vBulletin vs. Joomla Questions
 

I figured that I would post this here rather than the .com site to get a more neutral response.

Anyhow, I have a basic site that was build with phpNuke several years ago. I figure it is time to upgrade since apparently no one uses phpnuke anymore and I would like some additional functionality.

The site is www.selas.us/portal/

My site has basic features like a forum, calendar, gallery, and a map; all of which I would like to have at least some version of on the new site.

However, I want additional functionality, like being able to:

• have a mobile app (I believe that taptalk is used on joomla sites)

• Make the bulletin board software allow for picture attachments directly to the SELAS site (is this available in both softwares?)

• Make the bulletin board software allow for the embedding of videos (is this available in both softwares?)

• Install a reputation or thanks feature to the bulletin board software (is this available in both softwares?)

I imagine that a CAPTCHA is installed on both of them, correct?

As it is, I am going to have to pay someone to move migrate the site, so I am already paying for that, so buying a vbulletin license is another added expense while joomla is free.

Thanks

I don't know what Joomla has but with vBulletin you can use a mobile app (tapatalk, forumrunner, or a vb mobile app), you can upload pictures direct to posts or albums, you can embed youtube and other common videos, and it has a built in reputation system and there are thanks/like button add-ons.

You can setup Captcha for registration, searching, posting and such but Question & Answer verification works better at reducing spam.

Thanks for the info.

I'd go with vBulletin and vbgallery photopost.com because it looks like the forum is the main part of your site.

Comparing the 2 is rather like comparing apples to oranges as one is primarily forum software and the other a CMS. Question you have to ask yourself is which side of your site is more important.

vBulletin will not be as good on the CMS side as joomla
Joomla will not even touch the functionality of vbulletin on the forum side.

Both would need extra functionality for the album side of things.

Given what you have stated above for your requirements, if I was doing the same thing I would be investing in vbulletin rather than joomla as you are looking for a social website rather than a standard content based website.

Thanks for the ideas.


I guess I will pony up the money for vbulletin. I will probably try the free 24 hour version first though.

Do you all think that I need the CMS version of vbulletin or just the forum? As said previously, all I really need is a calendar and the forum. As long as we can upload pictures on the forum, I don't even need a gallery.

If all you need is calendar and forum functionality then you can get the Forum Only version.

However you need to consider what level of support you need. Lifetime "ticket support" is included with the VB4 Suite. The Forum Only version is only 30 days of ticket support- basically after you are setup and any further questions you have you must ask in the support forums instead of 1 on 1 via the ticket system.

1 Year of additional ticket support is $85, almost as much as the extra cost for the VB4 suite, so if you think you may need ticket support beyond 30 days the suite is a better deal.

If you do not want to pay for the official vB CMS but still want a CMS there is an alternative called vbadvanced.