide remarks. In no way am I saying they are obligated to, but it would be a nice incentive, at least for me anyway.
 
So my question to you guys is how many forums do you plan to migrate and do you have any outstanding issues holding you back when available?

For me it's a case of deciding between now and if/when Xenforo is actually released whether I and my community can live without certain features. For example, the calendar and the albums. I think as Xen develops the benefits of switching start to outweigh the bits I'll lose. Not many people use the albums on my vB forum for example.

If I was to take a "punt" on switching early, I'd want to do a parallel install and import first, behind the scenes. So it does depend on cost. Because I would want to have a very good play with it on my own - and with my moderators - to make sure it's going to be worth changing, in other words if not the cost would have to be written off, is it worth the risk? (Yes is the probable answer). Also, that everything imports OK. Finally I'd need to know that all the vBSEO links on Google get redirected OK to the new pages.
 
I would imagine XenForo would have more to gain by offering such a discount than vBulletin offering it to people willing to switch. Also IPB did for a time offer a refugee program for people who wanted to switch from vBulletin to their software. I don't think it's still active, but you might want to double check your information before making snide remarks. In no way am I saying they are obligated to, but it would be a nice incentive, at least for me anyway.
That wasn't a snide remark it was a general question, my apologies if it came across the wrong way.

What I meant was why, in your opinion, should XenForo offer discounts to people willing to switch from vBulletin? The way vBulletin/Internet Brands has been in the last year is crap but it's not Kier & Mike's fault so why should they in essence lose money because of it?

We know that it's not likely to happen and quite rightly so but if they did offer some kind of migration discount why just for vBulletin and not IPB?

Again these are not 'snide remarks' just comments.
 
I would imagine XenForo would have more to gain by offering such a discount than vBulletin offering it to people willing to switch. Also IPB did for a time offer a refugee program for people who wanted to switch from vBulletin to their software. I don't think it's still active, but you might want to double check your information before making snide remarks. In no way am I saying they are obligated to, but it would be a nice incentive, at least for me anyway.
I don't see how his post was a snide comment in anyway, and your post was a direct attack because he lacked some information which wasn't fully advertised all that much.

The IPB refugee program did as well as it did because it was during the initial vB4 panic, where people noticed how badly it was done, and how they had been ripped off. XenForo is being a released a year after vB4, and currently the amount of people willing to switch to a new solution after vB4 have already done so, or are in need of features that XenForo doesn't currently offer (Albums, Blog, and CMS for the most part), so I don't see it raising the adoption rate from vBulletin or IPB as much as people are assuming. People who have an interest in XenForo will buy it when they would buy it, and people who are on the fence will buy it when they find it to be a viable solution.

And to be completely honest, Mike, Kier and Ashley should -not- offer an discount for IPB or vBulletin customers. Its immensely stupid when they have been with nearly no income for the last year, and are hedging their bets on XenForo being highly adopted. Depending on their license model, they'll only have bursts of income, and much of that will have to be re-invested back into the company, just so that they can expand XenForo at a rate to keep up with the demand of the customers.

I really wish people would stop asking for free or discounted licenses already, and appreciate the work that has been put into it and realize the price is well worth what they'll be intending to ask. 
 
I didn't suggest making the discount available to only vBulletin forum users, but to most. It's something I know might attract more potential customers even if the discount is relatively small. Say 15%. While I'm not undercutting Kier & Mike's tireless efforts to make a very good bulletin software. I wouldn't switch unless I knew I was saving some type of money. Either by a stark pricing difference between this and other forum software or a discount/refugee program. You ask the question "Why", but I ask "why not"? Nice way to show "hey guys, we realize vB hit you guys with some stark price increases, so here is a little gift for making the switch". I know I would be more inclined to switch, wouldn't you?
 
I don't see how his post was a snide comment in anyway, and your post was a direct attack because he lacked some information which wasn't fully advertised all that much.

The IPB refugee program did as well as it did because it was during the initial vB4 panic, where people noticed how badly it was done, and how they had been ripped off. XenForo is being a released a year after vB4, and currently the amount of people willing to switch to a new solution after vB4 have already done so, or are in need of features that XenForo doesn't currently offer (Albums, Blog, and CMS for the most part), so I don't see it raising the adoption rate from vBulletin or IPB as much as people are assuming. People who have an interest in XenForo will buy it when they would buy it, and people who are on the fence will buy it when they find it to be a viable solution.

And to be completely honest, Mike, Kier and Ashley should -not- offer an discount for IPB or vBulletin customers. Its immensely stupid when they have been with nearly no income for the last year, and are hedging their bets on XenForo being highly adopted. Depending on their license model, they'll only have bursts of income, and much of that will have to be re-invested back into the company, just so that they can expand XenForo at a rate to keep up with the demand of the customers.

