10 Years of GBF in 2015! Big Changes Coming!

[GP403]

It would be nice to be able to upload pics right to the site, would that be part of it?

I want to say, YES, but I'm not quite that far into it yet....

....

Moving on..... I took a snapshot of the database and attachments this morning, did an import, and there's a test site up and running HERE:

https://gbodyforum.com/xf/

PLEASE KNOW THIS: THIS TEST SITE IS 100% TEMPORARY AND A MIRROR INSTALLATION. This means NOTHING you post in here will be saved or backed up. Don't change your passwords in there, or make any ACTUAL threads you intend to keep, because once I finally convert the site over, I'm deleting that database. Actually, I may randomly delete that database and start over again from today's snapshot. So if you go there and find your posts gone, you know why. I'm making this available for everyone to start getting their feet wet, start learning the system, and find out what works, what doesn't work, the stuff I need to change, fix, etc.... So go ahead and make threads, change stuff, upload attachments, play with the system, etc.. but just be warned that it WILL GO AWAY eventually.

It also hasn't been themed/styled/etc. AT ALL. So no complaining about what it looks like yet!! Eventually I'll start working on the theme.

I've disabled registrations on this test site, and disabled all e-mails from the test site. I did this so that users wouldn't be getting confused if people were replying to imported threads if they don't know about the test site, etc. etc.... Eventually I'll turn it on, but don't need it being all chatty right away. If you DO get an e-mail from the XenForo install, please let me know, because it shouldn't happen!

Above all, if you see stuff not working, error messages, links broken, strange output, can't stay logged in, etc... please report it. I will likely create a separate "new site issues" thread but for now just put it here. Obviously there's a lot that's not right since it just finished the import and I'm still messing with it.

 

[GP403]

The first issues I've found:

- User ranks were not imported. This shouldn't be a big deal to fix.
- Post attachments displayed inline no longer do so. They show up as thumbnails at the bottom of the post. I'll look into this, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Need to see how new attachments are handled.
- Moderators haven't been set up yet, and user groups are still iffy.

 

[GP403]

Re: 10 Years of GBF in 2015! Cleaning House....

In preparation for moving to the XenForo platform... I'm going to be doing a bunch of housecleaning.... Here's what's going to happen:

- getting rid of inactive user accounts. (I'm doing this right now.) If you have ZERO posts and have not logged in since 2012, I'm deleting you. Sorry, nothing personal, but I don't think you're coming back. Its actually fewer than I expected, which is encouraging. I expect to have this done shortly.

- combining some of the forums. I'm going to merge General Discussion and Off-topic again. I'll post a new set of rules for the combined forum when that happens. I will probably put "Tales" and "Photos" back as primary forums again.

- I'm sure there's more. I will likely drop the Chat and Store sections before the conversion and figure that out later....

The first test conversion went great, much better than expected. I don't expect to have any major snafu's, except for the inline attachments problem everything looks good. Still have a lot of work to do, but I like where its going. Don't forget to check out https://gbodyforum.com/xf/ ... if you signed up after Jan 12, you probably don't have an account on the test site yet, so PM me if you find you don't, otherwise you have a duplicate account on that site. Got the media manager up and running which will replace the current photo gallery. Now I just have to see if I can script up a conversion for that... could be tricky.

 

[GP403]

Re: 10 Years of GBF in 2015! GO LIVE FEB 1st!!

the test site is moving right along. still don't have a way to move the photo album but that's not priority.

seriously, get over there and play around. https://gbodyforum.com/xf/ The next couple of days I plan to get the theming and colors down. I suspect it will wind up similar to what's here now, but definitely not identical. Trying to get a grip on all the myriad options in the theme, and the software itself.

I'd like to take this thing live on Feb. 1st. So if there are any objections or suggestions to how things work, what needs to be over there immediately after launch, etc. I'm all ears.

After launch, I'm looking to implement a "garage" mod, and maybe the "trader" system like over on TB, but I need to look at it a little closer still. Of course even after launch, expect things to morph and change and hopefully only improve.

 

[GP403]

wups! 😳 When I disconnected the photo album from the main site it lost the usernames for the photos. "Unknown Coward" doesn't sound very nice, does it.... So, I reconnected the photo album to this database, and changed permissions so you can't upload anymore. Same effect but without breakage.

After the move I will have to come up with a way to retain the user mapping until I figure out how to move all the pictures into the new system (and also retain the user mappings....) Sorry about that, I thought I checked it. It must have been because I was logged in as the photo gallery "super admin" and it was still working or something.

So, here's how things are going to play out this weekend:

- Sometime Saturday afternoon I will disable this site. You'll still be able to read everything, it'll just show a "this board has been disabled" message at the top and you won't be able to post. I know, I know, but this is so I can freeze the database and not worry if I missed any data for the import.
- I expect to have the new site up and running in another folder sometime Saturday night, and will move it to the main site late Saturday night, so when you wake up Sunday its all unicorns and rainbows and G-Bodies....

 

[tc1959]

I can't seem to log on the new site. It keeps telling me my password is invalid. I tried to re register and it tells me my user name and E-Mail are already in use.

 

[GP403]

I can't seem to log on the new site. It keeps telling me my password is invalid. I tried to re register and it tells me my user name and E-Mail are already in use.

hm, have you changed your password since the 12th? It should be the same password from before that date. or just PM me something to reset it to.

 

[GP403]

OK Guys, tonights the night! At some point this evening the board will get "frozen" for lack of a better word. I'll be shutting it down to posting and registration. Once that's done hopefully it'll be a real short ride for the conversion, I'll try and do most of the work before shutting it down. Then when the data is all imported and tweaked the new site will go live. I know the date was supposed to be Feb. 1, but I figure tonight is just as good. Most won't see it until tomorrow anyway.

As always, any concerns just drop me a line.

 

[ssn696]

Pausing for a moment the thank you. Inevitably, there will be problems, but managing this change has been weeks of effort on your part.
I'm also on the G8 Forum, which among hundreds of other enthusiast websites, is owned by VerticalScope. This includes Team Chevelle. This company has bought up homegrown efforts and redesigned them profit and squeezes it out of every nook and cranny. I can't find $#!+ on that site, when compared to the G-Body Forum.
So, politely, I remind everyone to hang in there while this upgrade goes through. Thanks, GP403!

 

[xitabl442]

Ditto, thanks in advance.