Should we upgrade to vBulletin? (enhanced forum software)

[Evan Bottcher]

I'm considering change the software that runs this forum.  The package vBulletin has additional features (better user profiles, photo albums amongst others).  Lots of little detail features that make it much nicer to use.  It's the same package that runs the big alfa forums at alfabb.com and alfaowner.com.  The full list of features is at http://www.vbulletin.com/index.php?do=features.

The downside is - we can transfer all posts and user accounts, but everyone would need to reset their passwords.  Not a big deal, but might confuse a few people.

thoughts?

Evan.

[wetprickles]

No way Evan, alfabb site loads so slowly its painful. The few advantages you might pick up will not be worth it. Love SMF, this layout and would prefer it to any others I've used. Especially "Home of international Alfa 90 register" which is just horrible.
From a users pont of view you are already on the best software-so stick to it.
Ill be voting NO.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

No way Evan, alfabb site loads so slowly its painful.

Have you blocked the ads?  Once you do I find AlfaBB is fine, maybe 0.5 second slower than this forum, and I think that lag is probably due more to the host than anything else.

That said , I agree that the layout of this site is excellent. 

I'll be voting Indifferent.

[John Hanslow]

Not sure but our Clubs Online system to be implimented has a password doesn't it ? or is it just a member number. Should we do it in such a way so they are the same password?

I know that it is seperate to the forum, its for membership, bookings for events and club shop and funds management ( all with credit card)  but would the passwords be the same?

Just a thought.

[Evan Bottcher]

No way Evan, alfabb site loads so slowly its painful. The few advantages you might pick up will not be worth it.

I'm going to bet that the AlfaBB site loads so slowly because of the amount of external advertising (doubleclick, google) that is being served.  Ads invariably slow the display of web pages down significantly.  In addition, AlfaBB is hosted in the states which will add latency.  vBulletin software itself won't be contributing much if anything to slowness.  Agreed AlfaBB is very painful, I'll be taking Sheldon's advise and installing some ad blocking software...

Not sure but our Clubs Online system to be implimented has a password doesn't it ? or is it just a member number. Should we do it in such a way so they are the same password?

The Vic club's new online system (which I haven't seen) is separate from the forum, which is national.  It's not restricted to club members (at this stage).

[alfagtv58]

Is the search function user friendly, offer relevant results and fast acting.

Does the search function work better than the current POS?

[NigelC]

I agree with most of the posts here. The Alfabb site is painfully slow whereas this site has a search engine that was clearly designed by a dyslexic Honda driver.  Change is to be feared (just joking) but change should only occur if the new result is better, not slower.

[DAVIDT]

EVAN............I do think by reading the replies you have your answer.........DAVIDT. p.s.surely you must have room for 2 x 164's for parts.........THANKS

[AlfaACT]

The list of features looks pretty impressive, but does it also improve the lot for the Administrator?
While the alfabb looks good, I too, do not like the delay while it renders the pages. My (possibly incorrect) understanding is that one needs to $ub$cribe in order to get rid of the ad$ - dont want to go there.
I have voted "I'm cautious" but am prepared to assign my proxy vote to you Evan.
Ciao,
Peter.

[Sheldon McIntosh]

While the alfabb looks good, I too, do not like the delay while it renders the pages. My (possibly incorrect) understanding is that one needs to $ub$cribe in order to get rid of the ad$ - dont want to go there.

Not true.  If you're running Mozilla Firefox, just get an 'add-on' ad-blocker.  I run Adblock Plus and it's excellent.  I couldn't believe how slow the internet was on my girlfriend's laptop, running no ad blocker on Explorer.

For Internet Explorer there are bound to be similar add-ons, but I wouldn't know.  Does anyone still use Explorer?

[Ash Gordon]

What is wrong with the current format ? 

If it aint broke....

[Evan Bottcher]

Okay folks, the poll results show a slight lean towards a YES vote.  However most of the commenters on the poll suggest an indifferent or negative response.  I think that combined with laziness leads me not to switch to the different package.  Thanks for your input.

I'll probably upgrade to the newer version of this forum software in a couple of months when it's a bit more mature - it has some good new features around moderation, but is mostly just the same with a slightly shinier appearance.

Sorted - thanks.