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

03.05.2025 Switched to php 8.4.5 in vB LTS development. Fixed several issues in vBulletin 3.9.0 LTS on the new version of php.
06.04.2025 Lots of new commits in php 8 support for vBulletin 4.
04.03.2025 Work continues on php 8 support in vBulletin 4.
12.02.2025 Switched to php 8.4.3 in vB LTS development.
22.11.2024 New changes have been made to LTS based on the experience of several big forums.
19.10.2024 Demo section is updated.
15.08.2024 Section Mods for vBulletin has been opened: plugins, templates, styles, graphics, articles.
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: 3.9.0 (works on php 7.0-8.3)
vBulletin 3.9.0 LTS (demo) 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 php 8 support (up to php 8.3.4)
• Fixed some vBulletin 3 old bugs

Previuos vBulletin LTS release: 3.8.12 (works on php 5.6-7.1, php 7.2-7.4)
3.8.12 LTS release updates the latest official version 3.8.11.
What's new in the 3.8.12 LTS release:

• Works on php versions 7.2-7.4 (php 5.6-7.1 is supported too)
• Fixed default templates to work with new php versions
• Fixed some vBulletin bugs

Latest vBulletin LTS release: 4.2.6 (works on php 5.6-7.1, php 7.2-7.4)
This LTS release updates the latest official version 4.2.5.
What's new in the 4.2.6 LTS release:

• Works on php versions 7.2-7.4 (php 5.6-7.1 is supported too)
• Fixed default templates to work with new php versions
• Fixed some vBulletin bugs

Next vBulletin LTS 4.3.0 (demo) release is under development now. It works on php 7.x-8.x only.

Demo vBulletin LTS running on php 8:

• vBulletin 3.9.0 LTS demo
• vBulletin 4.3.0 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. The vBulletin LTS update will be applied to each source file of your forum manually.

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 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.

Q. When will the next version of vBulletin LTS be released?
A. PHP 8 support for vBulletin 3 and 4 are very big projects. Active development is started in December 2022. Currently php 8 support for vBulletin 3 is released. Please follow All news section to be informed.

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. All LTS updates are released after extensive testing and bug fixing.

You can contact me by email. 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 ready to verify that you are a forum administrator.