I read everywhere that vBulletin...

[Hercules]

Has more features than IPB... Out of curiosity.... what features are these? I've looked at both forum systems and can't really see a huge difference in features.

Both are great boards but when choosing between the two I find it hard to choose just based on those merits. Of course when you add in support, price, etc... then the decision can sway either way. So overlooking those topics... what exactly does vBulletin have over IPB?

I am more curious, because there's a good portal for vB that I was checkin out

[orca]

Did you try the demo? Also of the admin section? They may look the same for the front-end but the backend is much better in vBulletin. There are so many possibilities that you may overlook them.

[Hercules]

Did you try the demo? Also of the admin section? They may look the same for the front-end but the backend is much better in vBulletin. There are so many possibilities that you may overlook them.

Yes, I tried both and to be honest, they are both nice approaches to more or less, the exact same thing.

Like I said, I don't see what makes vBulletin stand out OVER their competition. I know the support, the community, etc... the intangibles are all there. Hack community and availablity. But that's not my question.

The 'back end' is a very non-specific answer. Since I only play with the demo, and not have a working board with real issues at hand (because EVERY forum you admin will have them, even if it's not forum software-related) I cannot tell what vBulletin can do to aid you (or not) over its competition.

Like I said, a more specific answer would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Tolitz]

vBulletin template management is head and shoulders above its competition... anyone who has used both products will tell you that... we can throw around feature-sets here, but it won't really matter, since competing forums will always try to emulate another one's features just so it can boast a similar feature set ... it really all boils down to user-friendliness ... it's much easier to modify a forum's look and feel with vBulletin's template system

If you have no money, or don't want to spend anything to acquire a board, IPB is for you ... that's really what the bottomline is for most users

[Loony BoB]

Having been an admin and a mod at both types of boards, there are a lot of differences. Pre-hack, the mod control panel of IPB was awful. It was the first thing that I had to mess around with. After that, I had the stylesheet. Now, I don't know if they've changed the stylesheet lately, but it was the worst thing I've ever used online. Even using their help thread on the stylesheet, I had trouble figuring out what variable changed what colour. It was incredibly frustrating.

The ability to change both colours and templates with such ease in vB makes it ideal for anyone who wants to use their board for business or leisure.

And on a more opinion-based note, I always found IPB to be very... kiddish. The images there just came across that way to me.