I really wish people would stop asking for free or discounted licenses already, and appreciate the work that has been put into it and realize the price is well worth what they'll be intending to ask.

Interesting, how was my remark a direct attack? I in no way insulted him, but asked him to double check his information before stating something as fact. I didn't express any malicious intent toward this person at all.

Also, I didn't realize they offered a refugee program during the vB4 panic, I was actually referring to an offering I took advantage quite some years ago during vB3 inception. I really don't see why this is such a huge debate? I'm fairly certain no discount would be offered anyway, but I was simply asking a question if there would be anything like that available. I did not wish to engage in some type of verbal battle about this, just to get a bit of information.

That's your opinion and you are entitled to it, but I'm sure quite a few more people would purchase the software if they had a greater incentive. It's just basic marketing practices. So once again, what's the need to call the practice "stupid"?

Who is asking for a free license to software that has yet to be released. All I was wondering if there would be any type of discount when it's released for those of us who have active vBulletin licenses. In what way does this show I do not appreciate the work the developers have done? In what way have I, in particular, been unappreciative to the work that these guys are doing? Please enlighten me.
 
I didn't suggest making the discount available to only vBulletin forum users, but to most. It's something I know might attract more potential customers even if the discount is relatively small. Say 15%. While I'm not undercutting Kier & Mike's tireless efforts to make a very good bulletin software. I wouldn't switch unless I knew I was saving some type of money. Either by a stark pricing difference between this and other forum software or a discount/refugee program. You ask the question "Why", but I ask "why not"? Nice way to show "hey guys, we realize vB hit you guys with some stark price increases, so here is a little gift for making the switch". I know I would be more inclined to switch, wouldn't you?

I plan to switch because I find the approach to XenForo's back-end refreshing, and because I appreciate the time they've put into it.



You would be saving money. vBulletin will require you to pay for a whole new license when vB5 comes out, and that still will not be a completely rewrite, and only refactored. I don't pay attention much to IPB, but have they approached things from the same method that XenForo has, adopting many of the best practices suggested for web applications, as well as standard and semantic design principles in mind?

Interesting, how was my remark a direct attack? I in no way insulted him, but asked him to double check his information before stating something as fact. I didn't express any malicious intent toward this person at all.



Also, I didn't realize they offered a refugee program during the vB4 panic, I was actually referring to an offering I took advantage quite some years ago during vB3 inception. I really don't see why this is such a huge debate? I'm fairly certain no discount would be offered anyway, but I was simply asking a question if there would be anything like that available. I did not wish to engage in some type of verbal battle about this, just to get a bit of information.



That's your opinion and you are entitled to it, but I'm sure quite a few more people would purchase the software if they had a greater incentive. It's just basic marketing practices. So once again, what's the need to call the practice "stupid"?



Who is asking for a free license to software that has yet to be released. All I was wondering if there would be any type of discount when it's released for those of us who have active vBulletin licenses. In what way does this show I do not appreciate the work the developers have done? In what way have I, in particular, been unappreciative to the work that these guys are doing? Please enlighten me.

I mentioned where it looked like a direct attack in the post :rolleyes:. More often then not, when someone words something like that, they're either implying the person lacks intellect, or should go look something up because they have no clue what they're talking about, both of which would be an attack.

This isn't a huge debate, but people who have been here for a while have seen consistent talk of the need for discounts, early adopter sales, and or free licenses because XenForo is new. If I were a developer, I'd find it pretty insulting, because I believe the work that has been shown could clearly speak for itself in comparison to the other systems out there.

I gave details on why I believe it to be a stupid idea for them at this point in time.

Many people ask for a free license, or a discount because they use one product or another. And I usually generalize with these threads in case someone else brings up the same point again, which has happened about 20+ times now.
 
I doubt they would want to cut the price TOO much. A price war with the market leaders - IPB and vB with much more money to burn - would not be in their long term interests. I would expect it would be priced accordingly, ie. slightly less than IPB and vB taking into account the relative lack of features for the moment, with the 'genuine' saving coming from a launch offer. But in time as it grows surely they will all be priced roughly the same.

One other thing. If xF is going to be THE BEST forum software, you would expect it to be priced as such. There is no need to discount a GOOD product. In business terms, that's just silly. You get what you pay for.
 
I plan to switch because I find the approach to XenForo's back-end refreshing, and because I appreciate the time they've put into it.

You would be saving money. vBulletin will require you to pay for a whole new license when vB5 comes out, and that still will not be a completely rewrite, and only refactored. I don't pay attention much to IPB, but have they approached things from the same method that XenForo has, adopting many of the best practices suggested for web applications, as well as standard and semantic design principles in mind?

