VbPortal

vbPortal is a commercial Content Management System (CMS) written in PHP and using a MySQL database server. It is an add-on to the internet forum package vBulletin, and allows the user to define modules and blocks which are used to create and manage the content of a website surrounding a vBulletin forum installation.

History
vbPortal started as a small project for William Jones in February 2001. Early on, it was willingly shared with many people. As the project progressed, it went through several name changes, becoming vbPortal today. Many people have donated to the project and helped in areas of programming and debugging.

The first versions required a lot of hacking and were difficult to install. Support soon moved from a thread on a forum to its own domain. At first, new releases were also made available at vbulletin.org. vbPortal soon became too big for one person to handle, and others where asked to contribute. These contributors were rewarded with access to early releases, private discussions and priority support. The contributing members forum was to start the controversy surrounding vbPortal. The product was released for free while premium members had access to versions before the public. Members of vbulletin.org didn't like the "closed" approach thinking it was counter productive. Over time, the community segregated into those who had access to the premium members forums and those who did not, becoming a less friendly place with complaints of hostility and new users feeling they were being treated as a nuisance and not future customers. Many vBulletin users felt excluded and made it an issue, not wanting to wait until the author felt responsible to ensure that the code was as safe and reliable as possible. This caused a stir and requests to Jelsoft about developing a vBulletin CMS Portal.

While version 2.x was in development it remained closed to non contributing members while the free version became unsupported. Before finalising the 2.x code version 3.x was released under licence only and not for free.

Features
* Web based Installer (no vBulletin files to edit)
* Includes 23 modules and over 70 installed blocks to use in any of the modules
* Unique usergroup home page using any module
* Template Based
* Wysiwyg Editor
* Module and Category permissions/options
* Search the Modules and Forums
* Administer and Moderate Articles
* Multilanguage Capability
* Portal Control Panel with access permissions and logging
* Classifieds, Content, Uploads/Downloads, Links and Reviews modules
* Modules and blocks for displaying information from the Forums (threads, polls, buddies, events, statistics, etc)
* Usergroup Sidebar integration to display blocks in the forums
* Multiple News Forums
* Top Stories block
* FAQ and Encyclopedia modules
* Rotating Banners/Adverts
* Usergroup System Messages and Menu Builder
* External Syndication and Newsfeed Reader
* Newsletter module
* Journal/Blog and Report Tracker modules and blocks
* Shoutbox module
* Feedback and Recommend Us modules
* Statistics modules and blocks
* Add your custom modules and blocks
* Techimo Products are supported
* No known issues with other vBulletin addons or hacks

Requirements
The product is not standalone and is an add-on. You must first have vBulletin installed and working properly before installing vbPortal.

The product must be installed one directory (folder) above the forums and is easiest to install if placed in the root of the site.

A licence is required to use the product.

Security
There was a vulnerability found which was limited to the 3.x series of vbPortal. Fixes were made available to everyone after Scott MacVicar, a well known vBulletin developer, offered to help and took time to evaluate portions of the code and logs. The exploit itself was the effort of a script kiddie who used an available script to gain root access by passing values to variables until one was found to not properly sanitize the hackers injection. The hacker then made himself known to the phpportal's administrators by sending an email which claimed to have found a security issue in vbPortal. What the contact did not do was include the attachment of the passwd file contents, causing the threat to look less genuine than it should have been. The demand for money and a 48-hour countdown two days before the lead developer was due to go a holiday added more urgency to determining if the threat was real. The site was hacked before the 48 hours were up and 22,877 members were about to receive an email that vbPortal was hacked. The system was shut down and rebuilt but not before some of the members had been sent an email and the vBulletin community started asking questions. It was around that time that the exploit was found and the hacker posted their achievement in an unrestricted information zone. A backdoor was in place in a deep folder and went undetected by the administrator after restoring the site and the hacker struck again. This caused more controversy in the community and raised more questions. Harmony was restored in the community while the site remained secure after a second rebuild by a now once shaken and twice shy administrator who succeeded in thwarting an accomplished hacker's extortion attempt and persistent repeated attempts while the lead developer was on holiday.

Premium Membership
Premium membership grants full access to the site and one User License. The License portion is a one-time payment and does not expire. The Premium Membership is a yearly optional charge. There are alternate ways to gain first-year membership such as contributing your own time to the project.

Release information
Current Stable Release: 3.6.5, 3.5.2 and 3.0.5

The following is only a small section of the actual releases that focuses on what has changed rather than a feature list.

1.0 Beta 1 was released and posted as a hack for vbulletin for all Jelsoft licenced members to download free from vbulletin.org.

2.0 saw the support moved to a dedicated site and controversy over releasing early copies to premium members before it became available to Jelsoft licensed members.

3.0 pr8.1 is the last to be released for free and the most like PHP-Nuke.

Series 2 was still based on PHP-Nuke and a favourite with many users. The block management is simpler and all modules use the same set of blocks. Only the News module allowed centre blocks but used the same side blocks as all other modules. If a block was used in the right column it could not be used in the forum.

3.0.0 Beta 1 is completely rewritten and not based off PHP-Nuke. After long delays rewriting the portal to a content management system and multi-faced portal, it was released to premium members under licence but many had already left for one of the free alternative portals which had already been released by this time.

3.0.0 uses far less queries compared to earlier versions for vBulletin 2 and you are no longer required to use the same set of blocks for all modules. The block management is more difficult for new users to understand and confusing if they have used Series 2 or other vBulletin portal systems such as vBadvanced or vBindex.

3.5.0 quickly after the above release the unexpected news of a major release for the forum meant a new version to support it.

3.6.0 was the result of another unexpected forum release and in addition added frame support to the control panel and added better help for administrator, where it is needed.

Portal War
The term Holy War implies that the root of a disagreement is a clash of values, and intractable of resolution except by agreeing to disagree. The portal wars between vbPortal and vbAdvanced are really unusual in that both products are completely different and serve different markets. The debate seems to have started over one product being free while the other is commercial, not dissimilar to the eternal war between vBulletin and phpBB forum users.

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