Xenforo?

Xenforo may be a fairly new option in the market of paid forum software, but it has definitely become a very popular option very quickly, especially among former vBulletin users. It also has a unique style and feel, and has many unique features.

In addition, it is very light on server resources, has great support, is a solid package and is in rapid development, and has very solid security practices. I'd say it's a pretty great deal for the price.

What is your opinion of Xenforo?

I am very interested as I think that our re-build forum is going to be Xenforo (more on that when we eventually get it) so I have been trying playing with a demo version and taking a good look at other XF sites to get the feel and have, on balance been favourably impressed

I favor it over IPB or vB, I think it's the best paid software and among the best period.

(August 25th, 2013 at 9:43 AM)Agandl Wrote: I am very interested as I think that our re-build forum is going to be Xenforo (more on that when we eventually get it) so I have been trying playing with a demo version and taking a good look at other XF sites to get the feel and have, on balance been favourably impressed

I've been considering trying out the demo myself. How was the usability of the ACP for the demo?

(August 25th, 2013 at 5:09 PM)Darth-Apple Wrote: I've been considering trying out the demo myself. How was the usability of the ACP for the demo?

Give it a go and tell me what you think - I found it a bit difficult but I'm lacking in experience so not much to compare it with. I couldn't even find it t start with lol.

I have two forums - one established forum on Vbulletin and one brand new one on Xenforo,

I am finding that Xenforo seems harder to custom code for, there seems to be only a very small core 'elite' that can do it well.

The problem for me is replicating every legacy add on from VB to Xenforo

For me it seems like it would take a lot of money and time to get what I already have going on VB on Xenforo

But I dont want to spend half a year copying what I have already got!

I want to move forwards...!

I think in time the add on / plug ins collection will catch up with those available for VB but at the moment lots of core functionality that my VB community is used to would involve 2/ 3 month coding projects for the handful of Zenforo ninjas..The vibe I have is that I would have to go around with a big bag of cash and get on my knees to BEG them to do my projects..

Screw that!

I sort of regret the decision to try Xenforo for the new forum but at least I have a foot in each camp,

I see any final decision at least a year away - I would want to see

More experienced coders for Xenforo
More plug ins for Xenforo
More product development for Xenforo

Meantime I will keep the big forum on VB3.8

And will remain open minded.

I think that is probably Xenforo's biggest disadvantage at this point. It's still extremely new when it comes to forum software, and while it is undoubtedly doing well for how long it has been around, it simply cannot compare to older versions of VB (such as VB 3.8 or the 4.x series) that have years of community development in plugins working for them.

Hopefully Xenforo catches up in the next few years.

(September 6th, 2013 at 1:52 PM)Darth-Apple Wrote: It's still extremely new when it comes to forum software

I wouldn't say that it's "new". It's older than 2 years as of now, I think.

There are almost 1,000 plug-ins available for xenForo as of writing this. 986 to be exact. That's only plug-ins that were submitted to the Resource Manager. There are more which I've seen at the forum that were not submitted as a resource via the Resource Manager.

There are plug-ins that third-party vB developers have not ported to xenForo btw. Some have switched and stopped updating their vB add-ons, while some support both scripts, while some create add-ons for X and someone else creates for Y.

If you're thinking about trying to script out, you may want to take a look at the resources - http://xenforo.com/community/resources/

Anyway, I've been using xenForo since its beta and it works great for me.

I would use XF if I had $140. For now, MyBB is my software of choice.

It was stupid IMO for vB's parent company to sue XF. They were just afraid of competition in my opinion .

(September 13th, 2013 at 4:45 PM)Alcatraz The Gamer Wrote: I would use XF if I had $140. For now, MyBB is my software of choice.

It was stupid IMO for vB's parent company to sue XF. They were just afraid of competition in my opinion .

I agree, it was ridiculous. Xenforo is still getting crap about that from the forum software community because "development almost stopped" during the lawsuit, but honestly I don't blame XF in this. I think that their dedication to the software and their users was very clear from the beginning.

I am now working with vB - I am very happy with it despite some of the bad press it gets - I think maybe XF, although good, is possibly being a little over-hyped

I think Xenforo is starting to get to that point where it's been around long enough for people to have greater expectations. I think that it is overall on the right track, but it is going to really have to begin proving itself in the next couple of years. It's hard to believe Xenforo has been around for close to three years now.