vBulletin LTS

vBulletin LTS is a Long-term Support project to extend the lifecycle of the vBulletin 3 and 4 forum engines, which are no longer officially supported.

• Support for new php versions
• Support for new database versions
• Security updates
• Bug fixes and improvements

The main principle of LTS support project is 0 (zero) php and database errors, warning and notices. This approach guarantees that forum does not contain the errors and actually compatible with declared php and database versions. By default most of the php and database errors, warning and notices are hide from the forum screen even in the official vBulletin releases. In the LTS project, all these errors are being fixed. It's true. This is a huge work because vBulletin 3 and 4 developers never did this. And this is the main difference between LTS project and any official or custom builds like "vBulletin with php X support" which hide from the screen only critical errors and in fact not compatible with declared php version.

Long-term support may also be provided for third-party plugins (extensions) developed for vBulletin 3 and 4.

18.12.2025 vBulletin 4.3.1 LTS and vBulletin 3.9.1 LTS with full php 8.5.0 support is released.
...
17.09.2025 vBulletin 4.3.0 LTS with full php 8 support is released. This release also includes vBulletin CMS 4.3.0 LTS and vBulletin Blog 4.3.0 LTS.
06.06.2024 vBulletin 3.9.0 LTS with full php 8 support is released.
For more details, see the section All news.

Latest vBulletin LTS release: 3.9.1 (works on php 7.0-8.5.0, MariaDB (MySQL) 5.5.8-11.4)
vBulletin 3.9.1 LTS (demo) release updates the version 3.9.0 LTS and the latest official version 3.8.11.
What's new in the 3.9.0 LTS release:

• Added full php 8.5.0 support

Previuos vBulletin LTS release: 3.9.0 (works on php 7.0-8.4, MariaDB (MySQL) 5.5.8-11.4)
vBulletin 3.9.0 LTS release updates the version 3.8.12 LTS and the latest official version 3.8.11.
What's new in the 3.9.0 LTS release:

• Added full php 8 support (up to php 8.4.11)
• Works on MariaDB (MySQL) 5.5.8-11.4
• Fixed some vBulletin 3 old bugs

Latest vBulletin LTS release: 4.3.1 (works on php 7.1.33-8.5.0, MariaDB (MySQL) 5.5.8-11.4)
vBulletin 4.3.1 LTS (demo) release updates the version 4.3.0 LTS and the latest official version 4.2.5.
What's new in the 4.3.1 LTS release:

• Added full php 8.5.0 support for vBulletin, vBulletin CMS and vBulletin Blog

Previuos vBulletin LTS release: 4.3.0 (works on php 7.1.33-8.4, MariaDB (MySQL) 5.5.8-11.4)
vBulletin 4.3.0 LTS release updates the version 4.2.6 LTS and the latest official version 4.2.5.
What's new in the 4.3.0 LTS release:

• Added full php 8 support (up to php 8.4.11) for vBulletin, vBulletin CMS и vBulletin Blog
• Works on MariaDB (MySQL) 5.5.8-11.4
• Fixed numerous bugs in vBulletin, vBulletin CMS, and vBulletin Blog

Demo vBulletin LTS running on php 8:

• vBulletin 3.9.1 LTS demo
• vBulletin 4.3.1 LTS demo

Q. What is the difference between vBulletin LTS updates and other updates "vBulletin with php 8"?
A. vBulletin LTS updates are very different from other updates. To be more precise, the difference is huge. I actually fix vBulletin bugs and all vBulletin incompatibilities with current versions of php and databases, not just hide some warnings displayed on the screen. And what's very important: I don't add new bugs to the vBulletin source code, which is unfortunately common in other updates.

Q. Can I get the latest official releases of vBulletin 3.8.11 and 4.2.5 here?
A. No. I do not distrubute any official vBulletin releases. I provide LTS support for the vBulletin forums.

Q. I have a vBulletin with heavily modified source files. Is it possible to apply the vBulletin LTS update to my forum?
A. Yes, it is possible. I can prepare the special build of the vBulletin LTS update with all of your changes the source files.

Q. Is there a demo of the vBulletin LTS forum?
A. Yes, see Demo section.

Q. Do I need to have a vBulletin license to get LTS updates?
A. I welcome the using of licensed software, but I cannot verify that you have a valid vBulletin license.

Q. What vBulletin versions is supported by LTS?
A. LTS support can be provided for the latest official releases of vBulletin 3 (3.8.11) and vBulletin 4 (4.2.5). If you are using any of the previous versions, you have to upgrade the forum to the latest official release. LTS support can also be provided for the forums with unofficial updates installed over the last official releases.

В. Is it possible to apply the LTS update to a forum that already has some other third-party vBulletin update installed?
О. Yes. But we need to first check the compatibility of LTS update with your forum.

Q. Are LTS updates enough for my forum to work on new php versions?
A. Yes. But If your forum has installed third party plugins for vBulletin and/or has changes to the standard vBulletin templates, it may be necessary to fix third party plugins or modified templates. A list of installed plugins and modified default templates can be viewed in the vBulletin admin console.

Q. Can I get the fixes from LTS for my forum templates and third party plugins that are incompatible with the version of php/database installed?
A. Yes.

Q. How do you develop vBulletin LTS for new php versions?
A. I test all the forum functions in all modes (there are a lot of them) using the latest version of PHP. Then I fix all levels' errors and warnings. And then I perform regression testing to verify the changes.

В. I found a bug in vBulletin LTS, what should I do?
О. Write me email. Bugs are usually fixed within a few minutes or hours.

Q. How can I get vBulletin LTS support?
A. Write me the email with url of your forum.

I am a qualified developer having more than 20 years' experience working with vBulletin forums as an owner, administrator, programmer and QA. I'm not an amateur, but a professional. All LTS updates are released after extensive testing and bug fixing.

You can contact me by email with your forum URL. Before sending an email, make sure that you can receive a response to the return address provided.
Note: Emails with empty/fake contact information or from empty forums may be ignored, sorry.
You must be prepared to verify that you are a forum administrator.