VSF 3.0 [Archive] - VSF Gamers Forum

batmanuel

11-11-2006, 12:41 AM

batmanuel

11-11-2006, 02:06 AM

Here are our choices:
- Upgrade to latest forums (phpbb) or vBulletin (one must happen)
- Carefully choose what non-forum things we want and find a way to make them happen
- Switchover to use vsfgamers.net (or .org or .us) which we do have under our control (this may be a requirement)

For potential content...
- User blogs
- News site (like /. or something)
- Wiki*
- Chat
- Shoutbox
- ?

Thoughts?

Yes, all that is good and don't forget the secret rooms where we can have our little private cliques and practice secret VSF rituals while we mock the other forum members! :swg:

Of course! I added Chat and Shoutbox. What else could we have?

RTG, what would you like to see on vsf 3.0?

MAGZine

11-11-2006, 02:08 AM

3.0? Sorta.

Some of you may have seen that I am looking for a new hosting provider for our server (and thus, VSF). As a result, we'll be looking at VSF 3.0...

Here are our current deficiencies, as I see it:
- Non-forum content is stale or spam
- Non-forum content is under-used or not a all
- Software is outdated, partly due to custom mods which could break during an upgrade
- Someone no longer involved in VSF owns vsfgamers.com

Here are our choices:
- Upgrade to latest forums (phpbb) or vBulletin (one must happen)
- Get rid of everything non-forum
- Carefully choose what non-forum things we want and find a way to make them happen
- Switchover to use vsfgamers.net (or .org or .us) which we do have under our control (this may be a requirement)

I'd like to point out that this domain expires on December '06 - which is rapidly expiring.

I did a whois on the domain - should I contact the owner and see if he can get it expire, at which time we can re-register it?

Boards. Does anyone have a copy of vBulletin laying around? I suppose we could also use Invision. If noone has vBulletin - I don't think anyone wants to spend $160 to purchase a vB license.

I personally don't care for phpNuke - but VSF looks alright with this template. At the risk of upgrading - the skins that are commonly available are really clan looking.

What is the price range of the new server, monthly? What are the guestimated specs?

batmanuel

11-11-2006, 10:50 AM

Please don't contact the domain owner. This has been the situation for a few years now, and he has renewed it and made DNS server changes as we've needed.

The monthly cost of the server is more an issue for me and the guy I share it with--it's not just for VSF. This isn't about money...

Now, I think vBulletin may be worth the upgrade--it has features I'd like to see here: enhanced read/unread from our current state (very very nice), better search, cleaner look...

MAGZine

11-11-2006, 02:26 PM

see here: enhanced read/unread from our current state (very very nice), better search, cleaner look...

I disagree - I think the vB default looks like crap. I'll go with the community though.

SauerKraut

11-11-2006, 05:23 PM

omg vB for the loss.

I'm game, naturally, with whatever the majority chooses, but I am on Zine's side here regarding the way vB looks and feels. Whatever else he may have talked about, that's anybody's guess, but all I saw was something about "upgrading" to vB might be an option. Well, I personally don't like the way vB handles either, and the way it is set up kinda makes me think of lame forums like, Vampires, or something about how everyone on the forum idolizes a mythos and everything else that has permeated from it...like, say, people all got together to join a forum and discuss interesting things about vampires and how they aspired to be one, some day.

Vampires = vB

vAmpires, I guess...to M*A*S*Hify it.

batmanuel

11-11-2006, 08:37 PM

maybe I just really like the vB read/unread compared to phpBB? of course, it could be that phpBB does a much better job of it now...

SauerKraut

11-12-2006, 01:03 AM

naw, I'm just being a jackass. I'm just use to this one, I'm not much of a change in routine kind of guy, really. Sorta.

fo

Chalybos

11-12-2006, 02:15 AM

Except when it comes to careers. Or citizenships. Or countries of residence. Or states. :D

SauerKraut

11-12-2006, 01:09 PM

exactly! but, other than that...

...i don't like change.

