Announcement: Forum Migration
I am writing to announce that Stratics Forums will be moving to a new forum software in the near future. The software that we are currently using is end-of-life. As we’ve all seen in the past week or so, it is literally crumbling under our feet. Accordingly, while we do not feel as prepared as we’d like, the move is both necessary and urgent.
Background
Since May 2010, I have been personally testing a variety of software solutions, including phpBB, MyBB, SMF, vBulletin 4, IPB, and XenForo. These tests were conducted in consultation with the senior staff: Airmid, Andrasta, Magdalene, Petra, Stephen, and Thomas. We were initially leaning toward MyBB or vBulletin 4, as I currently own and operate forums using this software. Unfortunately, vBulletin 4 proved too buggy and MyBB proved insufficiently robust for our purposes. Eventually, we settled upon XenForo, because we believe that it is best suited to serve the needs of our community.
XenForo
XenForo is the newest professional forum software on the market. It was designed by former vBulletin developers, so you will find many features familiar. Those who were with us during the UBB era will also be pleased to see the return of a “Conversation” feature, which will replace vBulletin’s private messages. There are also some elements of social networking incorporated: for instance, all posts can be “liked” (as in Facebook), user profiles look similar to Facebook profile pages, and it is possible to “follow” your favorite users (ala Twitter). Nevertheless, despite some differences, I think that you will find that the
feel of the software is very similar to vBulletin.
We have commissioned a custom theme to be made, but it unfortunately will not be finished prior to our migration. However, I have done my best to re-create the UO Classic theme, which is the current default theme for Stratics Forums. Some images of my efforts may be viewed below. Additionally, we plan to include several features that I think you’ll enjoy, including a trophy system, an improved bookmark manager, and trading system.
What’s Next?
We will plan to have some scheduled downtime this weekend to once again test the migration process. This is to ensure that everything is carried over properly: posts, profile notes, private messages, avatars, images, attachments, and all other elements of our legacy. Additionally, you will be happy to know that modern migration systems do not interact directly with the database—they merely read and copy. What does this mean for you? It means that the current version of Stratics Forums will still be available after the move. We will post lots of global announcements directing folks to the new site and lock all forums, but if anything goes terribly wrong, we can simply reopen Stratics Forums on vBulletin 3.7 without loss of data.
The actual move will take place as early as
3 March 2012.
Anticipated Challenges
1. Users who have custom post counts will need to have their post counts updated by an administrator. Here’s the good news: since the vBulletin site isn’t going away for a while, we can simply glance at your post count here and update it on XenForo.
2. Commas are not allowed in usernames. If your username has a comma in it, you may request a username change prior to migration. Once migration occurs, any remaining commas will be replaced by periods. Also, we will have a global announcement on XenForo with an e-mail alias for these users to request name changes.
3. User titles cannot be enriched with HTML at this time. This means that multiple user titles will be separated by commas instead of line breaks, at least until we can have a plugin made to allow HTML in user titles. This will primarily impact staff.
Conclusion and Images
Stratics users aren’t thanked often enough. I wish I could buy you all a cup of coffee or a beer, but my wife monitors our bank account for just such events. Accordingly, I will simply have to leave it at this: from all of us volunteers on Stratics staff, thank you for sticking with us over the past 14-or-so years. We appreciate you more than you realize.
Please voice any questions or concerns below. Alternatively, you can PM or e-mail me:
[email protected].
UO Classic Theme:
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8529/xenforo1.jpg
Subforum Lists:
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3513/xenforo2.jpg
Profile Page:
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/341/xenforo3.jpg
Conversations:
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/1825/xenforo4.jpg
Trading System:
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4345/xenforo5.jpg
User Blogs:
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/7199/xenforo6.jpg
Blackend Theme:
http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/6144/xenforo7.jpg
Flexile Dark Theme:
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7420/xenforo8.jpg
