Your thoughts on vBulletin

[achtungbaby]

Practically everyone who's participated in an online forum has used the vBulletin software at some point.

What do you guys think of it? 

[Chester]

<!--QuoteBegin-achtungbaby+Aug 22 2003, 09:40 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (achtungbaby @ Aug 22 2003, 09:40 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Practically everyone who's participated in an online forum has used the vBulletin software at some point.

What do you guys think of it? [/b][/quote]
These are all pretty much the same, no...at least in terms of interface and standard features?

Two random things:
1. Their "community forum (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/index.php)" seems really fast. But maybe that's a server issue.
2. I come from Usenet, so my biggest gripe with online discussion forums is with how clumsy they are in terms of displaying post hierarchy trees. But...well, most don't and the ones that do display hierarchy do it so clumsily that one almost prefers the "straight-through" approach. And, of course, when hierarchy is not taken into account, discourse changes to accomodate for that form.

Nonetheless, I still like seeing which posts people are specifically responding to: the original post, a sub-post, or a sub-sub-post. But I'm freaky that way.

I think the best I've seen in terms of usability and speed is the way Google has done their Google Groups Usenet "browser."

But that doesn't have much to do with you.

So, basically, at first glance, I don't see much difference between vBulletin and Invision.

[achtungbaby]

<!--QuoteBegin-Chester+Aug 22 2003, 11:30 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chester @ Aug 22 2003, 11:30 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-achtungbaby+Aug 22 2003, 09:40 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (achtungbaby @ Aug 22 2003, 09:40 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Practically everyone who's participated in an online forum has used the vBulletin software at some point.

What do you guys think of it? [/b][/quote]
These are all pretty much the same, no...at least in terms of interface and standard features?

Two random things:
1. Their "community forum (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/index.php)" seems really fast. But maybe that's a server issue.
2. I come from Usenet, so my biggest gripe with online discussion forums is with how clumsy they are in terms of displaying post hierarchy trees. But...well, most don't and the ones that do display hierarchy do it so clumsily that one almost prefers the "straight-through" approach. And, of course, when hierarchy is not taken into account, discourse changes to accomodate for that form.

Nonetheless, I still like seeing which posts people are specifically responding to: the original post, a sub-post, or a sub-sub-post. But I'm freaky that way.

I think the best I've seen in terms of usability and speed is the way Google has done their Google Groups Usenet "browser."

But that doesn't have much to do with you.

So, basically, at first glance, I don't see much difference between vBulletin and Invision. [/b][/quote]
I think, generally, from a user's perspective, there usually isn't a huge difference between certain applications.&nbsp; Prior to Invisionboard, YW was using phpBB, and when I'd asked people to compare the two, I got a lot of responses similar to yours.&nbsp; From an administrative point of view, however, I felt like there were considerable differences...there was and is just so much more flexibility and control that admins/moderators have in setting up a board.&nbsp; I also tend to think that where applications can differentiate, even in the smallest of areas, the software tends to continue to develop and further distinguish itself.&nbsp;

Which brings me to vBulletin 3.0.&nbsp; It's still in its beta release...I'm actually testing it out now, using a copy of our current forum db -- http://forumbeta.yellowworld.org

Lemme know what you think, y'all.

[seanp]

There are more options to configure your board's layout like this (http://puccafan.com/lounge/):)

[YuheiCarreau]

<!--QuoteBegin-achtungbaby+Aug 22 2003, 04:32 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (achtungbaby @ Aug 22 2003, 04:32 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-Chester+Aug 22 2003, 11:30 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chester @ Aug 22 2003, 11:30 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin-achtungbaby+Aug 22 2003, 09:40 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (achtungbaby @ Aug 22 2003, 09:40 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Practically everyone who's participated in an online forum has used the vBulletin software at some point.

What do you guys think of it? [/b][/quote]
These are all pretty much the same, no...at least in terms of interface and standard features?

Two random things:
1. Their "community forum (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/index.php)" seems really fast. But maybe that's a server issue.
2. I come from Usenet, so my biggest gripe with online discussion forums is with how clumsy they are in terms of displaying post hierarchy trees. But...well, most don't and the ones that do display hierarchy do it so clumsily that one almost prefers the "straight-through" approach. And, of course, when hierarchy is not taken into account, discourse changes to accomodate for that form.

