vbulletin reputation / domainance help?

[dcallan]

Hi folks,
Today when I was surfing I came across an argument for phpbb versus VB. People where saying that because phpbb does come very close in features (apparently!!!) to vb that the $85/$160 fee was not justified. Others where saying that actaully the vb fee is the fee for the vbulletin reputation and almost brand as a whole. Almost like wearing the best designers clothes / runners / sunglasses (as people are more inclinded to take to you and want to get to know you, right?)

I may be mistaken but vb is the dominate board on the web right, most people have used it more than others so they are familiar with it. So my question is does the reputation / brand of vb help a forums growth, I mean are people more willing to join and particapate in a vb forum (assuming their interested in the boards topic of course) rather than say ikonboard (which i what I'm on at the moment). I'd really like to here from vb users (and others too though of course) which used to run other boards, did more people sign up after the switch? stuff like that you know.

I like this board, I have some spare time from the start of sept I am considering swithing to vb (the free time will allow me to customize) so I would like people's thought on this. Also is adsense and search engines in general totally fine on vb boards. It does not use session ID's does it? One more final question, does vb allow me to export say the latest posts / threads to ssi for inclusion on my normal webpages?

I want my community to be a success to do so I feel I need the best in terms of community software (I'll gladly pay for quality if quality is what I get) so if people can answer these questions for me I'd be very very grateful. Thanks very much for your help.

[Wayne Luke]

Well you are paying for more than a name with vBulletin. First phpBB only has about half the features that vBulletin currently does. They are adding a lot of new features to newer versions that will be close to vBulletin but we will add features as well.

The main thing you are paying for with vBulletin is Support. We offer support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our average response time is 36 minutes for official support tickets and you can usually get help in the forums within minutes. Our support staff is paid to be here to help you. And the level of support goes beyond simply answering the tickets or questions. We will work with you to resolve your problems and get your forums back up and running. We will work with you to optimize your site so your forums work at peak efficiency. Support at phpBB is voluntary and therefore not guaranteed.

To answer your original question though, yes the vBulletin name attracts people. We have been given testimonial and anecdotal evidence that by switching to vBulletin from a free software package that our customers were able to increase their traffic, registrations and build their sites faster.

Our software is designed to work with Search Engine Spiders and Adsense. Many of our customers do use Adsense as a revenue source already.

You can provide syndication for your front page in Javascript, XML and RSS feeds that are provided with vBulletin. There are also other syndication methods available at www.vbulletin.org.

[nirvanilla]

i ran a board for a year that was on phpbb, and i can tell you that phpbb is NOT close to VB in terms of features (or anything else). VB has a lot more. and tho i had a grea forum with plenty of regular usuers, when is switched to VB, even the regulars started posting more-i noticed it and other members noticed it as well. and i got more signups believe its because VB is just generally more pleasing in every aspect-more pleasant to theh eyes, easier to use, more fun to use-the whole 9 yards. you can tell the ppl who made it really care about it and that it should work well.

like i said in another thread a bit ago, if you're serious about your board, get a VB.

[dcallan]

Thanks Wayne and nirvanilla for the replies. That response time is amazing earlier on I seen an average response time of 24 minutes, you have really good systems in place to work all of this out.

We have been given testimonial and anecdotal evidence that by switching to vBulletin from a free software package that our customers were able to increase their traffic, registrations and build their sites faster.

VB has a lot more. and tho i had a grea forum with plenty of regular usuers, when is switched to VB, even the regulars started posting more-i noticed it and other members noticed it as well. and i got more signups believe its because VB is just generally more pleasing in every aspect

This is want I'm wanting to hear yes, I have great content on my boards, but I think VB can give me that extra boost. I have asked a similiar question on a couple of board today, the response generally being that yes vb does encourage more activity. This is good news, because it ain't actually deer at all.

Glad to hear about adsense / and search engines as at the moment I have just added adsense to my ikonboard, the ads are only relavent sometimes but not all the time, and I need this avenue for revenue maximised as much as possible. I believe there is a hack for ssi export, but i can't view it yet until I get some sort of a license.

Nirvanilla was the difference in activity really noticable? Can I have the link to that thread your refer to, thanks. Anyone else testifiy to an increase in activity (posts, registrations etc) after switching to VB, really dying to hear your thoughts.

[Jan Klerks]

Wayne is right, considering the product and especially the support, the licence is far too cheap if you ask me.

[dcallan]

Wayne is right, considering the product and especially the support, the licence is far too cheap if you ask me.

Don't say that them guys will higher it up Anyway thanks for the replies.
Does it take long to customize?

[Lenni]

if you want to see all the features of vbulletin and compare them to phpbb, you can try the free admin demo with fully customizable admin settings.

[alexy]

admin pls explain to me. i dont know what HP,MP and EXP mean?

[Steve Machol]

That is from a hack that someone installed. This is not a standard part of vBulletin.

[Unmutual]

There really is no comparison whatsoever between phpBB and vB.....other than the fact that they're both bulletin board software.
I don't mean any disrespect to phpBB cos I admire what they're doing, and it is free. But they're worlds apart.

[Reeve of Shinra]

LOL - I was thinking about this this morning and its like saying the price of a Lexus is all because of the name and then deciding on a Kia because its cheaper. There's a world of difference in the craftsmanship of the two.

[Seraphis-XII]

VBulletin not only has many uncomparable features, but as you said people will recongize it. If your using VBulletin people will often take you more seriously since they know you have invested some cash, or view you as being a more professional firm.

[Beaker]

vB is more secure, better featured and there are far more usable hacks available. Also they are invariably better documented. I've moved over from IPB a couple of weeks back.

After some initial complaints from some users who didn't liek change everynoe seems to be fairly happy. THe portal installation worked flawlessly, most of the cock-ups have been on my part purely because i'm not used to working vB yet.

PhPBB is also not massively sucure, just as Metallica and they will tell you that. *chuckles*

[Forum-Style]

I agree with most of the comments here, we have used phpbb, and the new version is looking good, but compaired to vB its still has a way to go, not just free sites like phpbb and ikon, but even IPB has alot to catch up on to be in the same domain as vB.

You do get a branded name with vB, people know its the best out there and in todays world,(as sad as it is) people do rather post and join in on a branded forum, i guess i can see why, its the forums buggy and lack of features why bother to join in, vB is safe, more than any other system, and that helps also i find.

[Nodaker]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum. I'm currently running a dozen phpbb websites (be nice now ). The reason I'm over here is that I'm tired of all of the security problems with phpbb, and having to do 12 updates PLUS readding all of my mods is practically a full-time job now and it's holding back my site's potential.

I would like to move my 12 websites but I'm wondering if these same issues come up here? For each upgrade, do you have to readd every mod? (I'm assuming yes, that's why it's a mod and not standard)

The main reason I'm still with phpbb is that our site (modded) is a search engine machine. Every new thread is indexed in the major SERPS in as little as 72 hours in many cases. My competitors are all running VB (about 8 that I consider) and none, and I mean none, are ever in the SERPS (I'm mostly considering individual topics, not the forum index).

I've only been around this forum for a couple hours, doing a lot of searches and it looks like VB catching up to the SEO potential of phpbb is still into the future (which appears to be one of the only thing VB is behind on phpbb, too bad it's the most critical to user's like myself).

So a couple questions I guess:

1) How often does VB do upgrades?

2) Will all mods need to be readded?

Thanks from a lurker.