My main concern, with any potential move, is retaining URL integrity. I do not want to have a system that changes my existing URLs. Possibly complicated by the fact I'm running vbseo, but can't see myself staying with vb, but need to address the URL issue if possible.

Is there a link to that, please, or private correspondence?

Don't kid yourself, they are writing it for the eventual paycheck just like any other forum software programmer out there does.

Thanks for the link, Spinball.

that's for sure ... and i know that it's hard grab the market from jelsoft ... just see what they do ... xF has huge potential ... i hope that they won't only raise quick bucks from us ...

Well... I see it a bit different. I have (as so many others indeed) huge admiration for the talent of Kier&Mike (and their vision and how they relate to their paying customers and community and so on). I was (and still am) very upset when they decided to leave vBulletin. We all know now how that turned out.

But, I have to be honest: if IB would actually be able to improve the platform hugely and provide us with a Gold release that everyone would be proud of at the end of 2009, then I could -obviously- live with those key developers leaving, eventually. In the end I want a solid, state of that art product and honest customer relations. If IB would able to provide what Jelsoft always provided, I would have stayed, happily. With or without Kier, Mike and Scott (although much preferably with them included on the team, obviously).

It has been made painfully clear that Internet Brands did not care about their customers at all. It has successfully destroyed the good name of the product and it's supporting community for a large part. How do they expect me to support them anymore, if they show such a big amount of disrespect both to the product and their customers/community?

In all fairness, the addition from IB Adrian to the team and how he is communicating with the customers/community, is in my eyes finally a step in the right direction. But for so many, it is too late. Customer relations may be improved a little, but we are still stuck with a product that is flawed: full of bugs and offers it's customers a remarkable underwhelming 'year 2001-looking' userinterface. Not to forget the horrendous quality of the Search system... not to forget all the bloat (and they even create new bloat and confusion, like the new Attachment 'Manager' for instance) ... and so on and on and on... and we even had to pay a premium pricetag for all this! :down:

I am so excited about xenForo... even after using it for a few hours I felt like this:

http://xenforo.com/community/threads...age-4#post-986

....

Amen.

Just to complete the forum trifecta, I like their :eek: "Eek."

I signed up the other day, it looks nice but I'm guessing its' a long way from production,
I could see ppl starting new forums with them, but I'm not looking to convert my vb forum to another script. If I did, it would be to ipb.

The only thing I dislike after some more in depth navigation is the javascript usage. It seems like they have used it for almost everything. Personally I would not convert away from vb but I plan to buy a copy of it if the price would be reasonable.

Just wondering, why??

The lack of addons(as very few features have been revealed so far) ?? or just bcos Xenforo is new?

Well a bridge might be ok for some but its not really a substitute for a CMS in the long run.

Also let us not forget that the very same people who are developing XenForo now failed to give us vB3 customers a proper CMS and blogs throughout the vB3 series.

Will they be able to do it now ? Maybe, lets see. Till now even the forum is not properly developed and its too early to speculate about all this. It will probably be years before the full package matures.

But one thing I can say for sure. I have used both vBulletin 4 as a user and Xenforo alpha as a user.

And except the blogs, there was nothing in vB4 suite that I really liked over vB3. There was nothing in vB4 which made me say .. Wow .. I like that feature and I want it. Infact I disliked it.

I missed several vB features in using XenForo, but there were a number of new features there ... which made me say .. Wow ... thats cool... wish I had that on my forum. Which is why I see potential in that software.

Anyway its early days as yet.

The site works even with javascript disabled so both sides can have the same basic opportunities like posting and reading.

--------------- Added [DATE]1280512038[/DATE] at [TIME]1280512038[/TIME] ---------------

There is a difference between a quick buck and one well earned.

what part of my statement?
1) it's brand new
2) my forum is working fine as it is, no need to change
3) it looks interesting enough to start a new forum with it, but not nice enough to convert an old forum

Theres no doubt, vB4 is very underwhelming, if this xenforo was vB4, we would all be like WOW, vB4 looks so amazing. Didnt we all say... "wow, this is the next generation of vB?"

For a pre-release Alpha with various functions still turned off, it looks mighty good. It's very modern, which you cant say for vbulletin.

Off course its still a long way from having all vbulletins bells and whistles.

To me this means there is light at the end of the tunnel. Similar to how IPB is ramping up their development means that somewhere in the next year(s) there are other options to vbulletin, that allow us to migrate to without losing vital functionality nor losing content.

Had a look at XenForo and I'm extremely impressed. This is everything I thought vB 4 would be. I'll switch in a heartbeat when it's released.

I foresee lots of people jumping ship. IB has had a long time to turn things around and failed. The software is still not where it should be, especially for such a large development team working on it.

If the XenForo team can do a better job with only a fraction of the manpower then that gives me more than enough confidence to drop vB.


Call me blind but don't see what it's missing O_O Aside from the obvious like a built-in CMS or blog system. I'm only interested in the forum product, though. They also say it's due out end of summer, not far off.

Yes Kier , Scott , Mike's departure from vBulletin was a huge loss within vB Team however why vB failed has nothing to do with Developer quality. Things would not be different even they were on team.

