Should UBB stay or should VBulletin replace it?

For a while now, Shawn and I have been mulling over the idea of dumping UBB in favor of a more robust system, such as VBulletin. Our main concern is that it appears we have outgrown UBB. In fact, many other sites are migrating from UBB to VB.

We have updated the site 3 times in hopes that newer versions of UBB would reduce server load and increase the speed of the site. This wish has thus far fallen short. The version of UBB we had been running with the nonworking search was running MUCH better and packed full of additions I made, as opposed to the 'out of the box' UBB which is currently running. We must intentionally turn off the Who's Online display due to the server strain it causes. We have even tried upgrading the server, thinking this was the problem. Regardless, server speed remains constrained due to UBB's lackluster performance.

With the way the site is currently running, I fear making many additions would cause lag to users.

With this in mind, we are seriously thinking about taking the jump to switching to VBulletin. Currently, we need to wait a few weeks for the migration tools to come out, and we need to come up with a plan, but VBulletin is designed to be much faster than UBB. This migration would move all posts, pms, and user accounts over, nothing should be lost in the transition, although, we are unsure how long such a transition will take.

UBB uses perl/html (flat files) for the forums, which are slow and klunky (lots of disk access and CPU load from Perl) while VBulletin uses PHP/MySQL for the forums. PHP is much leaner than Perl as far as running the site, and MySQL will make page displays faster than the UBB implementation.

Want to see it in action? Here is one site I visit -> <a href="http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/index.php" target="_blank">http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/index.php</a>
(32,000+ members and blazing fast)

And another fine example -> <a href="http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/" target="_blank">http://www.shoryuken.com/forums/</a>

You might ask why we waited? Well, first we updated to UBB 6.4, which got us the benefit of having a working search function, but at a considerable cost of speed. After we made this update, there was no current hope for switching to VB because tools did not yet exist. So, we tried a couple of the newer versions of UBB, which we hoped would improve the situation, but things just got worse. Now, with the developers of VB releasing a new version of their software, they are also releasing the proper tools to convert this version (6.5) of UBB.

This is a good idea of the features we will have when/if we move to vBulletin:
<a href="http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/index.php" target="_blank">http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/index.php</a>
(vBulletin 3.0.0 Beta 2)

So, cast your vote, Keep UBB or Migrate to VBulletin!

<small>[ March 20, 2003, 07:01 PM: Message edited by: Mouse_Master ]</small>

sounds good

You've convinced me. Change is good. Besides, I'm getting sick of this ragedy old UBB bullshit we have to put up with here.

HUZZAH!

Would we be able to keep the blue/black color scheme?

If it's good for the site, then by all means

trust me - you want to change to vbulletin. It is much smoother than ubb.

I'm up for the change. Vote recorded.

vbulletin runs much smoother. i'm up for it.... vote done.

Another vote for Vbulletin here. Ever since the recent "upgrades" to the UBB system, I've actually been having more trouble with it than ever.

I like the Black on white Scheme too.

I have no clue about what all the UBB etc stuff means.
I like the site the way it is.
The only thing that I would like to do is be able to upload pictures pictures right from my saved pictures/folders.
The pictures I take with the Digital Camera or that I save to my files.
I paid a hosting company just to do that.
I don't want to rely on the hosting company..

Other than that I'm very satisfied with the Site the way it is..
But the members and you know what's best for the site.

<small>[ March 20, 2003, 09:35 PM: Message edited by: chris1 ]</small>

I vote to change to vbulletin.

They use it at TNL, and I really like it. My vote is for the switch over.

While we're at it, how about everyone starts over, post-wise?

NebraskaDragon:
Would we be able to keep the blue/black color scheme?

Click to expand...

Yes, of course. We will have a similar color scheme and would also keep similar font style and font size for optimal legibility and eye comfort.

I’m glad to see that so far most members share our same opinion concerning the proposed transfer. We will let the poll ride a few more days or so, and then we will know for sure if VB is the way to go.

Daisuke Jigen:

While we're at it, how about everyone starts over, post-wise?

Click to expand...

I was thinking along the same lines, except start everything over fresh. Let the board build itself from the ground up again.

Daisuke Jigen:
While we're at it, how about everyone starts over, post-wise?

Click to expand...

That's a surprise, coming from someone with the 7th highest post count here. I honestly think that post counts should stay, along with all members accounts, avatars, icons, posts, and basically any other member specific data that we can salvage.

Shawn:

Daisuke Jigen:
While we're at it, how about everyone starts over, post-wise?

Click to expand...

That's a surprise, coming from someone with the 7th highest post count here. I honestly think that post counts should stay, along with all members accounts, avatars, icons, posts, and basically any other member specific data that we can salvage.

Click to expand...

You're the boss. I do have a high post count, but I have also been here since a month after the forums opened. Compared to some others with only a few thousand who joined only a year ago, I'm really just at a brisk pace.

Just be happy you guys have this kind of option for a carry over. This other company that hosts my board literally holds the stupid totals hostage. They also screwed up on the billing, so my board has been a free stay for the past months.
I cant complain in that aspect.

Well I am forced to use slow dial-up and anything that will make things run faster I am all for.

Arrrgggghhh!!! lol, I just spent the last year building up my post count, I don't want to see it go!

Seriously though, although post counts (as well as member numbers, and join dates) can be a source of elitism, they are more importantly a kind of historical record, not just of the members themselves, but also of the site itself. Getting rid of everything would be like getting rid of the last three or four years.

I voted to move it to the new format. Expecially if our signatures CAN BE MORE THAN 250 CHARACTERS! very_ang

Shooting for the best? I will also vote for the change.

Kind of a strange poll, isn't it? "Do you want the better software or not? Price to you is the same." wink

I'd be more interested to know if this will save money in the long run or cost an extra billion dollars. If it's the latter, I'd rather see some kind of sale on games seeing as, to me, UBB is working "good enough".

tsukaesugi:
Arrrgggghhh!!! lol, I just spent the last year building up my post count, I don't want to see it go!

Seriously though, although post counts (as well as member numbers, and join dates) can be a source of elitism, they are more importantly a kind of historical record, not just of the members themselves, but also of the site itself. Getting rid of everything would be like getting rid of the last three or four years.

Click to expand...

I can sort of understand caring about post counts, but there's really no loss of "historical record" because there is a backlog of searchable threads going years back.

But, seeing as some people do actually care about post count, why reset them? It'll just cause said people to complain which would only be a problem. Then you'd have to stick some thread at the top so people can discuss it.

Although, I still think it is indeed a "source of elitism" for some as you put it tsukaesugi.

Oh go on then.
If it'll make you happy and make things faster I'm all for it.

voted.

i think we should switch to VB if it does make things faster...