vB5 has killed my forum

[samroza]

The vB5 platform is so clunky and we lose so much functionality and end-user usability, the my users have by and large abandoned my site. The biggest problems are problems that I've tried working with vBulletin on, and have been given no solutions.

Unread post searching is so horribly broken, and I believe as a consequence, Tapatalk integration is also broken in similar ways (my guess is that the behavior of both is tied to the API).

I think we've come to the place-after investing in a vB5 license and paying for vBulletin to "professionally" upgrade our software-where we need to figure out a way to cut back over to vB4.

We stand to lose out on probably $500 worth of various fees and licenses, and over a month of posts (but since user participation has been so low, it doesn't really matter). It seems worth it if my once-loyal userbase returns and becomes active again.

I just need to figure out a way to get an older backup properly restored and vB4 re-installed.

vBulletin: This one's a stinker. It's almost like the different pieces were developed in a vacuum and not tested until paying customers started using it. Quite frankly, I resent the fact that I had you guys do the upgrade and I've essentially had no contact with you when it wasn't initiated by me through your forums. You really ought to offer a safety valve for customers who want to backrev.

[samroza]

I just wanted to come back and update this thread...

I worked on some of the issues that vB5 had with some colleagues of mine and worked out some of the issues, but in the end, it just wasn't enough. Because the software platform is so horribly broken, no amount of patching it up with scripts and other workarounds worked.

In the end, a 15 minute install and hour of configuration of IP Board's software yielded me a fully functional board platform that needs no workarounds to get a level of functionality I desired/already had in vB4, that I lost with the transition to vB5. The cost is much less than vB5 as well.

vBulletin should be ashamed at the quality of their current product. They should also be offering refunds for people they sold a bunch of shitty vaporware to as well. We even had our vB5 software "expertly" installed by vBulletin, and that was handled poorly-another cost I wish I could reclaim.

vBulletin: Put this stinker to bed. vB5 is bad for your reputation, bad for board admins.

[ForceHSS]

I always look into anything I buy first to make sure all is ok with it no matter what that thing is. There are many posts on here about problems with vb5 I have even said how buggy it is even known some staff would say differently, but I and others have the right to say what we feel about vb5. I am sure in a few years, most bugs will be fixed and it will be ok to be used, but it should of never been given out until the big bugs were fixed and many agree with that