your thoughts on vB4

[BSMedia]

Just wondering if anyone has got a chance to test the Beta of vBulletin and the suite, and your thoughts on it.

[Shawn Gossman]

I chose the last...

I don't like the looks of how things are going so far but I am not totally gonna dump vb yet

[Tatl]

Last choice for me. vB 4 has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and I will never purchase another vBulletin product. The new default style is beyond awful, functionality is missing that existed in 3.8, the new stylevar editor and multiple CSS "files" controlling separate sections makes editing the styles an absolute nightmare, and it's way too expensive.

To clarify: I realize and respect that this is still just beta, but watching the direction the developers are going with the software is the primary reason I'm done with vBulletin. It was bad from the beginning and it's gone from bad to worse, so unless they decide to scrap everything they've done and start all over, I'm through.

[christicehurst]

Where would people go if they leave vbulletin. I'm just sticking to vbulletin 3.8 because the setup for my forum is perfect the way it is.

[LeadCrow]

Im off vbulletin. MyBB is about as good a replacement anyway, and best spend monies on something worthwhile giving business to deserving ones who actually respect customers and look up to their needs.

[christicehurst]

MyBB ins't that great I believe. IPB might the only other option that carries the good features.

[Redeemed_warrior]

^I prefer mybb to Ipb.

and VB4 isn't the direction i'm going in, sticking with 3x as my site is heavily modified

[Cipher]

I chose the last option. Something tells me things will turn for the better, hopefully.

[NYCGuy76]

I chose the last option. Im going to stick with my version of vb and never purchase another one again. If I do purchase forum software it will most likely be IPB.

[RaidenDAWG9]

I have to ask, what were you guys who are pretty much dismissing this software out of hand expecting from this release that isn't there?

I've been doing this for over five years now. I started out on a phpBB2.0.x installation, moved onto vB when it was I think 3.0.7, and I've been with them ever since. Our site's been completely passed by in terms of innovation over the last two years because there hasn't been a truly next step forward version of vB since 3.5, everything else has been incremental progress.

The new CMS, while a bit buggy right now, shows a lot of potential. I can't comment on the advertising options because, well, the ACP file has bugs and doesn't run right now (nothing that I couldn't fix right now, just choosing to focus on porting my site specific software).

Quite frankly, I think they've done a solid job of adapting to the times with this new version of the software. Nothing's perfect in beta, and if it is, it's not truly beta. I refuse to bash this product until I've got the final gold pressed CD (or at least, gold pressed zip file) in my grubby little hands and I'm picking it apart myself while upgrading my live site. Until then, it's too early to tell.

As for the company itself, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything, IB hasn't handled this transition nearly as well as they could have. However, that being said, they're releasing a quality product, and they're setting themselves up for long term success in the moves they're making. If you're American, you ought to be congratulating them for being one of the very few that's insourcing jobs right now. They moved their base of operations from the UK to the state of California so they could attract better talent over the long term. They lost some people in the process, but guess what? It's a business, that happens.

[BSMedia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaidenDAWG9 I have to ask, what were you guys who are pretty much dismissing this software out of hand expecting from this release that isn't there?

The style is horrible, and saying that it doesn't matter because most people will change it isn't a valid excuse to put out something that looks like trash. And they've (IB/vBulletin Solutions) said before, most people don't actually change the style at all.

The CMS (I realize is in Beta) but is confusing, complicated and lacking in features. It took over 35 minutes to achieve a basic layout for a section on it last night, and that was after I played with it for 3 hours learning what everything did.

They really haven't added anything new to the table at all to warrant this a major release. They've applied a style and renamed a few settings. They did integrate everything decently at best with being able to promote articles and blogs directly from posts so I'll give them credit there.

The new styling variables and system is more complicated than in past versions, and it seems writing plug ins and modifications will follow this path of being more complicated as well.

For me since its still in beta, I can't say if I hate it (or love it), but from the sheer looks of things, it's not looking good at all in my opinion

[RaidenDAWG9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSMedia The style is horrible, and saying that it doesn't matter because most people will change it isn't a valid excuse to put out something that looks like trash. And they've (IB/vBulletin Solutions) said before, most people don't actually change the style at all.

It's not groundbreaking, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

Quote:

The CMS (I realize is in Beta) but is confusing, complicated and lacking in features. It took over 35 minutes to achieve a basic layout for a section on it last night, and that was after I played with it for 3 hours learning what everything did.

Eh, I'm not a big fan, I'm just sick of integrating the forums with a new CMS every six months because I'm not satisfied with it. They've also released new documentation on it that would have cut down that time BTW.

Quote:

They really haven't added anything new to the table at all to warrant this a major release. They've applied a style and renamed a few settings. They did integrate everything decently at best with being able to promote articles and blogs directly from posts so I'll give them credit there. The new styling variables and system is more complicated than in past versions, and it seems writing plug ins and modifications will follow this path of being more complicated as well. For me since its still in beta, I can't say if I hate it (or love it), but from the sheer looks of things, it's not looking good at all in my opinion

Now that I'm getting into the nuts and bolts of it, I actually like the new styling system. I've started to port my custom coding, and it actually isn't taking too terribly long, other than me being a tinkering time and wanting to perfect every detail before moving on to fixing the next file.

