# vBulletin 3.7 on the horizon ... **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 27, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953 "2007-11-27T20:36:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/1 "2007-11-27T20:36:58Z")
[Please please please please please please pretty please?](http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=249460) A few highlights, from the user side: > [@](#): > > **Thread Tagging** > > A new way to facilitate searching and grouping of threads, it is now possible for users to add tags to threads they post or read. > > Any users who then click on these tags will not only find all thread that have the same tag as the one clicked, but will also contribute to the building of a search tag cloud, which gives users a quick guide as to what has been searched for recently and most frequently. > > **Thread Prefixes** > > Long requested by users, threads can now have administrator-defined prefixes to their titles. > > **Reciprocal Friendships Between Users** > > As part of our new social networking system, users can now request that people on their buddy list confirm their friendship, after which time a person’s list of confirmed friends will be viewable to other users. > > **Public Messaging** > > While private messages between users have been in vBulletin since version 2.0, vBulletin 3.7 introduces the public messaging system, allowing users to communicate publicly via their profile pages. > > **User-Created Social Groups** > > To further social cohesion between users and to encourage people to make friends, vBulletin now includes a facility to allow users to create their own social/interest groups. > > These groups are enhanced by having their own public messaging system, and the ability to add pictures to the group from user albums. > > **New Member Profile Page** > > In order to accomodate all the new features in vBulletin 3.7, the member profile page has been completely redesigned from the ground up. > > The new page presents information in a far cleaner and more logical manner, while dividing up information into manageable chunks using a tabbed interface. > > Individual profile field categories can be displayed alone in blocks in the right column, in addition to appearing by default in the ‘About Me’ tab. > > **Member Customization of Profile Page** > > The administrator may choose to allow his members to use the profile page customization tool, which allows users to alter fonts, colors, background and borders etc. of their profile page in order to create a more personalized look. > > The administrator can lock-down customization permissions, in order to prevent the personalized pages being made too offensively awful by aesthetically challenged members… nobody wants to see some of those really ugly MySpace pages on your vBulletin installation! > > **Inline Editing of Profile Field Values** > > The ‘About Me’ tab of each member’s profile page has edit controls, allowing them to quickly change values without leaving their profile page. > > **New Human Verification Systems** > > In addition to the image verification system available in previous versions of vBulletin, 3.7 introduces the means for the administrator to choose the verification system employed on their board. > > They may choose to use the popular RECAPTCHA™ system, or to define a set of questions and answers for their visitors to deal with. > > **Social Bookmarking of Threads** > > Administrators can now define a list of their favorite social bookmarking sites and have them available for use on the showthread page for bookmarking threads. Now _that_ is definitely worth fifteen US pesos a year. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/2 "2007-11-27T21:24:23Z")
I don’t understand what the Thread Prefixes would be for. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/3 "2007-11-27T23:27:18Z")
If you follow the link, there are a lot of screenshots that make things clearer. Like thread prefixes let you pick a “category” for each thread, that gets placed as a prefix to the title. Edit: And, incidentally, here is the one for v3.6, from May 2006: > **[vBulletin.com Running 3.6 - vBulletin Community Forum](https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/vbulletin-announcements/vbulletin-announcements_aa/191404-vbulletin-com-running-3-6?t=186803)** > > Welcome to the first public look at vBulletin 3.6! > > This is the first of a number of posts we will be making over the coming week introducing you to what's new in this new version of vBulletin. > > Take some time to wander around the forums and you'll... ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/4 "2007-11-28T01:39:07Z")
You seriously think any/most of those would be used here? Assuming they even decide to upgrade this time, of course. Sometimes we barely crawl along as it is, and we’re not using some features of the current (old) version because of server capacity. Not that I wouldn’t like to see some of these – thread tagging in particular seems pretty useful – but based on history, it certainly doesn’t seem likely, does it? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/5 "2007-11-28T01:50:28Z")
Just curious, when was the last time the software was upgraded? ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/6 "2007-11-28T02:48:38Z")
Don’t get too excited. Unless the migration path from 3.0.x to 3.7 is really easy, an upgrade is likely to be a pain in the posterior. Not that I know jack about vBulletin, but I do know a bit about upgrading apps. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/7 "2007-11-28T02:51:15Z")
