Attentive vbulletin. Which forum is better vBulletin or PunBB. Disabling the user list

28.10.2023

From:
Registered: 2014.07.08
Posts: 3,924
Likes: 504

Topic: Which forum is better vBulletin or PunBB

VBulletin (Vobla or Bulka, as we like to call it) is one of the oldest commercial forum engines written using PHP and MySQL technologies. Since the release of the very first version in 2000, a tremendous amount of work has been done to improve functionality, which allowed VB to be included in the list of the best software products.

A VBulletin license will cost you around $250. Rest assured, this is a completely justified expenditure and will certainly pay for itself by saving working time and nerve cells. Most of this money goes to developers and programmers, who will later use it to improve functionality and release patches and additions (yes, all updates will be delivered to you for free throughout the year).

2 Reply by PunBB

From: Moscow, Sovkhoznay 3, apt. 98
Registered: 2014.07.08
Posts: 3,924
Likes: 504

There is no point in listing all VBulletin functions. They implemented almost everything that forum administrators might need. Podcasting, multi-citation support, division into social groups and communities, rating system (reputation). The basic package can be supplemented with third-party extensions.

The VBulletin forum engine creates a serious load on the server, especially if third-party add-ons and scripts are installed. To avoid problems with loading pages in the future, you will have to fork out for normal hosting. Especially if you predict more traffic for your resource in the future.

3 Reply by PunBB

From: Moscow, Sovkhoznay 3, apt. 98
Registered: 2014.07.08
Posts: 3,924
Likes: 504

Re: Which forum is better vBulletin or PunBB

VBulletin, due to its extreme resistance to hacking and spambots, is recommended for use in large serious projects. In addition, standard settings and configuration files can be easily changed in your own way, achieving even greater effect. There are many instructions and guides from folk craftsmen on the Internet, although not all of them should be trusted.

VBulletin implements large-scale ideas in the best possible way. Constant updates, high-quality service, additional extensions and reliable security mechanisms - all this fully justifies the money spent on the product.

4 Reply by PunBB

From: Moscow, Sovkhoznay 3, apt. 98
Registered: 2014.07.08
Posts: 3,924
Likes: 504

Re: Which forum is better vBulletin or PunBB

There is no point in listing all the functions - it (or the add-ons) implements almost everything that an administrator might need to create a forum. There is multi-citation, support for podcasting, user communities, social groups, a flexible reputation system and much more.

Of course, vBulletin has a large number of add-ons and user communities, so there will be no problems with maintenance, especially since there is an official support team. The disadvantage of vBulletin, although not very big, is the paid additions, for example, for user blogs.

By and large, the forum has no shortcomings. It can be recommended for large serious projects precisely because of its reliability and resistance to all kinds of attacks. As a result, it creates a significant load on the server, especially with installed add-ons, but for serious projects they usually use serious servers and serious administrators.

Any engine requires certain actions to optimize it for better and faster performance. In our case, we will talk about optimizing Vbulletin 4.

Since our forum engine is constantly updated, I will not write about optimization of earlier versions of Vbulletin, but will start with version 4.1.12. Although, perhaps, I will gradually supplement this article with optimization for previous versions, since not everyone switches to newer ones.

Here I will give some examples to make your Vbulletin forum faster and better (starting with the simplest things and moving on to more complex ones). Please keep in mind that what works for me will not necessarily work for you. Therefore, you make all changes at your own peril and risk.

Disabling the user list.

There is an easy way to simply disable the feature in AdminCP. (Settings -> Options -> User Listing Options)

This is not global, of course, and you can skip it and not do it, just ask yourself the question, do you need it? Since having a list, users can sort it, see who has more messages, reputation, and so on. Are your users using this? Probably not... when was the last time you yourself used this list?

As for me, it seems to me that these lists only benefit spammers, since this is the easiest way to collect all the names of Vbulletin 4 forum participants for sending spam in private messages.

