Open Source

vBulletin content here.

vBulletin is a commercial forums software than can be used to create online discussion forums. It is written using PHP and uses MySQL as the database. vBulletin can run on any platform that supports PHP.

vBulletin helps in creating an online community of users. vBulletin is the ideal solution for all sizes of online communities from communities having a small number of users to communities having a large number of users. vBulletin can be used as a stand alone discussion forum web application or can be integrated with other web sites/applications.

The vBulletin software includes a powerful Admin module that can be used by the solution administrators to setup and manage the discussion forum. The administrator can set the configuration parameters for the forum, create discussion groups, assign permissions to users etc. The administrators can use the Admin module to monitor the forum. They can choose to moderate user messages, ban certain phrases and words using the phrase manager, block specific users and IP addresses from accessing the forum.

To participate in the forums, vBulletin provides users with the facility to register with the forum, cerate a profile, subscribe to discussions groups, etc. Additional features such as private messaging between online users, attaching images to posts and user profiles, facilities for users to create and share their avatars, opinion polls etc are provided with vBulletin.

vBulletin solutions enable users to subscribe to discussion groups, post messages and view messages posted by others. Text Editors are provided thereby making it easy for the users to post messages.

At Open Source Development, we offer to customize and integrate vBulletin solutions for clients.

Features

vBulletin is a feature rich application that enables the easy creation and administration of online discussion forums. The features included are as follows:

• vBulletin is based on a template system. A library with a wide variety of layouts and templates are provided with vBulletin. Different templates can be used for different discussion groups. The templates can be customized and configured as per individual requirements.
• vBulletin provides support for multiple languages.
• vBulletin includes separate modules for Administrators – to create and manage forums, Moderators - to moderate views posted by users and Users – front end interface where users can browse through and post comments on various discussion topics.
• Discussion forums created in other applications can be easily migrated to vBulletin. All members and existing discussion groups will be available in vBulletin after migration.
• The forum administrators are provided with the option to ban specific users from the forum. They also have the option to ban a specific IP address. Users logging in from the mentioned IP address will not have access to the discussion forum.
• The Administrator can set whether or not the user's messages are to be moderated.
• vBulletin enables users to attach documents with their messages. The Administrator can define the configuration parameters for the attachments such as attachment types, size, folders where the attachments are to be stored etc.
• vBulletin also enables websites to offer paid subscriptions to discussion forums. It provides support for various payment gateways such as PayPal, Authorize.net etc.
• Features for creating private discussion forums are provided in vBulletin. Users can create their own private discussion groups and can restrict access to selected users.
• Users can register with the discussion forum and create their profiles. The user registration form can be customized as per individual requirements.
• Users have the option to send and track private messages sent to others.
• Users have the option to create an avatar for the discussion forum. They can choose from among the avatars provided by the Administrator or they can upload and use their customized avatar.
• Users have the option to create buddy lists and receive alerts in case any user on the buddy list comes online.
• Users can customize the display of the forum as per their requirements.
• WYSIWYG editors can be used to post messages.
• Users have the option to preview their posts before publishing them on the forum.
• Printer Friendly versions and email to a friend options can be provided for discussion groups.
• vBulletin is search engine friendly.
• Extensive help is available for vBulletin via its online developer community.
• vBulletin provides support for unlimited number of users and discussion groups.
• A wide range of extensions (hacks) are available that can be integrated with vBulletin to provide additional functionalities.

Solutions developed by Open Source Development

Open Source Development has customized and integrated vBulletin for various clients. Some of the solutions where vBulletin has been used are as follows:

Discussion Forum for students

vBulletin was customized and integrated with an online education support application in order to provide students with a discussion forum. The vBulletin registration process was used as a centralized registration for the whole website. The registration process was customized to include fields such as address, city etc which were not available in the default registration form. vBulletin was also customized to ensure that certain discussion groups were accessible only to students who had subscribed for the services.