IPS V5 vs XF 3

[Watt579]

Hello everyone,

Im not openng this topic as a hater, i would like to hear your opinions and to debate about this controverial subject : XF vs IPS
I also need to take a decision to upgrade the IPS to v5 or to migrate to XF maybe v3 because i dont have a deadline and i can wait.
Im curently using IPS v4.7.23, my community have more than 7M posts, im using Commerce App with custom built gateway based on bitcoin (BTC Server), along with Gallery application, Blogs, Pages, Files, along with other private app such as Member of the Month , Attachment Watermark, FAQ, Hide Content, Enhanced Advertisments and other custom apps when a user gets automatically PM after purchase a subscription.

1. I think first thing i noticed when i have checked Xenforo software is have less features than IPS,this thing may be good or bad it depends of what sort of community we are talking about. My community tends to use all features from IPS, users gives negative rep points each other, complaints to moderators, communicating each other on blogs, writing comments everywhere, debating etc. What do you think about features from XF versus features IPS 4 v ?

2. Whats your opinion about IPS v5 compare to XF version 3 (i know is not finished yet) ?

3. Can all my list with applications ,i wrote at the begining my comment, be transfered to XF including all data ?

4. You think is better to wait for XF version 3 before migrating ?

5. I need to keep the URLs structure SAME as they are in IPS to avoid SEO problems, is it possible ?

6. I know it depende of lots of things, but if proper optimized which IPS or XF can be faster when loading ?

The reason of migration from IPS is quite bizzare. Recently, we have change server, and i encounter some troubles. The IPS support only focus on their cloud clients and give very little attention to self-hosted clients. And the support give this small amount of attention, only gets respondes such as deactivate all plugins/application, it doesnt work and other ******** answer. I received (paid) support from users from official IPS forum, neither from source. Also the official forum is have a lack of activity, it seems dead sometimes i can see 2-3 comments on daily basis compare to XF community where is intensive activity after refresing the page. Also they have removed marketplace, which is another problem.
When trying to hire a developer from official IPS, dont get any answers, lots of them retired/abandoned accounts and when i tried to use Freelancer/fiverr/upwork/toptal the devs never heard of IPS, they did heard about vbulletin and XF and i have to explan them about IPS, give them the official URL etc. I dont get the feelling of trust anymore about IPS.

 

[Suzanne O]

XF 3 isn't out yet mate. But if you want to use XF 2.3.8 or XF 2.4 they will be out shortly.
Just gotta wait until this guy @Chris D finishes the coding of it.

 

[Yenxji]

1. Features: IPS is ok, XenForo framework is much better and faster, also best for security and development, reliable

• IPS: Commerce, gallery, blogs, pages all included
• XF: Leaner core, better performance, stronger addon development and ecosystem for the future

2. IPS v5 vs XF 3

3. Migration Reality Check:
Forums, posts, users, gallery = Yes, possible
Commerce, Blogs, Pages, custom apps = No, your Bitcoin Commerce addon would need an upgrade for development


4. Shall you wait for XenForo 3.0? No, because it will take 1 to up to 4 years away, and so just a theme change. You can migrate to XF 2.3.7 now if you are going to do it right now


5. URL preservation: Possible,

Redirection Scripts for Invision IP Forums and Gallery

Dec 12, 2017

Redirects Invision URLs to XenForo for SEO benefits

• XenForo
• Redirection scripts [2.x]

The import system | Manual | XenForo

End-user documentation for XenForo

xenforo.com

6. Performance board: XenForo framework is much better and faster than IPS in most benchmarks. Your 7 Millions posts will load quicker on XF with proper optimization than on IPS


Bottom line as: Your IPS complaints are valid (support sucks, marketplace gone, can't find devs). But migration will cost you:

• $1k or up to 10k in the development
• Complete commerce rebuild
• Loss of blogs and pages
• Weeks of work
• Possible SEO damage

 

[Ricsca]

The cost of Invasion is insane! I switched with my forum from Invitation 4 to xenforo.