;)

Chalybos

11-12-2006, 03:36 PM

:lol: :lol: :lol: Made my day...

LionRampant

11-13-2006, 04:38 PM

To be honest, I think it would be good to focus on a forum-only website, and build/add features from there. That's the main reason CCM was so successful in retaining members who joined (aside from the good servers/gameplay). The other stuff is nice, but more of a luxury perhaps?

Oh, and vB would be ideal IMO.

MAGZine

11-15-2006, 08:57 AM

We can go with vB.

Just not phpBB :lol:

Put a poll on the front page asking the that don't look at this forum whether or they like the ider?

SoterioN

11-15-2006, 11:27 AM

So, as a non-computer geek, can someone clarify what is about to happen?

I guess my first, primary concern, is whether or not many forum members will try to visit this site in December and then it not be here, like the dark days following the demise of CCM?

If there is something that needs to be done client-side, will you post a large forum message on the home page or perhaps in the Wall so people who don't visit "Forum Issues" will know what to do?

Hollow4

11-15-2006, 11:38 AM

Better wait for VSF 3.1 to be released.
You know how buggy those ".0" releases can be.
:swg:

I almost fell out of my chair at work i was laughing so hard. . .

Chalybos

11-15-2006, 11:46 AM

How about a mass emailing. There's only a couple hundred members or so.

MAGZine

11-15-2006, 04:55 PM

How about a mass emailing. There's only a couple hundred members or so.

Or 835.

Vygramul

11-15-2006, 04:59 PM

You don't know it yet, but VSF 3.0 has an exploit that makes your postcount go up just by opening up a reply window in a new tab. The top member will be some n00b who has 1,000,000 posts but zero words written.

Chaly will hate that.

Hsnopi

11-15-2006, 05:38 PM

NOOO! We oughta ban those people who are cheating to get the bling! Reset their post counts!

cowboy

11-15-2006, 06:42 PM

Vb seems to look ok to me

i just need to know hoe to get here LOL
i would agree that there is alot here that is not used per say like ho many use the downloads section? just a question ive not been in there since these boards came up after CCM died
how many of us go through the portal page to get here LOL or is it just me

Chairman_Kaga

11-15-2006, 07:14 PM

Well, the URL wouldn't change. Just moving servers doesn't require a DNS change. However, we may drop or at least migrate to using vsfgamers.us/org/net as primaries as active members of the site own those.

MASH

11-16-2006, 12:43 PM

NOOO! We oughta ban those people who are cheating to get the bling! Reset their post counts!
Better yet... let's make everyone an admin. That will fix it!

:|

Chalybos

11-16-2006, 01:25 PM

NOOO! We oughta ban those people who are cheating to get the bling! Reset their post counts!
Better yet... let's make everyone an admin. That will fix it!

:|
No, we must keep it to a select few.

:|

SauerKraut

11-16-2006, 01:43 PM

Anybody's a better admin than me. But thank the gods not everybody's a friggin' admin, too. That would have to suck...for everybody.

MASH

11-16-2006, 03:14 PM

No, we must keep it to 300% more than there ever has been in the history of the community.

:|

Chalybos

11-16-2006, 03:22 PM

Hmmmm, seems like somebody left his sense of tongue-in-cheek humor and irony back at the house. :sigh:

MASH

11-16-2006, 04:28 PM

The universal signs for humor are :P and ;). Not :|

So kiss my pasty white a$$.

:P

YellowDog

11-16-2006, 04:48 PM

The universal signs for humor are :P and ;). Not :|

So kiss my pasty white a$$.

:P
No true there is nothing funnier then somethingsaid in jest with a :| face :!:

YellowDog

11-16-2006, 04:48 PM

The universal signs for humor are :P and ;). Not :|

So kiss my pasty white a$$.

