Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Topic: Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important! (Read 45028 times) previous topic - next topic

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #120 – October 18, 2014, 09:44:02 PM

Older I get, more I dislike change. If updates need to happen though, I understand.

If someone needs a meal and a brew for getting this fixed, I am behind everyone >100%.

Sent money to thunderchicken, Hope it showed up...... Let me know.

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #121 – October 18, 2014, 10:57:02 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;439317

Hey guys, just got in from work. We're now at $848.83. You guys rock. I will try to get out acknowledgements to each of you via email tonight.

I have put in an email to URLJet asking if more than two years can be bought in advance. They did this the last time, so I can't see it being a problem.

I have looked at the newer forum software and I must say I don't really like it. I put together a screenshot to show you what I mean. It looks more modern than this forum currently does, but it lacks pizazz. I also don't know whether we could customize a new version, or if any of our customization scripts (such as the banner up top and the colour options) would work.

As for mobile (I know there are many who don't care for a mobile version, but that is the way the world's going), while trying to find info on the mobile version I have discovered that our current version already supports a mobile app. It's an app called "Forum Runner". It is a paid app (at least on IOS) and I haven't tried it yet, but for the sake of two bucks I'll give it a whirl. The good thing is that you can use that app for most any forum you're a member of. I'll download it, try it out, and let you all know.

Anyway, here's what the latest version of vBulletin looks like:

its highly disorganized at a glance.
I specifically don't use "views" like that because generally speaking the views that come standard deal with links to other services I could care less about.
similar to my transition to windows 7,, its still set up goofy.
my biggest crux of win7 is when I troll through sub folders or folders,, it "thinks" it knows what I am going to do in the future so it puts files I visited at the top.

well mr technology bill gates, I want my files to be in the correct alpha numeric order I put them in originally so stop putting usless garbage in my tech! and stop putting file folders that begin with "P" or "W" above file folders that begin with A, B , C

sorry, ranting.
I am a file cabinet and drawer kind of guy.. this is organized perfectly well the way it is.

there are a few slots and everything fits in them...

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #122 – October 19, 2014, 02:37:08 AM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;439317

I have looked at the newer forum software and I must say I don't really like it. I put together a screenshot to show you what I mean. It looks more modern than this forum currently does, but it lacks pizazz. I also don't know whether we could customize a new version, or if any of our customization scripts (such as the banner up top and the colour options) would work.

I agree - looks terrible. It reminds me of changes that slickdeals.net made a few months ago on their "hotdeals" forum. Their "data" showed them getting more click-throughs to purchases, but either the community outrage, or an actual reduction in click-through profits, made them revert ALL of the changes they had worked on. The new look was simply too much harder to navigate, both for content, and how difficult it was on the eyes (no matter the theme selected). After all that work that they were refusing to throw away, they eventually gave in. That forum is usable again.

The new vbulletin version looks pretty bad also.

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #123 – October 19, 2014, 09:18:01 AM

Don't forget, there will be skins for the new layout. And we can always create our own too. When we did the major vBulletin upgrade years ago, I listened to what people wanted and created the themes from scratch (Gunmetal, Midnight, etc.). As long as that ability doesn't go away then I don't see a problem.

What I wouldn't mind seeing is what some other forums have: a nice, clean layout that's updated and easy to navigate.
See http://www.fordedgeforum.com

That's-a-nice.

I could probably emulate that with the new vBulletin software.

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #124 – October 19, 2014, 09:51:42 AM

I got caught up with work and just realized when I woke up this morning that I forgot to donate so I just send money. I'm not feeling the new VB software either so I am all for seeing if we can get additional years. If it is possible can you post up how much per year or years and the amount that has been donated so far? If we are just shy of an additional year I am sure we can come up with the scratch to round up rather than down.

Darren

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #125 – October 19, 2014, 10:21:54 AM

one option I would like to see is a button on thread 1 of a new post in the tech articles.
when the radio button Is checked or clicked,, it triggers the display of "Solved"

when "solved" appears, it only means that t he problem has been found,,, its up to the member to fix it.

for 99% of the threads here, we cant tell what the outcome was.

I usually edit the subject line of the first thread and insert "solved" so there is a visual indication the issue is over.

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #126 – October 19, 2014, 03:32:51 PM

Update: We are now at $943.83. That's almost double what we needed. People kept sending donations even after I posted that we had enough. You guys humble me.

I have just sent out a thank you note to each member that donated. If you donated and don't get this note, first check your spam folder, then let me know. I replied directly from the emails PayPal sent me, so if you donated and I didn't get an email from Paypal I just want to make sure your donation came through OK.

I heard back from URLJet and they'll give us three years at a 25% discount, for a total of $673.75. I'm going to ask if they'll go for four. If they won't, it looks like we'll have enough for at least three years, PLUS the software upgrade. I looked at the link Eric provided showing a "skinned" version of vBulletin 5, and it doesn't look bad at all. And I do think a mobile version would be a good idea, as more and more people are using their phones and tablets to surf the web. I think we could even go halfway and keep the current software but buy a mobile suite, if I read vBulletin's website correctly.

I'll keep you all posted as to any replies from URLJet.

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #127 – October 19, 2014, 06:05:28 PM

That is so great. It actually is humbling how close we really are. When it counted we got the job done. Thank you Jay for helping me out with this. You are a stand up guy!!

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #128 – October 19, 2014, 09:54:40 PM

I want to send something in, but I dont want to paypal. If scott or one of the admins would take money order payment, id be more then happy to.

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #129 – October 20, 2014, 10:12:55 AM

Wow, step away for a few days and look what happens! Will gladly contribute if needed but don't want to add to the refund work or confusion so I'll just stay tuned.

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #130 – October 20, 2014, 04:43:37 PM

That's what I'm waiting for rod... I want to contribute but if it's just going to be refunded then I'll wait until next time.

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #131 – October 20, 2014, 05:13:23 PM

Ok, we're now at $963.83. I've heard back from URLJet, and they'll give us four years at a 27% discount for $874.25. I think this is our best option - that would keep us going until October 2018. That leaves a little under $100 extra, which I think should eventually go toward new forum software - not just change for the sake of change, but as the support guy at URLJet pointed out, the backbone of the forum software will eventually be upgraded to the point that our old forum software won't work on it anymore.

Here's a screenshot of the latest from URLJet:

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #132 – October 20, 2014, 06:23:36 PM

so if we got you more funds, would you do the upgrade and 4 years, or wait with the upgrade?

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #133 – October 20, 2014, 07:02:40 PM

Personally, I'd like to do both. The four year thing is definitely a go - as soon as I get an invoice that will be paid. The upgrade would cost another $209 to get the latest forum software and another $150 on top of that for the mobile portion. I think I could also do the mobile portion of the software as a stand-alone for $189 (without the forum software upgrade), but I don't know how much sense that would make, especially in light of the upcoming PHP/MySQL incompatibilities that the URLJet rep mentioned.

There is no urgency to the software thing though - at least not for now. I'd hope that we wouldn't just wake up to a broken forum one day with a "sorry, your software's too old" notice, but given how much notice they gave me on this hosting thing I couldn't rule that out. I think the best thing to do would be to find a way to add the "Donate" button that others have mentioned, and once the donations got high enough, to the upgrades then.

The important thing is that we can all breathe easy for a while...

Attention all forum members, please read. Problem solved, but still important!

Reply #134 – October 20, 2014, 08:18:25 PM

Well, I haven't been on for a while and I almost missed out on this whole thing. When you get the donation button thing worked out I will donate toward the software upgrade. Good to see everyone here sticking together for the cause.