Will having a large amount of modifications installed on a vBulletin forum slow down the forums? Also will it kill off hosting resorces? Any other effects? Thanks, BlueEew.
Depends on the mod. A forum arcade or credits system will probably use additional resources. But a simple mod will not produce any actual performance problems.
What kind of modification are you looking at or thinking about installing? Some mods add an extra query to the database with every page load, some mods add nothing while some mods are major add-ons like the arcade, chat room or downloads II. There is not a "yes or no" answer, as you have asked a very general question. I have about 25 mods installed on my site. These are everything from from an arcade to a chat room to a multiple account log on detector. The more mods I install, the more time I spend keeping them updated. If you thinking of modding your forum, get ready to spend the time keeping everything updated. There are a lot of mods that you can install that should not slow your site down, such as the one touch spam ban and clean up. It only runs when you want it to. And then are the SQL heavy mods like the tufat chat room. You would get a lot better replies if you would post something like "I am thinking of installing these mods" then name them, then ask if they will slow your site down. Some of the mods listed on vbulletin.org, in the description the developer might state if it adds a query to the database. Usually someone will ask in the thread for the mod. If you have a question about a certain mod, ask the developer if it adds a query or if the mod uses system resources. But security is always an issue. Only use mods from a good source, such as vbulletin.org or vbulletinsetup.com
I have so far made a list of 42 MODs. Some are the same thing by different authors. Here is a couple of the main ones I want to add to start with: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=165538 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=176531 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=167276 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=179769 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=165550 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=178286 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=107985 And a Auto Tagger: Which ever is the best and most updated from the following: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=179927 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=184028 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=179772 I am willing to add these to start. However I need to know the following for them to anyone who is willing to help. 1) Does it take bandwidth, resources, or slow down the forums? 2) Is it easy enough to install and remove whenever I feel I need to? 3) Any other problems or comments?
42 seems high.. I have 23 right now and I'm getting read to drop 3 of them. The fewer hacks, the faster your site will run because less queries will be made to the DB server Don't forget, some users might be on a slow connection, every thing that slows the forum down, will most likely turn those users away.
That's not the amount I want. The above are the ones I would like now. They don't seem to complex to me. They are just simple hacks. Would somebody be able to give me opinions on them?
It looks like you are working on the visual appearance of your forum, as well as SEO. The separate sticky and normal threads is nice. I have been using that one for over a year, so I recommend it. A couple of the tagging mods you have are no longer supported: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=179772 http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=179927 I would not even consider those mods. Dont install something that might break something and you not have support. One of those is even still in the beta stage, do not install that one for sure. Some kind of resizer is recommended for resizing images that break the frame. This is the one I use - http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=172024 simple because it uses a highslide effect with slideshow. But, it messes up images in signatures. But - I do not allow images in sigs, so its no big deal for me. Take a look at this mod for dealing with spammers - http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=156444 Two clicks of a mouse and the spammer is gone. Automatic embedding software for youtube - http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=150863 Streaming video will help keep people on your site longer. As for your forum "seeming" to be faster, here is a fading effect for Internet explorer. This does not work with firefox - http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=121315 The forum title mod looks ok, but do you really need it? As for SEO, look at the google / yahoo site map generator - http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=144730 This will help your site get more pages indexed. I have seen sites with over 1,000,000 post only have 20,000 pages indexed. While my site has less then 200,000 post and have over 100,000 pages indexed with google. Site map generator is a must have for a VB forum.
Yes. I am adding apperence and SEO MODs mainly. I don't want anything like the Chat or Arcade. Just nice little add ons. I am glad you use this and was able to give me that information. This is one I feel is a must have for all forums. Okay. I will stay away from those two. What about the other one? http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=184028 As mine is a forum which the members generally add images in signatures. I need one that only changes the images in posts, and PM's. I don't really get spammers at all. This one is actually on my list. I just didn't post it as I feel it is a MOD I will need not now but in the future. Thanks for that one. I must of missed that one. Is this really needed then? The forum loads fast at the moment anyways. I thought I would be able to use it to add Keywords in the Title of the browser so it will improve SEO etc. Would it? I also have this on a future list. Does it take resources? Bandwidth? If it doesn't have any bad effects. I guess I am better off adding it. Also I have given rep to ~kev~ and Loco M for the great advise. Thanks guys.
If you have a good host, I don't see how 42 mods would affect you too much, try disabling some of the ones you don't need or uninstalling it and see if you can notice a change in your forum Really it just depends what they are, like a shoutbox counts as 10 in my opinion
For now I am only wanting the ones I actually posted. Small MODs I would say. Does anyone know anything on the fake users one?
Your welcome. The VBSEO site map generator updates once every 24 hours. I think there is a cron job you can set the time with. During the update time the site map generator will take system resources, but only for a few minutes. I think mine runs for 3 or 4 minutes? So set the generator to go off in the early morning hours when your traffic is the lowest. The image resizing script you listed looks like a decent one. But I do not use it, so I can not offer first hand experience. Look for scripts by PaulM, he is one of the best vbulletin programmers around. And look for scripts that have won awards, such as mod of the month. Besides that it looks like you have things firmly in hand. Good luck in your journey. Do you have a forum? If so please post a link to it. Here is my forum link That site gets 1.3 million page views a month, about 1,000 - 1,300 post a day and that site has about 25 mods installed. I have been managing my VBulletin forum for a year and a half. And I just opened my second VB forum 3 months ago. I think I am a just little qualified to give my opinion on this matter.