And that's very nice of you to be willing to do that. So because I would like to save a little bit of money means that I do not appreciate the time and effort they have spent?

I'm not quite sure about what IPB does these days, been some time since I used the software. Didn't like it too much in all honesty. I'm just ready to try something different :).
 
I doubt they would want to cut the price TOO much. A price war with the market leaders - IPB and vB with much more money to burn - would not be in their long term interests. I would expect it would be priced accordingly, ie. slightly less than IPB and vB taking into account the relative lack of features for the moment, with the 'genuine' saving coming from a launch offer. But in time as it grows surely they will all be priced roughly the same.

One other thing. If xF is going to be THE BEST forum software, you would expect it to be priced as such. There is no need to discount a GOOD product. In business terms, that's just silly. You get what you pay for.

I agree, a price war for software at such a young age would be silly. Honestly guys I was just asking a question based off an experience I had some odd years ago. I'm not asking for the price to be nothing, and Kier and Mike could tell me that the price will not be changed for people with vBulletin/IPB licenses and that be that. Just asking a very simple question here haha.
 
I hit post before I finished writing what I had to say, so you might want to read it.

I wasn't just singling out you, but this has been brought up so many times that its frustrating to see over and over again. There will probably be an early adopter discount as has been hinted at, but discounting because of customers using another product just doesn't seem a good idea, especially when they need to keep in mind the income needed to expand the business in the future.

XenForo is only a 3 person team, competing against a larger company that has already made their name in the forum niche. 
 
I hit post before I finished writing what I had to say, so you might want to read it.

I wasn't just singling out you, but this has been brought up so many times that its frustrating to see over and over again. There will probably be an early adopter discount as has been hinted at, but discounting because of customers using another product just doesn't seem a good idea, especially when they need to keep in mind the income needed to expand the business in the future.

XenForo is only a 3 person team, competing against a larger company that has already made their name in the forum niche.

Okay, thanks for your time. It seems the brunt of this discussion has been based on a very small part of my topic here. If anyone wants to actually talk about the other questions I asked, feel free :).
 
Okay, thanks for your time.
If XenForo was already a large company making a lot of income, offering discounts at times like the vB4 fiasco would be a great marketing ploy, and would be a great idea.

However, because they have no income, its why I am against it, as are many others. Its not because we're against a lower priced software, but more because we want to see Xenforo be as successful as it possibly can, to compete head to head with the current leaders, as it already has the potential to do so. 
 
If XenForo was already a large company making a lot of income, offering discounts at times like the vB4 fiasco would be a great marketing ploy, and would be a great idea.

However, because they have no income, its why I am against it, as are many others. Its not because we're against a lower priced software, but more because we want to see Xenforo be as successful as it possibly can, to compete head to head with the current leaders, as it already has the potential to do so.

I have no way to assume that these guys don't have some type of large backer supplying them with money and what not. I just asked a simple question man, honestly. Thanks for your responses, but enough I get it. I just want to see what people plan to do about migrating if anything.
 
but I'm sure quite a few more people would purchase the software if they had a greater incentive.

Surely the incentive to purchase would be your forums running a good quality software coded by people who know and care about what they're doing?

I too purchased a vBulletin 4 license, I didn't like the price or the way it was done but I bought it because it was a good piece of software and I assumed that it could only get better. Of course like other people I was very wrong and, like most other people, had I been able to see version 4 I would never have bought it.

But that isn't the case here. We can see XenForo in action as it's being developed, we know for the most part what we're going to get for our money and I personally don't care how much it costs, I will be ditching vBulletin.

It's not just the software itself being better, the support here is in a completely different class to vBulletin. Kier and Mike seem like nice guys who care about their potential customers and not because they want money from them. Should there be any problems with the software, I feel that I would get the support I need and deserve as a customer here - I don't have that with vBulletin and that is my incentive to purchase, not discounts or free beta's and whatever else has cropped up.
 
I would have to buy at least one license to try, currently have 5 owned vB licenses, one of which is the vB4 suite. Not sure if my members of my largest site (Running vB4 Suite) could take a change again, vB to IPB back to vB again but if vB4 doesn't improve, I see no other choice. I think I would probably convert my smaller vB sites over though, depending on costs.

For me, Kier and Mike obviously enjoy what they do, and it's not all about money. Why else would they start coding again taking all that time, effort, and i'm sure, wife rage to create a product like this. They have released something that is missing from most forums, and continue to listen to what people want. They have focussed on what a forum is about, a community of people wanting to talk and share. I can see great things happening with this software, and I can't believe how well the site looks and works at such an early development process. Well done.
 
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