PHPbb Vs. Vbulletin

kektex · 04-10-2005, 03:50 PM

Recently I was wondering why I see so many big forums like namepros and others using vbulletin instead of the free alternative , phpbb.
Any forum administrators care to shed some light on this? What are the main advantages of using vbulletin ? I`ve never tried it and would really like to know.

Nitroshock · 04-10-2005, 04:29 PM

Well, by using this website, you're trying vBulletin. =) Tell me if you see a difference when posting on this forum as compared to posting on your phpBB forum.
vBulletin is a more robust application with countless more features than phpBB. When websites hit a certain point, they realize the investment in vBulletin is worth it. Personally I think the biggest advantage of vBulletin is the online community it creates. The features offered are abundant enough that it can be adapted to a variety of websites and increase the user experience in all cases. When it comes down to it, you want the surfers to be happy. They rather use vBulletin.

just my thoughts.
-Nitro

kektex · 04-10-2005, 04:34 PM

Yes I was thinking that maybe vbulletin is more robust once your site hits a certain number of comments/members.
The clear advantage I see with phpbb is that since it`s open source there`s a huge community of mods,hacks and skins built around it.
Thanks for your input nitro!

zatch · 04-10-2005, 05:46 PM

vbulletin is much more feature packed and easier to use and administrate. It's basically all inclusive as supposed to phpbb which is good but generally requires mods.

Also - styles are MUCH easier to manage in vbulletin with its built in style editor.

Brian · 04-10-2005, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by kektex

Yes I was thinking that maybe vbulletin is more robust once your site hits a certain number of comments/members.
The clear advantage I see with phpbb is that since it`s open source there`s a huge community of mods,hacks and skins built around it.
Thanks for your input nitro!

there is also a huge community behind vB as well, vbulletin.org is where most of the hacks/mods will be found

Stephen · 04-10-2005, 06:06 PM

I would consider Vbulletin to the best. It has a much better administrative end, has cleaner code, and much better support than PHPBB has.

Updates are issued regularly to fix any security issues, and there are many free professional skins you can get, as well as hundreds you can buy for a moderate price.

It's a better forum for the larger site/forum.

If you have a little community, with not many members, PHPBB should be fine.

TheWatcher · 04-10-2005, 06:07 PM

My personal choice is phpbb because it is free and GPL release. We currently used phpbb that replaced ipb to provide free message board forum. Check out www.multiforums.com in action. The community of phpbb is growing and doing better every day...

Vbulletin is good and reliable script too but too expensive to implement for a project.

My 2cents.

Em

Kishin · 04-10-2005, 07:27 PM

PHPBB is great and has a great community behind it and there are tons of free styles and Modifications to be found.Also being Open Source makes it better in my book, But I also think Using Vbulliten makes a site look more professional since the cost of Vbulliten compaired to PHPBB which is free. Also you may want to check out IPB if your looking to get a new Message Board system.

TheBrigade · 04-10-2005, 09:01 PM

I know I am very persuasive when I say this but....

vBulletin is better

majinbuu1023 · 04-10-2005, 09:29 PM

actually it depends on the webmaster...
phpbb runs much faster.. look at this site... http://www.runevillage.net/ThePub/ they just hit 50,000 members.. they have loads of mods etc,etc.. the run really well...

then you look at namepros, its vbulletin but it runs a bit slower..

I have never used vbulletin but when I have enough money I plan to buy a liecense

Brian · 04-10-2005, 10:25 PM

Originally Posted by majinbuu1023

actually it depends on the webmaster...
phpbb runs much faster.. look at this site... http://www.runevillage.net/ThePub/ they just hit 50,000 members.. they have loads of mods etc,etc.. the run really well...
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/website-development/81740-phpbb-vs-vbulletin.html

then you look at namepros, its vbulletin but it runs a bit slower..

I have never used vbulletin but when I have enough money I plan to buy a liecense

well, that site right now only has 25 people online, and NP has over 300 that is the cause for any slowdown, but for me, the speeds are pretty much the same in loading

She Unlimited · 04-10-2005, 10:55 PM

How fast a site loads depends on many factors one mostly being where it is hosted.

I am a VB user and I support VB becasue of the awesome support and feedback.

Thanks to Steve on many occasions.

ZuraX · 04-10-2005, 11:20 PM

I have seen a lot of phpbb sites hacked and all info lost. With VB when theres a security hole found a new update is out fast since they are being paid. Whats the motivating force behind phpbb?

She Unlimited · 04-10-2005, 11:27 PM

ZuraX is right, however my VB was hacked but this was a long time ago and at that time where my site was hosted they did not preform any backups......I was out, but Steve really helped me and we were able to report the culprits.