 

[Rene_V]

What do you think about features from XF versus features IPS 4 v ?

The best way to go about this imo is to use the XenForo demo and see for yourself what it has to offer.

Create a XenForo demo

xenforo.com

Can all my list with applications ,i wrote at the begining my comment, be transfered to XF including all data ?

I don't think that the data for the Ips apps will be converted to XenForo by the official converter. The same goes for any third party apps. That said, you can always hire someone to do custom converts for you.

4. You think is better to wait for XF version 3 before migrating ?

Personally I think it's better to not wait for xf 3 to migrate your forum. You can migrate it to the current xf version. It will be worth the while.

 

[Konon]

I'd wait for XF 2.4 as there will be more features and a new editor.

 

[SoulReplicant]

Your use case seems very very complex, migrating something outside the very basic from a forum structure (users, threads, posts, direct messages, profile posts (if you have/use them in IPB), nodes and categories, is literally tears and blood. Even with the basic, when you have a huge base or many years of history content, problems can arise in a big import. You have a lot of applications besides a forum so if I were on your shoes:

1.- I'd look for suitable XF 3rd party addons that mimic your current IPB ones. With IPB Blogs form example you can check XenAddons Blogs to see if their features satisfy your needs. Don't look for Blogs content migration (for now).

2.- Buy a XF self hosted license (yeah you'll have to spend money just to try things even if the end result won't be achievable) and try a test migration just for the forum to see how it goes. Your user base and forum content is your must appreciated asset by now.

3.- Invite a few trusted users with you to your test environment to see if they can feel the new system.

4.- If yes then you can start to purchase the addons. Start with the cheaper ones, try to communicate with their developers and explain them your use case to double check you'll get the desired outcome. The same, test the addons with your trusted users, you'll need your team in the final stage.

5.- Here's the tricky part. Put everything IPB related in a separated folder (and menu link) as a "read only" mode. That should imply revoking all "writable" permissions in IPB related stuff for all your members, even moderators. And forget migrating Blogs, Gallery, Files, Pages, FAQ and any other content created by an addon. It's too much a hassle to migrate that (unless done manually) and the idea here is to put your old content in some archive space were can still be visited (but not modified). It's just a way to perpetuate your old content (and not lose the SEO on it) until your user base gets used to the new system and new associated addons.

6.- You'll receive a lot of questions from your users, also friction and maybe some of them will leave (others will love it). That's where your trusted team comes in help, answering the questions, guiding the rest of the users in the new systems and addons and helping them (and you) to make the transition the most smoothly (or frictionless) possible.

I think in that case you won't spend a lot of money in custom work and, most importantly, less chance to be a Sysiphus endeavour.

Good luck

 

[Kirby]

I need to keep the URLs structure SAME as they are in IPS to avoid SEO problems, is it possible ?

I am not familiar with IPS URL structure, but generally it is not possible to keep the URL structure in XenForo exactly as it was in a different software, at least not without custom code.

 

[USCSS_Nostromo]

For XenForo, everything you mentioned already exists - blogs, member of the month, image watermarks, and so on.
But I wouldn’t switch if I were you.

What’s the point, if you already have all of that?

Users definitely won’t like it. People don’t like such major changes.
And you could drop out of Google search results. Your URLs will change, the page structure will change - basically everything will change.

I need to keep the URLs structure SAME as they are in IPS to avoid SEO problems, is it possible ?

Do you think that an HTML page can completely change its internal structure while keeping the same URL, and that this way you will fool Google?
I’ve been through this - the situation is unpredictable. No one can really recommend anything to you.

You think is better to wait for XF version 3 before migrating ?

Half a year passed between versions 2.3.7 and 2.3.8.
In a year, 2.4.x will start and will continue for several more years.
How long do you think it will take for 3.0 to come out - 3...5 years?

If you were using vBulletin, I would tell you to migrate. But IPS - no.

 

[tajhay]

Id wait for xf 2.4 to actually see what the team has been doing for past couple of years before deciding.