Has vBulletin become complete trash?

So I bought vBulletin 5 for a client's new website. The software seems to be complete trash.

There are infinite bugs. The damned thing has hard coded http all over the place, so if you run it on https you have to edit its guts out so it works.

Running it behind a proxy for security is nearly impossible, the software redirects you to the proxy's port and makes a mess of your cookies.

Also, their tech support feels like they're doing you a favor. All their replies are dry and seem to be telling you to fuck off, when their software is clearly sub par quality and it's their fault.

Looks like I made my customer throw out $ 250 out the window, this software is nowhere near production ready. Now it's clear why BHW and other reputable forums use older versions of vBulletin.

What is the commercial alternative these days? I need paid subscriptions and professional support, not a piece of shit where I have to hack PHP to get it to work.

/RANT

I'm sure they still provide VB4 when you purchase the most recent version. I could be wrong though. VB 4 is much better than 5 imo.

Is this Like Serpcloud ?

Well, may be you did not follow the documentation properly? I worked in previous versions of Vbulletin and it was tough like hell.. I did not have to do any hack though..

g0g0l said:

Well, may be you did not follow the documentation properly? I worked in previous versions of Vbulletin and it was tough like hell.. I did not have to do any hack though..

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I was following the documentation up to the point where I noticed the docs don't really tell you how to do things.

They run vBulletin 5 on their own site, with HTTPS and probably cloudflare with no problems, but there is no documentation about that. If you try to run HTTPS and a proxy like Cloudflare, your life is miserable.

This is a commercial product that should work in a professional manner, not force users to jump through hoops and walk on ice to get things working.

Treeofl1 said:

I'm sure they still provide VB4 when you purchase the most recent version. I could be wrong though. VB 4 is much better than 5 imo.

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Would you recommend going with 4? Yes, they give me the option to download that, but I wondered why since software usually improves in newer versions. Also, feels weird going back a version because the new one sucks, it kind of means I am delaying this mess since one day I'll have to go to v 5 anyways? Also 250 bucks so I have to use the older version doesn't seem right, I'd probably rather do a chargeback and forget this altogether.

Thanks for your input.

Well that's such a pity. I guess they make it tough to understand intentionally so that you end up buying a hosted solution, or hire one of the devs to do your job. Joomla also has a similar reputation of not being coder-friendly atall.

Even if you do a chargeback, what would you go for instead? Free forums suck. IPB isn't that easy either.. So it's one way or another.. IMO, it's better learn the code from top to bottom instead of going from sw to sw..

bartosimpsonio said:

I was following the documentation up to the point where I noticed the docs don't really tell you how to do things.

They run vBulletin 5 on their own site, with HTTPS and probably cloudflare with no problems, but there is no documentation about that. If you try to run HTTPS and a proxy like Cloudflare, your life is miserable.

This is a commercial product that should work in a professional manner, not force users to jump through hoops and walk on ice to get things working.

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xenforo seems good these days among the paid ones . among free mybb is good.

bartosimpsonio said:

Would you recommend going with 4? Yes, they give me the option to download that, but I wondered why since software usually improves in newer versions. Also, feels weird going back a version because the new one sucks, it kind of means I am delaying this mess since one day I'll have to go to v 5 anyways? Also 250 bucks so I have to use the older version doesn't seem right, I'd probably rather do a chargeback and forget this altogether.

Thanks for your input.

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Yeah I loved 4. There are more mods, more themes and it's just nicer to work with in general. I know what you mean about going back a version, but I think it's worth using in this case.

Thanks for the feedback folks. I've edited a bunch of the PHP code and got some of it fixed.

I'm gonna be using GIT for source control, in case they release patches I can diff it and integrate into my own version.

Now trying to get this thing working under https.

Lots of hassle for a paid product, but like g0g0l said the alternatives ain't pretty.

Bart.....i would try and go with 4.2 version....It seems to be the best one. Who cares if its considered an older version. If it works...i say go with it.

I loved the 3.8.x versions, they were stable
but the new 5 is nowhere to be found among stars
Xenforo is taking place all the way