vBulletin If vBulletin had a better style...

[Shawn Gossman]

I have two vBulletin 6 licenses.

I have two forums on them. The forums and the features are great but the styles kind of suck.

I really think if they worked on a new style structure, and modernized it a bit more, then it would dramatically make the forum software so much better.

What do you all think?

 

[Cpvr]

Oh for sure. If it went back to the vBulletin 3 or vBulletin 4 design era, I would love the software again.

I miss those vBulletin days.

 

[Uncrowned Guard]

I can’t help but feel like vBulletin has more problems than solutions at this point. I’d genuinely love to see them make a real comeback. I still check in on their site every now and then, hoping for signs of life, but they’ve dropped the ball so many times that it’s hard to stay optimistic. They’ve burned a lot of their long‑time customers while also doing very little to modernize or adapt to where forums are today.

What’s strange is that they’ve managed to lose the old‑school charm that made vBulletin great, yet somehow built a platform that still requires that old‑school charm to succeed. It’s stuck in this awkward middle ground where it doesn’t appeal to nostalgia, but it also doesn’t feel modern.

I’m not even sure where they should start. A truly modern design, or even a deliberate return to a classic vB3/vB4‑style identity, would help. But honestly, what they really need is a solid year or two of community‑focused updates. Not business‑driven decisions, not upsells, not corporate polish; just genuine improvements that rebuild trust and show they care about their users again. Without that, I don’t see how they regain the goodwill they’ve lost.

 

[Wayne]

I was a vBulletin loyalist for many years, but it’s impossible to defend the lack of progress. The mobile experience is nonexistent, and formatting text on a phone is so clunky it effectively ruins the workflow. They aren't just falling behind. They're being lapped by the most basic of modern forum standards and it feels like they don't even want to catch up.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Oh for sure. If it went back to the vBulletin 3 or vBulletin 4 design era, I would love the software again.

I miss those vBulletin days.

I like that. Funny you mention it. I have two vB6 licenses that I don't want to sit dormant. So, I have one that's about writing, and it used a VB3 style theme and one about content creators and it uses a VB4 style. The styles aren't spot on, but they are close to what it looked like. I too miss those days!

I can’t help but feel like vBulletin has more problems than solutions at this point. I’d genuinely love to see them make a real comeback. I still check in on their site every now and then, hoping for signs of life, but they’ve dropped the ball so many times that it’s hard to stay optimistic. They’ve burned a lot of their long‑time customers while also doing very little to modernize or adapt to where forums are today.

What’s strange is that they’ve managed to lose the old‑school charm that made vBulletin great, yet somehow built a platform that still requires that old‑school charm to succeed. It’s stuck in this awkward middle ground where it doesn’t appeal to nostalgia, but it also doesn’t feel modern.

I’m not even sure where they should start. A truly modern design, or even a deliberate return to a classic vB3/vB4‑style identity, would help. But honestly, what they really need is a solid year or two of community‑focused updates. Not business‑driven decisions, not upsells, not corporate polish; just genuine improvements that rebuild trust and show they care about their users again. Without that, I don’t see how they regain the goodwill they’ve lost.

I think a modern design would be best for monetization purposes. I feel like going back to the vB3/vB4 identity and style would just make it likeable by us VB old schoolers and not really modernize it like Invision has been doing. You have to modernize to appeal to everyone.

I was a vBulletin loyalist for many years, but it’s impossible to defend the lack of progress. The mobile experience is nonexistent, and formatting text on a phone is so clunky it effectively ruins the workflow. They aren't just falling behind. They're being lapped by the most basic of modern forum standards and it feels like they don't even want to catch up.

Yeah, the mobile department of the software really sucks.