Switching to a new & improved forum software very soon!

[Frederik Magle]

Magle International Music Forums will be switching to a new an much better/more advanced bulletin board software within the next month!

This is a huge switch, but every user (including login/passwords) and all posts will be imported from the now obsolete ubb.threads software, so from a users point of view it will hopefully be a smooth transition. The new software will be easy to use but at the same time offer many more useful features to you - the user

Right now, I have narrowed the decision of which software to use down to two choices: vBulletin 3.5 or FusionBB 1.0. The current look/design of this forum will be kept, so the default "stylesheets" of either softwares are of no importance in this matter.

I haven't made the final decision yet...

It's going to be very exciting indeed and will help this forum going forward in the years to come!

[Frederik Magle]

I'm happy to tell you that right now a test forum is running the latest version of the advanced vBulletin software (v.3.5 beta 4) right here on this server (no, you won't get the link, that's secret ). Over the next couple of weeks I will start preparing the switch to the new software. The "new" forum will open after version 3.5.0 is released.

All users, posts, PMs, polls, etc. will be imported - so your login will continue to work.
The "style sheet" will also be converted, so the forums will "look" the same
But tons of new and useful functionaility will be added, without the user experience getting more complicated.

[Frederik Magle]

Well, as you can see, the switch has been delayed. The reason for this is my wish to get the best possible solution for this forum. There are several factors invloved. vBulletin is a great solution and I have completed a succesful import-test from the current software, but in the meantime there has been an interesting development on the FusionBB side. Something I cannot ignore.

Even though I have already bought and installed vBulletin, I decided (in the 11th hour) to postpone the switch until version 1.1 of FusionBB is ready in beta, so I can make the best possible comparison between vBulletin and FusionBB. FusionBB offers some functionality build-in that only comes as expensive add-ons to vBulletin, but vBulletin has other advantages over FusionBB. The truth is out there

Nomatter which solution I end up chosing it will be an excellent choice! . The FusionBB beta should be feature-complete very soon (hopefully, crossing fingers), and I will be able to do the switch to either software within a week or two after that.

[Frederik Magle]

Well, FINALLY the "battle" between vBulletin and FusionBB is over, and the winner is...
vBulletin!!

FusionBB is indeed looking to become a very nice forum software (especially when version 1.1 will be released possibly sometime this spring or early summer - it's currently in "alpha" state), but right here and now vBulletin can't be beaten, and I'm not sure it ever will be.

Anyhow, that doesn't matter anymore because the final choice has been made, and there is no doubt that vBulletin is a good one.
A graphics artist with great expertise in making "skins" for vB has been hired to do a convertion (and improvement) of the current design.

The switch will be done before the end of March, and I can tell you there's a lot to look forward to