:P
Not true there is nothing funnier then something said in jest with a :| face :!:

MASH

11-16-2006, 05:14 PM

Not true there is nothing funnier then something said in jest with a :| face
You're a commie... stop bogarting the water and ruining the state with your feminazi candidates! :|

Chalybos

11-16-2006, 11:15 PM

:lol: Niiiiiiiiiiiiice. :lol:

LionRampant

12-04-2006, 03:09 PM

Not to be a pain in the arse... well, okay, to be a pain in the arse - is there any further thinking/movement on this?

Dr.Strangelove

12-04-2006, 05:23 PM

The only thinking I see is Bat's original post. The rest is just tripe.

:|

CMontyBurns

12-04-2006, 05:37 PM

Picking apart Bats original post...

Here are our current deficiencies, as I see it:
- Non-forum content is stale or spam
- Non-forum content is under-used or not a all
- Software is outdated, partly due to custom mods which could break during an upgrade
- Someone no longer involved in VSF owns vsfgamers.com

You are correct with every comment - I think many are currently using the .net domain anyways... but I'm not sure. Anyone think of setting up a Google webmaster account? Do we have stats to support this?

Here are our choices:
- Upgrade to latest forums (phpbb) or vBulletin (one must happen)
- Get rid of everything non-forum
- Carefully choose what non-forum things we want and find a way to make them happen
- Switchover to use vsfgamers.net (or .org or .us) which we do have under our control (this may be a requirement)
Whichever db for the forums works for me. I think the cost factor was mentioned before... and seeing the balance on the top left makes me think we need another funding drive... where's Goldie when you need her (sorry lame PBS joke).
I'm not sure if anyone is using the non-forum stuff, which is a little sad.

For potential content...
- User blogs
- News site (like /. or something)
- Wiki*
- Chat
- Shoutbox
- ?

Thoughts?

* see this thread (http://www.vsfgamers.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=151504#15 1504).
Wiki - definitely - could also drive traffic back to our forums.
Chat and shoutbox, as long as they can be used from work, I am all for them :).
Newsite? I would like to add some other linky sites to that list, would probably cut down on my posts, but whateever. If its possible, lets.
User Blogs... meh... too many blogs at the moment... but whatever.

I just want something shiny and new to play with :)
Though I am worried about the transfer over of any of this stuff, and if the links section can be salvaged... as I already lost 100s of posts when CCM went down... me me me, its all about me :)

batmanuel

12-04-2006, 09:22 PM

BTW, Mr Fazz has been gracious enough to transfer vsfgamers.com to me so there is no longer an issue there. NOW I AM IN CONTROL! bwuahahahaha....

Thanks for the comments Monty. Still working on finding us (for all my stuff) a new server before we start tackling revamping the site. I have not forgotten the need for this :)

Chalybos

12-04-2006, 10:53 PM

Mighty nice of JT to do so.

batmanuel

02-04-2007, 02:59 PM

ok, bumping this back up. shopping for servers again and it seems likely i'll be ordering one this week.

stick with phpbb or go with vb? if vb, who is coughing up some $ for it?

i'll need some volunteers to help get things running on the new site. important areas include:
- converting existing phpbb data to phpbb/vb as needed
- implementing skin(s) as needed
- setting up/removing admins, as needed
- testing
- figuring out what has to happen to migrate/replace gallery
- and if possible, someone to plan it and manage it, as i have a few dozen domains to worry about at the same time

also, do we want to take a stab at running a *nuke or something as well as the forums, or start there and take our time building additional functionality?

MAGZine

02-05-2007, 08:44 AM

An update! Cool.

I'm not really a PHPBB or Nuke fan; but on the flip side, I have not a whole lot of experience with vB (yeh, I'm the Invision guy.) Regardless, I've used all three, and I'd take Vb over Php* anyday of the week. How to pay for the software is a different thing. Any idea what the PHPBB convert is to Vb - I know that there is a password conflict from some forum software to Vb, but I'm not really sure. If you don't know, I'll just Google it. I think the main thing is - do we dare start to remove functionality that members use all the time? Using ImageFuse, ImageShack or Photobucket isn't hard, but are the members up to it? I can start looking for skins for both, and see if I can find something that either A) Looks good or B) Looks similar to what we have.

