Why vB and not InvisonBoard
 

Ok. I have to admit that I'm already pretty much sold on vB. I've been surfing around the forums and the different member's web sites and can see endless possibilities to create my dream site.

However, I would apprecaite if someone could point out some clear advantages by using vB instead of InvisionBoard, phpBB etc.

THANKS!

• Much more secure than any other.
• You can actually *get* support when errors occur :).
• The staff are friendly.
• Creating template sets are easier.
• The list goes on.......

Hope this is convincing enough :).

Dave.

the propably best thing is the way it's coded.
it's quite faster than for example phpbb

Actually I think a lot of it is crappily coded aestetically (it also uses a lot of deprecated stuff) but it seems to be efficiently coded. To use a vB.com's member's analogy: "why do you pay for Windows when you can use Linux for free?"

filburt is right, some code of vb2 is really hard to read sometimes, but with vb3 this should be changed also :)

Just try for urself
i did a thourough test of the major Bulletin Boards
eg Yabb, ikonboard, invision board, phpbb and of course Vbulletin

If u chek them out feature for feature u'll see Vbulletin comes out on top
Although they have hacks, Vbulletin comes with most features that u would want as standard
I personally installed only two hacks, A welcome panel and Vbarcade

chek yabb its the one that has least features altho easy to use, and has good Support, it just can;t compete with what can be done with Vb
eg the hacks i installed on it eg Usercp, Alert on Pms, add smilies, and Add attachments are standard on Vb, Also its in pearl Slower then php, The standard version has no Database support

now lets see Ikonboard good board But again no user cp and the Support is abysmal no Attachments, am sure it has hacks but who wants the hassle, another Problem i had was the install
it created Some files that belonged to no one so i had to get in contact with my Hosting Provider to get rid of those Files cuz i wasn't allowed to delete them i had no permissions.
The Boards in perl Can become slow

So that would leave Invision board as the closest competitor
well lets match them up, They think that its an upgrade to Vbulletin, i don;t think so, if u chek the features standard ones
Firstly it has no file attach, and as for the support i couldn;t even find that, i didn;t find any hacks database like Vborg
and some of the standard features like adding smilies is just Slightly Better on Vb , and the user Cp is definitly is

So the Final Note Altho those other boards Are Excellent in their own right i really think the Choice is clear Vbulletin is the best, the support is excellent, with the continual development, and u don't really need to improve upon it , but the changes u can add are major things like Portalisation and cosmetics and Virtual arcade, I think its clear why those are free and this has a Minor fee, but as they say u Get what u pay for

Just try for urself
i did a thourough test of the major Bulletin Boards
eg Yabb, ikonboard, invision board, phpbb and of course Vbulletin

If u chek them out feature for feature u'll see Vbulletin comes out on top
Although they have hacks, Vbulletin comes with most features that u would want as standard
I personally installed only two hacks, A welcome panel and Vbarcade

chek yabb its the one that has least features altho easy to use, and has good Support, it just can;t compete with what can be done with Vb
eg the hacks i installed on it eg Usercp, Alert on Pms, add smilies, and Add attachments are standard on Vb, Also its in pearl Slower then php, The standard version has no Database support

now lets see Ikonboard good board But again no user cp and the Support is abysmal no Attachments, am sure it has hacks but who wants the hassle, another Problem i had was the install
it created Some files that belonged to no one so i had to get in contact with my Hosting Provider to get rid of those Files cuz i wasn't allowed to delete them i had no permissions.
The Boards in perl Can become slow

So that would leave Invision board as the closest competitor
well lets match them up, They think that its an upgrade to Vbulletin, i don;t think so, if u chek the features standard ones
Firstly it has no file attach, and as for the support i couldn;t even find that, i didn;t find any hacks database like Vborg
and some of the standard features like adding smilies is just Slightly Better on Vb , and the user Cp is definitly is

So the Final Note Altho those other boards Are Excellent in their own right i really think the Choice is clear Vbulletin is the best, the support is excellent, with the continual development, and u don't really need to improve upon it , but the changes u can add are major things like Portalisation and cosmetics and Virtual arcade, I think its clear why those are free and this has a Minor fee, but as they say u Get what u pay for

To me, the main difference is in the control panel and how much more intuitive and easy vbulletin is to configure and maintain than some of the others. I have been working with some people setting up their sites and customizing their forums and I don't think you could pay me to switch.

Amy

u just feel it straight away the overall quality

it' vBulletin! :)

...and it's great!

the code is simply perfect

filburt1 what's wrong with linux?? windows xp was a step ahead but they went too far with the "activation" i'd still take linux over windows anyday, and i know my husband would too, not because it's free, it's also more stable, vbulletin is like windows (cept for the crashing :-P) and i think people are crazy to pay $160 (?99) for ANY scripting, programs are ok (photoshop/dreamweaver/psp/etc.etc) but $160 for a year of updates, you're all crazy!! - i'm only here to look at the hacks so don't bother asking me "why did you come to a vb board..." ;)

just re-read the whole thing - msimplay "minor fee"?? says $160 on vbulletin.com

its only 160 to buy the license then 30 a year to keep access to the updates, which is not bad

yeah but for $160 you could get someone else to make you your own script and teach you how to write it or just learn php for $0 and still have one at the end of the day, i just think $160 for a forum is way overpriced thats all :) i guess it's all to do with how much time you have on your hands/how fast you want your forum

To get someone to develop a forum for you, may I assure is most likly 10x the price of a full owned liscense.

