Modded And Skinned IPB To vB. Small Board
 

I run a EXTREMLY small board (8 members) due to mysql errors (upgrading IPB 1.3 to 2.0)
I have been a big fan of vB since I saw a IPB forum upgrading to it
But with such a small board... Is it worth it?

I like forums because its fun to mod em and add skins to em and play around the acp.

I have tried the admin demo many times and must ask you:

1. Are the ods easy to install? Or do they give a challenge?
2.If I buy a leased version, can I upgrade to full with out paying the full 160 again?

I run a heavily modded IPB. About 20 mods (unless that aint hevaly modded)
I see so many mods here so I would like installing em.
But the problem is skins.
Ive taken a look at vBulletintemplates.com and am not impressed. Its terrible compaired to invisionize (IPB resourse site)
And thats saying a lot for IPB 2.0 due to lack of skins.

I do not want to come to vB with out knowing a skin is waiting for me.

1. Did you have trouble finding a free skin?
2. If you requested a free skin, did you get it?
3. Do you still use the defualt skin?

Now back to square one. Is it worth it? With a small board I dont know it I want to spend that much money and maybe not succeed
\
~Bunny1

P.s - if you could not undertand what I was asking ill be a bit clearer :D

i used to use skins and i know vbulletin has a lot of resources dotted about the place but in the end i found a lot of skins too graphic heavy for my 56k users so i made a custom blue skin and minimed the image files

I cant skin. Ive tried it for IPB but cant :/

1. Not 100% sure what you are asking, but both vBulletin and style packages are very simple to install.
2. When you buy a leased license, within 30 days you can pay another 85 to upgrade to a full license, after that it will cost a full 160.

1. Nope, I make quite afew of them :) so I'm not the best to ask, vBT is currently less active as we are working on the vB.org and vBT merger :)

2. Err, this depends, I would say no most of the time.

3. Nope, and of course again I am abit differnt than alot of the users here :)


If the board doesnt fly, you still have your license, you can start another one ;)
Worth it? I would say in most any case yes, if the site grows you have no real growing pains outside of maybe moving hosts, you will not need to change board softwares (at least I would hope not :))

I started my first forum with vB and nothing else, and it ran very well for 2 years before i packed my bags and started again :)

I've attempted to look a the IPB skinning system and found it horrid in comparison.

If you can point and click you can change the basic colors of vB :)

I mean are most mods easy to install?
I like a challenge. Phpbb gave me a challenge but I downloaded a prerelease of Ibpro arcade (great mod btw :D) and the instructuuions were simple... Maybe like 2 edits

the majority of the vb mods are easy to install, so long as you can follow instructions.

1. are there many unofficial skin sites?
2. Is the skinning system easy in vB?
3. Have you created a skin?

Next:
1. After a year with an owned lisence, do I HAVE to pay or its it optional?
2. Will I still get free support?
3. Will I still be able to download MODS (Not updates to the software itself)

1. a few here and there, most are paid only

2. Compared to most other systems yes.

3. Yes :) Several
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111141
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113473
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114500
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=114504
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115620
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116146
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=116246
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=117899
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=119262

Plus a few that are not freely distrabuted :)

1. Its optional.
2. You are still entitled to support for life even after the first year
3. Yes, you can access the vBulletin.org / vBT forums at any time as long as you hold a valid license.

Some of em I like :/
Really the olny thing I am afraid of is the skin...

Support.
Is support good?
I never bought IPB because I heard their support is bad
I heard from NBS Designz that vB is very good support

Converting.
I do NOT want to have to restart *starts to cry* again
Will I get the support I need even if I am deemed.. hopeless?

Well how helpfull have I been, could I have been more helpfull? I am part of this sites staff and as well I am part of the vBulletin.com staff :)

We offer import scripts for IPB 2.0.X and 1.3.1 :)

Acually. Your very right. You are a LOT more helpful then those people at IPS.

Also:
It says no free emails such as hotmail...
(Im registering by check btw)
-Is gmail okay?

You cannot pay with WorldPay with gmail, hotmail, yahoo or a number of other similar addresses. You can pay with PayPal though.

I dont have paypal and it clearly says on the order form that you can pay by cheque.

Yes you can. As I stated the gmail et al restriction applies to WorldPay credit card orders only.

So I can use gmail if I pay by cheque?

You should be able to but if you pay by check you will have to wait for it to clear before you can dl the software.

Yeah
I expected that :D
Ive payed somethi gby check before. It took days! :D
Oh well.

You do not need a paypal account to pay by credit card fyi :)

I pay parents = They make chack = They send it

They hate using their credit card online

And also. After a year if Ido not repay, but I need to redownload the current version I have. Would I have to repay?

Can you skip one year then pay the next?

Are we talking about an owned or leased license? :)

Probebly owned. Maybe leased for a few days to decide :/

Owned Licenses:

You would need to pay 30 USD to download the most current release, as we only offer it, if your download access expires, it means just that

You are entitled to support from vB.com/org for as long sa the license is valid.

Leased Licenses:

You will need to either pay 85(re-new lease) or 160(upgrade to owned) to be able to get any support or updates

Can I skip on year of the 30 bucks then pay it 2 years later?

If you dont want to download, sure :)

I would also like to ask about co admins
My co admin is going to run the site part of my site :D
Am I still alowed to give him ftp access?

Yes, but you do so at your own risk, and if you wanted him to be a limited adminstrator once you give him access to the ftp he will be able to be as powerfull as you are, just an FYI.

I trust him.. since I know him at school :D

vBulletin is a powerful, scalable and fully customizable forums package for your web site. It has been written using the Web's quickest-growing scripting language; PHP, and is complimented with a highly efficient and ultra fast back-end database engine built using MySQL.

vBulletin is the ideal community solution for all medium-to-large sites.

I have a small site so I think its not worth buying :(

Trust me, even small sites love vBulletin, I know quite a few small websites that are very happy after moving from phpbb or ipb simply because of vB's ease of use and administrattion.

However if you do not decide to purchase vBulletin I wish you good luck with your community and future endevours :)

If there is anything else we can assit with please let us know :)

Small sites like it too?
Thats cool.
And I guess I like modding it andf using the acp than acuallyrunning the site :/

Taking a nice look around I see in the acp a skin colours edittor.
I love it! So easy to use.

I have another question about the owned renewal.
Lets say I buy the lisence. Then for the next 3 years I do not renew the downloading lisence.
If, three years later, I decided "okay. I want to renew it," do I only have to pay 30 bucks or the money makingup for the 3 years I didnt pay?

Just 30 dollars :)

I notice on phpbb boards that the page moves up a lot. Now I see it here too.
Is that just me or is it vBulletin?

Also, can we use the v images on a skin?

Not exactly sure what you are asking.

http://img92.exs.cx/img92/3069/v3fq.jpg

And sometimes when I am reading a post, the page suddenly moves up to the post previously.

why dont you build your forum using phpbb its free theres loads of hacks and skins for it then when its established buy a owned vb license and swap boards,i started off using phpbb then bought a lifetime ipb license now im considering buying a owned vb license too.

The advertising always gets me :/

I am trying to convert to phpbb but the guy who made the converter wont reply to my support query :/