XenForo XenForo

XenForo is of course the software that we are currently using to power CinVin. Coming from mostly a vBulletin background there is a lot of changes but so far the switch seems well worth it.

For those considering switching from vBulletin to XenForo, here a few things to take note of.

• There is no 'Search in Thread' option <-- Available in XF 1.1.0
• There is no 'BB Code Manager' in the ACP to manage BB codes. There is an add-on over at the XF support forums.
• There is no way of embedding videos into incoming RSS feeds. That mean if you are capturing a YouTube channel, for example, you can not embed the actual video. When you manually create create there is video embedded but not when creating threads from RSS feeds. Others facing this have suggested support for the MediaRSS standard.
• In addition to no video embedding with RSS feeds, there is also no support yet for images in enclosure tags.
• There is no bulk smiley manager; they are added & edited one at a time.
• There is no [sigpic] corresponding BB code for signature pics.

As I come across other things of note I'll keep this thread updated. These are not meant as a list of negatives but rather items that vBulletin admins might find to be common things that they are used to and could be surprised to not find.

The one that I wasn't expecting really was being unable to embed videos in the RSS Feed Manager. The others I can work around but for some of my other sites it'll be noticeable with no videos from the feeds.

BTW: What's your user name over on xenforo.com? I've been hanging out over there more than usual lately.

Ran into another issue with the RSS Feeder... I can't grab the enclosure tag for embedding images.

Have started playing around with converting some of my simpler vBulletin mods to XenForo. You guys/gals may have noticed one already in the menu bar. I still need to play around a bit get rid of some hard-coded phrases but it is coming along nicely as a stand-alone XF page.

XenForo 1.1.0 BETA has been released to customer!

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/xenforo-1-1-0-beta-1-released.20745/

Some nice looking stuff in there. I am so anxious now to convert my other vB based site to XF.

Maybe you'll finish v3A before you move

Seriously though, what I've seen of the new version of xenForo is pretty impressive - look forward to seeing CinVin upgraded to get some hands on with the new features

:x3: I'm working on recreating the code that I had in place before it was lost when vB was hacked (the templates were defaced so I lost my WIP changes). Got the thread creation done and am working on the 'mini-layout' changes now. With the CK Editor now in vB I had to change the code for the automatic thread creations anyway so while I was in there I took care of that.

For those that have been following the Internet Brands vs. XenForo lawsuit, some additional documents have been filed in the US.

Of note is Kier's Declaration Document. This document is essentially Kier's perspective on the events that have taken place to date.

Link: http://c746070.r70.cf2.rackcdn.com/80-1.pdf

Some interesting points...

• The initial coding for vB4 was delayed because James Limm, the former Jelsoft owner, insisted that the team add 'social' features to the product immediately. Originally the plan was to stop vB 3.x with the vB 3.6.x release but Limm's demands are why 3.7.x & 3.8.x were released with the features they did while vB4 coding was pushed back.
• As part of the sale by Limm to IB, IB claims that they were under the impression from Limm that vB4 coding was actually being worked on as opposed to just being in the design stages.
• When IB was not pleased with finding out, nearly a year after their purchase of Jelsoft, that vB4 was not yet actually being coded the decision was made by IB to scrap the total rewrite that Kier & the Jelsoft team were proposing (and originally announced) and instead go with the 'rewrite-as-we-go' approach based upon the old vB 3.x code.
• vB4 was purposely rushed so that Internet Brands could appease their shareholders, not their customers.
• Kier touches upon when he made the decision to stop working with vBulletin. As part of IB taking over project management of vB4, and moving the decision making processes from the original Jelsoft office in the UK to IB's Los Angeles office, the existing Jelsoft team members were effectively demoted since they were now taking direction by an IB employee.
• At one point IB was considering farming out the vB4 coding work to China and just have the in-house developers act as code reviewers.

The whole document is worth reading since it gives an inside view into the rise & fall of Jelsoft.

If you're interested in reading all of the document that have been released to the public so far relating to the US case, check the link below.

Link: http://www.shamil.la/vbulletin-solutions-vs-xenforo-limited-etc/

It is important to note that this is only the US case. Internet Brands filed two nearly identical lawsuits, one in the US and another in the UK.

Really? If you ask me, it sounds like IB trying to get things done on the cheap whilst selling them at top dollar and also shows a lack of commitment to their product and regard for the customer.

Yep, all around. When IB stepped in and took over project management they weren't happy at Kier's estimate of 18-24 months to do a total coding of vB4 from scratch using an all new architecture. As part of IB's ideas to get the coding done faster the Chinese coders were apparently on the table at one point before the decision was made to not do an actual rewrite of the vB3 code but rather bolt-on to it.

So basically a big, all-round cock-up by IB, not just by actually considering the Chinese but also the decision not to totally rewrite the code which in turn has lead to the amount of disgruntled customers on vb.com now.

If you ask me this case and the subsequent information that is now coming to light will be even more damaging to IB - vBulletin may have been the leading forum software pre-vB4 but it is sinking faster than a lead weight.

What's interesting in all of this is who is not named in any of the lawsuit legal papers, James Limm, the former owner of Jelsoft. According to the US lawsuit documents it was the understanding of IB (Bob Brisco to be precise) that, per Limm, Jelsoft was currently working on vB4 and it wasn't until nearly a year-and-a-half after the sale of Jelsoft by Limm to IB that IB learned that vB4 was not currently being coded but was still in the planning stages.

To the outsider it would appear Brisco never bothered to do any due diligence as part of the Jelsoft acquisition and then afterwards never followed-up on what Jelsoft was actually working on. Around the time that Brisco was expecting to see vB4 that he had promised to his shareholders he learned that it wasn't even being worked on, because of the decision by Limm to add new social features to the 3.x series, and he panicked. ... and then is when everything started to hit the fan.

If IB is upset about what is happening to the vB community, they should be looking into the communications failure between Brisco & Limm, not their ex-employees who tolerated what they could before leaving.