Anyways, I have been analysing the age gorups, type of site, dedication of many of the members both here and at the official site.

vBulletin targets more long-term based, mature, dedicated audience it seems, well the majority of the time. vBulletin is made to give a proffesional look, at the same time give you all and more of the features you get/don't get else where.

Most of all the 'legit' boards are all dedicated, and have proffesional appeal to them. Then there are all the pirated boards where you see the difference. For them, freeboards are made in majority, these sites are temporary, don't want to invest into there site to make it grow, but just want to start a site for the heck of it.

I can go on, but I know in general many get this point, though it may not be the main point.

Now to convince, I am a phpBB user, well was, and when I got the power of vB under my belt, the possibilities were endless, the coding is secure, and clean, I am able to make all possible modifications I need, when I want to and when I need to. The Template System is geniously coded, if you see other board software, they are individual files, and are usually needed to be downloaded to be edited, vB packages this all in a nice template system, which I love. I am hooked on vB, love the hacks, love the support, love vB.org and plan to dedicate a nice amount of time here.

Also if you are not sure what you want, test, and even if you want start off with a free board, there are plenty converters available, and I have seen many sites that start off with free board and convert to vB.

OK enough typing for me :p

its up2 u at the end of the day , when it comes down to it Vbulletin is simply the best forum software there is, as for learning and making your be my guest, and having custom software made,

if u've got the time please me by guest develop your software, but it would take a long to to be as good as Vbulletin, u have got to remember it has a team of developers behinds it, that get paid to do a job, also this being forum software has been through many phases of updates , infact it gets updated all the time, the other major factor is the support if u have a problem with the software u will have someone thereto help u, and also u have to remember this forum software has been made with much research as it has come along , through its varios stages eg vbulletin 1.0x 2.x and soon to be 3.x

and if it is about the money then be my guest use a free board
and believe me when i say Vbulletin is the best, i have tried them all,

but in all fairness u shouldnt be comparing a free board with a payboard,
and if u are persuading us to turn away from vbulletin, it wont work so easily since vbulletin has many happy customers, me being one of them, unless however u can show me something substantially better, its not happening.

also i dont use linux, like the other 98.8% i use Windows xp,
i dont mind the software its just not supported as much as windows eg with software, games etc , as for stability i dont have many problems with Xp, but really i'm not on a server so rock solid platform isn;t needed, i'd rather have the accessability

well, i think that all coding should be free, but the creators should be recognized. phpbb is free, and it is great, and easy to customize. i just "bought" vb 2.3 and i dunno, i haven't really tried to mess with the aestetics yet, but i know they templates on phpbb were easy to update. why am i here you ask, well, i dunno, they are both great forums, and both accessible ;-).

Don't be ridiculous. If all coding were free every software company in existance would be bankrupt.

lol seriously

i'm kinda sick of all those "why is vb expensive, why do you take all this money" crap, i dont think it should be even discussed but if you really wanna discuss it why not go to the vb.com forums ;p

Ok my final note
u may find that on a general level all forums are the same
but its only when u delve deeper
can u realise how good a forum is

eg does a forum get slow if it handles more then say 1000 members at once ?

not ALL coding should be free but they could at least lower the price! and deffinatly on vbulletin its a php script for god sake not a peice of software. you can buy windows xp pro here for that much!! and i use xp too it's good for games but still i like linux, com'on who could resist tux over 4 crappy little boxes of color?? :) ...oh and the stability side of course :D - like i said though xp was a big step but the activation was going too far so no more money for mr bad microsoft guy from me :P and likewise vbulletin wont be getting my $160 - disturbed, valid point however i chose to answer a post on THIS forum, still you get a cookie *hands a cookie* (don't worry it's not one of those spyware ones :D ) - waddawadda need i ask where you "bought" vbulletin?? ;)

well put it this way
Vbulletin is software
i mean u pay for galleries
Skins,
styles
memberships
come on if u think about it 160 a one off payment one that u'll never have to make again

and to keep updated to whatever new version comes out only
30 pounds a years isn;t bad

i mean what other software lets u have upgrades like that
eg if u buy linux or Windows u have to pay for each one

err vb.com :P

you do realize i cant post (in most forums) or download hacks if imma not a valid customer :)

btw vB is really cheap compared to uBB

"Disturbed" is showing up as licensed. Don't jump to conclusions.

heres a simple way to solve it...

if you want a crap 1 month board with 6 members, go with phpBB...

or if you want a site with about 500 members and up for a long time (2 years) then go with vB, and if you dont have the money, get a job or become admin at a friend's site :-0

oh yeah, about UBB, i used to run one, but in the long term, they break down since CGI is nowhere as fast/server easy as PHP/MySql, and they are like 200 bucks :-0!!!

