Category: Jelsoft

The Real Faces Behind Internet Brands

Veritas 6 Comments

Highway Robbery

I was tutoring this weekend and I helped an 11th grade high school student with US History.  He pointed out to me that history is useless, but I retorted that if we never learn from history, history has a tendency to repeat itself. That gave me reason to pause as I thought how that very logic applies to our scenario. Internet Brands did this once to us, what’s not to say they will do it again?

Let’s face the truth. I got my credit card bill last week, and it’s simply highway robbery. I cringed at the fact I had to pay just to do an upgrade. Sure $130.00 doesn’t seem much, but when you combine the fact that our license was suppose to be worth $160.00 (or $180.00 for others), we’re still paying more than $235.00 for a brand new license! What Internet Brands is making us pay is simply highway robbery. I don’t know how else to put it.

I don’t see ANY reason at all to justify existing license holders paying more. Essentially we’re being told to just pony up money for a brand new license. Forget what Internet Brands has told you; it’s merely a ploy, a cover. It’s purely marketing. Rip off all the marketing, and you’ll see is that we’re paying for a brand new license.

As existing Legacy vBulletin license holders, we’re treated as second rate citizens. We’re not important to them. Our wallets are more important to them. What’s not to say this is to happen again when vBulletin 5 arrives on the horizon?

We’re stuck holding a useless, absolutely pointless license vBulletin 3 license. After our license expires per-se, no more updates.  No more security patches. Once vBulletin 4 goes into full swing, vBulletin 3 citizens are treated as the scorn of the earth. Internet Brands manipulated us using fear tactics so that we’d buy licenses.

I really sympathize with those who bought vBulletin licenses really late in the game before vBulletin 4 was announced. Anyone who bought a license merely hours or days before vBulletin 4 got announced feel the real wrath. They bought a license only to have it invalidated and ripped from their hands minutes later.

Yet when they protest that they’ve been scammed, they’re told to upgrade to the latest vBulletin 4 License by paying even more? Any more protests, and you have threads closed. Has anyone checked out Pre-Sales recently? There are several threads in which customers point out that they don’t treat customers well.

Has anyone at Internet Brands done the math? We’re paying MORE for upgrading to a vBulletin 4 license than brand new vBulletin 4 license holders. Where’s the justice? Where’s the respect? More importantly, where’s the loyalty to your existing customer base that made vBulletin so successful? If they’re treating customers like this, as a shareholder, stakeholder or investors I’d wonder how Internet Brands may very well treat me in the future.

Let’s face it. vBulletin 3 license holders have been screwed over. If history has anything to say, it’s that it’s going to happen again.

A Look Back: Then and Now

Chronos 3 Comments

It was in May 2009 when the world first became aware of the infamous vBulletin 4 leak. Forums and blogs all over the Internet had screenshots posted for the upcoming plans for vBulletin 4. This extensive thread contained future plans in terms of pricing, licensing changes, changes to support, the process of beta testing, and so on.
Let’s take a look at some of the proposed changes and what ended up happening.

Pricing:
The pricing changes that were brought up in the thread ended up happening.
vB4.0 Publishing Suite – New license: $285, Upgrade: $250
vB4.0 Forum Classic – New License: $195, Upgrade: “Free”.

Note, that I am intentionally leaving out the discounted “pre-order” prices, since there was no mention of these in the leaked thread.

Also keep in mind, the pricing above is for vB 4x. Upgrading to vB 5x will be an additional fee (notice a pattern here?) which has not yet been determined.

Support:
The change to support – These changes also ended up happening.
Although customers get access through the forums, the Forum Classic customers only get access through the support system for 30 days and they will be forced to pay extra if they need additional support through a ticket.

One major reason people chose vBulletin is because of the affordable prices in the past, and the excellent support that was offered through tickets and the forum, yet once again, IB is taking something that worked well, and engaging in price gouging, because they know they can by charging extra for the software itself and for support tickets.

Beta Testing:
In the past, when the times were good and we had original development team, open beta testing was something of the norm. This was important because it gave members to try out the software so they could get a head start on getting their communities ready. It was also important because members of the modding and skinning community were able to play with the software to prepare their products for the new version of vBulletin. All of this changed however with IB and the new development team. Beta access to vB4 was only given to a select handful of customers. Later after much controversy they decided to give members who pre-ordered it a chance to try the beta as well, but only because they were forced to, because of all negative attention, and this was a feeble attempt to “give back” to the community.