In addition, the query required to generate a list of users is terrible for database servers and can lead to a large server load.

Increased speed when processing a list of personal messages.

If you have never imported private messages from external sources using Impex or other means, you can safely rely on ID sorting for private messages. Sorting by ID will make it so that your database server doesn't have to dump private messages into a temporary table to perform the sort (making the query much faster).

To do this, you need to register a small module with a location in private_messagelist_filter and write the following in it:

If ($sortfield == "pmtext.dateline") $sortfield = "pm.pmid";

And that's it, you've just made private.php ~20% faster.

We set up a more efficient search for the latest messages from the user.

We go to FTP, look for the file includes /class_userprofile.php, and replace the data in it as follows, look for:

$getlastposts = $this->registry->db->query_read_slave(" SELECT thread.title, thread.threadid, thread.forumid, thread.postuserid, post.postid, post.dateline FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "post AS post INNER JOIN " . TABLE_PREFIX . "thread AS thread USING (threadid) WHERE thread.visible = 1 AND post.userid = " . $this->userinfo["userid"] . " AND post.visible = 1 ORDER BY post.dateline DESC LIMIT 20 ");

and replace it with this (more specifically ORDER BY):

This makes the request a little more correct than it already is. This way you won't have to sort into a temporary table. For users with more than 1000 messages, the initial request would take about 10 seconds, in our case much less. This primarily applies to the Vbulletin 4 user profile to display recent posts.

Checking the topic index.

If your forums have a default sort order that is set without changes like we did above, make sure that all your indexes are in their tables. There were cases when indexes overlapped for reasons unknown to me and some forums did not open.

I propose that the default sorting be in the form of a date (the column that uses this data is called “dateline”), and to implement this, let’s run the query:

ALTER TABLE thread ADD INDEX forumid2_dp (forumid, visible, sticky, dateline)

This request applies to me specifically, in your case forumid2_dp should have your name. Use at your own risk.

Be careful when installing add-ons.

Just because someone makes modules and hacks doesn't mean they're made just for you, worked on the big Vbulletin 4 forums, and are bug-free. An excellent example is the reports of mass hacks through one hack or another.

Of course, we can assume that the developers cannot take everything into account, and sift through all the hacks so that they do not conflict, but... Make sure that the Vbulletin module does not cause large database loads, make sure that the hack has the potential to protect against SQL injections or XSS . Unfortunately, there are thousands of applications and modifications, and it’s simply not possible to check everything. It will be better if you write all the hacks yourself, or order from someone else. Specifically tailored to you and your tasks.

Don't use tables in InnoDB.

Here, of course, they can spit in my face, since this topic has already been discussed a million times, but from my own experience I can say that I work 100% on MyISAM tables for any action. Sometimes I process 1000 requests per second.

If you are already starting to freak out where everything hangs during queries, especially in the new Vbulletin search, change the InnoDB tables to MyISAM. MyISAM responds faster to individual requests because you don't have to manage individual record locking. InnoDB is faster overall, but only because it allows queries to run concurrently. If your queries are already running fast under MyISAM, there is no need to switch to InnoDB. IMHO.

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Select the forum engine. IPB, vBulletin, Phpbb

A forum engine is a necessary thing for a serious site. It is a well-known principle that any website should be interactive. There are many ways to achieve interactivity, from comments to articles to your own thematic social network. The forum is perhaps the most universal tool for real feedback from visitors.

The forum allows you to:

Create a permanent audience of site users who will constantly return and be active. Visitor activity is real money.

Saving on content. If you create a forum, then the content will be created by users, and the owner does not need to purchase large quantities of texts for promotion.

Expanding the semantic core of the site. Creating a forum allows, without much effort on the part of the owner, to expand the number of requests for which the site is promoted.

Installing the forum engine is a simple process, but setting up and further administration can cause a lot of difficulties for a beginner. However, there is a huge amount of documentation for each popular engine, so if you wish, you can understand everything. Or hire a professional administrator.