This happened to a selective few....I think the FBI was involved on this one......Zura, you know what I am talking about right?

Redleg · 04-10-2005, 11:37 PM

One "negative" thing with vBulletin is that it's a pretty resource hungry forum, and needs a good (dedicated) server in order to run smoothly.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=81740
Many shared webhosting companies doesn't allow vBulletin to be installed on their servers, since it may slow them down...

There's lots of pros and cons with both boards

phpBB is free, but vBulletin costs you a pretty penny, so it may not be a good idea to use it unless you're sure that your forum will be a "success"..
There's been more security issues with phpBB than with vBulletin (but a few have been discovered on vBulletin lately)
Most of the mods on phpBB is free, and it has a great modding community.
vBulletin do also have many great mods, but many of them are not free.
vBulletin is a (much) more moderator/admin friendly board, and you'll need to mod phpBB (a lot) in order to get close to vBulletins features.

The biggest forum on the net uses phpBB by the way..

www.big-boards.com

ZuraX · 04-10-2005, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by She Unlimited

ZuraX is right, however my VB was hacked but this was a long time ago and at that time where my site was hosted they did not preform any backups......I was out, but Steve really helped me and we were able to report the culprits.

This happened to a selective few....I think the FBI was involved on this one......Zura, you know what I am talking about right?
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=81740

Hmm I do remember something about that. Cant remember what though...

redhippo · 04-11-2005, 01:30 AM

i love the VB admin and hacks.....but i guess one can start off with PHPBB first...not sure about moving the board across to VB though

allnew2me · 04-11-2005, 05:14 AM

1. What should I be looking for if I wanted somewhere to host a vbulletin or phpbb forum.
2. Also, if I initially went with a phbb forum, is there anyway of migrating data to vbulletin?

She Unlimited · 04-11-2005, 05:23 AM

You can do search in yahoo to see if they host. For example Specializing in, php, VB etc. The hosting company we are with is fast, and supportive. They will even do the installs.

I hope this helps.

allnew2me · 04-11-2005, 05:26 AM

If you dont mind me asking, who are you with?

John Nousis · 04-11-2005, 06:28 AM

I would vote vBulletin mainly for support and simplicity of usage. However, anyone that is short on budget should be ok with phpBB. There is a great community supporting it.

My comment thought (a bit out of topic) is to ALWAYS keep track of the updates and apply them immediately.

zatch · 04-11-2005, 06:29 AM

Originally Posted by Redleg

One "negative" thing with vBulletin is that it's a pretty resource hungry forum, and needs a good (dedicated) server in order to run smoothly.
Many shared webhosting companies doesn't allow vBulletin to be installed on their servers, since it may slow them down...

There's lots of pros and cons with both boards

phpBB is free, but vBulletin costs you a pretty penny, so it may not be a good idea to use it unless you're sure that your forum will be a "success"..
There's been more security issues with phpBB than with vBulletin (but a few have been discovered on vBulletin lately)
Most of the mods on phpBB is free, and it has a great modding community.
????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=81740
vBulletin do also have many great mods, but many of them are not free.
vBulletin is a (much) more moderator/admin friendly board, and you'll need to mod phpBB (a lot) in order to get close to vBulletins features.

The biggest forum on the net uses phpBB by the way..

www.big-boards.com

vBulletin has TONS of free mods --> www.vbulletin.org

IAmAllanShore · 04-11-2005, 06:33 AM

vBulletin is much "better" on its face, although after having used it and phpBB and preds for a while, I stumbled onto SMF and have had great results with it. More powerful than phpBB, a good "hack" community, and not as resource/comp crazy as is vBulletin (Also, not as likely to be hacked as it is not as widely used. Sort of like how my Mac never gets a virus ;-) ).
-Allan

PoorDoggie · 04-11-2005, 09:09 AM

i have never tried vBulletin, so I would choose phpBB.

I know a few people who use phpbb, and it is no problem.

I suppose it is all a matter of how much you want to pay for each!

I don't have the money, or the bother to buy vbulletin so I use phpbb. Simple as that!

Jamison54 · 04-11-2005, 09:18 AM

I agree with anybody who has something good to say about vBulletin! I've never owned a vBulletin, but by using one (e.g. this website) it is much better than the freebie, phpBB. The design is always more nice than phpBB. With phpBB, its hard to custumize your own design. With vB, I dont think it is (as I've heard from an old friend who owns/owned a vB).

vBulletin is a

too!

04-10-2005, 03:50 PM	THREAD STARTER #1 (permalink)
kektex NamePros Regular Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: South America Posts: 392	PHPbb Vs. Vbulletin Recently I was wondering why I see so many big forums like namepros and others using vbulletin instead of the free alternative , phpbb. Any forum administrators care to shed some light on this? What are the main advantages of using vbulletin ? I`ve never tried it and would really like to know.

