Best VBulletin Mods

Okay, I shiver as I post this because I'm sure someone else already has and I'll get attacked for being repetitive

...but, I couldn't find a thread like this using search, so here goes:

What are the BEST VBulletin mods you've implemented? There seem to be quite a few out there that really add to the functionality and/or efficiency.

The ones I currently have implemented, all of which can be downloaded off of VBulletin.org are:

1) VBAdvanced CMS - Sort of confusing to start outwith, but essentially a CMS that integrates in with VB. It's not a full featured CMS by any means, but it does set up a cool looking home page for you that has neat things like a poll, recent posts, etc. I'm still fooling around with it trying to find out how all the content features work. See the version I'm running here: www.allmetalforums.com

2) VB Welcome Headers - This is a cool one that supposedly increases the rate at which members join. It has a bunch of hacks to add header greetings to various types of users such as lurkers, unregistered visitors, partially registered users, etc. etc., and it changes the wording/reminders to try and get those people active. I've seen a boost since I implemented it, but the time frame is too short to be conclusive.

3) YAAS - Love this one, and so do my forum members! It's an awards system that lets you hand out various awards for whatever you want. Easy to use, took just minutes to install, runs nicely and looks professional. I recommend this one, no question.

4) Template Compress - I honestly just installed this one 15 minutes ago after reading a post here (Nintendo linked it, I believe). It's too early for me to see any real impact but I hear it works well. Basically it deletes blank links/spaces to reduce the use of bandwidth and make pages load fast (correct me if i'm wrong).

I'm sure there are a couple others I'm not thinking of, but I can always add 'em later.

So do any of you have mods/hacks you recommend?

 

There are two good ones Hellcat's is the one I use but there is a new one that apparently has a better compression b/c it compresses the templates in the database, where as the Hellcat (which is the one I think you're talking about) only removes the blank lines in the vB code. I use Hellcat's and love it; but I'm going to try the new one very soon.

I have most of the ones you listed plus:

V3 Arcade - everyone loves games
Links and Download Manager - great for setting up reciprocal links
Members who have visited the Forum - gives you a great view of how active your forum has been in the last 24 hours
PhotoPlog - adequate photo add on, not as good as the premium one DP uses

Funny, but I was about to start a thread on how I'm becoming addicted to vB mods!

 

I'm planning to install a number of them on my new forums. Among the ones that seem like they'll be most important:

Private Threads
Miserable Users
Threadban
Dynamic Announcements
Best Threads
vBPager
Advanced BBCode Permissions
vBSpell

 

I think Miserable Users has got to be one of the most ingenious mods to date. You have to wonder how pissed off the creator was at a few of his forum members to be motivated to write it. Luckily I haven't had to install it...yet.

 

Jawinn, there was something much better, called Erwin's Warning System. Sadly, it has not yet been ported to 3.5.x. We're looking into getting it ported for personal use on our forum.

 

How come my spider watcher isn't on the list? ;-)

 

It's a good hack, but a top one?

 

Well, yeah, why not? ;-)

My next one will be a "top" one... <goes back to furiously coding>

 

I like your hack! I always wondered how the heck people know how much of their forum the bots are browsing. Is this typically what they are using???

Lyte

p.s I have the following hacks... gallery, chat, banner, sponser, arcade... soon to add revenue share and a couple others.

 

I installed it, then uninstalled it. Because I didnt see a real use for it. Although it is "cool".

Here is a list of good hacks.. vBulletin Hacks - It may help you.


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I always use vb_ad_management

 

I like spider watcher