By and large, the vast majority of engines are quite suitable for the normal operation of the forum, they have approximately the same set of basic functions, including a flexible system for setting access rights for users. They differ in ease of administration, a set of templates and plugins, reliability and technical support from the manufacturer. I’ll start the review with the top three in Runet: Phpbb is perhaps the most popular engine for creating a forum on the Runet. For a beginner, the main advantage of Phpbb is that both the forum engine itself and all kinds of add-ons are free. There are also many different Phpbb fan communities, both on the Russian-speaking and foreign Internet.

Other advantages include speed of operation, simplicity and relative flexibility of settings, a large number of templates and add-ons. If you make a forum in phpbb, then it can be used as part of the site (there is the possibility of integration with many cms), but you can also make a more or less full-fledged portal site based on it.

But there is also a drawback of Phpbb - it is highly vulnerable to both spam attacks and hacking with the introduction of one’s code. To avoid this, you need to install special add-ons to protect against spam, and also regularly update the engine by installing new versions. Alas, this does not always provide 100% protection, so you will have to monitor this manually yourself or by appointing moderators. You can download it on the official website https://www.phpbb.com/

IPB (Invision Power Board) is a paid forum engine, which immediately scares off most beginners. However, if the project is intended to be serious, then an amount of about $200 for an IPB is unlikely to stop a determined webmaster. But think ten times whether you are ready, even for the sake of a very wide range of possibilities, to constantly remake the IPB engine for yourself, at the risk of complicating support and updates for yourself.

The system has a huge number of possibilities for integration with different services - various cms, blogs, chats, photo galleries, etc. Perhaps, a portal on this engine can be considered a completely full-fledged website, of course, with certain settings.

And here there is a significant fly in the ointment - the IPB engine is updated quite rarely, the users themselves act as testers, who themselves find vulnerabilities and errors. In any case, the code ends up being “crooked” and suboptimal. There are no high-quality Russian fan communities; all problems will have to be solved independently. Russian localizations are also far from perfect; language files often have to be edited for normal display.

Due to the complexity and incorrectness of the code, forums on IPB are displayed correctly only in FireFox; in other browsers there may be minor problems.

There may also be a problem when upgrading from the second to the third version - the structure of skins and classes has changed, and if the forum has been modified, the upgrade will be problematic.

The IPB template system is extremely confusing, changing the appearance is not so easy, you will need to “shove through” a lot of files. The standard design is not bad and quite familiar - but it is standard, which, in itself, can be a significant drawback for many. You can download Invision Power Board on the official website http://www.invisionpower.com/apps/board/
vBulletin (vb). In the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet, vBulletin is traditionally called “vobla” or “bun”. This is perhaps the best forum engine, there is nothing more to add. The price of about $250 (the license is purchased for a year and includes free updates during this time) is quite justified and will certainly pay for itself in saving time and nerves. Everything here works like clockwork. It is quite clear why the money is being taken - the vBulletin engine is constantly being improved, and it is clear that professional programmers are working on it, and not just fans.

SMF (Simple Machines Forum). A simple engine that any beginner can handle. The simplicity is compensated by the lack of functionality, but not everyone needs a full set of features. The installation of plugins (mods) is conveniently organized in the engine; they can be downloaded and installed directly from the admin panel in just a few clicks.

The administrative panel is somewhat unusual, but for a beginner this is not a disadvantage, because he has no experience or habits with other engines. Unfamiliarity does not mean inconvenience. Another advantage is the presence of a large number of converters for switching from other engines.

The forum is very reliable in terms of hacking, and spam... well, spam is an eternal problem that needs and can be fought. Despite the fact that SMF is free, developers and experienced users provide assistance to everyone in need on the official project forum.