04-10-2005, 04:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
Nitroshock NamePros Regular Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 503	Well, by using this website, you're trying vBulletin. =) Tell me if you see a difference when posting on this forum as compared to posting on your phpBB forum. vBulletin is a more robust application with countless more features than phpBB. When websites hit a certain point, they realize the investment in vBulletin is worth it. Personally I think the biggest advantage of vBulletin is the online community it creates. The features offered are abundant enough that it can be adapted to a variety of websites and increase the user experience in all cases. When it comes down to it, you want the surfers to be happy. They rather use vBulletin. just my thoughts. -Nitro __________________ Bored? Play FREE Games

04-10-2005, 05:46 PM	#4 (permalink)
zatch NamePros Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 199	vbulletin is much more feature packed and easier to use and administrate. It's basically all inclusive as supposed to phpbb which is good but generally requires mods. Also - styles are MUCH easier to manage in vbulletin with its built in style editor. __________________ iam.in / tolerance.in

04-10-2005, 06:07 PM	#7 (permalink)
TheWatcher Senior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: KING.NET Posts: 3,488	My personal choice is phpbb because it is free and GPL release. We currently used phpbb that replaced ipb to provide free message board forum. Check out www.multiforums.com in action. The community of phpbb is growing and doing better every day... Vbulletin is good and reliable script too but too expensive to implement for a project. My 2cents. Em __________________ Get your own .CO $28/yr http://NeedName.com KING.NET Advertise your products and services. Got Facebook, connect with me. http://facebook.com/domainnetwork MultiForums.com - Yet Another Forum!.

04-10-2005, 09:29 PM	#10 (permalink)
majinbuu1023 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: New Zealand Posts: 3,746	actually it depends on the webmaster... phpbb runs much faster.. look at this site... http://www.runevillage.net/ThePub/ they just hit 50,000 members.. they have loads of mods etc,etc.. the run really well... then you look at namepros, its vbulletin but it runs a bit slower.. I have never used vbulletin but when I have enough money I plan to buy a liecense __________________ WowHumor.net - Funny World of Warcraft Pictures

04-10-2005, 04:34 PM	THREAD STARTER #3 (permalink)
kektex NamePros Regular Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: South America Posts: 392	Yes I was thinking that maybe vbulletin is more robust once your site hits a certain number of comments/members. The clear advantage I see with phpbb is that since it`s open source there`s a huge community of mods,hacks and skins built around it. Thanks for your input nitro!

04-10-2005, 06:06 PM	#6 (permalink)
Stephen Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Georgia, USA Posts: 3,238	I would consider Vbulletin to the best. It has a much better administrative end, has cleaner code, and much better support than PHPBB has. Updates are issued regularly to fix any security issues, and there are many free professional skins you can get, as well as hundreds you can buy for a moderate price. It's a better forum for the larger site/forum. If you have a little community, with not many members, PHPBB should be fine.

04-10-2005, 07:27 PM	#8 (permalink)
Kishin NamePros Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 64	PHPBB is great and has a great community behind it and there are tons of free styles and Modifications to be found.Also being Open Source makes it better in my book, But I also think Using Vbulliten makes a site look more professional since the cost of Vbulliten compaired to PHPBB which is free. Also you may want to check out IPB if your looking to get a new Message Board system.

04-10-2005, 09:01 PM	#9 (permalink)
TheBrigade Account Closed Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Washington Posts: 778	I know I am very persuasive when I say this but.... vBulletin is better

04-10-2005, 10:55 PM	#12 (permalink)
She Unlimited NamePros Regular Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Tokyo, London, D.C. Posts: 342	How fast a site loads depends on many factors one mostly being where it is hosted. I am a VB user and I support VB becasue of the awesome support and feedback. Thanks to Steve on many occasions.

04-10-2005, 11:20 PM	#13 (permalink)
ZuraX Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Pennsylvania USA Posts: 2,684	I have seen a lot of phpbb sites hacked and all info lost. With VB when theres a security hole found a new update is out fast since they are being paid. Whats the motivating force behind phpbb? __________________ Been a NP member for 5 or more years? PM me to join the Social Group!

04-10-2005, 11:27 PM	#14 (permalink)
She Unlimited NamePros Regular Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Tokyo, London, D.C. Posts: 342	ZuraX is right, however my VB was hacked but this was a long time ago and at that time where my site was hosted they did not preform any backups......I was out, but Steve really helped me and we were able to report the culprits. This happened to a selective few....I think the FBI was involved on this one......Zura, you know what I am talking about right?