The default skin might be just as good while we get things set up . . . Baby Steps . . .

batmanuel

02-05-2007, 06:05 PM

we should have a bit of time while both servers are up, so we can get things up/working/tested before we 'freeze' our current and convert.

looking into conversion from our current version of phpbb to new version of phpbb or vb is something i hope someone can tackle ... anyone, bueller, bueller...?

TheMan

02-05-2007, 06:15 PM

Was it just me or did anyone else get the MyFamily.com page when they entered VSFGamers.com into the address bar. I think it only lasted for about 15 minutes or so sometime around 2 cst.

MAGZine

02-05-2007, 10:59 PM

Well, I'm supposing that the 'little hack' that they mention in the link below will rename, reorder, delete, and move tables with a MySQL code.

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42561

Hopefully this will help if we change to Vbulletin?

MAGZine

02-08-2007, 08:49 AM

The forums just blew up more for me.

Came on this morning - found I was logged out. Logged in, and now that left-hand-side login prompt is still there. :sigh:

Wait - or am I really just that unobservant to notice that it doesn't, never, ever disappear?

Oh; and its still calling me Anonymous user. :very mad:

Chalybos

02-08-2007, 09:42 AM

Clear your cookies.

MAGZine

02-08-2007, 03:42 PM

At school right now.

Looks as if its only an issue at my house.

(But I did clear cookies and temp. internet files before I posted)

Hollow4

02-08-2007, 03:54 PM

have you tried using FF and IE?? maybe your browser is messed up.

MAGZine

02-08-2007, 03:58 PM

I use both - its a matter of whichever pops up first.

Same error. :sigh:

restarted a few times more. On C:\ now. Hopefully it'll revert once I get back to D:\

jcaxel4101

02-21-2007, 11:29 PM

Hey - if you still need help with anything, let me know; I manage several websites, and would love to assist with anything needed. Keep in mind: phpbbb 3.0 should be coming out as a final release pretty soon; and I prefer it to the current phpbb as i've looked at the betas - I would suggest this as opposed to vb or anything else really.. plus phpbb remains free! (as do some of the other ones out there, etc).

Also - I agree with some of the people who have said they aren't fans of php-nuke; I just don't like it.. i'm all for an easy CMS(Content Management System for those non-website-knowledge folks), though. I'm not sure what else we could go with as far as it goes though.. perhaps the idea for a forums only site, and build content around that is a swell idea too...

I can do some research and recommendations for a CMS if you'd like; as far as forums - i'd def. go with phpbb 3 :)

For all of you who don't know me, you may recognize me as falco's crazy friend! hehe.. anyway, talk to ya later!

jcaxel4101

02-22-2007, 01:20 PM

Just to clarify: i'm falco's LESS CRAZY friend...

And i've been checking out some CMSes.. installing some demo's on my webserver, and gut reaction wise (which of course, is hardly ever reliable, so I dunno why i'm even saying this).. Drupal and Xoops look like they could potentially be promising (with lots of customizations of course).

Question: have you ever had any problems with the site getting "hacked"? PHP-Nuke has a history of being easily hackable, so I was just wondering.

Chalybos

02-22-2007, 01:41 PM

Ohhhhh.... once or twice.

batmanuel

02-22-2007, 04:51 PM

Anyone have any experience with 1and1.com with regard to dedicated server hosting? I think some of you have experience with their shared hosting... any comments on them in general?

They are one of the finalists for my new server. comment please!

Thanks jcaxel, i will let everyone know what help we need! I have not seen v3 but I'll see if i can check it out soon.

MAGZine

02-22-2007, 05:48 PM

The biggest thing about Dedicated hosting is that its work to maintain the actual server. Personally, I know that some companies have real good technicians - but I wouldn't trust them. Its not who you get it from, its who manages it.

Server management at 1and1? No idea. Who plans to manage the server.

And, if memory serves, NukeCops does its job against most simple-SQL injections, so it shouldn't be too much of a worry. Nothing a IP Ban can't fix.

