Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
All-
This has been a long time coming, but we are finally at the point where we are going to move to a new Forum software. Our current software has served us well, but it lacks in the mobile department and is generally outdated. Keeping up with updates and fixes is challenging, at best.
The new forum software that we are using is called XenForo. There is a site whose owner we have been working with and our site will end up looking a lot like his in terms of style, theme, and add-ons. You can check out his forum at:
http://www.southbayriders.com/forums/
Our new forum will have the same basic theme and will display more or less in the same way, so that is what the new forum will look and behave like if you would like to "preview" it. You should check it out on a mobile device - it's quite a nice change from our current software, IMO.
To support this change, we need to TAKE DOWN THE FORUM on Sunday, 12/27. Probably around 10pm or so, Pacific time. The forum will be unavailable for approximately 12 hours while we import the data into the new forum. You should be able to start checking between 10am and noon on 12/28 Pacific. If you see the old forum pop back up, something did not go well...
There will be a few changes that users will have to deal with:
[list type=decimal]
[*]The new forum does not have the concept of "display names". This is both good and bad. The bad side is that you account will display your *original* name on your posts on login; for example, my original account name is "jaychris", so when I log in to the new forum, all of my posts initially show up as "jaychris". However your login name can be changed to match your current display name. I recommend that you login using the email address that you registered with (this is the easiest if you don't remember your original login name).
[*]Things WILL look a little different - but, we will still have the Classifieds feed and all of the forums will have the same names, layout, and content.
[*]We are still working on a few layout issues - but, nothing major. In fact, most people will probably not even notice, since they are minor adjustments to padding, whitespace, etc... but, if you notice something, it's most likely an intended effect.
[*]If you are a Site Sponsor and have questions or concerns, please contact myself or the Forum Boss. We worked really hard to make sure that nothing changed in those regards, except for cases where they are better.
[*]Keep an eye out for neat new features - for example, a "related threads" box will show up now that shows threads related to the one you are looking in. It also displays when you start a new post, so that you can see if there is already a thread that exists on the subject you are about to start a new thread on. This should cut down on the same thread subjects being posted over and over, because someone couldn't find an existing thread.
[/list]
And, lastly - a bit tongue in cheek, but this isn't really an open call for feedback... This IS happening. Some people will love it. Some people will hate it. Most will fall in between. This needed to happen for a variety of reasons, both technical and aesthetic.
This is mostly here for notice - if you want to ask questions, feel free, but we're not really interested in diatribes on how there's no need to change things.
This has been a long time coming, but we are finally at the point where we are going to move to a new Forum software. Our current software has served us well, but it lacks in the mobile department and is generally outdated. Keeping up with updates and fixes is challenging, at best.
The new forum software that we are using is called XenForo. There is a site whose owner we have been working with and our site will end up looking a lot like his in terms of style, theme, and add-ons. You can check out his forum at:
http://www.southbayriders.com/forums/
Our new forum will have the same basic theme and will display more or less in the same way, so that is what the new forum will look and behave like if you would like to "preview" it. You should check it out on a mobile device - it's quite a nice change from our current software, IMO.
To support this change, we need to TAKE DOWN THE FORUM on Sunday, 12/27. Probably around 10pm or so, Pacific time. The forum will be unavailable for approximately 12 hours while we import the data into the new forum. You should be able to start checking between 10am and noon on 12/28 Pacific. If you see the old forum pop back up, something did not go well...
There will be a few changes that users will have to deal with:
[list type=decimal]
[*]The new forum does not have the concept of "display names". This is both good and bad. The bad side is that you account will display your *original* name on your posts on login; for example, my original account name is "jaychris", so when I log in to the new forum, all of my posts initially show up as "jaychris". However your login name can be changed to match your current display name. I recommend that you login using the email address that you registered with (this is the easiest if you don't remember your original login name).
[*]Things WILL look a little different - but, we will still have the Classifieds feed and all of the forums will have the same names, layout, and content.
[*]We are still working on a few layout issues - but, nothing major. In fact, most people will probably not even notice, since they are minor adjustments to padding, whitespace, etc... but, if you notice something, it's most likely an intended effect.
[*]If you are a Site Sponsor and have questions or concerns, please contact myself or the Forum Boss. We worked really hard to make sure that nothing changed in those regards, except for cases where they are better.
[*]Keep an eye out for neat new features - for example, a "related threads" box will show up now that shows threads related to the one you are looking in. It also displays when you start a new post, so that you can see if there is already a thread that exists on the subject you are about to start a new thread on. This should cut down on the same thread subjects being posted over and over, because someone couldn't find an existing thread.
[/list]
And, lastly - a bit tongue in cheek, but this isn't really an open call for feedback...
This IS happening. Some people will love it. Some people will hate it. Most will fall in between. This needed to happen for a variety of reasons, both technical and aesthetic. This is mostly here for notice - if you want to ask questions, feel free, but we're not really interested in diatribes on how there's no need to change things.
