Best vBulletin Forum Plugins 2013

vBulletin is one of the most popular forum softwares available and is a common one among online gambling affiliates. Forums are not for everyone and if you are going to do a forum you had better make it one of the best.  While working on improving the value of thepogg.com website and coaching them, the forums is one area we had to address and regardless of the content, we needed to improve the forums to be up to standard in terms of features and adding value to the members.

Presenting the best vBulletin plugins

Birthday Thread and PM generator

Make your users feel special by creating a birthday greeting thread for them and sending them a private message. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=263701

Users Registered This Week

Show how popular your forum is with this widget to display your weekly stats for registered users separated by each day.  If you don't have much forum activity you might want to wait until your forum becomes a bit more active first. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=297208

Word Links FREE

This plugin allows you to automatically make certain keywords or phrases become links. Make it easier for your users to stay on your site and possibly convert more users. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=263699

Last X Visited Threads in Forum Sideblock

This plugin adds a bit of interactivity to show the last forum threads a user has visited but also has taken away some privacy. Now if your casino managers are ignoring a complaint, perhaps you could tell if they have viewed that complaint thread. Of course the end result is they leave the forum but a neat plugin. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=267905

Chat IRC

Forums are like chats but not in real time. Having a chat feature is common on some of the larger forums and adds another dimension to your forum.  Some people want to hang out and a chat program will let them do that. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=256645

Advanced Censor Options

This plugin allows you the ability to sensor some words, we won't provide examples but you get the point. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=293490

AdminCP Firewall

Forum and website security these days is extra critical.  There are some tools available to help you block out extra threats and send you notifications when someone is attempting to get into your backend. AdminCP Firewall plugin can give you email alerts when someone logs into the admin control panel, checks the IP addresses of the admins, emails if the IP isn't whitelisted, blocks access if IP isn't whitelisted and get email notification on failed login attempts. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=296383

vBulletin Single Sign-On

Merge logins of other backend CMS like wordpress and drupal. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=270517

Ban From Thread

Just as the name implies, ban problematic users from certain threads.  No need to say more. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=263142

Thanks Statistics Widget

Keeps track of your users who are 'thankful'. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=297290

Facebook like button on the Header

Likes are a great way to get more followers and people sharing your content.  It pays to be social. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=293601

Guest PM Notice

Perhaps a little sneaky but if it works then you can't complain. Guests get a private message notice which they have to register to view it.  If you are going to use this, make sure you give your guest visitors something special for them to see. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=298032

Spambot Stopper

This plugin detects when users complete the forum process in the minimum time possible, which implies there is a robot registering on the site or perhaps spammers that just have this processed down to a science. If you get this activity, you can choose many actions like giving them an error or banning. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=294633

Follow User

This plugin lets you follow (stalk) users to your heart's content. It can be useful for things like wanting to see what someone else makes another post. For admins it makes it easier to get your users to follow one user that you control and use for special messages and announcements. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=293491

Discuss: Yahoo Answers Clone

This plugin is neat because people can ask questions, wait for answers and they can select the best answer. http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=281692

Forum Live Feed & User Wall

This plugin's main feature is to see the activity happening on your forum, anything from registrations, posts, avatar uploads, etc... http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=278742