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Users are never happy...

metacodemetacode
edited August 2006 in Vanilla 1.0 Help
I switched a moderately sized forum from phpBB to Vanilla. Things went pretty easy and it works fine. I know change is hard but man...you'd think the site just shut down and made impossible to use. I'm just venting here so move along if you are pressed for time. The complaints are so silly: "Its not as friendly to use", "I don't like how it looks", "I don't like how it works", "I don't understand how to post" and on and on. Nevermind the fact that its faster (ala no tables), cleaner (ala not a bunch of emoticons, phat avatars, unnecessary fluff) and more user friendly in my opinion. However, this does bring me to an interesting conclusion. As web developers and site admins we get all wrapped up in the how and many times the users just want eye candy and crap in our opinion. Someone needs to be blamed and I say its all the quick made forums of the past that just competed with each other like Netscape and Microsoft (blink tag) on features and how much junk they could add. Luckily for me I don't really care if they like it or not...I'm running the show, its not a source of income so no worries.

Comments

  • JazzmanJazzman
    The web is flooded with forums like phpBB and clones... Everyone has used them before... Vanilla is new, and people don't like changes. Once they get use to it, they never want to go back ;)
  • MinisweeperMinisweeper New
    I just dont see how it is difficult to use. It is definitely different but it's not difficult. The number of times i've seen people reporting users not knowing how to start discussions or add posts boggles my mind. There's a huge 'Start Discussion' button as one of the first items on every page of the forum, and the Add Comments box at the bottom of any pages where theyre able to post - how much easier does it get?!
  • metacodemetacode
    Exactly. Its like they are drones and they look in that familiar spot, don't see a button or link and they give up. How is it they even use the Internet? Vanilla has a flow unlike anything else I've seen (as far as forums go). It makes the focus the discussion instead of all the bells and whistles. I need to just post to my blog, have my own Vanilla forum and talk to myself :) Its also the type of user that can be an issue. Obviously, on here, many of us are at a similiar level or understanding of things and have an appreciation for something like Vanilla. Every forum has that user that just sits in their pajamas in a dark room on some 486 with IE 5.0 and a dialup connection wondering why something doesn't work the way it should.
  • laserfloydlaserfloyd
    I seriously considered moving my existing phpBB to vanilla but I have 130 users and I don't even wanna go there right now. In the next few months I may put myself through that torture. Someone would love it, some wouldn't and a few would create a stink, I just know it.. lol.

    I love vanilla and the overall ease of fixing/editing/etc. Right now I use it for to keep track stuff I do during the day and whatnot. So kudos to doing things differently now and then :)
  • MarkMark Vanilla Staff
    I always recommend that you set up Vanilla alongside your existing forum. Show it to your users and let them start playing with it. You'll still get a lot of people saying, "That blows!", but some of them will like it and start to use it. Eventually they'll go back to your other forum singing the praises and bringing more people over.

    Especially once you start to put some extensions on there, or coming up with your own and implementing them for the users. They'll fall in love.

    I've seen it happen many times :)
  • BergamotBergamot
    edited August 2006
    Or alternately: just do what's right for your users, and ignore the ones who complain. They get tired of whining remarkably fast.
  • bugsmi0bugsmi0
    If you educate your users how to use Vanilla maybe they will begin to see the value of it,
    the only thing I don't like about Vanilla is the name "Vanilla" it's too girly lol and I hate the taste of vanilla anyway
    but I think its a real discussion board that can be called a forum, users shouldn't have issues with it they can still post and do some of the things they are use to doing,

    i'm curious, how many users are here on Vanilla ?
  • MinisweeperMinisweeper New
    edited August 2006
    Here asin on this forum? About 3301 registered i think.
  • strawberriesstrawberries New
    vanilla is so well thought out; and is a next generation chat board. i always found that so many discussion website boards looked so dead - with load sof categories and sections, but no threads or life in them. Vanilla does it differently; and in th emain threads page you always see activity and business. I much prefer this. As for those who don't like changing over to vanilla, stuff em! ;) You pay the bills and call the shots.
  • ercatliercatli ✭
    Unlike most of you guys, I know pretty much zip about coding, and am new (really only this year) to forums of any type. For me. Vanilla is both easier to use and more attractive - if nothing else, all the lines and boxes on other forums just look ugly. This forum is definitely the one I return to most, just because I enjoy it. It's all a credit to Mark and all you other dudes. I could imagine that if you were on a forum with a wide variety of topics (say the entire universe) and you were only interested in one (say the sex life of sub-Saharan snails), Vanilla may not work quite so well with all the topics in chrono order on the opening page, but you'd then just bookmark the category page you were interested in. But for most people, it's cool as it is. But maybe I shart start a thread on sub Saharan snails???
  • DinoboffDinoboff
    edited August 2006
    You still can block the categories you are not interested by. But sure for a forum on the entire universe that's lot of categories to block.
  • bugsmi0bugsmi0
    The only thing i'm interested in is does Jessica Simpson have sex with her sister lol
  • imathisimathis
    that's disgusting...
  • bugsmi0bugsmi0
    edited August 2006
    that was a joke ASS come on keep up lol I'd much rather see me having it with her sister
  • stuboostuboo
    Mark, I have a forum with about 4k members and would love to switch to vanilla but know the headaches will be huge because some of my members are, well, morons. I will probably switch at some point and ignore those who complain - I've gotten pretty good at that. However, your recommendation of running them side-by-side is awesome. Is there documentation that can show me how to do this? I currently use Invision Power Board. Thanks, Ryan
  • JoeJoe
    I would just download Vanilla and upload it to a seperate directory, then install Vanilla to another database, so you would have:

    Directories
    /ipb - where your invision board currently is
    /vanilla - where your vanilla install is

    Databases
    ipb - Database for invision data
    van - Database for vanilla data

    Don't quote me on it but I think there's a IPB->Vanilla converter somewhere that works. You could use that to transfer all the information over...
  • stuboostuboo
    thanks joe, i guess i got excited because i thought there was some secret way to share the database between the two apps. :) i still think ill try it as you mentioned - especially after i read the "integrate vanilla with wordpress" section in the documentation. thanks ryan
  • DinoboffDinoboff
    edited August 2006
    You should at list share the same user table.
    It is easy to make vanilla use the ipb user table.
This discussion has been closed.