Goodbye vBulletin

[cheat-master30]

Originally Posted by 1Unreal

vB is the best forum software by far. However why are they using tables as layout objects? Thats really old stuff. Also, <font> for example is a depreciated tag. Why is this being used?

Originally Posted by 1Unreal

divs. Tables are not made for layouts. Where as divs are.

Problem. vBulletin 3... published in early 2000s, maybe about 2001. vBulletin hasn't had a style update since then, when tables were basically the in thing. Comparing it to a piece of software that has had a style update since then seems a bit petty, seeing as most forum software has only switched to CSS recently, since full redesigns only happen for major versions.

A good forum (or CMS for that matter) is like software Lego, written in a modular way so that code is re-used and only required functionality is included in the site, meaning the code is quicker at generating pages. While vBulletin has added the ability to create add-on modules, the software is still based upon a monolithic code base instead of a sensible set of core functionality, an API to extend it, and set of optional modules.
Too many features generally leads to bloated code, a confusing interface, a large number of poorly implemented features instead of a few complete ones, and more bugs or security flaws. The Admin Control Panel is indicative of the too many features problem: it's messy, over-complicated, with far too many options lumped under vBulletin Options. Compare vBulletin admin interface to Drupal's administration interface:

Problem: vBulletin is dedicated forum software. Drupal is CMS software. CMS software has a wider array of features, but less for any one aspect, hence the forum with Drupal is pretty much horrible compared to vBulletin. vBulletin on the other hand has features for running a forum, which isn't the same thing. Confusing interface? Opinion. Bugs and security flaws? Sounds like the writer doesn't even know what they're talking about, vBulletin has always quickly fixed any security issues and as far as I know, the latest version doesn't have any major security flaws.

• Signatures
• User Profiles
• Avatars (and profile pictures)
• Private Messages
• Subscriptions
• Buddy/ignore Lists
• Post attachments
• Calendar
• Event Reminders
• Announcement
• Polls
• Send Email to users
• Infractions
• User Ranks
• User Reputations
• User Titles
• Paid Subscriptions
• Smilies
• BBCode
• Statistics
• Podcasts

Remove these from any forum, and I'm sorry, you've done a pretty pathetic job. Signatures, user profiles, avatars, private messages, polls, ranks, titles, smilies and BB code are essential for a forum nowadays. Heck, even old stuff like EZ Board has this stuff, Drupal forum, if it doesn't have it sounds frankly rather pathetic. Heck, the forum given on the site the article is on looks pretty much dead to me, and I honestly can't wonder why.

The code of any vBulletin page is weighed down by a circa 1990s layout; tables nestle inside other tables, whilst in-line JavaScript peeks from behind drop-down menus. The HTML that comes from vBulletin is bloated, difficult to comprehend and overdue a complete overhaul. This can be demonstrated by comparing the same forum thread in both Drupal and vBulletin, three are compared to ensure the result is not a fluke:

It's getting an overhaul. It's called vBulletin 4.

• Licensing
  
  This is a personal reason for wanting to move The Webmaster Forums to different software, Free software allows us to:

  Not worry about licensing;

  Have the freedom to change code in the software package, then give it back to the community;

  Have the freedom to change code in the software package and distribute as we wish;

  Not worry that the software is owned by a single company who could go bust, be bought-out by another company with no interest in developing the product, or a competitor who buys the company in order to kill it;

This is a personal preference, many forum owners are perturbed by such things.

So the writer is complaining vBulletin isn't free and open source, like oh so many people desperate to get it for nothing. Frankly, if you're concerned about the licensing, don't be. You don't need to be able to redistribute the software you're using for it to be good software, and the last point is rather pathetic, since quite honestly, vBulletin has been going for years, and looks like it'll keep going for many more years. There's no sign of a company not having interest in the developing the product. Besides, the future is the future.

vBulletin lacks optimization for search engines. As this is a heavily debated topic, that seems to have no clear answers, this article will only briefly note that vBulletin appears to have SEO problems. Certainly The Webmaster Forums does not seem to do as well from search results as it should do, it also appears that to be successful with search engines a site must use a third party plug-in named vBSEO. The success of this product indicates that there is an issue.
The Webmaster Forums will be tested on Drupal, if it is successful then there are changes to vBulletin that could make it easier for search engines to index sites using it.

SEO is not fancy rewritten URLs. vBSEO is probably great software, but seriously, this sounds mainly like 'my forum isn't ranking in Google so I'll blame the software I'm using'. Plus, vBulletin 4 will come with more built in SEO additions, or at least some stuff people have been begging for.

Suddenly, their switch to Drupal isn't seeming too good, at least with vBulletin 4 alleviating at least three of their major concerns. I guess their problem now they've switched to a piece of software that's meant for a different job than vBulletin and it's hurt their community.