[QUOTE=Brainiac4] Don’t get too excited. Unless the migration path from 3.0.x to 3.7 is really easy, an upgrade is likely to be a pain in the posterior. [/QUOTE] vBulletin is pretty easy to upgrade; there’s a script that does most of the work. However, the board would need to be shut down while the database is modified and appended; probably several hours in the case of the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/8 "2007-11-28T05:34:43Z")
I don’t know… The “reciprocal friend lists” and “social groups” look like little more than a new way to say “Nya, nya, I’m in the In-Clique and you’re not”. And what is any message board, if not Public Messaging? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/9 "2007-11-28T06:54:44Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] I don’t know… The “reciprocal friend lists” and “social groups” look like little more than a new way to say “Nya, nya, I’m in the In-Clique and you’re not”. And what is any message board, if not Public Messaging? [/QUOTE] Social/specific messaging, perhaps? I looks like you’re pulling petty problems out of your ass simply to denigrate the new additions to the software. Coming from a SDSAB member, that’s kinda weak - I suggest you soften the fatuous dialog. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/10 "2007-11-28T06:59:22Z")
And the RECAPTCHA™ system seems like another resource-consuming, unnecessary ‘feature’, and a really annoying one to many posters. I don’t recall seeing any SPAMbot posts on SMDB, so why is this a problem? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/11 "2007-11-28T07:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=t-bonham@scc.net] And the RECAPTCHA™ system seems like another resource-consuming, unnecessary ‘feature’, and a really annoying one to many posters. I don’t recall seeing any SPAMbot posts on SMDB, so why is this a problem? [/QUOTE] There’s plenty of spam bots. Your lack of recollection is your own problem, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/12 "2007-11-28T07:34:22Z")
But I admit we are less harassed than many messageboards/forums and would bet a million bucks that the main reason we don’t get a bazillion spam posts & spiders is because we aren’t indexed by Google. Am I crazy on that guess? ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/13 "2007-11-28T08:25:14Z")
[QUOTE=CarnalK] I looks like you’re pulling petty problems out of your ass simply to denigrate the new additions to the software. Coming from a SDSAB member, that’s kinda weak - I suggest you soften the fatuous dialog. [/QUOTE] **Moderator’s Warning:** **CarnalK** , you’re out of line here. Keep the personal attacks out of ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/14 "2007-11-28T09:00:27Z")
Sorry **MEBuckner** , and more importantly, **Chronos**. That was pretty obnoxious, especially considering I don’t particularly love the features you knocked.I guess I don’t have an excuse - only the explanation that I think I was simply very ready to be super-pissed at any excuse not to finally upgrade the software around here. “ffs”, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/15 "2007-11-28T09:16:29Z")
It sounds nice, but as **Garfield226** suggested, I don’t think we’d see many of those features switched on here if we do get the upgrade. The version we have at the moment has loads of stuff turned off either because the server is too fragile, or because we’re not grown up enough to be trusted with it, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/16 "2007-11-28T09:48:18Z")
[QUOTE=MEBuckner] **Moderator’s Warning:** **CarnalK** , you’re out of line here. Keep the personal attacks out of ATMB. [/QUOTE] ??? Are you just reflexively defending the SDSAB or is it just that you dislike CarnalK? There was no personal attack. He was very right in his appreciation and attacked the terrible posture of Chronos, not his person. Isn’t this what a forum is about, to exchange ideas and opinions? Aren’t we supposed to call on each other when we are bullshitting a debate? I for one find it really sad that someone post “the future is bright” and the responses are all either “the administration is unwilling and unable to improve this site” or “we don’t like progress, let’s stay in our caves”. I am not supporting an upgrade, but I would like to see a discussion of its merits and downsides that is not kept in line by the referees cheering for one of the teams. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/17 "2007-11-28T12:29:06Z")
I don’t particularly like any of the suggested new features, but like **Sapo** , I do think they deserve a hearing and discussion. I also agree that \*\*CarnalK \*\* was nowhere near out of line. His wording was passionate and intense, but he insulted no one. But of course, that’s not my call, and I don’t want to be called out again for any alleged “junior modding”. So please take my opinion with a big block of salt. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/18 "2007-11-28T16:05:53Z")
“Pulling petty problems out of your ass” and “soften the fatuous dialog” would be kind of out of line in Great Debates; and of course they’d be practically meek and mild in the Pit. However, this is neither the Pit nor Great Debates; it’s ATMB–for “technical questions and practice posts” as it says. It’s really not the place for debates at all, let alone for flame-fests. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-3-7-on-the-horizon/427953/19 "2007-11-28T16:08:23Z")
What he said. If you want to slam on each other or on this board, take it to the Pit.