04-10-2005, 11:37 PM	#15 (permalink)
Redleg Ultima Ratio Regum Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Up North Posts: 2,080	One "negative" thing with vBulletin is that it's a pretty resource hungry forum, and needs a good (dedicated) server in order to run smoothly. ????: NamePros.com http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?t=81740 Many shared webhosting companies doesn't allow vBulletin to be installed on their servers, since it may slow them down... There's lots of pros and cons with both boards phpBB is free, but vBulletin costs you a pretty penny, so it may not be a good idea to use it unless you're sure that your forum will be a "success".. There's been more security issues with phpBB than with vBulletin (but a few have been discovered on vBulletin lately) Most of the mods on phpBB is free, and it has a great modding community. vBulletin do also have many great mods, but many of them are not free. vBulletin is a (much) more moderator/admin friendly board, and you'll need to mod phpBB (a lot) in order to get close to vBulletins features. The biggest forum on the net uses phpBB by the way.. www.big-boards.com __________________ IP Whois + Geolocation\|Geolocate your IP\|Dynamic Forum Sigs <meta name="Jedi Mind Trick" content="Buy my domains, you will!">

04-11-2005, 01:30 AM	#17 (permalink)
redhippo NamePros Expert Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: ANForum Posts: 5,218	i love the VB admin and hacks.....but i guess one can start off with PHPBB first...not sure about moving the board across to VB though __________________ \|www.vb-skins.com\|- Quality Premade Vbulletin skins for Your VB forum makeover \|www.Banjir.com\|-Free image hosting?[B]For Sale!\|AlphaScripts\|Money Generating Scripts FREE VB Skins

04-11-2005, 05:14 AM	#18 (permalink)
allnew2me New Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 17	Hosting a new forum 1. What should I be looking for if I wanted somewhere to host a vbulletin or phpbb forum. 2. Also, if I initially went with a phbb forum, is there anyway of migrating data to vbulletin? __________________ www.3gpz.com \| www.3gpz.co.uk www.rootkits.co.uk Wedding Traditions www.wristphonez.com \| www.wristphonez.co.uk

04-11-2005, 05:23 AM	#19 (permalink)
She Unlimited NamePros Regular Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Tokyo, London, D.C. Posts: 342	You can do search in yahoo to see if they host. For example Specializing in, php, VB etc. The hosting company we are with is fast, and supportive. They will even do the installs. I hope this helps.

04-11-2005, 05:26 AM	#20 (permalink)
allnew2me New Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 17	If you dont mind me asking, who are you with? __________________ www.3gpz.com \| www.3gpz.co.uk www.rootkits.co.uk Wedding Traditions www.wristphonez.com \| www.wristphonez.co.uk

04-11-2005, 06:28 AM	#21 (permalink)
John Nousis New Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 5	I would vote vBulletin mainly for support and simplicity of usage. However, anyone that is short on budget should be ok with phpBB. There is a great community supporting it. My comment thought (a bit out of topic) is to ALWAYS keep track of the updates and apply them immediately. __________________ Sell Online Attract customers with Magnetcommerce! Magnet e-commerce shopping cart software Powered by http://www.siteowners.com/

04-11-2005, 06:33 AM	#23 (permalink)
IAmAllanShore NamePros Expert Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Esse quam videri Posts: 8,316	vBulletin is much "better" on its face, although after having used it and phpBB and preds for a while, I stumbled onto SMF and have had great results with it. More powerful than phpBB, a good "hack" community, and not as resource/comp crazy as is vBulletin (Also, not as likely to be hacked as it is not as widely used. Sort of like how my Mac never gets a virus ;-) ). -Allan __________________ Something Witty This Way Comes...

04-11-2005, 09:09 AM	#24 (permalink)
PoorDoggie Soon to be RICHdoggie! Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 2,408	i have never tried vBulletin, so I would choose phpBB. I know a few people who use phpbb, and it is no problem. I suppose it is all a matter of how much you want to pay for each! I don't have the money, or the bother to buy vbulletin so I use phpbb. Simple as that!

04-11-2005, 09:18 AM	#25 (permalink)
Jamison54 NamePros Regular Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 305	I agree with anybody who has something good to say about vBulletin! I've never owned a vBulletin, but by using one (e.g. this website) it is much better than the freebie, phpBB. The design is always more nice than phpBB. With phpBB, its hard to custumize your own design. With vB, I dont think it is (as I've heard from an old friend who owns/owned a vB). vBulletin is a too! __________________ JamisonJerving.com - My Personal Design & Development Portfolio \| MakeThatGame.com - Gamer developer's discussion board. \| MyHostPlaza.com - Solution to the most dedicated web hosting service.

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