# Vbulletin or Discourse **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 23, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161 "2020-06-23T01:08:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/1 "2020-06-23T01:08:03Z")
_Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/1))_ Which build of messageboard would you like the SDMB to be on? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/2 "2020-06-23T01:14:11Z")
Do you really think that staying on vBulletin was a viable option? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/3 "2020-06-23T01:15:25Z")
Yes. Its more about which annoying things each bring are worse. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/4 "2020-06-23T01:27:22Z")
I’m obviously a sucker for a tech-expert, but if it was a viable option to remain why did an awful lot of dedicated, cluey people donate buckets of their time and expertise for our viewing pleasure? I’m a guest here, it may not (yet) be to my taste but as sure as eggs my taste isn’t immutable. I’m not pissing in the soup. I think that would be ungracious. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/5 "2020-06-23T01:31:21Z")
You understand that this is a simple poll, right? Its not a Discourse is the worst thing since pay to post thread. Its just to get a snap shot of the current mood of the community. 🕵️‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/6 "2020-06-23T01:33:38Z")
Sure, provided you undertake to post the equivalent poll in months time. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/7 "2020-06-23T01:40:38Z")
Might it not be better to wait for everyone to, you know, learn the new home? Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/8 "2020-06-23T01:44:15Z")
I’m willing to learn it. It’s gonna be slow for me. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/9 "2020-06-23T01:44:43Z")
We can all be Discourse Einsteins but we are losing some features. For example, we cant preview posts with our mouse, we lose posting numbers which makes it harder to find individual posts in long threads, no more pages, maximum number of characters in a post etc. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/10 "2020-06-23T01:45:41Z")
For me its more about features we are losing at vbulletin and the annoying interface here. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/11 "2020-06-23T02:00:00Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > we lose posting numbers which makes it harder to find individual posts We do not actually lose post numbers: the number of the post at the top of you window appears by the slider. And there is an option for you to bookmark and individual post: click the “…” at the bottom of a given post, then click the bookmark icon and proceed thence. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/12 "2020-06-23T02:00:18Z")
Well, it’s not like they gave us a choice, but there are instances of vBulletin that work fine, and I bet if TPTB had wanted to go that route, it would have been possible. I may be wrong, but I wasn’t consulted, either way. But I’ve just popped back here from a vBulletin forum, and while might eventually decide this rocks, at the moment I like the vBulletin feature set a lot more. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/13 "2020-06-23T02:03:05Z")
Thank you for that. I missed it. My 🤓 powers are dire. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/14 "2020-06-23T02:50:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Well, it’s not like they gave us a choice, but there are instances of vBulletin that work fine I think one concern was that the board seemed to lack the power to attract new people the way it used to. It was hard to stick with that format and not look dated. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/15 "2020-06-23T02:55:58Z")
I am withholding a vote until I get more than one day’s experience with the new look. I don’t know all the inside information here but my impression is that VBulletin was not the problem so much as the hosting platform. So far my favorite board interface is on [MrExcel](https://www.mrexcel.com/board/forums/excel-questions.10/). It looks good, and is intuitive to navigate. One of the coolest things about it is if you are reading a thread, and someone posts to it, the view refreshes and you see the new post in real time. I don’t know what the platform is. **Discourse** seems to be a “mobile first” interface. Which is great if you are on your phone or tablet all the time, and kind of sucky if you mostly use a desktop to read the Dope (like me). ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/16 "2020-06-23T02:59:39Z")
You are likely right. For me, its just less fun to follow threads and harder to keep track of them. I do appreciate the immediate notifications however. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/17 "2020-06-23T03:00:36Z")
I completely agree with the last paragraph. Maybe TPTB can improve things and it will indeed be a better experience. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/18 "2020-06-23T03:02:54Z")
The Customers Suck forum is still on VBulletin and functions just fine. Lower volume than SDMB, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/19 "2020-06-23T03:03:20Z")
Prediction: When we do this a month from now Discourse will be at 80+%, and it won’t be because of an exodus. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161/20 "2020-06-23T03:36:37Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > We can all be Discourse Einsteins but we are losing some features. For example, we cant preview posts with our mouse, we lose posting numbers which makes it harder to find individual posts in long threads, no more pages, maximum number of characters in a post etc. Actually, you can get directly to any post in a thread, with just a little bit of trouble. First, you have to know the post number you want to find. For example, if somebody posts a remark like “See post #9 above” and you want to go there. Now, go to the address bar at the top of your browser. It may have an address something like: “https: // boards . straightdope . com / t / vbulletin-or-discourse / 912161 / 15” (I’ve added some spaces here so it will show the actual URL.) Notice the 912161 and the 15 at the end. The 912161 is the thread number. The 15 is the post number you are currently looking at. Just modify the address to have the post number you want to go to (e.g., 9 instead of 15) and it will take you to that post. To be sure, would be nicer if this number was displayed with each post as in vB. If you are looking at a post and want to see its post number and entire URL, click on the links icon at the bottom of the post, and it will pop up a box showing all that. For example, THIS post is #20. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vbulletin-or-discourse/912161.md?page=2)