So, a couple years ago the vBulletin developers came out with version 4 (we're on 3, and have been for the majority of BP's life). I wanted to let the first couple bug patch releases of that go by before taking the leap, but I started to get my ducks in a row in preparation assuming that the wait period would be a matter of weeks. As it turned out, vB4 was (by the vast majority of the accounts I saw on the official site) an unmitigated disaster. Some sites never recovered from the chaos of that mess, the old threads are still on vbulletin.com screaming about bugs, crashes, errors, screwed databases, slow fixes/remedies, etc. While it offered bells and whistles that I found particularly appealing (not the least of which was true mobile support in the form of both a light mobile skin and official apps for both iOS and Andriod), it came with bugs and instability that just made it impossible for us to switch over. BP, in its early years, was able to be fluid in terms of experimentation and upgrades. I'd plug something in, upgrade something else, and if things broke I'd just plow further forward or simply remove things as necessary. We were smaller, lighter, more nimble, and I was more capable of throwing myself into it. Fast forward to vB4's launch a couple years ago: we're bigger; the ad revenue is what's keeping me (and the site) afloat; we have other pretty major tech issues to deal with in the form of server problems (and then upgrades), hacker problems (which I've never fully detailed here, but it was a daily battle on a number of levels). Just the thought of taking away stability in order to increase features simply didn't work. Another confounding factor was the entry of Xenforo, a bit of competing forum software (by a number of original vBulletin people) which blew me and a lot of others away by how smartly it was being put together. It was one of those "we get to take everything we've learned, start from scratch, and do it right in a modern context with modern tech" approaches that wowed a lot of people. Which was great until development stalled because of a lawsuit from the current vB owners, and now it sort of resides in an odd limbo state while that is sorted out. Some folks having jumped over, many not, developing continuing slowly but sort of silently without the really robust modding and support community that built up around vB. Were we going to switch to XF? Stay with vB? I just didn't know and neither was in a place where we could reasonably take the leap.
vBulletin 4 is now (just now; two years later) at a point where I'm able to confidently say "it's ready." And so I chatted with Deety about the upgrade process a few months ago, set a loose "before the football season" window for myself, and started doing the pre-work (and there's oh-so-much of that) to ready us for that move.
And then (a couple weeks ago) they announced vBulletin 5... vB5 appears to be what vB has needed all along. A total rewrite without being a complete departure from what we already know. Better feature integration, far better admin tools, truly ready for the mobile era (which started some years back), better social integration without it being all about social functionality, better content (article) management without it looking like it was just slapped on as a restyled part of the forum, etc. Of course, I say "appears" because I've simply read the announcements, followed the 'introduction' online when they went public at ForumCon (yes, unbelievably there's a forum convention), gandered at the screenshots on Facebook, and followed the head developer's posts on the issue over at the main forum. vBulletin 5 has all the features we want from vBulletin 4, and newer approaches and options 4 doesn't. 5, they say, will be out "this year."
So... We're back to a "wait and see" position. Going to 4 will be a massive undertaking for us. Going to 5 would also be a massive undertaking. Going to 4 wouldn't make going to 5 later any easier. We need to make a single decisive move (as much as possible) in order to retain features that aren't core but are such that people here seem to enjoy them (bookie and torrents come immediately to mind). That (the need to do such a major move once and do it right) was and is about the need for stability as much as it is a simple issue related to my physical capacity for such work.
I planned to go to 4 this Summer. My current (revised) plan is to hold off, stand pat, and watch 5 closely as it starts to come into full focus. Given the disastrous launch of 4, all customers (myself included) agree that the vB devs can't afford another mess. 5 has to launch smoothly, the software has to be ready to go, or the exodus (or at least the masses unwilling to upgrade) is going to be substantial.