Impact:
News of this leak caused an upheaval. Most people were furious to hear about some of these planned changes. When the topic was brought up on the forums, it resulted in nothing but closed threads and IB simply ignored the subject, telling us to wait for “official word”.

In the leaked screenshots, Steve clearly states that if the situation is not handled correctly, it could cause a “negative impact” and he pretty much nailed it – yet even with this, they failed to transition correctly and failed to handle the situation accordingly. The last line regarding the customer issue is what makes this whole situation ironic: “If we want loyalty from our customers, then we should be loyal to them in return”.

IB had a chance to try and reassure their customers but failed to do so. People grew more and more frustrated and IB turning their heads in the opposite direction, continually ignoring the subject only added to this frustration. IB should have taken what they learned from the original leak to make changes, improve and do everything in their power to assure the community but they failed to do so.

Repost: vBulletin 4 Theme Faults That Need Fixing

mrgtb 1 Comment

image-1424-1-641x361On previously seeing some of the “Demo Screen Shots” of the new vBulletin 4 Theme to be used, I did think it looked quite nice at first glance. But now vBulletin.com have the vBulletin 4 Suite 4.0.0 Beta version installed using it, giving me plenty of time to take a closer and longer look at it in more detail. I have to say that I don’t really like it that much anymore.

This is not to say I won’t like the theme further down the line when more changes are made with each new Beta version released, but of course a lot depends on what changes they do actually make before it goes Gold with a final and completed theme in place. They won’t make changes to suit me personally, so it’s going to be a case of waiting and seeing what each new release installed on vBulletin.com brings with it theme wise. Many would argue that you don’t have to use the default theme anyway, and you can use your own design instead. True, but I always like to keep things simple if I can by staying with the default theme. So for me personally it does matter a lot!

The new vBulletin 4 Theme faults

This list below is what I personally found most at fault about the new theme used with vBulletin 4. Yes, I could nick-pick at other smaller design issues that I spotted as well pretty fast. But I’m just going to list some major faults that I feel need sorting out straight away first.

Too bright on the eyes the theme style is:
Quite a few people complained when the official vBulletin forum first went live using the new “vBulletin 4 Suite” theme design today, that it was too bright and hurt the eyes after using it for about 5 minutes. This is something that I totally agree on, it really did genuinely begin to put strain on your eyes after using it for a very short period of time. Making it very unsuitable for a forum board in general that your trying to keep your members using for many hours, posting and using none stop.

Looking at the theme, the biggest issue there is too much White used as a whole. Just by shading it down to a more dirty white colour in some areas, or maybe all areas. Would greatly reduce eye stain, and maybe even slightly darken down some of the very light blue colour in a few areas very gradually too. Basically, it need to be toned down to a slightly darker shade, concentrating a lot though on the large open white space areas to reduce reflection that’s causing most of the eye strain.

Wrong font style, size, and colour used:
Another problem is the colour of the font used for “Post Text”, it just looks washed-out as though it needs to be a little darker in colour, not black though! Also, the font size needs to be increased to a more comfortable reading size as well in many areas. And again, the font style itself didn’t look well suited for Text Reading on the Internet, as though they’ve tried to play around and veer away from Internet Standards to look more stylish and fancy. But in doing so it’s not worked well for reading posted text because of the font style used. Which I might add also looked a little rough around the edges and not clear and smooth, a clear sign it’s the wrong font style to use.

Another problem was the small font used for the Smallest Tags in the “Tag List”. To me it looked as though they’d used a font size of around 8px small. I could hardly make-out what the smallest tags actually said. Very unsuitable indeed for usability!

That wasn’t a long list of faults you might say

While this list of faults above may not seem large, only two aspects really. There is a fact a lot of work involved in changing them. For example; changing the font style, size, and colours. Will have an effect on other areas of the forum in some cases, which may also need changing to suit accordingly. And making changes to the themes colour styling can cause issues with blending-in with other areas of the forum, again creating more work than might first appear to be needed.

So although the list is small, a lot of work could possibly be involved here. As changing one thing, effects another thing, which in the end leads to much more work that you first ever imagined would be the case.

vBTruth Forum

Chronos 3 Comments

TalkAfter many requests, we went ahead and added a vBTruth forum.

Feel free to drop by and share your feedback, thoughts, stories or anything else you feel like.

