If You are Thinking Of Buying/Switching to XenForo, Don't...

Business Coach

Active member
Hi,

I own a few Vbulletin Licenses. I have one in particular with lots of members, posts etc. I am doing a total revamp. I need to build a modern community. One that fits with todays socialized network. These were things we were doing to it 3 years ago, with twitter and facebook integration, and back then it was spotty at best.

Vb 3.8 is where we left it, due to heavy modification and styling. Vb 4.anything is totally horrible, not to mention the things they are doing and treating their customers, they pretty much have lost me for life.

So I heard about this xenforo thing from vbulletin of all places. On a thread where Vbulletin was asking about what customers think about their latest release, 90% complained and hate it for one reason or another. Not aesthetics mind you, but FUNCTIONALITY and RELIABILITY.

This is important. I have to ask myself:

How well can the community engage each other?
Will they get frustrated because it is slow or buggy?
How does this fit into modern convergence of web 4.0 (TV/ Video/Internet/Mobile)?
How stable is the base?
How extensible is the base?

So far I will say there seems to be a PORTION of the xen community that is kinda cultish.

It scares me. The founders have become "celebrities" and people are clearly star struck and have drunk the kool aid.

Also, I believe there is a VERY good chance that the stress and difficulty of owning a business, added to the additional stress of legal defense, may end up being too much. Passion only takes you so far. Xen my NOT be around in 2 years.

However they have done some groundbreaking code, which surely some in the future will use as an example to duplicate.

I had to make a choice between IPB and Xenforum. These are the only two real options today. Free boards are NOT a question. They suck. Period. From development, support etc. "Free" has a very high cost. Free is definitely for people who do not value their time and resources.

IPB has a history, and most likely is not going anywhere anytime soon. And it has an almost out of the box, all you need for $500 to own the full license.

Since I heard about this on friday i have poked around, made some posts etc. Can't say I am exactly happy with what is here.

The development community has not really embraced this outside thier own testing. TO be fair, stable release 1.0 has not been released yet, so that is probably wise on their part. Especially from an upgrade/support perspective.

In the end, after much research I finally made a decision, this morning. And I purchased a license for what I feel is going to be best FOR THE FUTURE.

In a competitive marketplace, you must be competitive. And so, there was only one thing that TRULY fit that bill.

So, If you are like I was, just an hour ago; thinking of buying or switching to xenforo, then don't bother wasting another minute of your time on this post.

Just go ahead and do it. I did. Click that shopping cart button and get it. No it does not have every feature you need, but I have seen even in a scaled down version, rocks.

Take a risk if you feel that is what it is. It is what we business people and hobbyist do.

Think about it, if you have the option of a touch screen smart phone, why settle for a flip phone?

I have the privilege of being trained by and affilaited with the #1 marketer in history. If someone were to get coaching from me (at $300 per hour) then I would RECOMMEND they switch and get xenforum as their framework.

For what it is worth, xen will give you a competitive edge in your niche, and that is PRICELESS.

Best to you in all your endeavors.

Remember to Picture Your Success!

Maurice Evans, Business Coach
Certified Guerrilla Marketing Trainer
 
One of teh greatest posts i read in this forum so far.
thanks

if it wasn't for the first half yeah. Cult / celebrities? No, Kier & Mike simply are good at their jobs and the people here recognise and appreciate the fact. XF is simply a superb product and a lot of people have been galvanised behind XF due to the lawsuit from IB.

But to say its a cult and they're celebrities is missing the point somewhat.
 
I am currently running both my original vb3 site and the xf version. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Staff enjoys the ease with which they can do their jobs and once members are getting used to the navigation, they enjoy it as well.

Sure some things are missing. We run the LPP messenger on the vb3 site and people absolutely love that thing. It was the one item most missed when we had upgraded to vb4 and the one thing welcomed most when we reverted to vb3. To be honest, that is the only item that people miss having with xenforo.

Thanks for your feedback on your purchase!
 
if it wasn't for the first half yeah. Cult / celebrities? No, Kier & Mike simply are good at their jobs and the people here recognise and appreciate the fact. XF is simply a superb product and a lot of people have been galvanised behind XF due to the lawsuit from IB.

But to say its a cult and they're celebrities is missing the point somewhat.

I may not have been clear in my writing.

I prefaced with:
So far I will say there seems to be a PORTION of the xen community that is kinda cultish.

And it is in reference to the minds of THOSE people that i mention the cultish following. I don't see them as celebrities, and I do not consider myself having joined a cult by purchasing.

The ones that see Kier and Mike as gods (they are not, just men of excellence like many other are and all can be) and that they can do no wrong and all things will work for them. These folk have hope only in the concept hope to the point of blindness in regards to xen forum. They are not objective and see things through filtered glasses. That is NEVER helpful in any community.

I apologize if it was not clear. In know way do I take away from the founders genius-level coding skills. Otherwise, I would not have bothered to purchase if I did not feel they put out a quality product.

The keyword in my above quote to that section of my commentary is "portion"...please don't miss that point, friend. :)
 
I am currently running both my original vb3 site and the xf version. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Staff enjoys the ease with which they can do their jobs and once members are getting used to the navigation, they enjoy it as well.

Sure some things are missing. We run the LPP messenger on the vb3 site and people absolutely love that thing. It was the one item most missed when we had upgraded to vb4 and the one thing welcomed most when we reverted to vb3. To be honest, that is the only item that people miss having with xenforo.

Thanks for your feedback on your purchase!

Do you have a link to the LPP messenger? Any way to port it to Vbb? What do you think the costs of coding something like that would be?

also am I missing the "Multiquote" function here, or is it not available yet?
 
whoa...just used the edit post feature...amazing

that's INTUITIVE....THIS is why I bought xen

:::takes another sip of xen flavored koolaid:::
redface.png
 
lol, see good design is addictive ;)
ain't it!

it ENCOURAGED interactivity, when its transparent and seemless (as the developers of xen obviously understand) it leaves users free to...communicate...imagine the novelty of that

As Antoine Dotson would say:

"Ya'll Betta Hide your Forums, Hide Your Blogs, Cuz Xen is takin over out here!"
 
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