VB5 Demo Feedback

[lostincable]

I think the comment about the tech heads is appropriate....

It will require a fair bit of customisation to get it right but it still just doesn't look right to me.

I find it hard to navigate and explore but ill keep plugging away but not forking over any bones on it yet.

And its even pushed me to go and sign with IPB for a trial to see the comparsion.

[Deimos]

To me, it looks like vB5 has a long way to go. 1.3M of download to render a page............ lol

And yet, when you look at VB5, it looks so basic compared to VB's 3 and 4
It's a little disturbing that it's Beta stage 10 and it's this slow and has such a large data to download.

[Shamil.]

My first impression is "This is SLOW"... Thinking it might be perception, I ran a third party tool to compare actual times for downloading necessary content, rendering, etc. and compared the main page of the vB4 forum to the main page of the vB5 forum. Not sure how it could be more "fair" since both instances are on the same physical server...


Results for vBulletin 4:


Results for vBulletin 5:


Not terribly impressive... vB5 takes roughly 3x longer to load, requires more HTTP requests, requires 1.3MB of downloaded stuff to render a single page (ok really... WHAT THE F*CK?!? I thought vB4 took too much and it's under 300KB)

To me, it looks like vB5 has a long way to go. 1.3M of download to render a page............ lol

I also ran a similar test on my computer directly and the same thing... 18.6 seconds to render the main forum page that has 1 forum (took 73 HTTP requests).

Just ONE CSS file is 424KB. /sigh

https://www.vbulletin.com/vb5demo/co...&ts=1347432774

the mammoth of java scripts on initial load, then the inclusion if a hell of a lot of CSS files.

[hornstar6969]

Im on my iphone and it started loading with the mobile style but really really slow and then crashed. First time ever a site has crashed on my mobile. Ill have to try later on my pc.

[digitalpoint]

My first impression is "This is SLOW"... Thinking it might be perception, I ran a third party tool to compare actual times for downloading necessary content, rendering, etc. and compared the main page of the vB4 forum to the main page of the vB5 forum. Not sure how it could be more "fair" since both instances are on the same physical server...


Results for vBulletin 4:


Results for vBulletin 5:


Not terribly impressive... vB5 takes roughly 3x longer to load, requires more HTTP requests, requires 1.3MB of downloaded stuff to render a single page (ok really... WHAT THE F*CK?!? I thought vB4 took too much and it's under 300KB)

To me, it looks like vB5 has a long way to go. 1.3M of download to render a page............ lol

I also ran a similar test on my computer directly and the same thing... 18.6 seconds to render the main forum page that has 1 forum (took 73 HTTP requests).

Just ONE CSS file is 424KB. /sigh

https://www.vbulletin.com/vb5demo/co...&ts=1347432774

[whitetigergrowl]

I dunno. Some things just aren't making sense and I can imagine will be all too confusing for non-techies that visit the forum.

I like the simplistic style. Not over-bloated. Not a bunch of crappy icons either.

However the editor layout is odd/weird.

I can imagine there will be many people that want to modify their post/thread before they post it, but won't realize you have to scroll over to 'Advanced' to do it. That almost seems counter-intuitive and just taking up space that could be used for something else.

Responses within the post being responded to. I dunno. I'm not sold on that either.

I like the simplistic nature. It allows for more customizing. HOWEVER the whole stream thing and layout still needs some work. For non-techies I can see the new layout as a turn off if it's not properly implemented. It almost seems like this weird mish-mash of Xenforo, Facebook, and IPB. With some VB thrown in.

Zero doubt, the whole thing will likely have 1 of 2 effects. People will love it and adjust, or they will stay away from sites with it if its not properly implemented on them. It's a rather big change and not many I know are fond of the whole stream/activity thing. Let alone even use it.

It's weird. Really. It seems like it's trying to take 2 steps forward, but 3 steps back. It wants to be 'cutting edge', but wants to go back to how forums were and looked 10 years ago, just with some more current stuff added.

We'll see. But right now, it just seems all too confusing in layout. I can't even imagine how sites with older non-techie members would adjust to it without the site owners ditching the current look for a skin that mimics an older VB to help transition.

I may still upgrade to VB5 because of its customization abilities. And maybe once I can get into an admin panel and play around some of the fears will fade away.

But no doubt the beta runs SLLLLLOOOOWWWWW. Which is scary considering how basic the forum is right now.

But that whole topic/post posting with 'Advanced' being a separate tab IMO should be fixed. Advanced should maybe be attached to the 'Write Something' tab as a drop down or something else.

Also noticed there is no 'rollover' on threads.

VB 5 is still beta so we'll see how things progress. But the current layout bugs the hell out of me. It seems too radical of a change almost. Like it's not VB anymore. Weird.

I'm gonna bet a good chunk of people will revert settings and layout similar to VB 3 and 4 in terms of layout.

[philg]

Okay thanks for the demo.. It looks promising but what's with all that JS and CSS? They are HUGE!

[Deimos]

Definitely looks more familiar with the directory being the default page, but, the layout is going to take some getting used too.

Looks like a facebook replica gone too far.

[sadiq6210]

Just click on Directory. As an owner, you can decide which tab is the default as well so you're forum directory can be the first tab people see... In fact, I'll make that change so you can see it.

---

Look at it now.. the Directory is the default tab for the time being. Could change later though.

Easy enough change though. Instructions are here:
https://www.vbulletin.com/forum/show...=1#post2334930

Thanks, this is better
+
I think it is better also to make the (topics) tab as the default tab in forumdisplay/categories

[Wayne Luke]

I have more tutorials in my head. Just need some time to type them out.

[thenoob2012]

Thanks Wayne! Looks good. The instructions you wrote will help as well.

[Wayne Luke]

Just click on Directory. As an owner, you can decide which tab is the default as well so you're forum directory can be the first tab people see... In fact, I'll make that change so you can see it.

---

Look at it now.. the Directory is the default tab for the time being. Could change later though.

Easy enough change though. Instructions are here:
https://www.vbulletin.com/forum/show...=1#post2334930

[thenoob2012]

The layout is hard to follow. They only way I could find the forum, was to find a post on the activity stream and then click on the forum it was posted in.

[lostincable]

Well I understand its a demo but was is your thoughts?

I am finding it very hard to follow the layout and find it looking very basic and luck luster personally.

Certainly not convinced yet to fork out 200 bones for it...

What is everyone elses thoughts?

https://www.vbulletin.com/vb5demo/forum/main-forum