Based on this engine, you can also create full-fledged websites using special add-ons for portals (Adk Portal, EzPortal, etc.). However, the big question is whether it is worth making a portal based on a forum. It is more logical to make a forum as an addition to the main site on a full-fledged engine.

Intellect Board (IntBoard). A forum engine for fans, written by a fan and successfully abandoned by him. However, abandonment is not a reason to categorically not recommend it.

Let's talk about the shortcomings right away. Problems often arise out of the blue, there is no top-notch support, the official forum is practically dead, and the owners of forums on this engine rarely respond there. There are practically no add-ons or templates - you have to do everything yourself.

But there are also advantages. The engine code is simple enough that even a beginner can figure it out and fix some problems on their own, as well as adjust some functions for themselves. The engine is very lightweight and creates little load on the server. The admin panel is extremely non-standard, but it has, perhaps, the best opportunity to configure rights for users; a system of groups and access rights to each specific section will allow you to create a powerful and effective moderation system.

PunBB. A simple, lightweight engine with a fairly powerful community that will help solve problems that arise. Undemanding on server resources. The administrative panel is intuitive.

The layout is made using CSS, so beginners who are accustomed to table layout will find it unusual to edit templates. However, this is also a plus - it’s time to master modern technologies.

A serious drawback is the high availability for spam - you need to monitor this manually, in addition to installed plugins.

ExBB is a free engine, the peculiarity of which is that it works with text databases without using MySQL. Perhaps 10 years ago this was an advantage - such sites created less load, and hosting with database support was much more expensive. Nowadays any hosting supports MySQL, and text databases are a disadvantage; they are much slower and less reliable.

However, you can create a forum using this cms for a small site where a large influx of visitors and messages is not expected. It is easy to install, easy to maintain, and has a large number of users and a support forum on the official website.

Vanilla – this little-known engine is positioned as an addition to Wordpress, one of the most popular cms. Among the standard features of WordPress there is no possibility of creating a forum. Of course, you can adapt any forum engine, but it's not that easy. Vanilla is installed like a regular plugin.

The system of personal messages is implemented in an unusual way - they are published like regular topics, but are visible only to those to whom they are addressed. In any topic, in addition to the public one, you can leave a private message. Unusual, but quite convenient. In general, it seems that the developers decided to make a forum unlike all the others. Whether this is a plus or a minus is up to you to decide.

In general, there are a lot of engines - you can try, you can immediately settle on something popular, you can even write or order something of your own. It is impossible to say unambiguously which option will be optimal for each specific case.

The administration of such services is usually not responsible for anything, so if your forum disappears at some wonderful moment, at best they will apologize.

In the next article I will tell you what there are

I’ve been wanting to write about this for a long time, but I never got around to it, but now I just had the chance to publish a short note on the topic. So why not publish a list of what a user should look at first before choosing a hosting service. Especially for us, those who use vbulletin. Let's call it all simply - recommendations. It’s clear that professionals already understand everything; there’s nothing to explain here. But beginners should still shuffle. Since I see an unhealthy trend, the admin of Vbulletin 4 wants his forum to work on shared hosting for $5 and everything will fly. this will never happen again!

We all know the basics, but when I was looking for my host, I also made some mistakes, so let’s look at some.

Is the company an overseller?

Gentlemen, I beg you, do not use hosting that is resold (overseller). Most likely, you will be given a piece of a large “threshing floor” with which you will suffer for a long time. But how can we determine that hosting is being resold through 50 hands? There are no secrets here, you will be offered 500 or 1500 GB of space (here I’m exaggerating, of course, but not by much) and 100 TB of bandwidth, and for only 5 bucks. Isn't it too good? But this is all bullshit; in fact, you don’t need more than 2-10 GB of disk space, believe me. And the bandwidth of 50-200 GB is beyond your ears, especially in the first couple of days.

Is the company a reseller?

Here you also need to be very careful. Most resellers are fly-by-night companies. They take money, work a little and that’s it, you won’t see them again. All your files and work will be lost! But we don’t need this, do we? And even if you like the prices for hosting from these companies, be sure to check how long a particular company has been in business.