Don't be so sure.
I think the difference is they will not release a beta version and label it GOLD.

hopefully it has a photo gallery, but i love the twitter-like concepts and the modern-ness of it. This has a world of potential, keep in mind this isnt even version 1... we're looking at a work in progress and my mouth is dropped.

meh, it has a long way to go. Like really long way before catching up with IPB and vBulletin, heck I'd even put free solutions like MyBB and vanilla ahead of it still.

Some of the [url=http://admincommunity.com/content/articles/forum-articles/xenforo-forum-software/first-look-at-five-refreshing-xenforo-features-r49]Xenforo Features[url] look pretty amazing.

It looks very nice, though I do think a few people are jumping on the bandwagon too quickly. I am anticipating some more backend details!

Really I've loved XenForo's threadbit and display profile pop-up and page. I would guess thats awesome but that forums not popular yet.

3 years of disappointments doesn't constitute intelligent people jumping on the bandwagon. I think it's safe to say the developers involved have a good track record and for a starting point they've done enough to peak the interests of customers not happy with the vb 4.0 version. :)

I saw the site , and the script , it uses too much Animations and mouseovers lol , the script is full of mouseovers and animations tag allover the place , also it seems , everything has to redesigned and phased inorder to use the new script

Yes , vb4.0 Is dam The worst thing ever , all reputation vbulletin earned in vb3.x releases just reversed after vb4 releases .

But you should say There are a 10000s of forums using vbulletin because it has 10000s of Modifications which are already there and for a new script to earn the reputation of "vbulletin killer" surely WILL NEVER HAPPEN , IN THIS ERA :D ,

Because , most of the people will not again invest money in a new script + many people who have been working for vb3/vb4 now like myself on my forum , will NEVER Change to any other script , but surely by this addition it will surely make xenforo a rival of vbulletin , but in turn will help us making vb5 the Greatest Software possible :D
lol

Yes, I agree with you, though it's still a start-up and calling it the "vBulletin / IPB Killer" is a bit extravagant when we've only seen the front-end.

What popular site isn't these days? Facebook is loaded with JS effects and people love it. I don't think XF overdoes it, personally.

Yes people let's stop calling it the vB killer. That will justify itself.

On another note the js scripts aren't extravagant. They are used smartly.

Actually the thousands of those modifications were made by the developers here and most of those are hanging around that site now.
Given how good the backend is of xenforo, it might not take very long for most of the good mods to exist there too.

Anyway, if nothing else, its good to have some sort of competition to vb. It might compel them to fix vb4 bugs faster and make it better.

a LOT of ppl are jumping ship :eek::p:D
I say let them get worked up, I won't seriously check the script out for at least another year.

I'll keep a close eye on it, but I've been with vBulletin for 7 years (1 / 3 of my life!) and I am not about to abandoned it so soon; sure the transition to IB was awful, but I still think there is time for absolution.

Luckily I'm only in the position of a developer and don't have a community at stake of my patience. Others aren't so fortunate, so I understand why people are welcoming XF with such vigor.

Knowing Kier and Mike, I have faith that it will be good enough of an upgrade for my site, and that I don't have to use this outdated forum software anymore, or upgrade to that huge lack of quality version 4.

people are getting too hyped up

Well, I just took a look at the new Xenforo forum script, and I must say it looks disgusting.

Honestly, what is so great about Kier new script?

@latch
Make your eyes open and think first ... ;) XF has many litle (and great) features that are better than on a vb4. The style is minor matter ...

My eyes are open:).

Honestly, the people who need to open their eyes are the ones who actually find this script so amazing. The only reason so many people find this new script so amazing, is because Kier and Mike are developing it LOL.

If Kier and Mike jumped off a bridge, would you following?

If you think the style is disgusting, I'd hate to see what you think a good style is. And I'm guessing the only reason you think it's disgusting is because you're a vB/IB fanboy (must be, to even attempt to use vB 4) :)

Anyone with any sense can see that the software has been developed by experienced and insightful developers using the very latest web technologies to make the UI clean and yet very slick.
There are two reasons why you would not appreciate what is happening at Xenforo. 1 - You don't see it, which means you don't understand website technology and how forums work. 2 - You haven't looked. Since you only have 20 posts here and registered less than a month ago, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume it's the former.

You know your analogy re the bridge is not a bad one, except it omits an important point. The bridge is on fire. Jumping into the water is what changing forum software will be like for some people. Us included with millions of posts and lots of installed modifications, tweaks and plugins. It won't be easy. Yet the bridge *is* on fire and Kier and Mike's new bridge, while lacking the gift shop, is beautifully painted and built on the most solid of foundations.
So the answer to your question is yes, I will be jumping off the bridge. Before I get burned.

I use vb 4, does that make me a fanboy?

I'm not looking to fight with anyone, I simply voiced my opinion and you simply did not like it. No need to start attacking me.

If you want my honest opinion, I do think vBulletin is lacking in some area and one of which would be there lack of communication with the community.

--------------- Added [DATE]1280828633[/DATE] at [TIME]1280828633[/TIME] ---------------

Thanks for having my back:).