Wait for 4.0 for custom design?

**Arkidas** · 06-09-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

We are working hard and plan to have vBulletin 4.0 released in beta form in early Q2 of 2009.

Would it be stupid to order a custom design now since the 4.0 beta is planned to release this month?

**Rocket 442** · 06-09-2009, 12:47 PM

For the most part it would be better to wait, unless you don't plan to upgrade. If thats the case then doing it now wouldn't hurt one bit.

The thing is, many designers are going to be very busy the first few months of 4.0 getting current clients and new ones that are already booked up to date.

**GTAce** · 06-09-2009, 12:51 PM

Converting a vB 3 skin to vB 4 is going to require a lot of work, especially if you want to use all of vB 4's functionality. I would wait if you plan on using vB 4's functionality and don't have a lot of money to put down on both the vB 3 skin and the vB 4 conversion...I'd expect most coders are going to ask for $100-200 to convert a standard vB 3 skin to vB 4

**Arkidas** · 06-09-2009, 12:57 PM

I really want to start the forum and see it grow over the summer though. Is it likely enough that 4.0 beta is actually coming this June?

**Rocket 442** · 06-09-2009, 01:02 PM

There is no public beta for 4.0

The full 4.0 release should be coming in July.

**Arkidas** · 06-09-2009, 01:06 PM

Hmm, ok. I'm not sure if I'm waiting because I really care more about my time than the vB4 features. They're cool, but it's possible to imitate most of the big ones on 3.8.

**SweetCher** · 06-09-2009, 01:10 PM

I thought about this question too because I'm working with a limited budget. But, I really wanted to get my vBulletin up and running now. I'm not using a skin but I have a few hacks and I'm planning on customizing it a lot more. So, I'm not entirely sure what the costs will be once 4.0 comes out. I would like to wait a few months after the release to make sure the initial version is stable anyway. So, I probably won't upgrade until September or October if it's released in July.

**Arkidas** · 06-09-2009, 01:16 PM

Yes. I don't want to keep upgrading as they discover bugs so 3.8.x is good I think.

**ohiosweetheart** · 06-09-2009, 02:39 PM

It's a pretty good bet that most, if not all, of the 3.8x mods are not going to work on 4.0. I'm sure there will be coders involved in the private beta testing tho, so hopefully they'll whip 'em out.

**Mikey** · 06-09-2009, 06:27 PM

I personally shall try to port all styles that I have made or have ownership of to vB4.0

**Nick R** · 06-09-2009, 07:27 PM

On one of my forums, I'm really waiting to make a few moves (a custom skin being one of them).

On another, I'm ready to get a few things going immediately because now is a crucial time to get things going; I can't afford to stop the momentum to wait for vB 4.0.
So we're going full-force now. That's okay though because I have a feeling it'll be a while before 4.0 is completely stable and has all of its features added.

**ohiosweetheart** · 06-09-2009, 07:28 PM

Not all of my free styles will be ported over, but the better part of them will be.

**GTAce** · 06-10-2009, 02:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkidas

Hmm, ok. I'm not sure if I'm waiting because I really care more about my time than the vB4 features. They're cool, but it's possible to imitate most of the big ones on 3.8.

Get a custom skin and stick with 3.8 then. A lot needs to happen for vB 4 to go public in even July.

**Caddyman** · 06-10-2009, 03:15 AM

i think i may stick with 3.8 till the wheels fall off

**smacklan** · 06-10-2009, 05:12 AM

I wouldn't expect a July release of 4.0 at this point, more likely August.

**ohiosweetheart** · 06-10-2009, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smacklan

I wouldn't expect a July release of 4.0 at this point, more likely August.

I would agree.

**SweetCher** · 06-10-2009, 07:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick R

On one of my forums, I'm really waiting to make a few moves (a custom skin being one of them).

On another, I'm ready to get a few things going immediately because now is a crucial time to get things going; I can't afford to stop the momentum to wait for vB 4.0.
So we're going full-force now. That's okay though because I have a feeling it'll be a while before 4.0 is completely stable and has all of its features added.

I think this is a great strategy Nick... I agree.
This is a great discussion for me because I've got a lot to do before VB 4.O comes out! Do I really want to just stop and not proceed??? That's not in my plan. But, thinking about how I'm going to convert all of this at the appropriate time needs to be a part of the strategy. Especially for me. I'm just not very savvy in HTML coding or CSS. So, trying to budget this in with 2 other sites that I will be starting is important!

**nexia** · 06-10-2009, 10:16 AM

Most of the things you can apply to your design can be done in templates, so basically, you just need to have a note on each detail you change, or make these changes via plugins... most of the template enhancements that i do on my site are released as products, so people can activate them without modifying their styles... it's a good thing to check when 4.0 arise, because if you have no custom template, you will be able to upgrade in a twist, you just have to update your styles then...

**faith** · 06-11-2009, 05:23 AM

Why would there not be a July release? I was curious.

**Digital Jedi** · 06-11-2009, 08:53 AM

Am I the only one who thinks that skinning and converting your skins for 4.0 is going to be a relatively simple matter? Didn't they as much say they were designed it give style designers an easier time?

**faith** · 06-11-2009, 10:09 AM

You're not the only one that thinks that. And to be honest sense of ease is only relative to ones skills, maybe.

**smacklan** · 06-11-2009, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faith

Why would there not be a July release? I was curious.

Due to the announcement from Ray at vb.com for one, for another some of us have been informed of the schedule in advance as well

**faith** · 06-11-2009, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smacklan

Due to the announcement from Ray at vb.com for one, for another some of us have been informed of the schedule in advance as well

I should probably visit that place more often.

**Gio~Logist** · 06-15-2009, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocket 442

There is no public beta for 4.0

The full 4.0 release should be coming in July.

That is actually very unlikely at this point. There is still a private alpha release scheduled to be release to a select few.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caddyman

i think i may stick with 3.8 till the wheels fall off

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTAce

Get a custom skin and stick with 3.8 then. A lot needs to happen for vB 4 to go public in even July.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smacklan

I wouldn't expect a July release of 4.0 at this point, more likely August.

Agreed. Even with the amount of time developers will have with the pre-release, it will take a while for the amount of support and mod/styles from 3.8 to amount to 4.0 being that everything will have to be re-written.

**thincom2000** · 06-22-2009, 10:50 AM

The main thing I need 4.0 for is the new style. My board released a commercial product last year and for better marketing it really needs some of the changes we have planned to the structure of the board. However, these changes are just too complicated for the current vBulletin style in 3.8 - at least within the current time frame. They will be much easier to implement in 4.0.

Likewise, I suspect a lot of potential customers are waiting for 4.0 to come out (maybe even just to find out the pricing confirmed) before making any commitments to major addons like the one we provide. For this reason, the fact that IB made the alphas and betas private makes it even harder on third-party paid addon developers (even if they are included in the betas) because the end-user still has to wait. I just hope the private portion of the release is short, because even if people won't be upgrading right away, the wait-and-see (especially regarding pricing) is bad for everyone's business.

**SticKer** · 07-01-2009, 06:55 AM

Same here. I'm planning to get a custom skin done but I think I'll wait for the 4.0 release.

SticKer

**Caddyman** · 07-01-2009, 07:59 AM

hey gio, long time no see.

**ohiosweetheart** · 07-01-2009, 09:30 AM

I think I've pretty much decided to port very few, if any, of my current designs over to vB 4.
I will most likely start over with brand new styles. Because designing for vB 4 is going to be a whole new ballgame.

**Rocket 442** · 07-01-2009, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ohiosweetheart

I think I've pretty much decided to port very few, if any, of my current designs over to vB 4.
I will most likely start over with brand new styles. Because designing for vB 4 is going to be a whole new ballgame.

If I were you I'd just port the really popular ones.

The actual design is done already in your .psd's I imagine and the tableless css base will actually open many new opportunities for us so I'm excited.

**ohiosweetheart** · 07-01-2009, 05:07 PM

I don't use psd's but I do have all of the images. It's just a matter of figuing out the new templates, and the new css, and the new code syntax, so that you know what to do with them.