[LACHESIS]

I'm putting up a new forum this weekend using the vBulletin software. I wanted to get the opinions of coding experts on something first, though...

What are the MUST HAVE hacks/modifications to a vBulletin forum? The ones listed below are things I'm interested in but some of them I'm not even sure they exist:

-Automatic welcome PM
-Pop-up on new PM
-Mass PM
-Using a diff. signature for staff members based on the forum being posted in (possible??)
-Posting feeds of other off-site forums' "Recent Threads"

I know there are several others but I just can't think of everything...that's what I'm hoping you'll all help me with! Thanks in advance!

[Mondo]

vBadvanced CMPS (Content Management & Portal System)

See their website for more.

[LACHESIS]

I already have that one...and my god did it take a long time for a reply. Anyone else have anything? It's a poker forum, if that helps generate ideas?

[|Acheron|]

Well that's a subjective question - going to differ based on individual needs and who you ask.

I'm one of those people who wants all kinds of things based on 3 specific areas:
1- Mods that bring people to my site
2- Mods that make it easier for me and other users to navigate or make the site more user-friendly in general (read: things that keep people coming back - noting of course that without a soild community, all the mods in the world won't help)
3- Mods that increase security

That said, here are some I have recently installed as I upgraded from vBulletin 3.0.3 to vB 3.6.7:

- [AJAX] Post Thank You Hack
- Members who have visited Today
- vBMicroStats
- Who has read a Thread
- Yet Another Mass Private Message System

... and some I have coded myself:

- Flag PMs (flag PMs like flagging emails)
- Auto-Prune After X Days (cron)
- Stop Post Count Decrementing (more of a code removal than a mod)
- Ultra Detailed Time (shows exactly how long ago a post was made, such as 3d 1h 26m 12s)
- Thread Start Date-Time in Forumdisplay
- Admin CP/Mod CP Login Failure Notification (via thread, PM or email)

I am 110% sure many people would find some or all of those useless but I find them all very handy as well as a big improvement in user experience. Also, they add very little in the way of queries, loading times, etc. overall. I think the key here is just liek anything else - weight the cost on your server vs. the improvements the mod brings.