BSchwarz and I have been teasing back and forth on Twitter these last few days about purchasing licenses and converting from vB. (Don't tell him, but I think he's become addicted to IPB. ;))
But it really isn't a joke, after all. Whilst he's buying licenses at the rate of two a day, I just jumped in the deep end and purchased four licenses up front. I figured if I was in for a penny, I was in for a pound. (OK, OK, so I'm addicted to IPB as well. :blush:)
I was with vB just shy of five years, so I don't have the history with vB that BSchwarz does. But five years is a long time, so you can imagine how hard it was to make the decision to leave. I posted a random tweet about looking seriously into switching over to IPB and within a few minutes, both Matt and Charles were there answering questions for me. I hope they both know what a positive impact that made on me.
BSchwarz is braver than I, so I opted to pay for conversions on my sites. Site #1 is set up for tomorrow! (w00t) But I did set up a test site so I could start learning. Wow, am I ever impressed with the software. It has a very polished and professional feel to it vB has never had. The scripts all integrate so well with one another and IP.Content is incredible. The blessing is the learning curve is much more gentle than I had anticipated. I admit I was reluctant to give up vBSEO, but when I realized that was the only reason I was staying with vB, my decision was already made for me.
Between the help Matt and Charles provided, the 'feel' of the software and this friendly community, I have to agree with BSchwarz. This is the best move I ever made. You can certainly list my name in the Satisfied Customers column.
I was a long time vbulletin user. Watched and participated in the discussions on EZBoard when John first started to develop vbulletin and was the first install on a large active site converting from UBB. I was the first to test the converter, John sent me many variations until it was right, and use it to convert the site I owned at the time. I never really thought I would ever use any other software. A couple months ago I decided having all my eggs in one basket wasn't a good idea. Many of the things that were going on with IB looked eerily similar to what was happening with UBB years ago. I bought my first IPB license for a new site. Since then IB decided that long time, loyal customers like me had no place with them and basically kicked us to the curb. I have since bought 2 more forum licenses and one suite license and converted 2 of my sites. I have 5 sites left. More licenses will be bought over the course of the next month or so I will convert the rest of my communities.
I am thoroughly impressed the software and the support. It says a lot when the owner, Matt, offers help via twitter. It used to be that way with John. It helps to build loyalty and trust. The software itself runs far better than vbulletin. I will be here for a long time and want to say thanks for opening my eyes. If I didn't buy my first license I would never have seen how powerful IPB is.
