Re: None of my business I know but... why move away from vB?

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theMusicMan

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None of my business I know but... why move away from vB?

Hi All

Just curious that's all, as to why the move away from the most versatile bulletin board software in fav of SMF...? I am wondering what SMF provides that vB doesn't...?

I have seen many move in the other direction but have to say this is the first time I have seen the move from vB to SMF.

John
 
vBulletin is very expensive. SMF (and phpBB and others) are free. Besides, vBulletin has more than its share of problems and the development team is no different than the teams at SMF, phpBB, and others. Beyond that, from an Administrative standpoint, I can change settings and install modifications very easily, so upgrading and tweaking is a pleasure. With vBulletin, there are so many settings that are presented in a strange, unorganized way, that it is frustrating to manage.
 
And you forgot the anti-spam measures too.....
 
Yep. Very true.
 
[quote author=theMusicMan link=topic=7119.msg48367#msg48367 date=12469''548]
Just curious that's all, as to why the move away from the most versatile bulletin board software in fav of SMF...?[/quote]
And Ian Farlow was kind enough to pay from his own private money and his pockets are of a finite dimension... ;)
 
Finite is right... small is even more right.
 
[quote author=Ian Farlow link=topic=7119.msg48368#msg48368 date=12469''715]
Beyond that, from an Administrative standpoint, I can change settings and install modifications very easily, so upgrading and tweaking is a pleasure. [/quote] Did you find it difficult to migrate the vB threads to SMF?

BTW, was there an announcement of the move before hand? I missed it if there was an earlier announcement.
 
It ended up happening earlier than planned Cletus, so you didn't miss the announcement.

Ian's worked really hard over the last few days to get it all up and running for us, and hasn't he done a fabulous job!
 
[quote author=Ian Farlow link=topic=7119.msg48368#msg48368 date=12469''715]
vBulletin is very expensive. SMF (and phpBB and others) are free. Besides, vBulletin has more than its share of problems and the development team is no different than the teams at SMF, phpBB, and others. Beyond that, from an Administrative standpoint, I can change settings and install modifications very easily, so upgrading and tweaking is a pleasure. With vBulletin, there are so many settings that are presented in a strange, unorganized way, that it is frustrating to manage.
[/quote]As a vB admin "somewhere else" I can sympathise with what you've said - have to add that I did a double-take when SMF first appeared, thought I'd mis-remembered, nicely migrated bet that wasn't trivial either 8) Aside: was curious to see your hosting service provider, have been with them long?

Later: Have just noticed that with the new SMF board profile information the "old style" signatures with billions (exaggerate, me?) of details isn't as useful - is it now de rigueur to only have the profile details?Just saw this post, sorry for the wasted time Check Your Signatures And Your Profiles!
 
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I most wanted to move to phpBB3, but migration was absolutely impossible. By contrast, migration to SMF was painless and took about ten minutes. As for BlueHost, yeah, I've been with them for years, have several websites through them, and highly recommend them. Down time is very minimal, and their customer service is great. What is superior is their offering... you get a lot of stuff for very little money.

Ahem... If you do look at them and go with them, you could always click the link below for me. Every little bit helps!
 
[quote author=clee'1l link=topic=7119.msg48383#msg48383 date=12469'5388]BTW, was there an announcement of the move before hand? I missed it if there was an earlier announcement. [/quote]

Unfortunately, we had just begun testing SMF when vBulletin pulled the plug on us for an expired license. I was pretty angry for the no-warning termination of service, but in the end, their actions pushed me to SMF sooner rather than later.
 
[quote author=Ian Farlow link=topic=7119.msg484'1#msg484'1 date=1246911738]
I most wanted to move to phpBB3, but migration was absolutely impossible. By contrast, migration to SMF was painless and took about ten minutes. [/quote]This is nice to know, Thanks.

BTW, I've admin'd phpBB3 in a former life. It was painless to set up from scratch, but I never had a migration issue to deal with.
 
I still think phpBB is the cat's meow, and agree that it is a great bit of software if setting up from scratch. Unfortunately, the tools to move from vB to phpBB just don't work for a lot of people, and I was one of the unlucky ones. No matter, though, as SMF is actually a nice bit of software as well, and offers some features over phpBB that I prefer.
 
WOW, lot's of replies to my original thread - but no email to inform me of them!

Need to figure out how to work SMF forums as a user now... small learning curve ahead... :)

As for reminding me about Ian paying for a vB forum out of his own pocket... teaching granny here Dennis. 7 years ago I migrated from phpBB to vB on my forum of over 12,''' members and close to 7'',''' posts. I have an owned dedicated server upon which it all runs, and an owned vB license - all paid for out of my own pocket. I appreciate not everyones pockets (or love for their www sites) are not the same, but as a vB site owner, funded by myself, I wondered what (if not financial) the reasons were for moving away from vB. The only thing I have found cliquey re vB is the considerable 'up themselves' attitude of some of the support staff, who though problems do get resolved, often don't see themselves on the correct side of the client/supplier fence. I stopped going to vB dot com for general support issues many years ago, just couldn't get used to their 'superior' attitude.

Anyway - thanks for the replies, good luck with the SMF forum... it does look very nice.
 
[size=small]I wascurioustoo why the switch from vB as I'm developing a website for aclientand was going to use vB but will look at SM and[/size][size=small]phpBB3 throughly[/size][size=small]. I'm getting used to SM's frontend interface. It's really not bad at all![/size]Thanks for the forum software info.John
 
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