vBulletin vs. IPB

[Comtech]

The most I've heard about 4.0 is that it's including a new default style and new administrator control panel. I doubt it will take more than a year to do all of this, so before 2009 would be a good estimate.

I've heard the entire core of vBulletin may be rewritten.

[Chazel]

If it was, my guess is that they'd still use some aspects of the current vBulletin, and with a development team, more than a year isn't too much to expect - is it?

[Tanax]

If it was, my guess is that they'd still use some aspects of the current vBulletin, and with a development team, more than a year isn't too much to expect - is it?

Have you checked out the feedback forum?

[3.7] Fix this


Fix this, fix that, please add this, idea for that, etc etc...


You never give 'em a break. Ofcourse, we all want vBulletin to have a great product as possible. But with the amount of fixes and everything, I'm sure that 1 year, goes pretty fast when you have as much to do as the dev team of vB.

[Chazel]

Have you checked out the feedback forum?

[3.7] Fix this


Fix this, fix that, please add this, idea for that, etc etc...


You never give 'em a break. Ofcourse, we all want vBulletin to have a great product as possible. But with the amount of fixes and everything, I'm sure that 1 year, goes pretty fast when you have as much to do as the dev team of vB.

Calm down, I wasn't even hassling them.

[xjuliox]

This thread is still open.

Everyone know that vBulletin is the best in the world. The only ones that don't know that are the IPB users

[gfc]

Ok, that's REALLY annoying:



1-2 Weeks? Are they crazy?

[Floris]

Ok, that's REALLY annoying:

[ATTACH]24535[/ATTACH]

1-2 Weeks? Are they crazy?

Who cares .. this is vBulletin.com, not IPS .. No need to come here to complain about other companies. You can always buy a vB license and get support 24/7 in the ticket system AND the forums.

[Chazel]

A good sign of the better software would be that IPB closed a thread of this very same discussion on their boards, mostly because their members we're getting pwnt.

About IPS Beyond being closed, it's either a sign of their service or their trying to copy vBulletin's joke - which only vBulletin can pull off.

[GHOwner]

Ok, that's REALLY annoying:

[ATTACH]24535[/ATTACH]

1-2 Weeks? Are they crazy?

http://forums.invisionpower.com is their actual company forums. I guess that would be the mod forum?

As Floris said, we best not talk bad about other companies, that is just horrible to do. I stick with vB for I love its power >=D That and I love the managing methods of vB over that of IPS. Though, as others have stated, hopefully 4.0 gives a section tabbed Admin CP, not that the current isn't awesome as it is.

[jw0ollard]

To add to whoever who posted that wall of text on page 4~ .
The use of AJAX is just much better in vBulletin.

When you click for example, the quick links, a list nicely rolls out.
If you click the username i a post, a list rolls out.

When you click the username in a post on IPB, it just pops out.
Fast and ugly.

.... not AJAX. It is however a combination of HTML and JavaScript that has come to be called "DHTML" although DHTML is really only a concept and not a real thing.

I'll have to disagree with you in every regard. Sorry.

All this 3.7 talk piqued my interest in the differences between IPB and vBulletin so I signed up for the 8-hour demo over at IPS.

If we're actually talking about the use of AJAX, I'll have to say that IPB 2.3 definitely wins out over vB 3.x. The attachments system makes far better use of AJAX; there is no need to open a new window with old, "ugly" JavaScript and it can all be done in the attachments panel in the new post page. The profiles use AJAX to display tabs; vB 3.7's profile tabs do not. I could go on, but you weren't actually talking about AJAX.

If we're talking about "AJAX" according to your definition, meaning "flashy effects", IPB definitely wins out in that category as well. I don't personally judge forum software by its effects library, but IPB certainly has more of them, and they all look much better.

Your argument about dropdowns is moot. Dropdowns have never been a defining characteristic of "Web 2.0" and in fact, dropdowns are one of the evils that Web 2.0 is wholly against (if you want to buy into everything surrounding this Web 2.0 BS). Regardless, I much prefer the dropdowns in IPB: 1) Because you can actually tell clicking the username gives a dropdown (the username is in a box with a dropdown arrow) 2) The "nice rolling" effect has certainly never been something I look for in a dropdown. The effect also doesn't work well on very old computers or old browsers, and much of the time even on my computer the dropdowns "roll out" irritatingly slowly, depending on what all I have going on in my browser. I also appreciate your use of "fast" and "ugly" in the same sentence... Do you really think slow-moving effects look "prettier"?

How's about you actually sign up for the demo of the latest IPB and use it for the entire 8 hour trial so that you can fully take in its use of AJAX and.. well, "AJAX" aKa these flashy effects you speak of. I'm very impressed by the latest IPB, visually, and I'm certain I have more experience with web design and aesthetics than you (You do after all not know what AJAX truly is, among other things). I am of course much more impressed by vB, in all other areas, otherwise I wouldn't be a paying customer, now would I?

