Upgrade to vB 3.7x?

[bc3tech]

I want to get everybody's input on whether or not we should upgrade the board to vB 3.7.0


Pros

Built-in thread-tagging, per-user photo albums, spam control, and advertising
New format of user-profiles more geared toward social interaction
Cons

Likely can't port over any existing photo gallery images
Site may be unstable while kinks are worked out
Current profile system likely rendered redundant and will be trashed. Means no more "my ride" page, etc.


Please vote. If you want to see 3.70 in action, head over to our sister-site: TurboCobalts (http://www.turbocobalts.com). Here's an excerpt from vB's official announcement (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268833).
vBulletin 3.7.0

Today, the vBulletin team is proud to declare version 3.7.0 to be our stable, supported release.

vBulletin 3.7.0 is available immediately from the Members' Area to all customers with active vBulletin licenses, and will be offered as the primary choice to those making new purchases.

This release supercedes the 3.6.x branch as our primary product. vBulletin 3.6.x will continue to be maintained for a limited time, as outlined in the end-of-life announcement posted today. We recommend that all customers with active licenses upgrade to vBulletin 3.7.0.

There are many new features and improvements to existing functionality in vBulletin 3.7.0 over vBulletin 3.6.x, most of which have already been described in the release announcements for the various pre-release versions, and in the First Look thread that was posted at the beginning of the beta process, but here is a brief list of just a few of the highlights.
Inline spam management & prevention (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450764#post1450764)
Thread tagging (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450765#post1450765)
Search cloud / tag cloud (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450765#post1450765)
Thread prefixes (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450766#post1450766)
Reciprocal friendships between users (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450767#post1450767) Public visitor messaging on profile pages with 'conversation' feature (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450768#post1450768)
User picture galleries with user comment facility (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450769#post1450769) User-created social groups with invite only and moderated membership options (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450770#post1450770)
Extended member profile pages (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450771#post1450771) Customizable member profile pages with admin-controlled styling abilities (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450772#post1450772)
Inline editing of custom user profile fields (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450773#post1450773) Lightbox viewer for attached images (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450774#post1450774)
Viewable and comparable history maintained for post edits (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450775#post1450775) Extended re-authentication for inline moderation actions (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450776#post1450776) Notices system for navigation bar (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450777#post1450777) Multiple human-verification systems including reCAPTCHA, image verification and Q/A (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450778#post1450778) User change history (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450779#post1450779) Social bookmarking integration (http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1450780#post1450780)

[MGM1979]

is it going to improve or worsen the current issues we're experiencing?

[bc3tech]

is it going to improve or worsen the current issues we're experiencing?
no way to know, really. they don't specifically state that they've addressed any performance issues. and as many have pointed out, not everybody's experiencing them anyway.

[MGM1979]

no way to know, really. they don't specifically state that they've addressed any performance issues. and as many have pointed out, not everybody's experiencing them anyway.

that was exactly the IT answer I expected from you...damn, I'm a genious.

Well, try this one on for size...if we upgrade, can we go back if we decide to NOT want to deal with the "kinks" as they're worked out?

[bc3tech]

that was exactly the IT answer I expected from you...damn, I'm a genious.

Well, try this one on for size...if we upgrade, can we go back if we decide to NOT want to deal with the "kinks" as they're worked out?
sure if i make a complete backup of the site and DB before i kick off the upgrade (which i planned to do anyway)

mind you if we did have to revert we'd lose any posts / changes / anything that had happened since the upgrade.

[JayCizzo]

^^^ In that case I vote yes.

[all4glh]

Since you're making a back-up of the DB, I vote yes.

[Doc]

go for it....with a backup

wait...I have to reload my pics...holy hell :lol:

[bc3tech]

ok so it appears that hell hath froze over and rlf actually upgraded their site to vB 3.7x (but left it to drown in the un-converted templates).

this is a prime example of why I posted a thread as to if you guys wanted me to upgrade to vb3.7 - if you note the issues they're having, we'd have about 10x that many because of the amount of customization that's gone in to this site.

that being said, i may be upgrading the site in an upcoming weekend, if (and ONLY if) i feel i have enough time to do all of the necessary conversions to do it right.

[Doc]

holy four month reminder....:lol:
I thought this was already completed....

[bc3tech]

yeah sorry - like i said it's going to take quite a bit of time for me to sit down and convert everything that needs to be converted in order to make 3.7 not completely make the site look like crap (eg: rlf) and i didn't want to do the upgrade, then leave it hanging (eg: rlf)

[Cat Ion]

I'm indifferent. So you pick.

[TheWastedYears]

That's what you get for makin' all these modifications, chump! :P

If you need a test database to test on, let me know and I'll hook you up.

[bc3tech]

That's what you get for makin' all these modifications, chump! :P

If you need a test database to test on, let me know and I'll hook you up.
:no: yeah but we're still head & shoulders above any other forum i'm a member of, for sure :p

[bc3tech]

hey just wanted to give y'all a heads up that i fully intend to upgrade the board to 3.7x over the xmas holiday.

it'll probably be a bumpy ride due to all the mods currently on here and having to convert them all to be compatible (or get rid of them if it can't be done). so hopefully you'll bear w/ me.

[all4glh]

It all sounds good to me.

[bc3tech]

upgrade has been done! please let me know what problem(s) you run in to by posting here and/or sending me a PM. include reproduction steps (how you got to the problem)