Censorship Part Deux

Chronos Leave a comment

In our previous entry, Veritas went over the topic of censorship. Basically, the vBulletin staff felt it was necessary to enact more “strict” methods of moderation. They first started slow by simply closing threads, then after this didn’t quite work, they started to actually delete threads or move them into private forums, not accessible by the public.
If that wasn’t bad enough, they have now resorted to permanently banning users. Yes, the very same clients who helped vB become what is today are now finding their accounts are banned for simply speaking about vBulletin in a “bad” way, that is, nearly any comment that is negative. Here we have a number customers who are simply trying to get answers, and others who express concern in the direction vB is heading in, and

Clearly these actions are drawing much attention to IB/vB, but it’s probably not the attention they want. It seems more and more sites and blogs are appearing online for people to use as a medium to express their concerns, since they obviously can’t do it at the official vBulletin site without their comments/concerns being censored, but don’t take our word for it – even The Register has caught on to it in their latest story.

What are your thoughts? Were any of you given a warning, or have had your thread closed/deleted, or even worse, been banned for speaking out?

Here Comes The Press! Into the News We Go!

Veritas Leave a comment

Just when you think bad press is good press, I would beg to differ. The Register’s posted up a new article entitled “Forum king vBulletin muzzles paid-up protesters”

Some how I doubt Internet Brands wanted this much bad press.

Bob Brisco, you got some ‘splainin to do’, especially with with today’s quarterly earnings conference call.

You can say anything you want…only if you say what we want to hear

Veritas 3 Comments

CensorshipDid you read this? A new policy on forum moderation. We’re being censored. We’re being silenced.

Quote:

As vBulletin has grown over the years we have often allowed posts on our forums which frankly are not constructive and which other companies would not allow on their sites. We have done this in the belief that most people can be reasonable and conduct themselves maturely and constructively. We still believe that most people act this way.

However it is clear that this policy has only opened the door for types of conduct and comments that are simply over the top and not acceptable. This is going to change as of now.

Please be aware that we will no longer allow posts with non-constructive rants, inflammatory language and trolling on our forums. We are aware that some people are used to being allowed to get away with such things. But beginning now that will no longer be the case. Such posts represent a distorted picture to current and potential customers and while we would like to be able to trust people to act maturely, events have proven that is simply not possible. We will, of course, continue to respond to real questions.

To the vast majority of our customers that have supported us over the years and that have responded to the vB4 Pre-sales event positively with their record orders, we say thank you and will do everything in our power to reward your faith and vote of confidence with exciting new things for the future.

If you didn’t catch this particular portion, well I’ll shine a bit of light on it.

Such posts represent a distorted picture to current and potential customers and while we would like to be able to trust people to act maturely, events have proven that is simply not possible.

It pretty much allows Internet Brands to deem any post as distorted and delete it.  So much for the ability to post constructive feedback.

Breach of Contract? Internet Brands might have violated one

Veritas 4 Comments

First, a disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, and I will not pretend to be one, so please consult one to verify my opinion. I’m merely voicing a legal opinion based on my understanding of law.

Second, I’m tired of reading on vBulletin.com from Team Members and Internet Brands that they have not violated the license agreement. They are correct that they have not violated the licensing agreement. However, our vBulletin license is governed not simply by a license agreement; it is also governed by contract law. We as license holders entered into a contract agreement with Jelsoft (now Internet Brands) when we purchased a vBulletin License and that contract is still very much enforceable.

Let me explain further:

West’s Business Law Tenth Edition defines a contract as ” ‘a promise or a set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as duty.’ Put simply, a contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties who agree to perform or to refrain from performing some act now or in the future.”

Jelsoft promised to sell us a license for vBulletin. Jelsoft ALSO promised a set price for renewal of vBulletin. The promise at the purchase of my license was $30.00, however I also agreed to a price increase of $40.00 before sixty days or $60.00 after sixty days on April 29, 2008. This in essence is part of an ACTIVE contractual agreement. The contractual agreement (implied and expressed during the pre-sales process) states that after one year, we are entitles to another year of downloads should we pay a certain said rate, thus the price being forty United States Dollars ($40.00) before sixty (60) days or sixty United States Dollars ($60.00) after sixty (60) days.

