vb3 or vb4?
 

Hi all, i want to buy a new vbulletin license for another site..... for this should be good to know what is the general think about vb3 vs vb4. Vb3 is at the EOL , but i prefer it to vb4 , but if in a small time will not longer upgraded and supported , should be a not good idea to use it on a new site?

PS
Why vb.org don't upgrade to vb4 ? xD :o

I'm with you.. I think the new VB4 looks ugly which is why I prefer 3.8... all my best work was done in 3.8.

For security and 'shelf life' you're better going with vb4 on the grounds that it's going to be supported and promoted longer than 3.8.

I think that there's always the time for a upgrade.... is too hard for me use vb4, sincerely i don'tlike it , for nothing :S ..... waiting vb5 .... or to go with ipb but no vb4.

I would use the latest possible version of vB 3.8 if you like 3.8 over vB4. You should be fine as far as security goes....if you're worried about security then use something like IPB3 or XenForo, something that will be supported in the long run :)

Every software has bugs. But if VB4 is more actively developed, you have a better chance a bug will be discovered and fixed in VB4 faster.
The only advantage of VB3 is having bunch of add-ons specifically made for this version, so some old forums have VB4 because of this reason only.

A highly-customized forum is a big deal if you decide to move to VB4. I would not move it to VB4 any time soon.
When you start from scratch, you better start it with the latest.

What do u think.... the web is in a continue developement..... for how many time vb3 can be used without problems?

If it is a new site set up from scratch, I would go with vb 4 as that is where the future development lies.

But vb4 in first, i can nod digest :S, i have try, retryed and tryed again, but nothing, i don't like..... after all the hacks that i have need are not working :S all "hide hacks"...

I have buyed a ipb board but it is not the vb level , is instable, the wysiwyg is not very stable and the hacks are not existent ..... :S waste of money!

What is the solution? I think only vb3..... hoping that in a next future (about 10 years like vb2) will still in support by vb staff....

Mods wise, vb4 is set.
But im yet to find a style i actually like. I donated to the closest thing to a good style not long ago but not much better has come out since then.

I think developers feel more constrained in vb4, maybe? I certainly know i found it easier hacking together shit for vb3

At some point you will ask "how long will vb4 be there?". Everything is evolving, Boofo is right.
I would pick the latest available at this moment.
For example, I have old forums so I prefer to keep and patch whatever I have instead of upgrading it to such a major version.

I know a lot of bigger boards that work with vb 3.6 .... and other with 3.5 ..... sincerely i can not use vb 4 :S i can not seriously digest it is on my b***s

Big sites use older versions of vBulletin due it it being modified to hell and back, It doesn't really have anything to do with what newer versions of vB have.

My reply was only to said that the old vb 3.X versions after a lot of years, are still working like a charm ..... just this.....

everybody has a personal opinios about the object... a object can like and can not like :) ..... is sure that vb 4 has a lot of features that are better of the all other vb versions.... but if i don't like the graphic of vb 4 is not a vb developer staff guilt ,but i prefer to see the big board that are become bigger with vb3 in the same mode that a small board today, can become bigger with vb4 help tomorrow....

That was why I said if it is was a new site, which has no modifications.

i hate vb4's default look , everybody musttttt use customized themes but in vb3 the default theme was so nice needed a little work only

I feel exactly opposite of that. I hated the vb 3 default skin colors and like the vb 4 default colors a little better, but not a whole lot better.

Exactly.... the beauty of a object is subjective related :)

Boofo like vb4 style.... to other people like vb3 style ..... The problem is the true EOL of vb3....hoping that will be as late as possible (10 years should be great time xD )

I would venture to say it won't be 10 years. You'll be lucky if it goes a whole year.

I'm more positive than.... i see replied on vb.com still for 3.5 , 3.6 .... that are Ended of life more of 1 year ago.... i think that vb staff will continue to help the not coder like me.... In each case an upgrade in the more negative situation is always possible.....a downgrade is not possible.... but i have my decision IMHO.... if and when will be problem, i'll think to a forced upgrade....

Okay.. now that I'm actually next to a computer I can put this down how I see it.

In RE: to old sites
As has been stated; older sites can have two pressures on them to keep their current version...
1. Their modifications and styles. In many cases it hasn't come easy or cheaply, and at the end of the day, their site has gone x many years without being hacked. As time progresses, systems aren't becoming less secure, they're becoming more secure. So if their websites frontend and backend are both secure, then the only insecurity would be their server. If their server is secure, what's there to worry about? Keep passwords safe and life is sweet.

2. There's a pressure for some of them is not loosing their members to a major upgrade.
Downtime, bugs, unwanted features, new features creating possibly security holes, etc. Upgrading can seem a little daunting and risk.

This doesn't apply to all sites, just some of the ones I've worked with.
That said, I know many admins who will upgrade to the latest version and migrate over all their mods and styles themselves. It may take them months to do, but their site gains functionality in their eyes and that's what matters.

In RE: to the look of vBulletin4.
It boils down to your personal opinion. For me personally, I would prefer to keep vB4 as the default look because it doesn't look too bad.
But from a developers POV, I found that vB3 was much easier to work with. Everything seemed much simplier.

That said, I haven't had a great deal to do with vB4, but at the same time, I'm not complaining.

I would love to see what would happen if they released a vB3 style for vB4 and added it to the standard install... I wonder if we'd see a fair bit of themes cropping up from old times :)

I disagree with this statement. vb 4 is just like vb 3 was in the learning curve of making hacks for it. Once you learn the new way of doing things, it isn't really that hard at all.

Also VB4 has more chance to be supported in the future than VB3. The VB4 will probably start to get more hacks later once VB3 users start to upgrade to VB4.
VB4 will have more advantages on a long run.

The feature of vb 4 are the best ..... not exist another forum to the vb4 features level ;)

i think too ;)

Vb4, since vb3 has come to end of life :/

While VB3.x is no longer being actively developed, vBulletin Solutions has said they will continue to patch it until its market-share becomes minimal, which is a long time off.

From a Developer standpoint I can say that despite the initial backlash against vB4, most active forums have upgraded to it now. The number of people using our mods from vb3 compared to vb4 is very small, and shrinking.

As well as the official bug updates etc, I would expect to see very few devs developing for vb3 much longer.

thanks:D

what makes vB4 not the best is its loading time, vB4 is a bit heavier as compared to 3.8... later in the future and in the present as well 3.8 is not being actively supported by the vBulletin development team.... with the future releases of vB4... they may satisfy people...

but one think i will say that i love vB4...

Abouting the loading, sincerely i can't see differences from 3.8 and 4.1.4, or if there's, are very little.... for the rest, i only mean that the vb4 graphic is not beautiful like the 3 one :), but the vb4 functions are the best that a forum can have. I have triyed ipb 3.2.0 too , but not there's that feeling that all the vb versions has been and still giving to people. IMHO

That's good to know. :)