InvisionFree Boards

[Mighty_Squid]

I'm thinking of moving over to vB but I am an individual not a corporation so cost has been and continues to be a problem.

Currently I use a Invision Free board for the obvious reason that it is free. However I am begining to see how that limits my ability to customize, advertise, add on, and upgrade.

Three Questions:

1. I have read that you can move old posts and users over to vB, is it possible with an IF board? I am still new so starting from scratch now would not hurt but I would rather save up more money first.

2. Besides the license what else is required to run a board? I can assume a web host and domain name but what other costs are there if any?

3. What skill level is required to maintain a successful board?

Thank you in advance.

[Getox]

Maby this can asnwer your questions.

1. If you can backup/download the forum database, then you can move them over to vB
2. PHP, MySQL, FTP Upload Program, Simple Text Editor to edit the config.php and Yes a Webhost and Domain.
3. You will need to Advertise, post your link on different forums.

[Zodiak]

Hello!

1) Not sure about this. Please wait for one of the devs.

2) You need to have one host with PHP 4.0.6 and
MySQL 3.23.33
All decent ones have this, so you won't have any problems. As for the domain name, you can either buy one (domain.com), or use one a free one which will be offered to you while registering the hosting (not all hosts have it though). Basically, it's something like domain.hostingdomain.com , and it's perfectly OK for vBulletin.

3) Actually, maintaining the board couldn't be easier! Everything is straightforward and simple. But if you do have problems just ask for help here, and you'll be up and running again in no time. Or I recommend reading the manual (http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/) You'll find EVERYTHING there with simple explanations and screenshots to guide you.
And you can try the Admin CP demo here: http://www.vbulletin.com/admindemo.php
Just play around and see for yourself that it's the easiest thing on Earth.

Regards,
Zodiak

[Andy Huang]

If I remembered correctly (this was from way back in the days when IF was first launched, so I could be wrong) you can do a database backup in the admin cp of IF, that means if I remembered correctly, you can get a SQL file of your database. If you can get that, then you can port all your users and posts into VB (please check what else you can port over from the ImpEx documentation and post).

Cheers.

[Mighty_Squid]

Thank you all for being helpful! It speaks well of the community here.


I am somewhat knowledgeable but PHP and MySQL is beyond me. My host just needs that right? I don’t need to do anything?

I have looked into IF and I believe you can purchase a backup of your board but I am not sure of the format. We’ll see if that works out. 26 members and 270 posts isn’t much but I’d hate to lose it.

I am in discussion with my staff, members, and most importantly my bank account to see if switching is the right thing for me. I did try the Admin CP trial and it looks easy and powerful. Looking around it seems skinning and modifying is easy too. (Right?)

I sure would like to make the forums self supporting as I currently pay for a domain name and Google AdWords.