Brett G

I posted this yesterday in a thread, but it apparently got overlooked. I don't recall ever seeing legitimate reasons as to why AW switched from KAWF to vB. Can someone please bring up legitimate points as to why vB is better than KAWF. Below are some of my points, which all favor


Threaded view allows users to see the order and structure (which replies go to which posts) of the conversation. vB allows users to see the order of the conversation, but not the structure. Edge to Threaded View.

Threaded view allows users to post reply in the subject. For short answers, this allows for easier reading of the entire conversation. Although vB allows for answers in the subject line, you still have to go to the message to read the subject lines. Edge to Threaded View.

In threaded allows people can track specific threads so only the threads they are following are moved to the top. In vB recently replied to threads are moved to the top, regardless of whether the poster is following that conversation. Edge to Threaded View.

In the prior example, one might argue that the edge should go to vB because the most talked about topics are on top. There are "obviously the most important" topics so they should be at the top. Good luck finding what you are seeking in a thread when there are a lot of posts in it. You might as well just STFA, which is what you would do with a threaded view format (Edge to neither). Secondly, if there are a lot of active topics, some recently started topics will get buried onto Page 2 in a matter of minutes. Seeing that the vB version that could do threaded view couldn't keep up with AW, it is very likely this would be the case. You might say that this is a knock on threaded view, but in fact it is a knock on vB. Edge to KAWF (the "old" forum software).

Following up with the point on topics getting buried, it is also likely that replies get buried in the vB format. Edge to Threaded View.

Sincerely,
Brett G

Joey T

No. Which is why this too will be ignored. IB has told it's employees not to discuss the reasons for the change or defend vB because it is undefendable.

That being said, the issue isn't so much the change as it is how it was handled.


Thanks to the AW mods for all your effort. The community you guys and gals built will live on.

Brett G

If that is the case, I am very disappointed.

MercutioATC

Simple answer?

Because IB doesn't want to pay IT guys to deal with a dozen different formats. They're going with VBulletin....and so are we.

It's not any better for the user, but it's more cost-effective for them.

Brett G

That is what it seems to be. I guess they don't want to come out and say that as it would definitely alienate the longtime users.

JStrauss

ModifiedA4 -- You really believe a PM system is a bad feature? I can't even begin to understand why anyone would think that.

I've been on other forums that lacked a PM feature and I always find it to be annoying.

Brett G

I prefer real email. When I've been active on other vB type forums, I got flooded with PM's. These usually asked if I could answer their question in such-and-such discussion. I think that is annoying.

If someone wants to email me, they could get it by clicking on my screen name in a post I have made or by asking me. If there is a concern of my email address being picked up by some spider software, then IB should work on a better way of hiding email addresses.

Brett G

Still waiting for a reply from someone at IB. If this is the kind of response (er, non-response) I can expect from IB now that the switch to vB has happened, I can't think of a real reason to stay here.

I was trying to be helpful in making suggestions on how to make threaded and linear views work in the same forum earlier today. If that is not appreciated, then perhaps I am wasting my time.

What is funny about this is that if you were able to come up with a way for threaded and linear views to work in the same place, you could significantly improve your product. I'm not just talking about AW, but all of the IB forums.

TEB

Every PM I have gotten on other forums could have (should have) just been posted in the forum. Posting that in the forum makes the info available to all. Or, like Modified said, it was used in an attempt to undermine another poster.

It's really childish IMO.

IB Adrian

Hey Brett - certainly, I believe I may have posted this elsewhere, but like your question it is no doubt lost amongst some other posts.
Alot of the improvements that come with vBulletin are based on the fact that it has a full development team associated with it, and has been updated continually since its inception, where as Kawf remains essentially as it was when it came out in 99.

A list of the major improvements off the top of my head are.

• Security (likehood of the site being hacked and us loosing all the information)
• Spam management,
• Ability to communicate through a format outside of e-mail (private messages and visitor messages),
• not listing your e-mail (so the spam crawlers don't pick up your e-mail address and add you to their list)
• Integrated photo albums
• Proper user profiles
• Garage facility
• Integrated classifieds
• Fully functioning search engine
• Ability to attach not just images to posts, but things like pdf's (great for service manuals and the like)
• Smilies, the ability to change fonts/colours.
• Having features like "friends", and "ignore"
• Much more comprehensive administration options (if Jason or Kris need to change something, now it most likely will be available as an option or a button within their admin control panel, in leiu of having something specifically written for the purposes of the task)

I hope that answers your question.