IPS vs JCink Premium: The Showdown

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IPS vs JCink Premium

--->THE SHOWDOWN<---

So you're building a new roleplay forum, and you're ready to make the first (and very important) choice of what software to create it on. As with any administrative decision, you should always go with the system that makes you feel most comfortable, and that suits your style. Never choose a forum software simply because you believe it's "what people want". JCink may be the preferred flavour at the moment, but there was also a time where JCink was considered horribly scary compared to the then-preferred Invisionfree. Software tastes and comfort levels change.

Start by making the decision for yourself, and the members will come. Plus, you won't be stuck with a forum software that you don't like. 

But that doesn't mean you need to stay inside your comfort zone, or that you should stick only with what you know. In the following guide, I'll take you through the features and benefits of the professional IPS forum software, and how it makes for a fantastic RP board. To give you an idea of how much power is available, we'll be comparing it to JCink Premium.

And if you're not sure if you like IPS as a software --- you're using it right now! As a user, IPS4 feels a lot like JCink. Just a little shinier, more polished, and newer. But we'll get to why that is later. Let's start with the difficult part first.

1. THE COST

Cost is always an issue. One of the reasons JCink and Invisionfree are so popular is the free options they offer. If money is your greatest concern, JCink may be your best option. That said---if you're looking to go to JCink Premium, it's definitely worth looking at the base IPS plan.

• JCink Premium: $10/month (can be used for five sites)
• IPS: $30/month (one site, but heaps of extra features)

Unless you plan to run five different sites off your JCink Premium account, you'll get far more value out of IPS. 

1a. ONLINE VISITOR LIMIT

One factor that often stops administrators from considering IPS is the "online visitor" limit. It's explained terribly in the documentation, and sounds like you can only have 40 active users.

Not true.

"Online visitor" refers to a single unique IP address browsing the site. It doesn't take into consideration how many registered accounts are on the board, only how many IP addresses are present. 

This number is also averaged over a 48-hour period. So in order to max out the base plan, you would need to have 40 unique IP addresses browsing the site every half hour over 48 hours. If you allowed each member one half-hour block every two days to browse your site, you wouldn't max out this plan unless you had more than 3840 unique members (not accounts, unique IP addresses). In fact, 40 unique visitors would need to be constantly online for 48 hours before they reached the second tier of the plan.

Most RP sites don't reach those numbers. The software is built for commercial use, and we're down at the happy fun hobby scale. 

But -- even if you do exceed that limit? Your plan will automatically be bumped up to ensure no downtime, and you have the choice to remain at that upper level or downgrade if it was a one-off surge.

2. THE SOFTWARE

Did you know that JCink is built on the original IPS software?

IPB version 1.3 was released in late 2003, and was the last of the "free" IPBoard releases. That's why the software is so common among free hosts. It was also notorious for exploits (which were patched by the company while it was still being supported, new exploits need to be patched by the hosts that offer IPB1.3 hosting services). Although JCink is still technically being "developed" by JFB, the core of the software is fifteen years old. There will come a point where modifying/patching the core will no longer be as viable as moving to a completely new software, but it's done pretty well to last these fifteen years! If it was a song, the radio would be playing it under "hits and oldschool" by now.

IPS4, the current version, is under active development. It's designed to work with the internet as we know it in 2018, and with other devices that have infiltrated our lives over the past fifteen years. Getting IPB1.3 to be adequately responsive on a mobile device is a challenge, but IPS4 has it built in. 

This also means that any potential exploits, bugs, or other sticky situations are dealt with fast. IPS provides service not just to us little roleplayers, but also to big and very important companies who do not like when their websites break. 

John and JFB do an amazing job of supporting IPB1.3, and it can't be understated how fantastic it is to see them bring out additional features to old software. But if you're looking for something that is under active development, and constantly moving toward a new version with better features: it's gotta be IPS.

3. OH, THE APPS

When you sign up for cloud hosting with IPS, you get more than just a forum. You get:

• Pages (databases, blocks and webpages application)
• Blogs
• Gallery
• Clubs
• Calendar (one that works)

You also have the ability to download additional third-party applications and plugins from the IPS website. Most have a cost attached, but some very good and basic ones are free.

