Forum Software Update Question

[Kelton]

[CALI-gula]

SMF looks like a step backward to bulletin boards of 10 years ago - Mark Serbu's site comes to mind when I see that, and it looks "clean" because it's boring.

Xenforo looks too... "cute"? - like it's some kind of personal blog of a teenage girl discussing Hello Kitty's latest adventures? Design wise, it's sloppy looking with unnecessary wasted space.

I like VB4. Seems that most all of the websites that I might go on utilize it for either guns, cars, or similar fields of interest.

My vote is for VB4. It's an upgrade, but not a drastic change.

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[readysetgo]

I like the current format.

So whatever is closest to this format,

This.

I must be getting old, I don't like the look of any of those proposed in the OP.

And this.

Whatever you do, don't use whatever bladeforums went to. That software sucks az!

Anyway IBTL (the big lock)

Eta: bladeforums IS xenforo. Which means xenforo is the devil. I will boycott if you go that route (which may or may not motivate you )

[Librarian]

The High Road is xenforo. It's OK; can't say I like that color scheme, but surely that much can be customized.

[Spartan77]

I like iTrader, popular/trending topics like on glocktalk homepage, and the thumbsup button. I prefer the Xenforo first and the current VB5 though. I always choose to go with newer things.

[BrassCase]

Part of your evaluation should be which platform will be able to provide support and continued updates. Do you buy into their annual support plans which usually include all updates. Do they update and improve on at least a yearly basis? I think you should create a quick matrix to help with the decision and then you can more visually weigh the strengths and weaknesses of all.

[ac398]

SMF or Xenforo. VB4 looks terrible, its just a wall of text seeing things and picking things out while scrolling is difficult

[Marauder2003]

One requirement (either approved add-in or built-in) is the auto-resizing of photos so text does not get squished. Pretty please.

[njineermike]

They all seem fine to me. I do automation graphic (SCADA) software all the time. Customers make the mistake of seeing the next upgrade, not the future upgrades and paint themselves into a corner early in the game, and it costs them a LOT to get out later. Go with the easiest upgrade that will allow you to port over later if at all possible. Boxing yourself into a software system you can't move from could be problematic if the developers drop it or the newer packages go in a direction you don't want or can't use. As long as its not a VerticalScope-like nightmare of ad links and landscape hogging overlays, everyone will adjust. Some will complain, but we all complain about something at one time or another.

Best of luck on the upgrade.

[readysetgo]

Re xenforo. Go poke around bladeforums.com.

It's not that it's bad visually. Think of all the other functions we use here. The "other" functions are buried and not intuitive at all. PM, user post history etc.

Relearning all that, you're going to end up dumping a lot of current users. They won't bother trying to get back up to speed

[lordmorgul]

Xenforo has by FAR the best mobile theme and is usable that way.

Whatever is chosen I hope is still compatible with Tapatalk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, SAF / CRPA / FPC member and supporter, USCCA Member

[gcvt]

I vote for whichever one has smiting and animated avatars like .org

[Kestryll]

I would lean towards SMF. Is portability of the itrader system still a factor at this point?

I will try to save iTrader or at least see if it can be ported in to something new.
The problem is iTrader is an unsupported mod/hack from several years ago so the fact that it still run on 3.8 is surprising in it's own right.

What ever we go to if iTrader is not portable I will make sure a more modern rating system is available for it.

I like the current format.

So do I, unfortunately End Of Life means we become more vulnerable to hacks and attacks and eventually PHP and MySQL will move beyond what the software can handle.

The opening page of SMF is a lot of white space. That and the normal CG banner ads means there will be no message sections shown on the first page.

V4 feels familiar and comfortable.

Xenforo is OK.

The link I used for SMF is the plain vanilla version, it looks different at calguns.org
Here's a sample of what it looks like with ads, the notifications are above the ads so they're still visible on initial loading.

How much data will be lost?

The goal is none.

SMF looks like a step backward to bulletin boards of 10 years ago - Mark Serbu's site comes to mind when I see that, and it looks "clean" because it's boring.

Just to point this out, the software we're currently using is over 11 years old.
We ARE a bulletin board from 10 years ago!

Re xenforo. Go poke around bladeforums.com.

WTH!?! What did they do to that software!!

Blade forum seriously screwed up the Xenforo layout, check out Librarian's link to High Road to see a more normal, albeit oddly colored, version.

I vote for whichever one has smiting and animated avatars like .org

That would be SMF...

[cpttimerestraint]

Will they all still work with Tapatalk?

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[Kestryll]

Will they all still work with Tapatalk?

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

Yes, tapatalk has plug ins for vB, Xenforo and SMF.