With the acquistion of Jelsoft, Internet Brands assumes fidicuary responsibility and therefore our contract agreement is with them. However, with the introduction of vBulletin 4, they’re trying to force us to buy a new license and into a new contract. Here’s the problem: They’re breaking our original contract (promise) to allow us to renew at the 40.00/60.00 rate. They’re forcing us to accept a new contract and new license agreement. The problem is they can’t make us. They can’t force us into a new contract. As of right now, they’re in breach of a contract by not allowing us to renew at our previous promised rate. We have to enter into a new contract at our choosing.

I think it’s time we take a hard look at what Internet Brands is saying. True they have not violated the license agreement, but that’s only partially the truth. We still have an ACTIVE contract with them. Until we accept the terms of a new contract, we’re still bound by the old contract, just as Internet Brands is bound by the old contract.

Where’s the proof? See http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268714. It’s written out. It’s expressed. It’s considered part of a contract. I encourage everyone to print out a copy before that thread mysteriously “disappears”.

Don’t let Internet Brands confuse you. Don’t let Internet Brands change the terms of YOUR contract. We as license holders still contractually bound and it’s time we remind them to uphold their end of the contract.

Beyond Our Voices

Veritas Leave a comment
Internet Brands operates communities for anyone to speak. But more importantly, are they truly listening to their customers?
Internet Brands operates communities for anyone to speak. But more importantly, are they truly listening to their customers and what they are saying?

I’m merely one of many voices out there who is not happy with Internet Brands (NASDAQ: INET). In my eyes, Internet Brands has destroyed a flagship product. Internet Brands has killed the goose that layed the golden eggs. Internet Brands has completely demoralized a community based on honesty, truthfulness, integrity and openness by silencing those who appear to be the most vocal against Internet Brands, Jelsoft and vBulletin.

The message from Internet Brands, in my opinion, is clear as crystal: “If license holders do not like the changes, the changes will be forced upon license holders whether license holders like it or not. If we resist, Internet Brands will split license holders up so they feel alone and isolated. Divide and Conquer”

I think it’s time we put a stop to this. We need to shout together with one common message and at the same time. If one of us shouts, Internet Brands will not hear us. If we shout together as a chorus, they will hear us whether they want to or not.

Banning customers is not solving the problem; it’s only compounding the problem. Rather than spending time banning customers, Internet Brands should spend the time getting to the root of the problems and concerns, and address them one by one. If they finally address the core concerns and problems, it will help license holders, and themselves.

It’s time Internet Brands face customers instead of hiding in the shadows. It’s time they have they man up and turn to license holders for help. It’s evident they have no idea what they are doing, and they’re alienating, scaring, and panicing customers. Here’s a free bit of advice from a consultant: Internet Brands: WHEN IN DOUBT, ASK THE CUSTOMER. GET FEEDBACK. DON’T EVER GUESS.

I am one of the many co-founders behind this site, but we as Founders realize we’re only a small voice in a sea of many voices. In the last few hours, I’ve seen high praise for vBulletin. I’ve seen criticism. I’ve also seen people leave.

I want to give all sides an opportunity to share their voice here. My voice is but one voice, but YOUR voice is important. Tweet us your interest on Twitter.

Don’t let Internet Brands silence you. If they can’t take the heat, they should not have lit the fire.