I am *highly* interested in, and committed to, bringing things like better mobile functionality to the site. It has also been one of my top priorities to really flesh out our non-forum areas so that some of our amazing community-driven content is better exposed and experienced. Whether we go to 4 or 5 (hopefully this year either way) you can expect Tapatalk integration (the owners of vBulletin bought Tapatalk and it's now part of vB natively), a true mobile skin, FB/Twitter integration at the user level for those that choose to partake, possibly a dedicated app for both iOS/Android (something we'd have to shell out for, but I find that pretty appealing), a more up-to-date but still familiar aesthetic, faster loads, smaller (kb-wise) pages, and the like.
The point of this message is just to let people know what's been going on, what's currently going on, and where we are in terms of going forward. Staying at version 3 is not a sustainable solution. With 5, 3 is likely to go into a state that won't see regular security releases, and that just doesn't work for us. I don't have an ETA. 4 is ready to go. 5 is "this year." I need to see how 5 launches to decide whether we're going straight to that or just sidling back into a "last generation" position again. My preference is that we go straight to 5. It just has to meet our needs, mainly in terms of stability and readiness.
So there we are. Just trying to be a little more transparent about the behind-the-scenes stuff, particularly as it relates to features that I know are and have been important to folks.
vBulletin 4 is now (just now; two years later) at a point where I'm able to confidently say "it's ready." And so I chatted with Deety about the upgrade process a few months ago, set a loose "before the football season" window for myself, and started doing the pre-work (and there's oh-so-much of that) to ready us for that move.
And then (a couple weeks ago) they announced vBulletin 5... vB5 appears to be what vB has needed all along. A total rewrite without being a complete departure from what we already know. Better feature integration, far better admin tools, truly ready for the mobile era (which started some years back), better social integration without it being all about social functionality, better content (article) management without it looking like it was just slapped on as a restyled part of the forum, etc. Of course, I say "appears" because I've simply read the announcements, followed the 'introduction' online when they went public at ForumCon (yes, unbelievably there's a forum convention), gandered at the screenshots on Facebook, and followed the head developer's posts on the issue over at the main forum. vBulletin 5 has all the features we want from vBulletin 4, and newer approaches and options 4 doesn't. 5, they say, will be out "this year."
So... We're back to a "wait and see" position. Going to 4 will be a massive undertaking for us. Going to 5 would also be a massive undertaking. Going to 4 wouldn't make going to 5 later any easier. We need to make a single decisive move (as much as possible) in order to retain features that aren't core but are such that people here seem to enjoy them (bookie and torrents come immediately to mind). That (the need to do such a major move once and do it right) was and is about the need for stability as much as it is a simple issue related to my physical capacity for such work.
I planned to go to 4 this Summer. My current (revised) plan is to hold off, stand pat, and watch 5 closely as it starts to come into full focus. Given the disastrous launch of 4, all customers (myself included) agree that the vB devs can't afford another mess. 5 has to launch smoothly, the software has to be ready to go, or the exodus (or at least the masses unwilling to upgrade) is going to be substantial.
I am *highly* interested in, and committed to, bringing things like better mobile functionality to the site. It has also been one of my top priorities to really flesh out our non-forum areas so that some of our amazing community-driven content is better exposed and experienced. Whether we go to 4 or 5 (hopefully this year either way) you can expect Tapatalk integration (the owners of vBulletin bought Tapatalk and it's now part of vB natively), a true mobile skin, FB/Twitter integration at the user level for those that choose to partake, possibly a dedicated app for both iOS/Android (something we'd have to shell out for, but I find that pretty appealing), a more up-to-date but still familiar aesthetic, faster loads, smaller (kb-wise) pages, and the like.
The point of this message is just to let people know what's been going on, what's currently going on, and where we are in terms of going forward. Staying at version 3 is not a sustainable solution. With 5, 3 is likely to go into a state that won't see regular security releases, and that just doesn't work for us. I don't have an ETA. 4 is ready to go. 5 is "this year." I need to see how 5 launches to decide whether we're going straight to that or just sidling back into a "last generation" position again. My preference is that we go straight to 5. It just has to meet our needs, mainly in terms of stability and readiness.
So there we are. Just trying to be a little more transparent about the behind-the-scenes stuff, particularly as it relates to features that I know are and have been important to folks.
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