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
 
Well, I went ahead about bought the forum software. So far I uploaded it, and apart from working without a domain name pointing at the forum (and the funky address....and plugging that into FileZilla) - I found it set up amazingly fast. "Playing" with the settings.

I figured "Why the hell not?" It's only $140, and the guy (Kier) seemed like he was in for a fight, I figured if nothing else it helps with the lawsuit a bit. I actually have seen the back end of VB, and have to admit this seems much easier so far.
 
I have to admit there are some really friggin' cool things here from what I have seen so far. To be honest - the one thing that I am looking for is an easy way to add .flv video to a post. (My forum will have about 30 static posts that have .flv, I know it can be done on VB, but everything I read suggests it's a *****.) As a side note, I only chose flv for size - I use Camtasia to record, and can do any of those formats......I would also only like the ability to do it - I don't need the readers to be able to pull that off either.

If something is not offered, you can always make a request. Worst case, Mike and Kier will tell you it will not be a default option, and you can ask/pay a coder to do it for you. Due to the software being new (and not gold yet), there's currently not as many add-ons and styles available, but that will change in the near future. And as a comparison, of the countless stylers and mod-coders vB had once, lots ceased their work, due to constantly having to do major updating with every new vB4 release-cycle.

You also mentioned that XF seems to be more developed for coders. While it definitly is more user-friendly towards coders and stylers, I also think it will be the better option when it comes to administrating it. The way the XF platform is built, it offers a robustness with its add-ons that you're unlikely to experience in vB. One of my main pet peeves is add-ons or modifications that get in one another's way, due to both trying to inject code at the same point, or similar issues like that. XenForo protects exactly against such scenarios.

As you already experienced, installing it is an absolute breeze. The same will apply when you're getting to update it. The last few updates I went through with vB 4.0* involved lots of sweat, tears, and chewing nails. XF, on the other hand updates like clockwork.

Truthfully, I am looking for ... the ability to have the rotating ads.... I am also interested in changing the look... Is there a way to make a front page that points to the forum and does things like update the "latest blog post" "latest articles" etc, etc.....

Have a look at xenAMS for ads, the styles, graphics or template modifications sub-forum for changing the look and feel, and xenPorta for the frontpage you're looking for.

HTH.

Oh, and welcome to the xF family :)
 
If something is not offered, you can always make a request. Worst case, Mike and Kier will tell you it will not be a default option, and you can ask/pay a coder to do it for you. Due to the software being new (and not gold yet), there's currently not as many add-ons and styles available, but that will change in the near future. And as a comparison, of the countless stylers and mod-coders vB had once, lots ceased their work, due to constantly having to do major updating with every new vB4 release-cycle.

You also mentioned that XF seems to be more developed for coders. While it definitly is more user-friendly towards coders and stylers, I also think it will be the better option when it comes to administrating it. The way the XF platform is built, it offers a robustness with its add-ons that you're unlikely to experience in vB. One of my main pet peeves is add-ons or modifications that get in one another's way, due to both trying to inject code at the same point, or similar issues like that. XenForo protects exactly against such scenarios.

As you already experienced, installing it is an absolute breeze. The same will apply when you're getting to update it. The last few updates I went through with vB 4.0* involved lots of sweat, tears, and chewing nails. XF, on the other hand updates like clockwork.



Have a look at xenAMS for ads, the styles, graphics or template modifications sub-forum for changing the look and feel, and xenPorta for the frontpage you're looking for.

HTH.

Oh, and welcome to the xF family :)


Thanks. I actually found xenPorta shortly after writing that, and I think it might be just about right for me.
 
awwwww....you mods changed my title :(

It was so much more intriguing before...you gave away the punchline!

On one site I post on whenever that happens, which is rare, it usually kicks off and before long Godwin's law is proved as the mods as compared to the Nazis.
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I actually only bought the software because of the Devs initials KMA ("Kiss My Ass").. and that's exactly how i feel about IB. :p So in reality i appreciate the entire XF team, because without all three of them i wouldn't get that Kiss My Ass feeling i get every time a port one of my other sites from vB to XF. ;)

LMAO - brillant!
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awwwww....you mods changed my title :(

It was so much more intriguing before...you gave away the punchline!
Agreed, it draws you to the thread because you're interested in what the contra statements will be, only to find that there aren't :p It's not likely that people will read the former title and think 'I'm not buying this' they will always check out the thread content first.

You know these things happened 70 years ago too
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