A bit iffy about buying a vBulletin license.

Mr Money · 04-26-2007, 08:23 AM

Ok I am not sure if this is the right place to post so mods feel free to move it.

I'll level with you - I am a 15 year old that only pulls in money on my birthday and I am not sure whether to spend some on a vB license. Basically I am not sure whether or not to buy a vBulletin license. I used to run a forum that failed miserably, though that was using phpBB. Can somebody, you know give me some guidance on this issue.

I know vB is a hell of a lot more atractive than any other forum software so that could work in my favour but to be honest, I am all over the place so please, leave your comments.

- Sam

Zap · 04-26-2007, 08:29 AM

Plenty of folks have succeeded with phpBB forums.
The success or failure of a forum has very little to do with the software.
When the forum becomes successful, then vB might be a good investment because it is better received by members and better able to handle more users and activity, but it shouldn't matter what software you use to get to that point.

In other words, save your money for now. Try another phpBB forum. Promote it to death. Treat your members well. If/when it becomes successful, you can convert it to vB later.

Mr Money · 04-26-2007, 09:06 AM

It's just, what I hate about phpBB is the CONSTANT security updates. I know that vB is a hell of a lot more secure and you know what, I am seriously considering purchasing a license. I think i'll give it a little bit more thought first.

adamx8 · 04-26-2007, 05:34 PM

I wouldn't waste my money on a VBB license when you have an awesome alternative with Simple Machines Forum which i free, and way better than phpBB. I used phpBB for a while and almost went with the VB one but did some research and decided SMF was a way better choice. I run it on 4 of my sites right now and my members couldn't be happier with all the features.

woosh · 04-27-2007, 07:50 AM

I wouldn't advise purchasing vb until you have had some decent success with a forum and get a good membership. Vbulletin is a good forum package but you need money to keep it running

Mr Money · 04-27-2007, 07:56 AM

Why do you need money to keep it running?

woosh · 04-27-2007, 07:58 AM

You can but it for $80 for a standard licence which is payable each year or $160 and then each year $30 as far as I can remember

Mr Money · 04-27-2007, 08:11 AM

No, you can pay $160 for life if you want. But you can also pay the $160 and then pay $30 a year for updates.

mauiman · 04-27-2007, 10:00 AM

Mr Money,

What's your community focus or reason for the forum's existence going to be?

Besides the inferior phpbb issue why do you think it failed? And were you able to promote it at all?

Successful forums are very few and far between and maybe we can help you either succeed or save you a lot of time that would be better spent on another online venture.

Mr Money · 04-27-2007, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mauiman

Mr Money,

What's your community focus or reason for the forum's existence going to be?

Besides the inferior phpbb issue why do you think it failed? And were you able to promote it at all?

Successful forums are very few and far between and maybe we can help you either succeed or save you a lot of time that would be better spent on another online venture.

Ok thankyou for you feedback. I will have a think into it and post back here when I have made a decision.

Thankyou.

Avinash · 04-27-2007, 11:11 AM

First of all, I tend to agree with Zap. Now, if you must use a bulletin board script like vBulletin, how about giving MyBB a try *before* you purchase a vB license?

IMHO, MyBB is a lot similar to vBulletin. I'm writing this because I've used both the scripts and still using them. You just don't get all the vBulletin features with MyBB because you have to pay nothing.

Hostingpuppy · 04-27-2007, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamx8

I wouldn't waste my money on a VBB license when you have an awesome alternative with Simple Machines Forum which i free, and way better than phpBB. I used phpBB for a while and almost went with the VB one but did some research and decided SMF was a way better choice. I run it on 4 of my sites right now and my members couldn't be happier with all the features.

I was going to say the same thing. I think SMF is totally underrated in the forum world. It's excellent with lots of features that you only typically see in VBB (like inline editing - cool).

And it's free....free as a bird.

Andy06 · 04-28-2007, 09:11 AM

If you're looking for something fancy, and free like vBulletin, try myBB: http://www.mybboard.net/

It's really good, I know many people who have had success with it.

Mr Money · 04-28-2007, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy06

If you're looking for something fancy, and free like vBulletin, try myBB: http://www.mybboard.net/

It's really good, I know many people who have had success with it.

Ok thanks, can I have a look at the sites please?

Hostingpuppy · 04-29-2007, 06:56 PM

There's a showcase forum here:

http://community.mybboard.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=17

Should be lots of links to MyBB forums in there.

Mr Money · 04-30-2007, 01:52 PM

Thanks for all your feedback, I have decided to have a go with MyBB, it looks a great forum and has some good mods and themes. Thanks again.

adamx8 · 04-30-2007, 11:53 PM

Hopes it works out for you, and everyone has a preference. I haven't used the MyBB so I can't speak on it. I didn't go with it becuase it lacked some things I wanted. Overall it's not an easy choice to make, except that in this day in age with all the Open Source and stuff out there you should never have to pay for forum scripts...

ryukenden · 05-03-2007, 10:01 AM

Why not try Smf forums first and once you get lots of visitors, then you could easily change to VB forum?