After running my board for just over 2 years now, I'm about to finally get around to customizing it...a little late but it happens. The only thing custom there now is the logo and I'm running the basic Subsilver template. I'm working on design, colors and formatting and while I've got all options open, might as well take a look at the type of board I'm running.

I've long considered Vbulletin but don't know if it's really worth the money... anyone here 'upgrade' from PHP to VB?

Love to get your input!

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First of all, before you do anything else, change the default theme on your forum to anything else. Anyway, I personally don't like PHPBB, so my advice would be to upgrade. However, it really depends on your members. Now, if you have members that obviously know their way around different forums, you should probably go with vB just to impress them. Think of how unprofessional AF would look if it used anything but vB. However, if your members don't seem very Internet-savvy, you should probably upgrade to MyBB. It's free, and about as close to vB as you can get.

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First of all this is the message I got when I went to your board:

"You have been banned from this forum.
Please contact the webmaster or board administrator for more information"

Wow this is the first time I got banned from a forum without being a member of it, not that I have been banned from any forums I am a member of.

In any case if you have the money to spend on vb then by all means go for it.

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I went from running a phpbb board to a vbulletin board and I will never go back. vBulletin is so much more stable and user friendly and has many features built in that phpbb only has as hacks. Its well worth its price tag.

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vbulletin is the best, hands down

AdminFusion is using it, so you know it's great

cheers
-Bs

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vBulletin all the way.

I used to run phpBB2. Then I upgraded. Worth every penny. So much more features, stabler, regularly updated. Very good.

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I think that you are going to find most members here are going to say vBulletin.

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VB lets you take a test drive of their ACP, for free. It's got a LOT of stuff in there. Sure, it's a learning curve; but once you start, it gets easier.

I use to run IPB 1.3 (on invisionfree) and I got fed up with it. I was going to buy IPB 2.x but I became an admin here, and had to learn VB. Boy, what a relief it is!

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It depends on a number of factors, I personally prefer phpbb as it's far easier to mod and mold into exactly what you want. But if you're after the easier route then vB is the way to go with all it's features built in.

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As far as templating is concerned, phpBB wins hands down. I created skins for both scripts and phpBB was always easier to mod. That's why my best designs are on it. Many hacks come to complete the otherwise weak script. I am running VB and phpBB (among others) and right now I have a VB with no working cash mod (thanks to some exploits found in vbplaza and to the fact my previous hack "died" after upgrading to the 3.6 series) while in phpBB I have all the hacks I need and weird enough they function perfectly.

Upgrading a phpBB even with code changes (my boards are heavily modded) went fast and nice (30 minutes the most), while VB messed my unique template, I had to revert to the horrible default skin, re-enter all the codes and wonder why some of the important hacks won't work anymore. Took me almost 10 full work ours to get the forums into a functional state ...

so ... I cannot recommend spending 160 USD on a script just because it's "cool". If it does attract you, then do it (don't forget you also pay 30 USD a year for support). Try to se IPB too ... I am preparing to purchase an IPB for a forum of mine since I like it more lately. Or just stick to that phpBB. I have an active forum with anything you'd imagine and it works wonders on phpBB.

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