This is nice and all, but...

HannahP

HannahP

Well-known member
I assume everyone here is or was a vB user, and whatever you think of the recent version or the company that creates it, it is still the best forum software available. Those of us who stuck with it through v4.x are going to be hard pressed to switch to a new software.

I know I've invested a lot of time in taming that ***** to approximate my vB3 layout in 4.x, and after much griping and sniping now the users are used to vB4. Dropping some new, simpler, completely different thing on them is going to give me another month of calming people down and explaining why change is good.

Most of you are looking at this from a forum owner's point of view, and from there, yeah, this is all great news and fun and sunflowers and candy canes. But I don't think your users are going to share your enthusiasm. Especially if you recently dragged them through a painful vB 4.x upgrade.
 
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::nods::

We've been looking long and hard at any and every option since IB came into the picture as well.

A. They just REEK of (the worst kind of) suit mentality, and NOTHING has been shown to kill innovation and customer focused development faster.
B. The conflict of interest in having a company that makes it money from buying and running (often badly) other forums owning the company that develops the platform we use... :: shaking head:: Sorry, but I trust IB not to abuse that situation about as fas as I could throw my house. On Jupiter.
C. The last year only firmed our resolve that we would never upgrade from vB 3.8.x and would do custom development from there or find a new platform. Luckily, I think we just did :).
 
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I'm planning on making the move when this is available. It couldn't have came at a better time.
I was actually planning on switching to 4.0.x at the end of the year, but now I don't have to, because of this masterpiece :)

Bonus points since my users are already expecting a change, and oh boy a change is what they'll get. As far as they know we're still going to use vB4, I'm not telling them about this, only our administrators know :cool::D
 
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mjp said:
I assume everyone here is or was a vB user, and whatever you think of the recent version or the company that creates it, it is still the best forum software available. Those of us who stuck with it through v4.x are going to be hard pressed to switch to a new software.
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I started using vb with version 1 lol, and I can say it is not today the software it was back then (well okay, maybe in version 2 lol). I'm on 3.8x and I have zero desire to continue on, and would welcome a software without the bloat that is today's vb, that runs well. And the kind of people who are developing a software makes a big difference I think.

mjp said:
Most of you are looking at this from a forum owner's point of view, and from there, yeah, this is all great news and fun and sunflowers and candy canes. But I don't think your users are going to share your enthusiasm. Especially if you recently dragged them through a painful vB 4.x upgrade.
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The switch from vb2 to 3 was a huge one, and our members got over that. They would get over a switch now too, whether it's to this or another software or what have you. The unknown always freaks people but that passes.

:)
 
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Macitus said:
Just tell your users the truth, that the XF was not there when you make the vB4 Update :D
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I had to update one forum to vB4 for the <cough> CMS. It actually serves my purposes but it's so damn slow.
I wouldn't subject my 3.8 site since that is my hobby site and my server would come crashing to a halt.
If this is an alpha version, can anyone imagine what GOLD will be like?
 
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stevens said:
I had to update one forum to vB4 for the <cough> CMS. It actually serves my purposes but it's so damn slow.
I wouldn't subject my 3.8 site since that is my hobby site and my server would come crashing to a halt.
If this is an alpha version, can anyone imagine what GOLD will be like?
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I know! XenForo seems so fast. I know a few sites that run on vB 4 and they seem so slow!
 
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Don't forget some vB3/4 and IPB sites are really big and manage to maintain a good speed. We still have to see XenForo tested on really really busy forums, which I'm sure will happen really soon.
 
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Newsflash!

This software is brand new, it just hit the Alpha stage of development and hasn't even been released yet! :)

Given that, I think it speaks volumes that many people, even some naysayers, at worst have XenForo ranked just a notch below vBulletin 4, which has been in development for what....10 plus years? So if the boys have made it this far in this short of time, I think they'll be miles ahead of vB in very short order. Therefore, the question that people should be asking themselves is...where will XenForo be in six months, or a years time as compared to vB and IPB? The other thing to keep in mind and something that I haven't seen mentioned too many times is this... Kier has had the benefit of being able to design xF from the ground up and he has the benefit of starting from a blank sheet of paper. Which obviously means that he has none of the incumbrances of having to worry about any legacy issues of how any possible development will effect older versions of the software. I would imagine back in his old vB days, that Kier must have been constantly shackled from doing things he dreamed up and wanted to do, simply because of the legacy issues that would be involved with past versions of the software.

What people should be doing, is going back over to the vB forums and asking them why it is taking them so long to release a stable, proper working version of vB4, when the guys at xF can do it in short order. :D

-Chris
 
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Forsaken said:
I actually showed this to a lot of my users on another forum, and they already say they much rather have this then vB4 (Even if it means switching, and them paying for fees).
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The look here is much cleaner and minimalistic than vB4, but removing some of the superfluous information from the default vB4 look can't be that hard.
 
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I am just getting familiar with the system, the features, etc. And I can only do that from the front-end, so I participate, test, try out things, etc.
 
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Gill said:
There are a large number of ex vB ... or perhaps current vB customers who have chosen not to upgrade to vB4 because of the way it was handled and concerns about the quality of what was being offered. I am one of those. I hold 3 licences and all sit on 3.8. I was the sort of customer who automatically renewed - paid for whatever and actively promoted vB to others. Nothing in this world would have stopped me being part of what I considered an amazing piece of software. Well, something did ... and it was called IB! The moment the acquisition took place I became concerned. My concerns were realised a year later.

So, here is XenForo - I'm ready and waiting to upgrade. I imagine there are loads of people in my position waiting for the same. XenForo have a market just waiting for them.
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Pretty much the same situation I'm in. We always kept up on updates and actively supported vB. I'm still running 3.8.4 (the last 'British' release). When IB released the update for 3.8.x I decided to hold off as I knew SOMETHING would go wrong....and it did. I'll be sticking with 3.8 until xF is released.
 
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VB customers/admins are split into those who dislike the product's evolution (?) and future and are looking for alternatives, and to those who simply cannot see any other alternative (there is none, when it comes to an integrated cms/forum solution) and go forward with v4 despite its huge issues.

There is not a single forum that is successfull and its admin has not tried to satisfy the members. There is simply no other way. Therefore, an admin that checks out XenForo and is jumping up and down of excitement (as is my case here :p), is most likely to get the same reaction from his forums' members. Constant change in communities is something all forum owners should pursue, as long as we are talking about changes forward and not backwards. And, trust me, your members will always see the diferrence.

So, from my point of view, running a few forums and helping/advising tens of others, I would support any change of platform such as vb > XF, as long as it's calculated (for example, you have alternative solutions for some of the modules your members love - this is gonna be a hard task for old 3.x vbforums that made huge customizations).
 
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Macitus said:
Just tell your users the truth, that the XF was not there when you make the vB4 Update
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It's still "not there" as far as a lot of things are concerned. Maybe in six months or a year this will be viable. At the moment it's a bit, I don't know; Fisher Price My First Forum, for my tastes.

I have faith that the ex-vB key players here are well intentioned, and obviously they love forum software, but it's difficult to re-invent the wheel, whoever you are. I wish them luck and if they come up with something awesome I'll support them and use it. Just seems a bit early to be crowning them Kings Of The Internet.
 
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