new MessageBoard for later in the year

[ShadoeWolfe]

Okies, here's the situation. We now have a nice setup where we can have two MySQL databases with 100 MB storage each.

The initial plan was to upgrade to Infopop's new product (which is now an upgrade to UBB.threads) when it comes out later in the year. but, their head develper decided to leave for no explainable reason, other than it has taken them over two years to develope this new software and it ends up being an upgrade to s product they alread have, and I might add a product not too many people are thrilled with, from what i can read in the forums over there.

That being the case, do we really want to move to that new product when it comes out? I have been really happy with UBB and UBB.classic as many people on the web have because it was the defacto standard for quite some time until the php boards started showing up allowing much more felxibility and user interaction. So, i have been looking at other solutions and wanted some input.

Invision power Board and vBulletin seem to be the top two contenders as far as alternate solutions to UBB.threads. I have used phpBB before as well as on another site, and it works, but i don't like the lack of customization and the pain of managing it, so it's out. What does everyone here think? have you used a board on another site that you are happy with as far as features and interactivity that you would like to see here? Do you know about or like Invision or vBulletin? let me know what your thoughts are. i really want to get us transferred to a database so things move even better, smoother, faster - all that jazz. smile.gif I'll be waiting patiently for input.

[sdkdmd]

HUH! :confused:

[topol_sheap]

I still think going for a DB BB is the way forward, speed of searching and indexing topics far out weighs the flat file format of the current board.

I would recommend running one in the background somewhere, so that you can configure it and get it the way you want it before you do the swap.

I *can* help you with all of this. After all databases and web development are 2 things I know far too much about.

Thanks,

Tops

[CGGorman]

I'm an active member on two other boards (and moderator on one of them).

One uses Invision, the other uses vBulletin. Both work nice.

The site that uses vBulletin is massive (well over 115,000 users, 2 million posts, 2,500 users at once...since the last counter reset) and is highly customized. It is forums.corvetteforum.com. They use a management service to keep things running smoothly.

The site that uses Invision is much smaller scale and is managed by a single guy. I can put you in touch with him, if you like. This site is forums.llsoc.com. It is a private board, though. Paid membership required. They have 1,555 registered members, 158,371 posts
Most users ever online at once was 28.

[ShadoeWolfe]

Tops, thanks for teh assistance offer and you know I will take you up on it if I need you. Hopefully, i won't but you know I'm not afraid to ask. smile.gif

CG, I don't think I need to contact the guy managing the invision board, but thanks for the offer. Since I have used invision on Neowin.net, I have a rough idea of the feature set available and it is nice. it's a huge board over there and it seems to run very smooth. 139,000 members and over 5.6 million posts and 3200 members at once. Nothing even close to what this board would ever see! and hopefully never will or I have to move to a MUCH bigger server. grin.gif

I tried to demo some features (admin) at Invision's site and it is pretty much not able to be done. I WAS able to demo vBulletin, both a forum and the admin functions of the control panel and all I can say is WOW. We are in for a treat when we change. Whether we change to either one - or a new one I haven't heard of yet, the feature set is so much more user friendly.

I just am not sure how long it would take me to actually tweak things back to how they are now, tying the look into the site. smile.gif I know from vBulletin, I can get the main look fairly simple, but some of the little odds and ends might take some tweaking, but it would be worth it. Also, it appears we could have some templates that you could change 'on-the-fly' to suit your tastes.

Just a lot of little things that i think would be nice for registered users. Ah well... I'll still wait for some more input...

[ShadoeWolfe]

So no one else has any thoughts or comments? I appreciate the trust you all have in me, but i would love some more input before I plunk down money on a new piece of software.

have any of you (other than CG) used another board that was running Invision or vbulletin? Do you have any preferences on features you have used on them or would like to see that we don't have here? Let me know...

[Ema]

Gah, sorry Shadoe, just realizing now what we use on the Neverwinter Nights PW forum I am a member/DM on. Here at Dreu Noctem (http://www.dreunoctem.com/), we use Invision Power Board. Enigma has done some pretty good stuff with it and he's used it I reckon since I have been a member from 2003.

I know he added not only the server info (showing who is online, but along with the character lists that any member can see, we also have our 'my characters' list that we use to manage our server characters.. in other words, if we want to have one deleted, we can go through the forum and voila, it gets deleted from the server vault the next day. Not positive, but I think he's set a code to work with the server since generally the builders and/or Enigma have to manually delete them. Whether or not it has anything to do with him being a Linux Fiend (hehheh), I don't know, but due to the seemingly simple way that even the admins can change/update the forums, I'll give Invision Power a vote.

Now not sure how much you can do as far as the design, but I would imagine that you can do a bit with it knowing web design like you do.

It is a member only PW/forum, so not sure how much you can see without registering, but if you want to ask any questions Dave, just give me a holler or you can even put a post in the AFK lounge and I'll direct the Powers That Be to it. :)

[Helmet Head]

I'd love to offer my two peneth worth Dave but my brain just frazzled and melted through lack of understanding while trying to read all of the above posts...whatever you want man is good with me :confused:

Now I'm off too make fart noises in the corner as loud noises makes me laugh tongue.gif PARP PARP!!!

[ShadoeWolfe]

I finally got to do a test run of Invision's Admin controls and test board and i have to say i like it better than vBulletin. I think it is easier to take care of and they ahve a built in subscription deal for the board. i could move all of that to a no hassle automatic integrated part of the board.

Anywho, I'm leaning that way after test driving (however short a time) both of them. It will take me awhile to customize the board to match the site, but that will be ok. You can all enjoy the change again. Also, Invision installs the board for you and wil trandsfer the existing board for us. Not that I couldn't do it, but it would be a nice thing to not have to worry about. Oh yeah, they also have an integrated gallery, wjhich would be a great place for photo posts. Ah well... it will happen. Thanks for everyone's input and I will appreciate any other thoughts on the matter up to and even after we change... smile.gif

[Silver]

I'm happy with whatever you decide as I have no idea what you are talking about!

Wish I knew more about the whole thing but I don't and it's unlikely I ever will!

[topol_sheap]

Shadoe,

The only other boards I've used have been chat space (but that was integration, so no posting from me), the F Paul Wilson one, and ones I've written... Personally I really like the FPW board.. easy to use, and gives you very good stats... (It's vBulletin)...

Anyway, off now!!!

[ShadoeWolfe]

yeah, part of the time I'm leaning towards vBulletin, part of the time I'm leaning towards Invision. vB is cheaper initially at $160 for the license vs $185 for Invision. Invision however grants you access to all future versions for that price, not just one year of upgrades. Upgrades for vB are $30/year while invision is $30/year (both after the first full year) for support and troubleshooting.

I dunno - they both are very good products and price isn't the main concern, but it is something to factor down the road. Free upgrades or $30/year. i can't really tell which community has more activity, but my guess is that vBulletin is more active on new features and bug fixes. they seem to have a steadier stream of releases as well as a more active community on their own site regarding their product... hmmm... maybe vB is the way we go....

[John & Paul]

I think I need a universal translator for this string... wow this all sounds far too complex for a knucklehead like me... I learned computing on a commodore pet and programmed in Cobol on a Harris ...lololol... The only servers I know are in a restaraunt !!!! grin.gif I'm sure whatever you decide will be perfect as always!!!