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So, we now are migrated to vBulletin! Some challenges remain, but most of it is out of the way. It was a more difficult process than I originally anticipated. First of all, there was the issue of cost. PHPBB (our old platform) was free, which is one of the reasons I chose it when I rushed to resurrect TSF. vBulletin 5 (technically vBulletin Connect) cost me $230 for a lifetime license - and that's on top of domain registration and potential hosting and server costs. For example, I also just registered the domain for another year, now its registered through September 2016. So over $230 for an upgrade that's also taking a lot of my time.
I'll also be adding a PayPal donate button. With this software, I can create "subscriber accounts" where people can pay for things like the ability to have an avatar or signature, user rankings, the ability to send/receive/store private messages, access features like chat, etc. (all of which increase server load and storage and also take time to configure). But I prefer to make all the features available to everyone, and let people donate if they're able to. I think that's the best method. Additionally, you can also help out immensely by helping to grow the community - invite your friends and family, and share our discussions on social media.
Over the years, the limitations of PHPBB became obvious, and many of you had called for a more modern platform. So this is it. As far as lifecylces of forum software, this version of vBulletin is still in its infant stages. Most vBulletin sites are still on vB4 or even vB3. That means that there aren't a ton of modifications or themes available, and there are still bugs and other issues for the vBulletin support team to iron out. But it also ensures that we are on the most modern version, which should mean we don't need to make another drastic change for many years.
vBulletin 5 does not support imports from PHPBB. So to preserve all of the information that was carried over (my apologies for the passwords and avatars), I had to first create a new database and directory on the server and import the old site into a new vBulletin 4 site, which was a hell of a task on its own. After making sure all of the essentials were there, I then upgraded the vB4 site to what you see now. That was another challenge, but it was eventually successful.
I again apologize for the couple days of downtime, and I hope we can make this place even better than it was before! If you notice anything wrong or have any requests, please don't hesitate to create a thread in the Suggestions/Questions forum: http://forum.highonhockey.com/forum/...ions-questions
I'll also be adding a PayPal donate button. With this software, I can create "subscriber accounts" where people can pay for things like the ability to have an avatar or signature, user rankings, the ability to send/receive/store private messages, access features like chat, etc. (all of which increase server load and storage and also take time to configure). But I prefer to make all the features available to everyone, and let people donate if they're able to. I think that's the best method. Additionally, you can also help out immensely by helping to grow the community - invite your friends and family, and share our discussions on social media.
Over the years, the limitations of PHPBB became obvious, and many of you had called for a more modern platform. So this is it. As far as lifecylces of forum software, this version of vBulletin is still in its infant stages. Most vBulletin sites are still on vB4 or even vB3. That means that there aren't a ton of modifications or themes available, and there are still bugs and other issues for the vBulletin support team to iron out. But it also ensures that we are on the most modern version, which should mean we don't need to make another drastic change for many years.
vBulletin 5 does not support imports from PHPBB. So to preserve all of the information that was carried over (my apologies for the passwords and avatars), I had to first create a new database and directory on the server and import the old site into a new vBulletin 4 site, which was a hell of a task on its own. After making sure all of the essentials were there, I then upgraded the vB4 site to what you see now. That was another challenge, but it was eventually successful.
I again apologize for the couple days of downtime, and I hope we can make this place even better than it was before! If you notice anything wrong or have any requests, please don't hesitate to create a thread in the Suggestions/Questions forum: http://forum.highonhockey.com/forum/...ions-questions
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