In this mini-series, we'll study vBulletin -- an open source, commercial content management system -- to understand key strategic concepts in web 2.0 (web 2.0 = sharing/social/open source economy). As vBulletin is an open-source content management system with a rich ecosystem of design and development firms that specialize in providing custom vBulletin services, it provides us with a great case study in understanding the dynamics of the web 2.0 economy.

The mini-series will proceed as follows:

Value Maps. First we'll map out the ecosystem and hypothesize as to how value moves around in it.

Zoints vs vBSEO. The two leading players on the edge of the vBulletin ecosystem (meaning not counting vBulletin itself) are Zoints and vBSEO. We'll explore the strategies they appear to be using in their quest, and the implications of them for the ecosystem.

Future of vBulletin. Using what we've learned thus far, we'll speculate as to where vBulletin is headed.

In conclusion, I'll share my thoughts on the best parts of the vBulletin ecosystem -- as well as the parts that are best to avoid.

I commented previously about vBulletin back on the old blog, where I expressed why I consider vBulletin to be the best CMS I've seen. Feel free to check out that post for a deeper perspective on my thoughts regarding vBulletin as a publishing tool.

If you're new to this blog, you may find this mini-series on vBulletin more useful if you check out our previous reports on publishing 2.0 and on the mythology of web 2.0 -- both will help to give you a perspective on where this blog is coming from.

Click here to go to the first post of the series.