xenForo Upgrade Discussion

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Balton

The Beast of Worship
Mar 6, 2001
13,428
118
63
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Berlin
looks similar to vb, the forum on their official website loads much faster and renders quicker than buf. superficially it looks like a good update from my uninformed pov. We're all forum crash hardened anyways ;)
 

JohnDoe641

Killer Fools Pro
Staff member
Nov 8, 2000
5,330
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N.J.
www.zombo.com
looks similar to vb, the forum on their official website loads much faster and renders quicker than buf. superficially it looks like a good update from my uninformed pov. We're all forum crash hardened anyways ;)
It's made by the original vb developers.

I'm really looking forward to the new forum software, the admin hub is amazing.
 

Arnox

UT99/2004 Mod Crazy
Mar 26, 2009
1,601
5
38
Beyond
I have some experience in this actually.

I've been using SMF for a while now and have perused a whole bunch of forum software. Now, big disclaimer. I'm not a coder and I don't pretend to be. All I can do is edit code. Not actually write any at all. Also, I know little about networking so take all my opinions with a grain of salt.

Now, I've been using SMF as a sort of superboard if you will for a while now. I have been managing a general forum of all kinds of boards to put it very basically. So this has required me to search out for plugins to make the board as complete an experience as possible. Such required a chat option of some sort, limiting BBCodes at certain post counts, adding a multi-quote feature, a recent topics bar at the top of the forum, edit history, and etc.

A lot of this should have been standard with SMF IMAO but not so. Some things vB had, SMF lacked. Same for phpBB and pretty much every other free forum software that I looked at. Ultimately, I found myself drooling for a copy of vB 4.2.2, the last good copy of vB.

Now, I looked at xenForo as well but it seems they're missing some things STILL that vB 4.2.2 has. Now, I know development on it is recent compared to vB but the fact that they're charging so much for this and it's not feature complete... Yeah, not good.

However, I could be wrong about xenForo not being as feature complete at all as vB 4.2.2 though so... If you know this is true for certain, just ignore me.
 
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[GU]elmur_fud

I have balls of Depleted Uranium
Mar 15, 2005
3,148
31
48
45
Waco, Texas
mtbp.deviantart.com
Database migration is often an issue but I am guessing given their background they have an import tool. They can import SMF which is an awkward duck when it comes to forum migration so they damn well better.

My experience is mostly with free forum software like phpnuke, phpbb, and SMF because it is what GU used and it was fairly easy to redesign it from the ground up.

Xenforo has some potential at least. What follows is a few from their gallery forum...

http://www.haloscene.com/forum/index.php
http://www.blackops3forums.com/
http://www.snipezilla.com/
http://www.metalgearfans.com/
https://www.gamingforums.net/

vb always seemed a bit rigid for much customization. Without rewriting half of it anyway. The mere fact that xenforo supports jquery is a big plus in my book.
 

Hunter

BeyondUnreal Newsie
Aug 20, 2001
7,417
61
48
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...Behind You...
www.unrealfans.com
Looks good, I think it is always important to keep up to date and from using vB4 I know it sucks.

I'd be more than happy to help move over forum styles so people don't miss out on gems like Purple Haze on the new software.
 

[GU]elmur_fud

I have balls of Depleted Uranium
Mar 15, 2005
3,148
31
48
45
Waco, Texas
mtbp.deviantart.com
Looks good, I think it is always important to keep up to date and from using vB4 I know it sucks.

I'd be more than happy to help move over forum styles so people don't miss out on gems like Purple Haze on the new software.

Soooo if they say yes to that (and don't vehemently object) how about throwing this http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=196015 in there. So you know there is a dark theme for those of us that like that.
 

Arnox

UT99/2004 Mod Crazy
Mar 26, 2009
1,601
5
38
Beyond
Looks good, I think it is always important to keep up to date and from using vB4 I know it sucks.

How does it suck? I've set up a vB4 forum and once you know where everything is, it's a really slick and well put together piece of forum software.
 

Jefe

The Dark Rat
Nov 11, 2008
157
6
18
T E X A S
www.vgmp3.org
Are you planning on adding any themes for the new software, or is it just an option I haven't been able to find yet?

Also, the old site issues thread should be unsticked or archived or something, since pretty much everything in it will be irrelevant. While you're at it, you should unsticky the UTUnlimited thread in the Content Releases too.
 
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leilei

ANIME ELF'S !!
Jan 20, 2008
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the unrealeditor color scheme has these huge shades of CGHub feels to it
 

Carbon

Altiloquent bloviator.
Mar 23, 2013
557
10
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Looks good. Nice and clean, easy to read/navigate. Certainly better than before. Actually it reminds me a bit of the new USP forums. Good job and thanks!
 
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Sir_Brizz

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 3, 2000
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There were several reasons, but the biggest one ifs that the vB developers have no interest in keeping up with PHP upgrades and they sit incompatible for ages. They had no plans to upgrade vB 4 past PHP 5.3 until tons of people were complaining about how buggy vB 5 was and they finally relented after over a yer of holding out on it. Now PHP 5.6 is out. Any bets on how long it is before they support that version of PHP?

There are quite a few other reasons like the fact that their new licensing sucks and just forces them to release major versions faster and internet brands is the monsanto of internet companies, but those really aren't the major reasons. xenForo is developed by the old core set of vB developers (so much so that Internet Brands tried to sue them a few years ago) and it mostly has the same set of ideals as vB had back in the good old days so I don't feel bad supporting them. They also have much more reasonable pricing and their licensing is just like old vB but cheaper with 95% of the features we really use.