| vBulletin | |
| Developer: | MH Sub I, LLC d/b/a vBulletin |
| Programming Language: | PHP |
| Platform: | PHP, MySQL |
| Genre: | Forum software |
| License: | Commercial proprietary software[1] |
vBulletin is a proprietary Internet forum software package sold by MH Sub I, LLC doing business as vBulletin (formerly Jelsoft Enterprises and vBulletin Solutions). It is written in PHP and uses a MariaDB or MySQL database server.[2] Similar products include XenForo, WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, MyBB, and phpBB.
vBulletin was first launched in 2000 by James Limm and John Percival. Its successor, vBulletin 2, was released in 2001. A third version was launched in 2004.
Internet Brands acquired the product from JelSoft in 2007.[3]
vBulletin 4 was released in late 2009. The StyleVars system was added to draw CSS variables directly from the vBulletin Template code.[4]
In July 2010, the BBC reported that there was a serious flaw in vBulletin software that allows anyone to easily access the database username and password.[5]
In October 2010, Internet Brands sued three former employees, just as their new competing software XenForo was to be launched,[3] as well as a second lawsuit in the United States claiming breach of contract, copyright infringement, and misappropriation of trade secrets.[6] In May 2011 it was announced that vBulletin had abandoned an attempt at preventing XenForo doing business,[7] and in 2013 the claims were dismissed.
vBulletin 5 was released in 2012.
In late 2017, a post by Technical Support Lead, Wayne Luke, confirmed that vBulletin 3 and vBulletin 4 were now considered to be "End of Life" software, with no further development of the series planned.[8] [9] [10]