[JK47]

I'm curious as to if there is any way to insert a table via the vBulletin software? I know I could host an image of a table as a post, but is there any way to actually imbed a table within the post? If not, it seems like a cool feature for vBulletin to incorporate.

[Brad]

Nope.

You can suggest it here, though:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=55

[Jasoco]

Is vBulliten really that closed? I could add this stuff easily in punBB or even phpBB by editing the right files. (Even easier in punBB than phpBB. Just edit Parser.php.) So unless bulletin has a big license about not editing anything having to do with the core files (Which is stupid. Don't use a pay forum software. There are many better free ones out there that are fully editable.) I can't see how it would be hard to add Table tags.

[LudwigVan]

Using the CODE tags seem to be a good work-around, unless the table includes images of some kind (graphs, etc.).

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Jasoco Is vBulliten really that closed?

No. Perhaps I should have said, "Nope, not without making modifications," instead. There's a huge, thriving community of modifications online that you can use or you can make your own. See vbulletin.org. You can edit vB to your heart's content. If you want to modify vB to have tables, it's certainly possible.

Specifically, the license for vB states, "The Software source code may be altered (at your risk)."

Originally Posted by Jasoco Don't use a pay forum software. There are many better free ones out there that are fully editable.

Your opinion. I've yet to find an OSS package that offers the management tools that vB has with minimum hassles. This isn't the place to debate forum software superiority, though.

[Jasoco]

Ah, good.. But isn't vB subscription? Or do you pay once and own forever? I actually considered it when I was looking to dump phpBB.

[World Leader Pretend]

/off topic
Is there an good forum software out there that is free and is good for small, simple forums? I really don't know any HTML, but are there any out there that would suit my needs?

[ghoti]

Originally Posted by Jasoco Ah, good.. But isn't vB subscription? Or do you pay once and own forever? I actually considered it when I was looking to dump phpBB.

You can get it on a subscription basis or own it. I'm building a website right now that will have forums, and after seeing the sad state of phpBB, and seeing how well vBulletin works here, I decided to put some money towards a decent system. I looked around a bit, but I doubt that there's anything that's even close to vBulletin's possibilities and that's free. But this is perhaps really a discussion that should go into AppleOutsider oder Purchasing Advice.

[PKIDelirium]

I would suggest waiting on Phpbb Olympus. It will be in Beta soon.

[ghoti]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium I would suggest waiting on Phpbb Olympus. It will be in Beta soon.

That's exactly the reason why I bought vBulletin. "In Beta soon" is completely useless. There is no word on which features will actually be there, or when "soon" will be, and how long it will last (i.e., when the final version will be released). I'm all for free software, but if I read messages from three years ago that promise the new release "really soon", and it's still not out, then that's just not an option for a serious project. And the current phpBB just lacks too many features to bother.

[Jasoco]

Originally Posted by World Leader Pretend /off topic Is there an good forum software out there that is free and is good for small, simple forums? I really don't know any HTML, but are there any out there that would suit my needs?

punBB is the simple forum software. phpBB is bloated. Plus pun is very simple to style to fit your needs. phpBB still relies heavily on tables in its current (non-beta) iteration. I gave up waiting for phpBB and switched to punBB back in February. My members placed me on a throne and worship me like a god. Okay, not really, but you get the point.

[PKIDelirium]

My problem with the less mainstream ones like PunBB is that there will never be converters available to go from them to a different program.

With Invision 1.3 (Which I've been using since it was first released, too bad they don't offer it anymore), PhpBB, and even SMF, there will be converters made for the more common systems.

[Jasoco]

Converters aren't that hard to write. Just reverse engineer the phpBB to punBB converter.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Jasoco Converters aren't that hard to write. Just reverse engineer the phpBB to punBB converter.

You assume, of course, that anyone who wants to change BB software is a programmer with some pretty decent SQL knowledge.

[Jasoco]

And you assume someone who already has one forum installed would actually want to go to the trouble of switching to another one.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Jasoco And you assume someone who already has one forum installed would actually want to go to the trouble of switching to another one.

Check again, Jasoco. I didn't bring up the issue of using and writing converters or switching software.