Wanted: Hosted solution with paid skinning and modification service
 

Hi

We have been eagerly awaiting the release of vBulletin 4. However, we realize it's going to be hard to migrate from vB3 anytime soon. Our main reasons are:

• Impossible to get professionals to design a customized skin
• Way too many small and large bugs in vB4
• Too much time spent maintaining vB3

Keeping up with security releases is time consuming and risky, and every now and then somebody exploits a weakness and causes mayhem (or we cause it ourselves during an upgrade because something didn't go right). Either way the cleanup is usually a three day job. Usually we get good advice and help from support/community, but it's just not cost effective.

We want to develop our forum, for our users and for our business. We don't want to geek about with databases and patches and hacks any longer.

Competition is better
I had a look at IP.Boards, and I realize they have a services option. They will migrate your content from vBulletin, including your tricky vBSEO settings, they design a custom skin and host and maintain the installation for you. Why can't we have the same offer? I couldn't get decent professional designers to touch the old vB3 templating system, and with the new stylevar system I can't even get professional skinners to give me a customized version of vB4 skins they have on sale! (Quote: sorry, we don't do customizations for vB4).

The solution
I want vBulletin to host my software and be responsible for upgrades and backup. When I discover bugs, I want to report the bug to you, and you make sure it gets fixed. You create the ticket and repro steps. Not me.

I want vBulletin to provide a professional skinning service. I'm tired of getting ripped of by promising designers who eventually give up because they don't understand vBulletin templating or outright scam sites.

I'm prepared to pay top dollars for such a service. Anyone with me?