To elaborate on Spirtfireisgods message.

If you are looking for a long-term solution, vB is what you are looking for.

Well, I hope the $85 license only has to pay $30 a year after that to keep getting updates lol. When I do get vBulletin, it'll be the cheap license.

vB does look good. My site uses phpBB2 right now, good script, but vB seems to be the best.

I hated invision board though..

I believe if you buy the 85$ liscense, you do not pay 30$ every year, but pay 85$ every year, to renew the use of the liscense. 160$ Is to own the liscense, and 30$ here after to get access to the members area and support.

yeah get the $160 owned license.

as for getting someone to make your own forum software then yeah you could but chances are it be less feature packed than vb, youve got 1 person for support and it may look poop, plus the money you spent on that would have got you vb and youd be kicking yourself in the end :P

This is a "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" question, l don't like phpBB but some people swear it's the best software.

Backing up a couple of people here, the coding in vBulletin is woeful compared to the layout of some of the other software.

Just my $0.01c worth.

lol @Phpbb best software they obviosly can't have used anything better else they wouldn't be saying that :D

LOL VBulletins coding is among the best if not the best there is
if u have ever noticed Vbulletin has always been ahead of its time with each release

uhh funny everyone ran around mentioning phpbb and invision board. VB is the best **probably** however it is an opinion. and i think it www.xmbforum.com is where everyone should be headed if they want a free forum script which in my opinion rivals and betters vb in certain aspects. jmo

Well, I was leaning toward phpBB, mostly because it integrates with phpNuke very well. However, now that I know that vbb does this as well, I am going to buy my licence. Much slicker interface and quick beyond belief (compared to a perl-based messageboard). Less of a learning curve. Have you even looked at Ikonboard. My god that is slow. Forums and sub-forums (I have never seen subforums as an option of any messageboard) and UBB? Give me a break. I have been running ubb for about 3 years now and although it is real easy to modify, it is still perl script and a pain in the butt to backup (takes forever). I am chomping at the bit to get into a database driven site.

XMB is notoriously, among other things, insecure. From what I've heard Invision Board is the best for people who can't afford vB.

i tried xmb some of the bbcode weird pretty weirdly
i did like its look
but for me, ease of use in bbcode is a must

yea well as far as being "notoriously" insecure...sorry to let you know..but every board is. its just a matter of whos taken the time to find out. any scripting is exploitable INCLUDING vb. im cool with you supporting vb because you use it but dont knock others on false pretenses. as far as xmb being insecure ive had no problems using the newest one which has no security holes **FOUND YET** but even if before my board was never hacked. see heres the deal if someone wants your boards/site down...all they have to do is take the time and they can do it no matter who your host is/what theyre running or what forum script you used. ive actually seen with my own eyes more vb boards get dropped but thats simply because theyre used by more sites i frequent. so as far as it being secure or not..most people using forums in general arent running sites dealing with sensitive information and so forth. so just dont ++++ the wrong person with the right knowledge off and security will never be any trouble no matter what script youre using.

on another note i have to admit using both i do like vb's control panel better simply because its laid out better in the frames. but for $160 they can keep their look and ill keep my xmb ;D

If you start to get an attitude you can be three clicks away from a banning. I'm reitering what I've heard, including from actual hosts.

vB 2.3.0 has specific measure designed to stop all XSS vulnerabilities, BTW.

someone has sand in their ++++++

Actually XMB is much more insecure than other freeboards, PhpBB is faster than other free boards, but configuration and functionality it looses out. InvisionBoard over all is one of the faster, and has easy configuration utilities, but cobranding for ALL free boards is really poor. Template management for ALL free boards.

There are many things other boards don't have. These are not biased, because I use all of these scripts currently, including XMB, PhpBB, InvisionBoard, vBulletin, and UBB. I use them on a regular basis and I like them all. Even with discussions with the developers of the other boards they are able to highlight there software's strength, but when they highlight the weakness, its Template Management, Co-Branding, Management, Forum Management. Everything of which vBulletin has mastered in its 2.XX Releases, and with vB3.X on its way this innovative script is just going to get better. With this other boards will get better too, overall to me and to other vB is winner.

Also here is a lesson to ALL of you who ask which is better, which is not. You will always indefinetly get a biased answer. Most of the time users who use freeboards say that freeboard is good, because they have not used any other, because I am sure if they had 160$ or 85$ they would of tried vBulletin. I suggest not to rely on these sort of questions on users of only one board, but going to a third-party site, that does not dedicate its topic to a certain software would be the best option. One site in particular is:

? WebHostingTalk

These forums have alot of members who own hosting companies, and based on their experiences, and configurations they can advise you on which one is better, or which one will run oh which configuration etc.

filburt as far as banning me thats childish...sorry i stated my opinion. and about 2.3.0 not being vulnerable to xss thats great...too bad 2 boards of sites i visit got dropped using 2.3.0 :X ... like i said no board is immune from exploitation