I still perfer stand-alone forums. I don't mind CMS's - but I don't like the forums that they're equipped with.

jcaxel4101

02-22-2007, 09:42 PM

yeah - i also do not like the forums that are equipped with CMSes. As far as dedicated hosting.. is this JUST a webhost.. or is this more than webhost..?

Hollow4

02-22-2007, 11:24 PM

im with 1and1 right now, granted im on a shared plan 100 gigs. Im indifferent about them really. I dont see enough volume to warrant anything else. I think my biggest beef with them is that my Databases are hosted on a separate database server. Its just a pain in the ass, but again i dont see enough volume. Also with there shared plans your limited to 5% proc usage for 5 seconds. I suppose i would probably look elsewhere for a dedicated server host. But thats just me. It seems that people have a love hate relationship with them. I have never had to use their technical support, but i hear its a nightmare. sometimes they help most times they dont. oh well good luck with your hosting. Have you thought about a colocation facility?? build your own and pay to have it hosted??

MAGZine

02-23-2007, 12:19 PM

Theres, undoubtably lots of collation facilities to choose from. But like I said, if its a dedicated server, your better off getting a server manager to begin with. If you have a dedicated server, there shouldn't be any limitations whatsoever - its what you configure to run on it. The shared hosting is definitely a bummer, and I've heard lots of bad things all around from it. Really, you should try and get a dedicated server, if you can afford it. I'm not saying buy one, but if you can rent one, from say, SoftLayer, you'll be a lot better off IMO. (If thats the kind of thing you need. vB's fancy js could run the server high on a shared host.)

batmanuel

02-23-2007, 07:45 PM

MAGZine

02-23-2007, 07:57 PM

So what exactly are we looking for? The company with the cheapest prices?

1and1 is VERY cheap. Makes me wonder if they're using a VPS . . .

jcaxel4101

02-23-2007, 08:40 PM

I have a dedicated now--I am just looking for a new company. The one we're with now has no plans that are cost-effective for us. Though I am happy with their support over the years... they are just too pricey compared to what I can get elsewhere!

Again I ask.. what will this server all be used for? just a webhost.. or game hosting too?

MAGZine

02-23-2007, 10:19 PM

Hollow4

02-23-2007, 10:56 PM

how much per month are you looking to spend?? for what i do 5 bucks is perfect, 2 domains, minimal database interaction 100 gigs. But i would like to move to my own dedicated server at some point if they arent too expensive, or if i can figure out how to host one myself. I mean i have a fiber line right now, i should have all the bandwidth i need.

cheers

batmanuel

02-24-2007, 12:46 AM

The server hosts several dozen domains; VSF is not the biggest bandwidth and CPU user :) if you can believe it.

MAGZine

02-24-2007, 02:18 AM

I think that 1and1 should be plenty. Shared hosting might be crap, but its just limitations. The support; no clue. Cheap servers is one thing; good support is another. If you are capable of managing - support shouldn't be too be of a deal.

https://order.layeredtech.com/servers.lt?categoryId=4

Servers there, too.

jcaxel4101

02-24-2007, 12:00 PM

well, i've had good service and support from www.webhostingbuzz.com I have several shared accounts, and one reseller account. They went thru a time when stuff was down because of server upgrades and their old datacenter was crap. But since that time (it's been about 6-8 months) I have had zero problems from them, and their service is excellent, and their servers (shared anyway) are INSANELY cheap...

MAGZine

02-24-2007, 02:43 PM

dedicated hosting there is probably expensive as their current one.

LilPuppy

02-24-2007, 04:16 PM

RTG, what would you like to see on vsf 3.0?

Not Puppy.... :P

Recomend re-naming the cooking section as I really have no interest in cooking anymore(only interests I have now is to get Mash to take me off ignore so I can pi$$ him off again and get placed back on it.. :D I like easy challenges in life) )...kinda sucks when that's all you know how to do and do it for a living....but would still be willing to help with questions and such...