vBulletin ...

[Bantum]

I've been looking into upgrading the forum software, couple of options to look at :

https://www.vbulletin.com/purchases/

https://invisioncommunity.com/

After your Thoughts / Recommendations ?


Cheers, Bantum ...

[pedroj]

Hi Bantum,
I guess if we have the keys to the castle (can log into the hosting account) then vBulletin update is the path of least work but yes looks to have a cost.

Which doe we want, lot of work setting up / migrating or a one hit of cost to update?

Another of the problems is that a lot of the really interesting threads are hard to use as all of the hosted images are blocked by image shack or other providers... makes it hard to follow them.

Regards,
Peter

[Bantum]

Yes there are few considerations to be had - probably the easiest way to fix the site & keep all the current data is the upgrade path on existing platform. ( The other would require transferring data )

Down side is it will cost approx. $250 to $400 depending on which one we go for. ( like the option for mobile devices )

To help pay for this would either require users to pay an annual subscription, or give donations in kind.

Would be good to get some feed back on this to assist making up minds in which best direction to go in ...

Ciao, Bantum ...

[El_Freddo]

I guess to make an informed decision we would need to know the cost of each option and who is definitely able to take on the work if we go with the new platform.

I'd be happy to donate, I'd just have to have the minister of fun and finances "approve" an appropriate amount

On the note of the photo bucket - patches are available to make the images appear. Image shack users may have shutdown their account (old members usually) a number of years ago when imageshack went to subscription for 500 images or more. Also the odd photo here and there have been "dropped". That's something I've got to go through and fix.

I think we're at a time now where free image hosting is near the point of a thing of the past. It's either facebook or private web-hosting...

Cheers

Bennie

[Silverbullet]

Is the cost of upgrading to the next Vbulletin a one time expense? If so I'm sure there would be enough members who would chip in $20, $50, wouldn't take long to make up the required amount.

As for image hosting, I find the forums own image hosting (attachments) Work very well and are future proof pretty much. I just have to reduce the size of my images with another program first which is easy.

If this forum was upgraded and a bit more modern, and we could retain all the old data and info (one of the biggest draw cards of this site) we could start directing traffic back to this site from FB etc.

[El_Freddo]

Is the cost of upgrading to the next Vbulletin a one time expense? If so I'm sure there would be enough members who would chip in $20, $50, wouldn't take long to make up the required amount.

Agreed.

As for image hosting, I find the forums own image hosting (attachments) Work very well and are future proof pretty much. I just have to reduce the size of my images with another program first which is easy.

This would just push the cost onto the forum as they'll have to pay for more space to store the pics.

Could be opened up to just technical pics of builds etc. Trip reports can remain 3rd party hosting. Just a thought.

Cheers

Bennie

[Bantum]

Done my bit ( just updated my subscription ) So covering the cost shouldn't be an issue ... ... ( Rates would need to be revised though ) We probably could get away with just the one update for now & look at further updates if required later. Keeping it all up to date ( via subscriptions ? ) might cost more, but would solve some of the 'hacker' issues I guess .

I think Brett is willing to make the changes & is open to our help with the admin & monitoring volunteers, suggest if you're interested - put your name down in here : showthread.php?t=26149

It's more a case of which update we should go for & make sure to back up everything beforehand ...

Google Photos still seems to be working for me atm ( bit more clunky in operation though ) Will see how long they can maintain the 'free' part ... :/

Ciao, Bantum ...

[Bantum]

Sorry there has been no progress made on this as I've not been able to contact Brett Rogers to make the changes happen, he did mention in my last correspondence that he would consider purchasing the upgrade software, however there is a small mater of implementing it - Still awaiting response ... :/

Ciao, Bantum ...

[El_Freddo]

I've not been able to contact Roger to make the changes happen

Please excuse my ignorance - but who's Roger? I thought Brett held the keys.

You've done well so far to get some contact happening. I'm hoping we can revive this great forum to where it used to be or better - incorporate model specific sections or onroad/offroad model specific sections to cater for the offroad and the road hugging crowds... I guess getting it back to where it was a bit of an all rounder but in a more up-to-date sense as not everyone owns an MY or L series these days (poor buggers! )

Cheers

Bennie

[Subyroo]

not everyone owns an MY or L series these days (poor buggers! )

Cheers

Bennie

You are right there Bennie, as much as I love my 2016 CRV for what it is, I still miss my subies terribly for what they were (MY00 RX & SG03 XS).

[Bantum]

Please excuse my ignorance - but who's Roger? I thought Brett held the keys.
Bennie

Ha - Sorry his Full Name is Brett Rogers ...

Cheers, Bantum ...

[El_Freddo]

Hehehe... I didn't think about that. Duh.

Cheers

Bennie

[Bantum]

Well there's been a bit of jump forward, progress has been made in sorting out upgrades to the new platform with it up & running, but now there's a need for it to be cleaned up, as there's lots of miss directed / dead links ...

Will go through what I can & make suggestions for the Admin to look at fixes etc ...

One thing that does come to mind, is the 'emotive' Smilies icons - seems to have errors in applying / display of them. Any one know a fix for that ?

Cheers, Bantum ...

[El_Freddo]

Links - looks like it’s up to those that know what is linked - so either admin or the member that posted can sort it out. I’m working through mine as I find them. Knowing the number for all the subforums would make it much easier to manipulate the address code to make the links work properly again.

For now it’s a manual operation.

Cheers

Bennie

[Bantum]

Another issue I'd like to sort would be the making a post / thread 'sticky' ...

The forum permission needed to achieve this would typically be applied to the moderators or admin groups.



To apply Permissions :
-group forum permissions
-choose the group
-choose the forum
-advanced permissions
-Can post announcements: YES
-Can post stickies: YES
submit

Can one of the admin guys fix this ?

Cheers, Bantum

[TOONGA]

Another issue I'd like to sort would be the making a post / thread 'sticky' ...

The forum permission needed to achieve this would typically be applied to the moderators or admin groups.



To apply Permissions :
-group forum permissions
-choose the group
-choose the forum
-advanced permissions
-Can post announcements: YES
-Can post stickies: YES
submit

Can one of the admin guys fix this ?

Cheers, Bantum

Bantum sorted go and have some fun

TOONGA

[Bantum]

Well someone's been busy, was looking through the log with lots of edits & deletions ...

Thanks for cleaning up the site, looking good ...

However I tried to use the Sticky feature - it's not working for me, must be doing something wrong ...

Ciao, Bantum ...

[El_Freddo]

@Bantum, I’ve made this thread a sticky as a test for now.

Let me know if it worked - all I did was use the hammer/gavel menu bar at the bottom of the thread, then selected “make sticky” or something to that effect. I did this on my mobile.

That log that I think you viewed is one of forum membership requests - they don’t hit the forum until approved. Many are deleted for being know spam accounts, others approved but remain silent and maybe 2-3% of total requests approved that actually post on the forum with Subaru related stuff (the best type of new member!).

Hope you’re enjoying the new responsibilities

Cheers

Bennie

[Bantum]

Yer the 'sticky' thing is still not working for me ( must be an admin thing ) as its not showing up on the 'hammer' menu ... :/

Um do you want to go through the notifications ? as there's been a few that've come up on my feed asking for approvals ...

[Subyroo]

I just got one for your post on this issue.