It's actually a rather worthy goal to get rid of all the eval-ed code and all the security risks that approach poses, no matter how much that inconveniences us in the short term.

I probably have a different perspective from you though. I spend the majority of my time coding things to fit into the existing systems, and I think this new release is going to make my life a lot simpler in that regard.

[BSMedia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaidenDAWG9 It's not groundbreaking, but it's not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Eh, I'm not a big fan, I'm just sick of integrating the forums with a new CMS every six months because I'm not satisfied with it. They've also released new documentation on it that would have cut down that time BTW. Now that I'm getting into the nuts and bolts of it, I actually like the new styling system. I've started to port my custom coding, and it actually isn't taking too terribly long, other than me being a tinkering time and wanting to perfect every detail before moving on to fixing the next file. It's actually a rather worthy goal to get rid of all the eval-ed code and all the security risks that approach poses, no matter how much that inconveniences us in the short term. I probably have a different perspective from you though. I spend the majority of my time coding things to fit into the existing systems, and I think this new release is going to make my life a lot simpler in that regard.

I'm going to dive into the templates and some tonight. I'll probably get used to the new system rather fast after diving into it tonight, so I'll be able to make a better decision if it's for me or not then

[MisterPersonality]

I like it to an extent, but the default template isn't one that I'd use if there was nothing else available. The CMS, part, however, is pretty good. But the updated member profiles stink. It favors MySpace profiles gone bad. To be sure, it can be done in 3.x if someone really wants it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by christicehurst Where would people go if they leave vbulletin. I'm just sticking to vbulletin 3.8 because the setup for my forum is perfect the way it is.

Many may migrate to IPB or MyBB... Alternatively, many will just stay with 3.x like you are.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaidenDawg9 I refuse to bash this product ...

I don't think anybody else is... Everyone is simply giving their input- but I do agree vBulletin hasn't handled the transition half as well.

Will there finally be a Wiki to integrate with vBulletin without having to use a modification to replace a Wiki? Or am I completely lost and one has already been created?



I'm going to go with option three, but I still despise vBulletin for handling things the way they do.

[TriplesixX]

As of right now, I have no interest in vB 4.0 and don't see any need to upgrade. Although, I might install the beta on my test forum and see what all the hype is about.

[woolef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSMedia They did integrate everything decently at best with being able to promote articles and blogs directly from posts so I'll give them credit there.

The problem with that is that the promoted thread then splits off the discussion and puts it in 2 places.

I like the new vB but I've been looking for a CMS for a while and this suits what I need for the most part.

[ipodman]

I think I would still with V3, The new version to me feels too commercial and im not too sure about it, something doesnot feel right.

[kjetterman]

I have to say that i'm not really enamored with the templating system. It seems a lot more complicated than it used to be. I wish they would go with either tables or CSS and not both. I feel comfortable changing the CSS but know that it will mess with the variables...

Despite what they say, this learning curve is pretty big for anything more than a simple design.

[Cadet]

Oh god. I hate your avatar but I totally love your post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BSMedia The style is horrible, and saying that it doesn't matter because most people will change it isn't a valid excuse to put out something that looks like trash. And they've (IB/vBulletin Solutions) said before, most people don't actually change the style at all.

The style DOES look like shizzle. This is compounded by the fact that there's nothing really beyond a simple color swap on vBulletin.org. I need to learn how to make my own style, I guess? That gets even worse with the new system. I took one look at the new templating system, saw about a dozen CSS files I'd have to sort through, and decided "This is bullshizzle, I miss the old system". Hell, the default even looked good on 3.x.

Quote:

The CMS (I realize is in Beta) but is confusing, complicated and lacking in features. It took over 35 minutes to achieve a basic layout for a section on it last night, and that was after I played with it for 3 hours learning what everything did.

I STILL can't figure out how to delete categories I don't want, or how to even get anywhere near those sidebars which, despite my best efforts, remain the way they were when I installed.

Quote:

They really haven't added anything new to the table at all to warrant this a major release. They've applied a style and renamed a few settings. They did integrate everything decently at best with being able to promote articles and blogs directly from posts so I'll give them credit there. The new styling variables and system is more complicated than in past versions, and it seems writing plug ins and modifications will follow this path of being more complicated as well.

Indeed. It's harder, more complicated, worse-looking, more expensive, and what do we get? I'm honestly not happy or impressed.

Quote:

For me since its still in beta, I can't say if I hate it (or love it), but from the sheer looks of things, it's not looking good at all in my opinion

True.

I am currently running my site on MyBB and got a vBulletin 4.0 upgrade before moving the site because I didn't like the idea of running 3.x past EOL. Well, now I don't know any more. I can't find a style I can stand (let alone one I like), the system is convoluted and lame, and I'm thinking, "I should just download 3.8.4 and go with that instead of waiting on this to get out of beta, and instead of waiting on styles that aren't shizzle, and instead of waiting on MODs that my members want, because ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE ON 3.8.4." 4.0 has brought, really, nothing new to the table, and it makes me angry.

[El_Canadiano]

IPB 3 > vBulletin 4, both by its community, customer support, and product. The way Internet Brands is handling all of this is just a want for capitalisation and I'm sick of that.

I love MyBB even more now, as well. With Google SEO, it's really good, it can rival vBSEO and Community SEO.