Poorly Written Software Causes Many Many Duplicate Content Issues VBulletin basically does the job of a forum software, but leaves issue undetected at first, that should be revealed before purchasing. Most of the issue cannot be seen by the general public, as they are hidden in the password protected user area. None of their software will validate via the W3, which to me, clearly means that the programmers are not concerned with testing their software to make sure it is written to standards and does not contain basic underlying errors. Much much worse, is that the forum produces page after page of duplicate content, because every page can be addressed in many ways. Your Google webmaster tools account will very shortly be filled with duplicate Title tags and Duplicate Descriptions and there is literally nothing you can do about it. VBulletin's response was to create a new version 5, instead of fixing the issues with version 4 first. To their credit, they do seem to be continuing to work on V4. The support team seems to be working hard to try and help, but they do not appear to be supported by the programmers, so any issue that has any type of complexity to it, will not be solved. At least that has been my experience. If VBulletin were cheap software, I would not complain to much, but it is quit expensive, so you would think it would be very well written as such. Unfortunately it is programmed more like cheap software, with obvious and seriously written flaws. I cannot recommend VBulletin, nor can I advise against it, since I cannot recommend any other software that might be better, although I would think there would be. Should you decide to purchase, be aware of the duplicate content issues, that you will face. I would run any of there forum pages through the W3 validator, so you can get a feel for the quality or lack there of, also.

Scammer Company. Scammer Company. Purchased an License and only had alot of issues with the idiot support. it was the last time i have purchased an license from this guys. There are no instructions for new members in the support area. only outdated tutorials wich lead to nothing.

Your site, your vb After 9 years running a leading website in my niche (last 5 of them with a vb based forum) I've come to realize that my site would no longer exist if it wasn't because of vBulletin. The decission to include a discussion board in my site, and base it on vb, was the single most important and life-changing choice I made in my entire webmaster career. It's not only that it doesn't lack any feature you'd ever need to admin the busiest site. Not only the unlimited modding and customization power. It's not only the awsome support, the steady rate of new and every time more stable and feature rich releases. It's that vBulletin really gives you the best foundation to build your site arround it as you really really wish.

bad reviews for vbulletin means it was… bad reviews for vbulletin means it was too advanced for the posted lol.

Good company I've used vB since 2001 and it still works fine as it has been. Most folk think the customer services suck, but that's maybe because they haven't used the vBulletin Online Manual or had the knowledge on MySQL or PHP. Using and hosting vBulletin does require webmastering skills for javascript or editing templates in HTML to enhance the site. I had to read and learn the basics on using vBulletin near 2001 when I bought the 1 year leased License near January 2004, which you don't get the 1 year leased License anymore - to work out the functions and to gain practical experience on using vBulletin. If customers don't find the Live Support or using the Private Support Ticket useful for their convenience use the Support Forum and don't be shy to post in public, as long its not against the Forum rules. Most users think vBulletin doesn't have good 1st party addons, which is maybe why they focus on Security vulnerabilities and less on non-prepaid support, as keeping the Forum Software secure takes time and money to make the efforts. If you want the vBulletin website to do more functions or make it more interesting, go to vB official modification site, (external reference) and check the information and be aware which mod is supported, wisely. Don't use too many addons or mods as that will use up the MySQL datatables, especially if your site is not running on a rental Dedicated Server - as using the Shared Hosting package have limited storage for MySQL and Maximum Bandwidth. My recommended 3rd Party Mods for vBulletin is DragonByte Tech Mods for vBulletin like DragonByte SEO and Optimiser, as those can boost your website speed and traffic. And for Anti-Spam mods use Spam-O-Matic. Read more, don't try those mods until it is legitimate to do so. And when you are ready and have some colleagues or relatives who know on vBulletin, buy it and give it a go, but don't get mad or disappointed if it doesn't look as you expect it to work, as it is a complex and robust system.