Mike
Well-Known Member
Apologies for not being around as much of late, but Life is managing to get in my way.
I want to thank a couple members of this forum for standing up and standing out. Without these two, this place would look like a hurricane had hit it. Actually, I hope you will take the time to thank VegasBruce and Yogi for their efforts. There is no way this place could exist without their help. You guys are the best!
In an effort to help the new members find their way around the forum, I've just posted a quick tutorial that I hope will help. You will find it here - http://www.tbucketeers.com/forum/f50/where-5087/
I'm trying to keep this short and sweet. No, really, I am.
I currently own and operate four vBulletin forums and six WordPress blog sites. In addition to the four, live forums, there is a test vBulletin forum, a test phpBB3 forum and a test MyBB forum running on the server. I am always trying to find ways to make the forums run faster, be more secure, be easier for our members to use and also easier for the search engines to crawl. You cannot imagine the amount of time it takes to look after these ten, live sites. I also spend time on other sites, trying to find new methods and new techniques to keep all ten sites running smoothly.
But it doesn't end there. I admin a site for my employer and also co-admin two other forums. I am also a moderator on four other vBulletin-related forums.
I am currently out of sorts with the company that owns vBulletin. They are developing a new branch of the forum software, which will be vBulletin 4. I have been part of a team Alpha testing the new script. The Alpha testers have had to sign off on a non-disclosure agreement, which prevents me from making any of the multitude of negative comments I would like to make. I purchased the license to use vBulletin software on this site three years ago this Tuesday. My license allows me to use the software for life. Each year, I pay a license renewal fee to maintain download access to the latest versions of the software.
That system has now been changed. When a license comes up for renewal, I must now pay an exorbitant fee to gain access to the vBulletin 4 downloads. When vBulletin is released, in approximately 24 months, I will then have to pay that same fee to upgrade. My response to Internet Brands, the owner of the vBulletin script was a simple, two-word response. The second word was 'you'. I will not be renewing my license this time around. And we will be migrating away from vBulletin, as I am simply not interested in the upcoming vB 4 script at all.
Of course, this has added to my work load. We will continue to run this site on the vBulletin license, but I am now searching for options. I am looking at the possibility of using IPS, Inc. - We're community experts but it will require a chunk of change to purchase their licensing. So I am not rushing into any decisions here. They have indicated they would like to have me bring my forum sites to them and have made an attractive offer for me to convert all four forums. Unfortunately, the expense to move all four sites is clear out of reach.
I've looked at the free forum options, such as phpBB • Community Home and MyBB Community Forums but I am not satisfied I will be able to present the same robust forum experience and secure setting as we have with the vBulletin script.
I've looked into using WordPress MU Blog Tool and Publishing Platform with the BuddyPress.org add-on. I'm already this >< close to converting a brand new forum site over to this option. I don't see anyone on this site being eager to use a site based on a blogging script, even though the BuddyPress add-on makes it incredibly flexible.
I have another option that I cannot divulge any details on at this time. I know a couple of coders that are assembling a new forum script I am extremely interested in using. But it is the best part of a year down the road, before it will be released.
I just want everyone to be aware that it is my intention to leave the vBulletin script behind. I have countless hours and dollars invested in the site as you see it and the idea of leaving it all behind is not a pleasant one, believe me. As a result, I will not just jump to something to get away. If this branch of vBulletin remains secure, I will likely wait to see the new forum script next year. If a vulnerability suddenly crops up, I will immediately move to the Invision Power script.
Above all things, I am concerned about security at the server level. Then I want a server running as fast as I can afford. We have both those in place and I cannot say enough good about Managed VPS Hosting - Managed Hybrid Servers - Managed Dedicated Servers - Managed cPanel VPS Hosting by KnownHost
My next priority is a secure forum script that offers full and simple functionality to you, the end-user. So that is my current focus. On top of everything else. :winkn:
Please bear with me. I may not be Johnny-on-the-spot with replies to you. I will get to everything as quickly as possible, but it will require a bit of patience on your part. There are just a lot of plates to keep spinning at the moment.
