Sal Collaziano
Well-known member
I've been using online message boards since the mid 80s. Yes, I'm an old man. I started with a BBS (bulletin board system) running C-Net 64 (yes, a Commodore 64) with a 300 baud modem.
I made it to "the internet" a little bit late (around 1995) and found my first "modern" message board/forum - http://www.fordvschevy.com/ (I now own it) running UBB (Ultimate Bulletin Board). I was immediately interested in the potential of the internet and wanted to start my very own forum. I was either going to start a community dedicated to my favorite music at the time - or the 80s decade. I talked someone else into starting the music forum - http://clubfreestyle.com/ (I now own that site as well) and started http://80sxchange.com/ running ezBoard. Does anybody remember ezBoard? I was actually contracted by them for awhile...
I tested the waters with my ezBoard installation, honed my SEO skills and shortly moved on to an installation of UBB. At the time, UBB was the king - but it wasn't long before vBulletin was making waves and I started hacking/modding my UBB to mimic vBulletin. Actually, a great guy named Allen Ayres did most of that for me. Never even asked me for a dime...
Unfortunately, a time came where UBB wasn't going anywhere and vBulletin was really making an impressive forum script. Basically, it came standard with most of the hacked/modded add-ons you wanted with a UBB installation.
If it's not too late to make a long story short - I've run all the mainstream forum scripts and I still run different types at the 30 or so forums I now own and operate (Yes, I'm a true forum addict). I had a VERY short run with XenForo on a Jaguar forum I started - but it really never went anywhere. A few days ago, I converted http://kiaforteforum.com/ (a very small community to test the waters) from MyBB (which I find impressive for FREE) and the conversion went very well.
XenForo is exactly where I expect "forums" to be in 2013. In my opinion, Invision Power Board is too complicated and tries too hard to be different. vBulletin is a great system - but it has become overly complicated. I think vBulletin is becoming too many different things - losing focus. I'm very, very pleased with my small XenForo installation. Everything works as I expect it to. I look forward to owning many XenForo licenses in the not too distant future.
Thank you very much, XenForo people. I really hope you stay focused on what I consider the "new king" of forum scripts...
I made it to "the internet" a little bit late (around 1995) and found my first "modern" message board/forum - http://www.fordvschevy.com/ (I now own it) running UBB (Ultimate Bulletin Board). I was immediately interested in the potential of the internet and wanted to start my very own forum. I was either going to start a community dedicated to my favorite music at the time - or the 80s decade. I talked someone else into starting the music forum - http://clubfreestyle.com/ (I now own that site as well) and started http://80sxchange.com/ running ezBoard. Does anybody remember ezBoard? I was actually contracted by them for awhile...
I tested the waters with my ezBoard installation, honed my SEO skills and shortly moved on to an installation of UBB. At the time, UBB was the king - but it wasn't long before vBulletin was making waves and I started hacking/modding my UBB to mimic vBulletin. Actually, a great guy named Allen Ayres did most of that for me. Never even asked me for a dime...
Unfortunately, a time came where UBB wasn't going anywhere and vBulletin was really making an impressive forum script. Basically, it came standard with most of the hacked/modded add-ons you wanted with a UBB installation.
If it's not too late to make a long story short - I've run all the mainstream forum scripts and I still run different types at the 30 or so forums I now own and operate (Yes, I'm a true forum addict). I had a VERY short run with XenForo on a Jaguar forum I started - but it really never went anywhere. A few days ago, I converted http://kiaforteforum.com/ (a very small community to test the waters) from MyBB (which I find impressive for FREE) and the conversion went very well.
XenForo is exactly where I expect "forums" to be in 2013. In my opinion, Invision Power Board is too complicated and tries too hard to be different. vBulletin is a great system - but it has become overly complicated. I think vBulletin is becoming too many different things - losing focus. I'm very, very pleased with my small XenForo installation. Everything works as I expect it to. I look forward to owning many XenForo licenses in the not too distant future.
Thank you very much, XenForo people. I really hope you stay focused on what I consider the "new king" of forum scripts...
