Is it worth it to upgrade? Or are forums dead?
 

Currently, I am running VB 3.8.4. That's the highest I've been allowed to upgrade because my license expired in `09. My forums were fairly slow in volume and I had shut them down for all of 2012, to focus on other things. I've since rebranded & reopened and while one or two people are visiting, most are into FB, Twitter, and other social media venues. In fact a few times even I've tried to "like" a post on the forums, which clearly I can't do on my version. I almost feel that not being integrated in anyway with FB is causing people to not sign up, no one wants to have to register for another account. And yes, I am very aware that the year long shutdown hurt and I 100% know that is all on me. But I do wonder if lack of "updates" is also a tad bit of an issue.

So here is my question... is it worth it to spend the $209 to upgrade to 5.0, where I can have options to integrate with Twitter, FB, and more modern outlets, or should I just consider the forums a dead duck and put them out of their misery for good? Are message boards in general dying out do to social media outlets?

The only that I'll advice you, in case that you decide to pay $209, is to avoid upgrading but instead pay $40 more ($249 costs the normal license) and get a brand new license and keep your old. The price difference between upgrading and new license is so small. In the worst case that you'll never have to use your other license you can sell it. Be sure that you'll get more than $40. Also don't be surprised if, after checking the famous vB5 connect (I'm calling vB5 disconnect), or even vb4, you'll decide to use vB3 as many other users did.

Chris

At this time VB5 has no Twitter integration and only some basic Facebook Integration.

There are mods available to add Facebook Like, Twitter Tweet, and other buttons to VB 3.x, 4.x, and 5.x.

Personally I do not believe upgrading the software will magically breath new life into a forum- that will only come from having content people want to read.

So there are mods for integration for 3. That's great to hear. I'll save the money for now and try out a bunch of mods to see if that even helps. Thank you thank you!