Nonetheless, I still like seeing which posts people are specifically responding to: the original post, a sub-post, or a sub-sub-post. But I'm freaky that way.

I think the best I've seen in terms of usability and speed is the way Google has done their Google Groups Usenet "browser."

But that doesn't have much to do with you.

So, basically, at first glance, I don't see much difference between vBulletin and Invision. [/b][/quote]
I think, generally, from a user's perspective, there usually isn't a huge difference between certain applications. Prior to Invisionboard, YW was using phpBB, and when I'd asked people to compare the two, I got a lot of responses similar to yours. From an administrative point of view, however, I felt like there were considerable differences...there was and is just so much more flexibility and control that admins/moderators have in setting up a board. I also tend to think that where applications can differentiate, even in the smallest of areas, the software tends to continue to develop and further distinguish itself.

Which brings me to vBulletin 3.0. It's still in its beta release...I'm actually testing it out now, using a copy of our current forum db -- http://forumbeta.yellowworld.org

Lemme know what you think, y'all. [/b][/quote]
My first impression is ugh. That is a nasty color scheme, and the icons are ugly too. I can somewhat sympathize with Chester's complaint about not being able to see response hierarchies, except for most YW users are pretty good about using the quote function, which is just as good for when you want to know which post a person is replying to. Plus, except for the topics that get really busy, or when a people decide to reply to the first post without reading the posts following it, the discussion on most YW threads is pretty linear.

[SunWuKong]

<!--QuoteBegin-Chester+Aug 22 2003, 02:30 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Chester @ Aug 22 2003, 02:30 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> 2. I come from Usenet, so my biggest gripe with online discussion forums is with how clumsy they are in terms of displaying post hierarchy trees. But...well, most don't and the ones that do display hierarchy do it so clumsily that one almost prefers the "straight-through" approach. And, of course, when hierarchy is not taken into account, discourse changes to accomodate for that form. [/b][/quote]
i used to think like you, and when i first encountered the "straight down" approach, i thought it was very limiting and backwards.&nbsp; but now that i've gotten used to it, i think i prefer it this way because it emulates a real conversation more.

[mr. x]

it seems to me we've actually LOST features

so whats the gain? and can we even change this dreary purple color look?

oh and can someone help me with my avatar? its a bit large

[SunWuKong]

it seems to me we've actually LOST features

so whats the gain? and can we even change this dreary purple color look?

oh and can someone help me with my avatar? its a bit large


lots of work needs to be done on it. be patient, young one. ;)

[hooligan]

but, bigger = better right? I <3 purple

[achtungbaby]

Moving to Support

[achtungbaby]

Regarding why we're using vBulletin, I think you'll be able to notice the changes soon enough. But like with any change, getting used to it can take a little while.

Regarding your avatar: reduce the size to 80x80. It was uploaded from another site and its size was automatically resized. But because the avatar has now been stored, it came as-is, which is too friggen large.

[ChairmanMah]

:( i had the shortcut to active topics on my desktop and now there is no active topic option on vbulletin.

[ChairmanMah]

no active topics link.
only place i went.
that sucks.

[achtungbaby]

Active topics are there. Look at the arrows next to the "Welcome Chairmanmah" thing...

[achtungbaby]

And please resize your avatars...!

[ChairmanMah]

uh, there is no option to resize avatar that i can see.

and the arrow button you directed me to is only the newest posts. I guess that'll have to do but is that it??

[Chester]

You need to resize your avatar on your system...then upload it.

[SunWuKong]

uh, there is no option to resize avatar that i can see.

and the arrow button you directed me to is only the newest posts. I guess that'll have to do but is that it??


he meant to resize your avatar on your own and upload it.

[achtungbaby]

I took the liberty of resizing your avatar for you:)

[thaite]

The layout seems really really busy. Kinda confusing.

[Faithless]

Keep up the good work, people. I'm sure there are good reasons for the change.

