Changes Coming to the forums

[admin]

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update...

Shoutbox...
For some reason this shoutbox software is sucking up a bunch of the memory from the server and we'll be removing it until we figure out what's going on... we have a new one in mind already...

Forums...
the forum code is a complete mess and is obviously causing lots of problems so we we'll be setting up a fresh version of the forum tonight that will hopefully speed things up... this should be done in the next few days or so. We're also going to save the old version of the forums somewhere so that users can still get any of the information that couldn't be ported over to the new install...

Ads... The new forum system will have ads but the majority of the ads will only be displayed to guests and members who don't have a certain number of posts... (we're thinking 250) That way active forum members won't have to view the majority of the ads.

Content...
We need to freshen up the home page with some fresh content. Please contact the head aministrator (the dude) to coordinate this...

PM with any questions.

[Luna Lovegood]

It's good to know something's finally being done about the layout and the ads. I'm looking forward to being able to get more active here again

And by a fresh version of the forum, do you mean a completely fresh start, like a forum reset? o.O

[admin]

We're going to install a fresh copy of vbulletin (with a new set of code and database) and then we'll import posts, user data, and forum categories to the new version. When I say "Fresh Copy" I mean that we're downloading the latest version of vb from the vbulletin site and installing it from their...

[Luna Lovegood]

Ah right, that makes much more sense than having a full forum reset while the forum's still so young xD

[The Man]

yeah, I was going to say that removing the posts and users database would be kind of senseless.

why is this thread closed? *reopens*

[Larsa]

Thank god I wanted to ask something. When you say user data will be imported does that mean EVERY members profile AND post count will be inported? And can you explain a little more on what you mean by keeping this format here? And how long will this all take?

[Lethe°]

lol I was wondering why this was closed too. I thought he didn't want any backchat. (Although it does say to PM him)

But if the shoutbox is going, then we'll have to resort to the FFE Party Thread that Tycoon made, amirite? This could actually turn out well.

[Oti]

Originally Posted by Admin

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update...

Shoutbox...
For some reason this shoutbox software is sucking up a bunch of the memory from the server and we'll be removing it until we figure out what's going on... we have a new one in mind already...

Forums...
the forum code is a complete mess and is obviously causing lots of problems so we we'll be setting up a fresh version of the forum tonight that will hopefully speed things up... this should be done in the next few days or so. We're also going to save the old version of the forums somewhere so that users can still get any of the information that couldn't be ported over to the new install...

Ads... The new forum system will have ads but the majority of the ads will only be displayed to guests and members who don't have a certain number of posts... (we're thinking 250) That way active forum members won't have to view the majority of the ads.

Content...
We need to freshen up the home page with some fresh content. Please contact the head aministrator (the dude) to coordinate this...

PM with any questions.

EXACTLY what is needed. Glad you came in here before it was too late...

All the issues you addressed are the problems here. There is too much of a mess to know what is causing what, and YES, the Shoutbox is an issue.

My opinion, check to see if there is an option for the refresh rate. If so, it should be (at the VERY least) 10 seconds... with anything higher being recommended. The more it takes to update itself, the mroe CPU that stacks. Thus, when something else decides to use a spike of CPU, it'll kill the server.

Again, this is looking very good and will motivate staff again Thanks Ralph.


EDIT: Although, there is still the issue of having the site updated/re-tuned. I'd be willing to help, but whoever gets to do that, please just make sure it happens. Traffic comes in from content/media, while the community captures and imprisons the traffic.

[Exodus]

This is all very good news to hear, Ralph. I'm glad you're finally taking up some actions with the forums, and I expect it to be better when you update everything.

[The Dude]

Wait what's this about me now?

In any case glad to hear it. I'll have to ask Dave how to upload content but once I figure that out. I'll be glad to help.

Someone informed me that I need FTP access to load up content Ralph/Mikel. I don't have that. I'd need that in order to load up content unless you're going to set up a system where staff can load up content themselves without need for FTP

[Larsa]

Originally Posted by Larsa

And how long will this all take?

I repeat.

[King Hydro]

Originally Posted by Larsa

I repeat.

If everything goes smoothly.. less than a week i reckon.

[Larsa]

But will this site be closed for this week?

[King Hydro]

No.. It says in the post they're working on a different version which will be uploaded when it's ready. The site will probably be down for a short period of time while the new version is uploaded and the database is transferred. Until that time comes the whole site will remain open.

EDIT: Larsa, and everyone else, check the latest announcement.

[Larsa]

And I will most positivly get all my post count back once this is all through, right! And I'll get those wonderful benifits of being over 250?

[admin]

Originally Posted by Larsa

Thank god I wanted to ask something. When you say user data will be imported does that mean EVERY members profile AND post count will be inported? And can you explain a little more on what you mean by keeping this format here? And how long will this all take?

yes, all posts will be imported.
not sure what your question is regarding the format ?
we should have the new forum up and running late tonight. 11PM EST (8/15)
getting a new forum skin might take a week or so...

[admin]

Originally Posted by Oti

EXACTLY what is needed. Glad you came in here before it was too late...

All the issues you addressed are the problems here. There is too much of a mess to know what is causing what, and YES, the Shoutbox is an issue.

My opinion, check to see if there is an option for the refresh rate. If so, it should be (at the VERY least) 10 seconds... with anything higher being recommended. The more it takes to update itself, the mroe CPU that stacks. Thus, when something else decides to use a spike of CPU, it'll kill the server.

Again, this is looking very good and will motivate staff again Thanks Ralph.


EDIT: Although, there is still the issue of having the site updated/re-tuned. I'd be willing to help, but whoever gets to do that, please just make sure it happens. Traffic comes in from content/media, while the community captures and imprisons the traffic.

Thanks for the comments Oti... :-)
If I missed anything PLEASE be sure to lmk... Right now our main focus is getting a new version of the forums setup. Once that's donw we'll work on the main part of the site.

[admin]

Originally Posted by The Dude

Wait what's this about me now?

In any case glad to hear it. I'll have to ask Dave how to upload content but once I figure that out. I'll be glad to help.

Someone informed me that I need FTP access to load up content Ralph/Mikel. I don't have that. I'd need that in order to load up content unless you're going to set up a system where staff can load up content themselves without need for FTP

You'll have a PM about this in a few minutes...

[Dave]

The shout box problem is most likely because its using inefficient AJAX.

A lot of the people on the vBulletin.org community lately (where the script undoubtedly came from) have gotten VERY sloppy with their modifications.

Unfortunately that mixed with the new AJAX craze, means a very inefficient shoutbox.

You'd be better off installing some kind of java chat applet, or removing it all together than using vBulletin.org's modifications at this point in time.

Bare minimum, avoid all AJAX vBulletin Modifications, as they are server nightmares.


On a side note, would it be possible for me to get a copy of the forums skin? I'm not interested in the design persay, only a rather large modification I wrote to the profile template.

[Nrvnsq]

Ads... The new forum system will have ads but the majority of the ads will only be displayed to guests and members who don't have a certain number of posts... (we're thinking 250) That way active forum members won't have to view the majority of the ads.

Wouldn't you want less ads for both parties? The annoyance of ads could cause members to not want to stay.