Database size limit!

This is a very important point if you plan to migrate your working vbulletin. I looked around at the offers of various hosters, most offer 100MB. At first, of course, this will be enough for you, but as soon as your forum grows, this will not be enough for you and you will be forced to switch to a VPS or dedicated server.

Number of simultaneous connections to the database.

Oh yes this is 100% important. This is very important, especially if you work with Vbulletin. Because over time, simultaneous connections only grow. Most shared hosting companies offer 10-250, it all depends on the hosting. Just call tech support and ask them about it. But, not all shared hosting sites have this information or will share it with you.

Reviews! Is it good or bad?

Tech support.

Most hosting sites have round-the-clock technical support that works 24/7, via email, tickets, icq, skype or some other method. But how long will they help you? Sometimes this plays a decisive role.

Call tech support and see how long you wait for an answer, especially at night or at 5-6 in the morning. And check several options and phone and tickets. Ask simple questions to which you already know the answers, we need to calculate their response time. Got! Great, look how long you waited for an answer to an easy question, and estimate how long they will answer you in a difficult situation.

Big known company or new unknown?

In principle, the choice here is only before you; the older and more reputable the company, the prices will not be slightly higher than those of newly created ones. Personally, I choose a company that has already proven itself somehow. Want to know why? It's simple, just imagine that you can lose many useful files and a database overnight. The same goes for the privacy policy; you can’t always be sure that it is being followed. Your data can be copied and cloned sites created. This list goes on and on. Well, you understand me :)

For informational purposes only. The administration is not responsible for its contents. Download for free .

vBulletin Connect v5.3.3 is a powerful, scalable and fully customizable forum package for your website.

Version: 5.3.3 (Nulled by vBSupport.org)

Minimum requirements php 5.6
Compatible with php 7.1
For a new installation, you must rename the htaccess.txt file to .htaccess
When updating, delete the fonts folder (before starting the update).

New opportunities:
New UI with extensive social integration;
Optimized for mobile devices;
Simplified installation, management and configuration;
New database architecture for improved search and better performance;
Convenient dynamic content change;
Advanced for video and image sharing;
Full integration with VigLink;
More than 100 other new features and improvements;

Built-in applications:
Discussion forum
Groups
Polls
Blog

Search Engine Optimization:
SEO friendly URLs
Custom Keyword/Description META Tag

Flexibility:
Extensible user profiles
URL rewriting
Interface localization
Metadata

Compliance with standards:
Content Syndication (RSS)
Content syndication: RSS, Atom, XML
PHP v5.4 compatible

Non-breaking integrated system:
The only login involved
Single resolution system
The only admin control panel
Create a continuous Style/Theme through Articles, Blogs, Forum

Dashboards for each role:
Administrative controls
Moderator Control Panel
Custom Control Panel
Unified Resolution System
Power template engine for advanced customization

User Control:
Multi-user system with unlimited roles and powers
Groups involved
Safety
Granular powers
Problem notification
Compatible SSL
Captcha
Email address confirmation
Administrative Control Panel News Editor
Login "strike" system
Email and Password changes require the current password
Compliant with Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) 1998

1. Go to the administrator control panel:
Languages & Phrases - Download / Upload Languages.
2. In the "EITHER upload the XML file from your computer" field, enter the path to
the vbulletin-language_ru.xml file on your computer.
3. In the "Overwrite Language" option, select "Create New Language"
4. In the "Title for Uploaded Language" field, enter the name of the language.
If there is no entered data, the language will be called "Russian (RU)"
5. Set "Yes" to "Ignore Language Version"
6. Set "Yes" to "Read Charset from XML File"
7. Click on the "Import" button and wait for the download process to complete.
7A If desired, you can make the new language the “Default” language,
by clicking the "Default" / "Default Value" button next to it.

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