[mr. x]

hmm sorry about my overlarged homer head, ill change it soon

[mr. x]

oh and can someone tell me how to resize an animated gif? cuz when i put it into adobe photoshop it only gives me the first frame

[Chester]

Adobe Photoshop doesn't handle animated GIFs. If you have a recent version of Photoshop, it should have come bundled with ImageReady, which handles web graphics such as animated GIFs. Better yet, quit using animated GIFs...everyone else did, back in 1997. ;)

[Irezumi Kiss]

I hear "ani-gif's" are making a comeback...must be that retro thing going on...

I think the inflated avatars are a plus! Because you can see the girls' faces better!

The old board's color scheme was better, though...and less cluttered...not to be nitpicky or nothin'...

And is it heresy that my bookmark to this place still says "powered by Invision?"

[ism]

Animated GIFs have their usefulness. The only problem is when people make huge-ass ones that draw all the attention. They work well as the hover state of an element.

[achtungbaby]

:( i had the shortcut to active topics on my desktop and now there is no active topic option on vbulletin.

http://forums.yellowworld.org/search.php?do=getnew

[Rogmok]

is my screen th eonly one that is not translating the 'quote' HMTL?? I see straight HTML code rather than the little boxes that quotes are put in..

[pointman]

I think the interface is a bit clustered as well. I post on another board which also uses an older vBulletin and I have to say I prefer the extra features on this newer version. The number of times I have started a thread and afterwards found a typo doh!

[himura-dono]

is my screen th eonly one that is not translating the 'quote' HMTL?? I see straight HTML code rather than the little boxes that quotes are put in..


those are quotes from the invision board we JUST switched from. they're annoying, but in time, those threads will be buried.

[pointman]

those are quotes from the invision board we JUST switched from. they're annoying, but in time, those threads will be buried.

Oh so thats why I'm having problems digging around for older threads

[ChairmanMah]

I took the liberty of resizing your avatar for you:)
ALRIGHT!!

[yoMAMA]

I miss the old software, IMO, the old icons, emotions ( so many different forms of laughing, smiling, and jumping). and layouts are much better than vbulletin.

BTW, is vbulletin related to UBB?

I loved that piece of software too.

[Kennyb]

I miss the old software, IMO, the old icons, emotions ( so many different forms of laughing, smiling, and jumping). and layouts are much better than vbulletin.

What were you using before switching to vBulletin then???

Looking at other forums on the web, I find that the vBulletin has the best interface and navigation. Although it may not have great amount of emicons, I'm sure you can add more.

This badminton forum (http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/index.php?s=) pretty much uses the same one as to this site but doesn't have as much new functions like this place has.

Have you not had this system for a long time??

[yoMAMA]

What were you using before switching to vBulletin then???

Looking at other forums on the web, I find that the vBulletin has the best interface and navigation. Although it may not have great amount of emicons, I'm sure you can add more.

This badminton forum (http://www.badmintonforum.com/vb/index.php?s=) pretty much uses the same one as to this site but doesn't have as much new functions like this place has.

Have you not had this system for a long time??

Nope, we were using another piece of software for a long time, and that's partly what attracted me to this forum at the first place.

I registered here about january, so they have been using the old software for quite a long, i suppose.

[Kennyb]

Ah right... So how long has this site been running then?

[Danny]

not really a big fan... the other forums looked better, this looks like someone threw together a bbs, the look of a board makes one want to actually stay at a board longer so that they can read the posts taht would make them want to come back.

[moJo]

I don't like this format. First, the list of threads in each section are hard to sift through. Seems very cramped horizontally, overall.

Why the change? The last change looked good, and was less cluttered looking. :(

edit: holy crap, my brandon is quite large. sorry, how do i change this? this is my first post since the changeover.

[Chester]

Some of the horizontal crampedness can be attributed to overly-large avatars. :p

As discussed in some other thread, what you need to do is to use some sort of graphics-editing program to resize your avatar, and then re-upload it. Use an 80-pixel width.

[achtungbaby]

Ah right... So how long has this site been running then?Check out our FAQ section.

[achtungbaby]

Merging this with the vBulletin thread in the Support forum.

[Faithless]

Hey, what was up with this morning?

We seemed to be "styling" to a different look. I liked it.

Can't start new threads, though.

[hooligan]

I like the blue, bring it back!

[s1eve]

Ooh, new look maybe?

[>:^|]

New thread thing still broken.

[Emperor_Mike]

I like the new "Satellite" look!