The Truth of Who I Am

Veritas 7 Comments
Before I start anything, let me welcome you. Welcome to vBtruth.com.
I want to share with you a bit of who I am. I’m a current vBulletin license holder for seven plus years now. Over these last seven years, I’ve had the pleasure to work with some of the greatest community people. You might know some of the name: John Percival, Chen (Firefly), DirectPixel, Alfarin, ManagerJosh, Scott MacVicar, Mike Sullivan, Kier Darby, Steve Machol, Onimua, Xiphoid, Sinecure, and so forth. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a few vBulletin owners in my lifetime, and some have become friends over the years outside of the vBulletin community
Needless to say, I’ve been here a while. But if you need a reference point, I’ve been with the vBulletin family since version 2.2.x series.
I’ve decided enough is enough, and that I can no longer keep my silence. Ultimately, I’ve decided that I need to put my thoughts out here with fellow vBulletin owners where censorship is out of the reach of Internet Brands and that I can post my thoughts without fears of reprocussions.
I will be the first person to admit that I probably should have spoken up sooner after the acquisition of Jelsoft and vBulletin. All the signs were there. Simply put, the acquisition is considered a defining moment, a crucial moment in the history of what vBulletin is. It’s a point where vBulletin will either succeed or fail.
Thus far, nothing presented has instilled any confidence whatsoever, and is further compounded by the sudden and unexpected resignation of many developers who use to work on vBulletin.
As you’ve probably figured out, I’ve seen many things during my time here with vBulletin. The changing of Project Managers. The new team members. The new faces of Jelsoft and Internet Brands. But for the moment, I want to shine a light on vBulletin 4, and what a complete and utter mess it is.
Simply put to the investors and stakeholders of Internet Brands, You should be asking questions, and asking the HARD questions. The questions shouldn’t be will I get a return on my investment, but rather are your actions maximizing my return in the best possible way? I would argue no.
It is my opinion that Internet Brands is trying to rapidly increase revenue and maximize return, however, they are going about this in a way that has certainly rubbed customers the wrong way. Certainly the bottom line is important, but the reality is that in the attempt to add more value and cash into your investments is going to leave a negative return on your investment. I will explain more and let you do the math and draw conclusions.
Internet Brands no longer has the favor of customers. Certain decisions and their outcomes have shaken the community one too many times. The goodwill has been burned through. Trust and Loyalty has been thrown out the window. Years have been invested in order to build up a solid repuitation and brand, and it has taken Internet Brands a few months to destroy it and leave many of its most loyal customers frazzled, concerned, upset, and uncertain.
Are you frazzled like me? I hope you’ll stick around and air out your dirty laundry with us.
P.S. Special Thanks to a few vBulletin friends who stepped up to provide hosting and domains. We’re rather grateful they’re sticking out their necks a bit to provide some space for us.

Before I start anything, let me welcome you. Welcome to vBtruth.com.

I want to share with you a bit of who I am. I’m a current vBulletin license holder for seven plus years now. Over these last seven years, I’ve had the pleasure to work with some of the greatest community people. You might know some of the name: John Percival, Chen (Firefly), DirectPixel, Alfarin, Scott MacVicar, Mike Sullivan, Kier Darby, Steve Machol, Onimua, Xiphoid, Sinecure, and so forth. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a few vBulletin owners in my lifetime, and some have become friends over the years outside of the vBulletin community

Needless to say, I’ve been here a while. But if you need a reference point, I’ve been with the vBulletin family since version 2.2.x series.

I’ve decided enough is enough, and that I can no longer keep my silence. Ultimately, I’ve decided that I need to put my thoughts out here with fellow vBulletin owners where censorship is out of the reach of Internet Brands and that I can post my thoughts without fears of reprocussions.

I will be the first person to admit that I probably should have spoken up sooner after the acquisition of Jelsoft and vBulletin. All the signs were there. Simply put, the acquisition is considered a defining moment, a crucial moment in the history of what vBulletin is. It’s a point where vBulletin will either succeed or fail.

Thus far, nothing presented has instilled any confidence whatsoever, and is further compounded by the sudden and unexpected resignation of many developers who use to work on vBulletin and other significant actions that have completely undermined the confidence of all license holders.

As you’ve probably figured out, I’ve seen many things during my time here with vBulletin. The changing of Project Managers. The new team members. The new faces of Jelsoft and Internet Brands. But for the moment, I want to shine a light on vBulletin 4, and what a complete and utter mess it is.

Simply put to the investors and stakeholders of Internet Brands, You should be asking questions, and asking the HARD questions. The questions shouldn’t be will I get a return on my investment, but rather are your actions maximizing my return in the best possible way? I would argue no.

It is my opinion that Internet Brands is trying to rapidly increase revenue and maximize return, however, they are going about this in a way that has certainly rubbed customers the wrong way. Certainly the bottom line is important, but the reality is that in the attempt to add more value and cash into your investments is going to leave a negative return on your investment. I will explain more and let you do the math and draw conclusions.

Internet Brands no longer has the favor of customers. Certain decisions and their outcomes have shaken the community one too many times. The goodwill has been burned through. Trust and Loyalty has been thrown out the window. Years have been invested in order to build up a solid repuitation and brand, and it has taken Internet Brands a few months to destroy it and leave many of its most loyal customers frazzled, concerned, upset, and uncertain.

Are you frazzled like me? I hope you’ll stick around and air out your dirty laundry with us.

P.S. Special Thanks to a few vBulletin friends who stepped up to provide hosting and domains. We’re rather grateful they’re sticking out their necks a bit to provide some space for us.