Forum software - new kid on the block

[Joe]

Invision Board have released version 1.0 of their new PHP/MySQL board. Read about it here (http://www.invisionboard.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=1&t=10666).

I'd be interested to here people's opinions if anyone gives this new kid on the block a go.

Joe

[oheso]

Could be interesting. I note there is a one-time fee of $150 if I want to remove their plugs from the boards and the alerts.

[Joe]

Common practice for freebies, though why anyone would be that desperate ($150 desperate anyway) to remove those tags I'm not sure.

[Terra]

Aren't they all starting to look alike already? :police:

--
Terra
--Forums and Multiplicity go hand in hand--
FutureQuest

[Joe]

They all look (and function) so alike it makes you wonder why anyone would pay even for VBulletin if the likes of phpBB and InVision Boards manage to keep their products free.

Joe

- Awaiting the VBulletin-user backlash - :o

[Jeff]

One reason might be stability, but then again I'm not sure if that is a huge concern since we're dealing with "Internet years". It might not make a huge difference if you use phpBB now and they cease to develop new versions in a few years because by that time, will a forum even look like what we use as a forum right now? Any way you slice it you will be doing major upgrades in that timeframe. So then it comes down to using a package which has enough of a following and user base right now that you can count on import scripts (and very-good or even seamless import scripts which limits your choices to the big 3 right now) to whatever comes along next.

Another thing which really attracted me to VBulletin a year ago was the active user community and the great variety of mods which were available to make VBulletin do new things and to tweak it so it functions exactly as you like. But recently, the official VBulletin.com attitude has shifted from "not supporting" mods as in not providing direct technical support for mods which is fully understandable to "not supporting mods" as in not condoning, addressing, or in any way recognizing or facilitating modifications or extensions to their product. For example when they released their rapid-fire security patches, instead of helping those who had heavilied modified the code out by providing their registered, paying users with an idea of exactly what they changed so the upgrade process would take a fraction of the time, instead they took the position that "too bad, nothing we can tell you, figure it out yourself - it's your fault you have to do extra work because you modified it." Finally they softened a bit, but that attitude makes it much less appealing to me than it was a year ago.

[TVB]

I so agree with Jeff on Vbulletin attitude issues. The vB people really should use FQ as the industry standard to match.

Frankly, I don't even like searching their boards for answers because the attitude of the mods is one of distorted superiority and arrogance.

Unfortunately, I learned that too late and after plunking down for a full lifetime license. Thankfully, I can usually get an answer here even for VB issues.

Betsy

[dank]

My opinion regarding "future proof" forum choices is that as long as you go with a non-obscure SQL version, you'll most likely be ok. Upgrading from flatfile versions can be tedious and risky, even for the best supported options. I doubt there will be much structural variance between major forum databases, so converting and importing should be pretty straight forward down the road.

Dan

[Joe]

Frankly, I don't even like searching their boards for answers because the attitude of the mods is one of distorted superiority and arrogance. That doesn't sound very good. I guess it's all part of the growing pains of anything successful.

From reading the various converter threads at Invision Boards, what Dan says does appear to be right on the mark. They have no problem producing converters for MySQL-based boards to Invision, but flat-file conversions seem to be much more of a headache.

[Joe]

There are a couple of these 'forum' software threads going on at the moment and here's one (http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11311) where someone (MysticKnight) has successfully installed the Invision Board and is happy with it.

[dank]

I've also been very unimpressed for the most part with the attitude of the phpBB developers/support folk and the general community atmosphere. Tough to expect much of them, though, being a free product and all... I've put in some suggestions for improving customization flexibility, including outlining exact line numbers and code changes, and nary a response. Back in version 1.x, I wrote a Discus (nasty flatfile structure) to phpBB import script that a number of people had been asking for. I did manage to get a solitary private message follow up that they looked forward to adding it to the resource section, but never a reply since... I only read their forums now for release announcements, because I can only take so much of people snapping at each other and answering posts only to say you should know better than to ask that question... The mere mention of impoliteness launches a tirade of where so and so's attitude can be shoved...

Anyway, to make a long story short, vBulletin is not the only one with a staff who has gotten progressively more rude and unresponsive. Unfortunately, I think most things get worse in that respect over time.

Dan

[Joe]

The Ikonboard crowd did disintegrate into a scuffle once and then of course the whole thing blew up with the author and most of his team leaving the project. (Though it should be noted that Ikonboard is still out there and they still seem intent on bringing out a PHP version.) The Invision crowd seem to have taken up where they left Ikonboard (in the good sense) and things are looking good. I always found help was at hand for questions at Ikonboard and I have a feeling it is the same at Invision. As I've mentioned before I don't see the need to pay for vBulletin if the product and service at Invision is comparable. Certainly not a case of 'you pays your money and you takes your choice'.