Remember to hoist a wee cup in honor of the T-Bucket Forums' 3rd birthday on Tuesday. :sob:
I want to thank a couple members of this forum for standing up and standing out. Without these two, this place would look like a hurricane had hit it. Actually, I hope you will take the time to thank VegasBruce and Yogi for their efforts. There is no way this place could exist without their help. You guys are the best!
In an effort to help the new members find their way around the forum, I've just posted a quick tutorial that I hope will help. You will find it here - http://www.tbucketeers.com/forum/f50/where-5087/
I'm trying to keep this short and sweet. No, really, I am.
I currently own and operate four vBulletin forums and six WordPress blog sites. In addition to the four, live forums, there is a test vBulletin forum, a test phpBB3 forum and a test MyBB forum running on the server. I am always trying to find ways to make the forums run faster, be more secure, be easier for our members to use and also easier for the search engines to crawl. You cannot imagine the amount of time it takes to look after these ten, live sites. I also spend time on other sites, trying to find new methods and new techniques to keep all ten sites running smoothly.
But it doesn't end there. I admin a site for my employer and also co-admin two other forums. I am also a moderator on four other vBulletin-related forums.
I am currently out of sorts with the company that owns vBulletin. They are developing a new branch of the forum software, which will be vBulletin 4. I have been part of a team Alpha testing the new script. The Alpha testers have had to sign off on a non-disclosure agreement, which prevents me from making any of the multitude of negative comments I would like to make. I purchased the license to use vBulletin software on this site three years ago this Tuesday. My license allows me to use the software for life. Each year, I pay a license renewal fee to maintain download access to the latest versions of the software.
That system has now been changed. When a license comes up for renewal, I must now pay an exorbitant fee to gain access to the vBulletin 4 downloads. When vBulletin is released, in approximately 24 months, I will then have to pay that same fee to upgrade. My response to Internet Brands, the owner of the vBulletin script was a simple, two-word response. The second word was 'you'. I will not be renewing my license this time around. And we will be migrating away from vBulletin, as I am simply not interested in the upcoming vB 4 script at all.
Of course, this has added to my work load. We will continue to run this site on the vBulletin license, but I am now searching for options. I am looking at the possibility of using IPS, Inc. - We're community experts but it will require a chunk of change to purchase their licensing. So I am not rushing into any decisions here. They have indicated they would like to have me bring my forum sites to them and have made an attractive offer for me to convert all four forums. Unfortunately, the expense to move all four sites is clear out of reach.
I've looked at the free forum options, such as phpBB • Community Home and MyBB Community Forums but I am not satisfied I will be able to present the same robust forum experience and secure setting as we have with the vBulletin script.
I've looked into using WordPress MU Blog Tool and Publishing Platform with the BuddyPress.org add-on. I'm already this >< close to converting a brand new forum site over to this option. I don't see anyone on this site being eager to use a site based on a blogging script, even though the BuddyPress add-on makes it incredibly flexible.
I have another option that I cannot divulge any details on at this time. I know a couple of coders that are assembling a new forum script I am extremely interested in using. But it is the best part of a year down the road, before it will be released.
I just want everyone to be aware that it is my intention to leave the vBulletin script behind. I have countless hours and dollars invested in the site as you see it and the idea of leaving it all behind is not a pleasant one, believe me. As a result, I will not just jump to something to get away. If this branch of vBulletin remains secure, I will likely wait to see the new forum script next year. If a vulnerability suddenly crops up, I will immediately move to the Invision Power script.
Above all things, I am concerned about security at the server level. Then I want a server running as fast as I can afford. We have both those in place and I cannot say enough good about Managed VPS Hosting - Managed Hybrid Servers - Managed Dedicated Servers - Managed cPanel VPS Hosting by KnownHost
My next priority is a secure forum script that offers full and simple functionality to you, the end-user. So that is my current focus. On top of everything else. :winkn:
Please bear with me. I may not be Johnny-on-the-spot with replies to you. I will get to everything as quickly as possible, but it will require a bit of patience on your part. There are just a lot of plates to keep spinning at the moment.
Remember to hoist a wee cup in honor of the T-Bucket Forums' 3rd birthday on Tuesday. :sob:
