I want to start off by saying I am a former (loyal) vBulletin customer. I have owned multiple licenses in the past; however, about 4-5 years ago I left the forum administration business (around the time of vB3 release) because of staff politics . But my interest in vBulletin and its competition remained, and I've kept up with vBulletin almost daily since then, including the fiasco of the Internet Brands acquisition and (what I see as) the downfall of vBulletin. There is much wrong with what IB has done, and vBulletin has turned from a trusted, amazing forum to a mismanaged nightmare. vBulletin (pre-IB) will be terribly missed.

As for alternatives, I began working on my own PHP forum solution earlier this year. I have a great plan for it and a lot of design and code work done. I would be very interested in anyone who would be willing to join in and help, from developers to users. I don't want to turn this into an advertisement for my work, so I won't link directly to anything unless there is enough interest, and we can take that discussion elsewhere at that point. But I do feel a "revolution" in forum software is long overdue. The model vBulletin, IPB, and all the copycats use is bloated and outdated. I would love to see what kind of interest is out there, as well as expand on this if there is interest.

Any takers?

I am completely unqualified to assist, but was wondering what it would take to morph the best of vb and other forum software out there.

Best of luck.

I didn't realize how good inivison power board had become. I hate to admit it but it is MUCH easier and smoother than even vbulletin 3. PHPbb3 has its issues but it is free and is actually extremely function. With the hacks and themes available, it is better than functional and far better for integration than vbulletin. mybb is a great free forum too as is punbb.