• Pages is more than just a simple web page maker, although it does do that as well. You can read about how much I love Pages in my documentation. From creating databases to store articles, applications, bits of information, keep scores, to making blocks that display the latest feeds/statuses/blogs/open threads/whatever you like, Pages will be the best friend you didn't know you need.
• Blogs is as it says on the box: the ability for members to create their own blogs outside of the forum system. You might use this for in-character diaries, or something else fantastically creative. 
• Gallery is another simple feature that could be used to great effect. Have amazing artists on your board, and want to showcase their work? 
• Clubs (or "coteries" as they are called here on The Initiative) allows members to create their own groups, public or private, that contain their own little forums. This could be used for any number of things, in-character clubs, common rooms, organisation groups, anything. 
• Calendar... and yes, it works. It's not especially elegant, but let's be honest: it can't be worse than what IPB1.3 kind of has. You can create events that go over a date range, and install sidebar blocks that show what's happening/upcoming. Ideal if you want to create a schedule of RP events in progress or coming up! Also, you can display multiple calendars in different colours, which is pretty neat.

All of these apps are included in your base price of $30/month. Not bad for just $20 more than JCink Premium, right?

4. CONTENT RESTRICTIONS

There are two key reasons for purchasing a JCink Premium subscription.

1. You want to get rid of ads, because they're dumb to style around
2. You want to lift the content restrictions to run a 333 site

IPS is not ad-supported, nor does it have content restrictions beyond what would be considered illegal content on any server in the USA. So as long as you're not looking to run a criminal content delivery system, you'll be absolutely fine!

5. THEMES, TEMPLATES, AND DELICIOUS CONTROL

JFB brought in the Templates system, which was a revelation. Imagine being able to re-create the code for individual pages and have them display exactly how you want! Get ready for your mind to be blown.

In IPS, every template is editable. We don't recommend you edit every template (most changes can be done with CSS) but you can do it. All of your database pages can be templated individually as well, and you can have one database styled to look completely different to another---depending on what you want to use it for. Most times, users don't even know they're looking at a database. Did you know you're reading an article off one now? Surprise!

If you're not so keen on getting deep into the CSS, there's also an easy mode. A few simple boxes that you can select colours from to style the forum away from the default blue and white. And yes---you can combine this easy mode with a few basic CSS adjustments to make it your own. 

Or, if you want to get your hands dirty, here's "hard mode":

Look at all that control! Delicious!

5a. LET'S GET LOGICAL

IPS also has a "template logic" system, which allows you to input basic if/else, loops, and scraps of PHP into your templates. Extremely useful if you have a head for code, and in future guides I'll be stepping you through some basic code snippets that I've found useful (and I've only been learning this since February, so don't be discouraged if it looks overwhelming to you now!).

6. RESPONSIVE AND SEXY

IPS4 is built around responsive design. That means it behaves differently depending on the screen size. When you access The Initiative on your phone you'll get a different view to what you see on your desktop. Elements are adjusted, removed, or added, to make the forum easier to navigate on a device that particular size. 

Also, did I mention the ACP is just straight-up sexy?

7. SUPPORT 

It's unfair to really compare the support levels for JCink and IPS. One is a complete commercial solution, the other is doing the best they can with what they've got. Needless to say, when something goes wrong with IPS it doesn't take long for them to get down to the bottom of the issue and resolve it. You are paying for support at this level, and it's absolutely worth it.

Third-party applications that require a purchase are also supported by their creators. How well they're supported depends on who made it, and it's always worth looking into the comments if you're not sure about a particular developer. 

8. QUICK-FIRE ROUND

* IPS does not allow the same email address to be used twice as the email address is also a unique account identifier. To get around this, you can use Gmail Aliases, or turn off email validation for secondary accounts.

** You know how the spooky bots in the Initiative Discord post links in the chat when you submit a topic? You can make your own spooky bots using IPS with Discord integration.

9. YOUR QUESTIONS

Something I've not covered? Anything you want to know, about a particular feature or a difference between IPS and JCink? Ask away!