That being said if we lived in an alternate reality where IPB had the same level of service and an equally strong modding community, I wouldn't be posting here.

Edit: Let me just clarify that I am a firm supporter of vBulletin, and that I have faith all my biggest qualms with it will change in 4.0... but I also won't tolerate reading blind "fanboy-ism". IPB is clearly better, in terms of DHTML, AJAX, or whatever flashy, "Web 2.0" effects it uses, but like I've already stated that's not what makes a forum software better, is it? Hell, there are more boards than just IPB that look better and more modern than vB, but you'll notice that really doesn't make any difference. People will continue to use vB, even if it looked crappier than it does now, and there must be some reason for it. I personally love this software, and it enables me to do whatever I want with it, including changing the way it looks -- and that's where the benefits of IPB become useless. I spent about 5-10 minutes in the IPB ACP and I wanted to cry. I hate it, more like loathe it, actually, and I certainly hope vB 4.0 doesn't bring us an ACP like that.

[Comtech]

I spent about 5-10 minutes in the IPB ACP and I wanted to cry. I hate it, more like loathe it, actually, and I certainly hope vB 4.0 doesn't bring us an ACP like that.

As a former IPB license holder, I rather enjoyed the ACP, especially coming from vBulletin's rather lackluster acp. Nobody with tech "know-how" will ever have a problem with a nice ACP. If vBulletin 4.0.0 doesn't have a new & much improved ACP, then I will clearly be looking back at IPB for my forum needs. I would be shocked if the majority of vBulletin owners felt the way you do. I remember ACP's like this from the mid 90's!

That is how old the system design is...& that isn't a good sign. I hope vBulletin will be shaping up, continue forth with innovation, they can't afford to sit idly by while their competitors in both the premium and free forum software markets are surpassing them. I am amazed vBulletin developers never thought there was a need to update the system until a large group of license owners commented on how out of date the system was.

vBulletin is the best, but, only by features. The looks department needs a total overhaul & with any luck, we will see a few new hints of life for vBulletin 4.0.0 next year...if Jelsoft will keep a roadmap of some type or at least a developers blog where licensed, & only licensed owners can read. Perhaps a link to the blog inside our member area?

[ManagerJosh]

Not all of Jelsoft's vBulletin customers have a lot of tech "know-how"

[Comtech]

Not all of Jelsoft's vBulletin customers have a lot of tech "know-how"

It comes with time. Every one of us started at some point as "newbies" & we learned by teaching ourselves, or learning from those who helped us. All I was technically saying is that the majority of vBulletin users would have little to no problem dealing with a similar ACP, as found in IPB.

It doesn't need to copy what they have done, but I do believe tabs would greatly enhance the ACP of vBulletin. While others will disagree, I would imagine the majority of license owners would not. I found IPB's ACP easy to use & simply preferred it.

[Chazel]

If a new ACP is implemented, I for one would like an option to use the current one. I'm used to it, and I like everything to be in one place - not weaving in and out of categories and sub categories trying to guess where what I'm looking for is located.

If I need User Profile Fields, I like scrolling down and clicking it, taking me directly to its' options - not going to Forum Tools, Profile System, Profile Defaults, etc. (the aforementioned ACP structure was an imaginary one)

[jw0ollard]

As a former IPB license holder, I rather enjoyed the ACP, especially coming from vBulletin's rather lackluster acp. Nobody with tech "know-how" will ever have a problem with a nice ACP.

Isn't that your opinion that IPB has a nice ACP? I don't think anyone can quantify how easy an ACP is based on the opinion of "how nice" it is. Like I stated in my last post, I feel I have a great degree of "know-how" but that doesn't mean I can suddenly grasp the IPB ACP. And like I said, I spent maybe 10 minutes in it and wanted to scream. It is certainly not easy to use, no matter what level of expertise one has. Most options are buried in dropdowns under those graphical buttons, there is category inside category inside category, and frankly the tabbed layout makes it harder to use.

vB's might be "lackluster" but I can at least reach almost every single location with ONE click. If all of the categories are expanded in the left frame, that makes it as simple as looking over at the frame and clicking which location you want to go. With a tabbed system, this becomes impossible as you have to click a tab and then search for what you're looking for. I certainly hope vB doesn't move to an ACP like IPB's. I like having everything accessible to me at once, even if it makes for a very long list in the left frame. (I do collapse most of the unimportant categories).

And frankly, the template system was a nightmare.. It was quite the beast. However, I did like several things about it, namely the ability to search for the location of a specific CSS class or ID in all the templates, but the dropdown list was unwieldy and impossible to use. Can't you just type it in instead? (Which would be the exact same thing as "Search in Templates" which vB already has? )

I'd have to give it more time, but it just seemed infinitely harder to use. If I have to deal with a "lackluster" ACP to keep the ease-of-use, I sure hope there will be a "Legacy ACP" option in 4.0. That is assuming vB will be pressured into creating a tabbed, convoluted, and unwieldy monster of an ACP because that's what all you vB customers want.