split: forum software

[Aeroblast]

Do any of you here think migrating to XenForo is a plausible idea for this forum?

 

[Echidna]

Do any of you here think migrating to XenForo is a plausible idea for this forum?

God no. I hate that software, I find it very unappealing. Not to mention that changing software now would essentially mean forfeiting all the work Audy and the administration in general have put into improving and adding new functions to our current software. We'd lose all our skins and have to adapt to a new styling system and template layout. The admins would have to go through the templates again to apply all the changes they've done to PC's Master Style.

Nah, too much work has been put into the software we're running at the moment, not to mention that we've all grown way too accustomed to vB3. Last I checked most everyone on PC was even against upgrading to vB4 and beyond.

 

[Aeroblast]

^I personally think Xenforo better looking and is much more convenient to use. However if what you said is the case then I guess it's not possible. I won't interfere with hundreds of hours that site admins worked on this website just for my own convenience.

Edit: On the other hand, upgrading from vBulletin 3 to vBulletin 4 or 5 would be a suicide.

 

[Aeroblast]

Upgrading to Xenforo would be suicide too.

I'm in another forum which changed to Xenforo from this same vBulletin and everyone likes it. I think this is the only forum so far that I haven't got a single positive reaction though the reasons are understandable.

 

[Kanzler]

I don't know anything about forum software so please don't kill me, but is what I'm reading basically saying this forum doesn't have any room to grow (outside of incremental improvements)? It doesn't sound the most sustainable.

 

[donavannj]

I don't know anything about forum software so please don't kill me, but is what I'm reading basically saying this forum doesn't have any room to grow (outside of incremental improvements)? It doesn't sound the most sustainable.

Think of upgrading from vB 3 to vB 4 like updating from Windows 98 to Windows ME, and going from vB 3 to Xenforo as being like going from Windows XP to Ubuntu. Any change in forum software is going to be a huge change, and a lot of the custom features built over the last 10 or so years on vB 3 that members love so much would be lost forever in a switch to Xenforo, while the upgrade that's viable without losing all those features is generally regarded as an awful piece of software (vB 4). Help you visualize it any better?

 

[Echidna]

I literally just read a suggestion of this on another forum where it's a mixed bag of reactions.

RHO? I'm trying to calm their s*** down before they kill us all.

Upgrading to Xenforo would be suicide too.

It is the spawn of Satan himself. well ok it might be a little good but i hate the aesthetics

I don't know anything about forum software so please don't kill me, but is what I'm reading basically saying this forum doesn't have any room to grow (outside of incremental improvements)? It doesn't sound the most sustainable.

Changing forum software has little to nothing to do with growth, unless I'm misunderstanding you haha.

 

[Kanzler]

In that case, would there ever come a point where the benefit of upgrading new software outweighs the cost of losing (or redoing) all of the improvements for vB 3? What's your take on that, what would be your bottom line if you're open to software upgrades?

 

[Echidna]

In that case, would there ever come a point where the benefit of upgrading new software outweighs the cost of losing (or redoing) all of the improvements for vB 3? What's your take on that, what would be your bottom line if you're open to software upgrades?

Features are plugins and plugins are tied to browser and server support. For instance, not being able to use MNG format won't be fixed by upgrading because it's a browser issue. Similarly, any upgrades that they make to their software that we like we can duplicate. That's up to the administration of course.

The only problem is the swift lack of support for vB3 which is why vB4 has been considered over and over. Again, up to the administration.

 

[droomph]

In that case, would there ever come a point where the benefit of upgrading new software outweighs the cost of losing (or redoing) all of the improvements for vB 3? What's your take on that, what would be your bottom line if you're open to software upgrades?

vB4: "Nope ugly"
XenForo: "Nope not doing that conversion"
vB5: "Too lazy"

and that's pretty much where we're at.

 

[Aeroblast]

I think I've just opened a can of worms... Maybe I should've made a new thread as there's some good conversation regarding this topic.

 

[Echidna]

vBulletin 4 and 5 are trashy, and the brand its self is in trouble. They've stopped innovating and more importantly, their management is so disconnected from the customer base that none of us (the admins here) have any faith in the future of the software.

XenForo is too different and bare-bones. In my opinion it's good for just basic discussion boards, like if you had a website and wanted to put up a little forum for some simple talk, but it hugely lacks in the "community" feel that vBulletin has.

That said, we know that we can't stay on vBulletin 3 forever, it's already showing its age and is severely outdated in both technology and in visuals/aesthetics. Our current plan is to upgrade to the last vB 3.x release (3.8.8) which is in the works and will theoretically be released some time soon. It's taking so long though that I've considered just forgetting about it and doing it all myself (the only thing 3.8.8 does is adds support for the latest versions of PHP and MySQL, which I could do without them, it'd just be more work.)

After that, we're essentially planning on "forking" this version of vB and using it as a base for our own software. Up to now I've/we've only been able to make subtle improvements and changes, limited by using plugins and editing templates with the knowledge that the next release would require us to revert them. After we've stopped relying on vBulletin's updates, I'll be able to modify the code directly. I've got page after page of features written down and outlined that have been requested on an off here for years, as well as a bunch of ideas of my own that I want to implement.

We're also going to completely redesign the forums visually, which is something me and some other h-staff have been working on on-and-off for a while. Basically the two things together are going to be treated as a "revamp", or in my brain I call it "PokeCommunity 2.0" haha.

Real life has been occupying me lately and as much as I love PC, it's just a hobby, and I can only afford to spend my free time working on this stuff. So it's slow going. But it's happening, it's coming, and it's going to be super awesome when it's here.

You are the master of everything good and decent and I love you do you know that? Well now you do.

But seriously now I can't wait ;;

 

[Echidna]

I actually have some really cool things planned for styles. They'll be way easier to create and maintain, no more broken "well that feature only works in ____" and crap like that.

You keep mentioning the things you have planned... like, I'm really dying to know right now.
Could you highlight some examples? Or, perhaps, ALL OF THEM.

 

[Elaitenstile]

idek if a conversion like this is going to cost some of the server data but I'm not good with this technical stuff XD
But Audy mentioned a revamp, so I suppose a change of software won't be too far away. I don't see much problems with the current system to boot, however, so we need to look for advantages of XenForo that tops vB.

 

[Legobricks]

severely outdated in [...] visuals/aesthetics.

May I ask: how so? The lack of BS aesthetics is what I like about this place.

 

[MKGirlism]

Should I make a suggo?
I'd say, Acmlm Board XD.
It's secure, and looks great at the same time.
Plus it's highly customisable, and if you request a new feature, the maker of the Software will make it for you.
While that's said, the Software has been maintained all the time, as soon as a new Bug has been found, you can expect a fix within a few hours.
I'm running it on my own Domain, and it works like a charm: No Lag, looks great, highly polished, has all optional features you need/want, and it's free.