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Why do Big Forums like DP use vBulletin?

Discussion in 'Forum Management' started by Gomar, Jun 17, 2013.

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  1. #1
    I have tried vBulletin and IPB, and have to say though I started with vB. I find IPB a lot better in terms of feel and intuitive to use. Though, I am considering starting a new forum that potentially will require massive amount of customization, not like themes but possibly having someone build custom add-ons.

    Since it's such a big project, I decided to come to you guys to chive in on the reason why vBulletin seems to be the software of choice by the biggest communities? Is it just the trend and their branding as a corporate software? Or is it because they are not as heavy on server or more easy to intergrate with your own modules and etc?
     
    Gomar, Jun 17, 2013 IP
  2. Revelations-Decoder

    Revelations-Decoder Well-Known Member

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    #2
    DP uses Xenforo now
     
    Revelations-Decoder, Jun 17, 2013 IP
  3. Gomar

    Gomar Well-Known Member

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    #3
    What....? But come to think of I never seen a vBulletin forum look like this . Thanks for the info though.
     
    Gomar, Jun 17, 2013 IP
  4. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #4
    Back to the original question (since we did use vBulletin for a long time), IPB uses quite a bit more resources than vBulletin when we tested it. I also didn't care much for it's addon framework (important since we have so much custom stuff).
     
    digitalpoint, Jun 17, 2013 IP
  5. Gomar

    Gomar Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Thanks so much for your input! Would you say that XenForo is more customizable than IPB?

    I guess the reason I ask is because I really like the add-on framework of IPB's structure as it would save me a lot of work for the time being. However, I also want to make sure that I use a software that is open to customization, because though I don't have the resources to implement them today. What I have in mind in the future may require substantial customization and custom modules. For example, I want to one day include a module so that you can upload a document (pdf,word doc, etc) on the forum and it could show a preview of the document and do work count as well.
     
    Gomar, Jun 17, 2013 IP
  6. digitalpoint

    digitalpoint Overlord of no one Staff

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    #6
    Well, I haven't looked at IPB's addon framework recently so can't really make a fair comparison (I do know IPB uses a lot more resources than XF or vB3/vB4 though... so wasn't even really a contender for me). But I'm really happy with XF's framework and ability to build custom stuff on top of it.
     
    digitalpoint, Jun 17, 2013 IP
    Gomar likes this.
  7. Gomar

    Gomar Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Ya, I have to say that the interface at DP is a lot better and the forum has reinvented itself. The only add-on that I don't like so much is the mandatory domain verification for selling domains. It's a little complicated and troublesome, especially for small domain sales in my opinion. But overall though, I think it was a huge improvement and shows that forums does still have a future in the age of social media, given some creativity and updates.

    Maybe I will wait a bit longer to see what IPB new update looks like, before settling on a final decision. It probably be a little more flashy and responsive I would imagine. I have heard from other's too that IPB is a bit more resource heavy, though I am unsure how important or big of a difference it will make, for me at least.
     
    Gomar, Jun 17, 2013 IP
  8. Shawn Gossman

    Shawn Gossman Greenhorn

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    #8
    While in my experience, free forum software is just as good as paid (and sometimes better), I have seen that paid forum software tends to handle bigger forums a lot better than free software. Plus when you become a bigger forum and start earning income, you tend to jump on that bandwagon of going paid because that is what everyone else does...
     
    Shawn Gossman, Jun 21, 2013 IP