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Switching forum software-would it kill me in the SE's?

Discussion in 'vBulletin' started by vol_freak, Mar 22, 2006.

  1. #1
    I have been a long time Invision Power Board user, however I recently started a new forum and used vbulletin. The skinning and modification is so much easier on vb that I am considering converting my IPB forum over to vb. My first question is how bad do you think this would hurt with existing members? The way I understand it the passwords will not convert and every user would have to reset their password. I am afraid this might be too confusing for some people. Second, and mainly, would it kill me in the search enginges giving up all of the indexed forum pages I currently have?

    Anyone have any opinions on this?
     
    vol_freak, Mar 22, 2006 IP
  2. gprime

    gprime Guest

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    #2
    I think its worth it, since you can always redirect the urls to vB's already more SE friendly urls, which I might add can be made even more SE friendly. The impact in the short terms is what you should focus on. Rather, consider the long term positives.

    Now, might you loose some members? Sure, thats possible. But any decision you make could cause you to loose members. The loss probably won't be too great.Just give them about a weeks notice and explain what they'll need to do in order to regain access.
     
    gprime, Mar 23, 2006 IP
  3. joeychgo

    joeychgo Notable Member

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    #3
    I have found vBulletin to be the best forum for seo - out of the box. Your likely to just get respidered quickly and more intensively.


    As far as your members - Just send them a few emails explaining as soon as you convert.
     
    joeychgo, Mar 23, 2006 IP
  4. GTAce

    GTAce Notable Member

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    #4
    I have made this conversion myself. Yes, you'll take a hit from the SE's, but the bigger problem here is the member passwords you have mentioned, especially if your members are not very tech-savvy...You'll see that they get very confused when their passwords dont work all of a sudden (even if you sent out a mass email)

    How important is vB to you? If it's just a personal preference kind of thing with no huge advantages over IPB, then I would lean towards staying where you are. Additionally, how old are your forums? How many members do you have? If you are not very established, it will be easier and less consequential to move to vB now...better now than later (the longer you wait, the worse it gets)

    IPB is a great piece of software, and I wouldn't convert to vB unless you have a very good reason to do so and/or your forums are still fairly new.
     
    GTAce, Mar 23, 2006 IP
  5. vol_freak

    vol_freak Member

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    #5
    The forums are not very new. They have been up for over 2 years and I have over 3000 members.

    IPB has done me well over the years but I really HATE the skinning system. I basically have to redo the skin every time there is an upgrade. They never seem to convert. Plus the mods are a pain. They are starting to get a few that use a plugin system but not nearly as many as vb has. I think the support community is also better with vb.
     
    vol_freak, Mar 23, 2006 IP