Redecorating the Forum !!

[Nick]

Important Announcement.

Hi everybody,

Just to let you know the forum will be undergoing a facelift in the not so distant future.

With the help of our trusty Moderator Team we have been conducting extensive trials on a totally different type of forum. We've been working hard to iron out any bugs before we make the big transformation, so hopefully the change will be quick and well rehearsed.

So why do we need to change?

Well, SC has been getting busier lately and we expect that trend to continue. We have looked at alternative types of forums with a view to making sure that we can offer a safe, secure and reliable community regardless of what demands we place on it. Unfortunately, our current version of YaBB SP1.1 does not offer all that I think we need for our future.
The basic reasons for changing are

• New forum will be significantly faster when there are many members all logged in at the same time.
  
• New forum will be able to keep pace with many more threads, IM's, notifications etc than our current one
  
• New forum will have many additional features that people have asked about in the past, for example, the ability to be able to upload, attach and share documents, images, pictures, audio files etc by allowing you to post them into your messages on the boards.
  
• Security would be drastically improved. YaBB SP1.1 is fairly secure, BUT not all areas of the forum program are as secure as they could be, especially from a prying admin. The new forum carries full encryption of passwords etc to prevent ANYONE from gaining access to your personal information unless YOU want them to.
  This would be a strict policy, even I, as admin, will not be able to access your passwords, so if you forget then the forum will gladly send you a fresh one by email to you.
  
• The new forum will run on a database service rather than text files as we do here now. Searches will be much quicker.
  
• Many of the facilities you take for granted here have already been incorporated into the new forum, such as Quick Reply, Instant Messaging, Calendar, Member Map and our own smilie display team.
  
• The new forum is more compatible with other browser programs like AOL so they should be able to run the forum quite easily.
  
• The new one will also allow much greater security for our threads and messages by storing them in a database rather than as flat text files.
  

We've kept the colour scheme the same as we have here with only a few subtle variations. There may not be that many changes on the surface, but beneath we will have a much stronger, more flexible and considerably more secure forum.

The change-over is scheduled for Sunday 9th March and should hopefully take no more than an hour or two to take this forum and convert it complete with all user names, profiles, board setup, topics, messages and Instant messages. While the change-over is happening I will have to place this version into "Maintenance Mode" to stop any changes (extra postings etc ) while the process is being completed.

The process will involve a set sequence of steps, including taking a full back of the forum as it stands before the conversion, transferring it, converting all the data and then initialising it.

I know that many members have bookmarked the board index http://www.skincell.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi? so that they come straight into the forum.
This address will change.
Once the conversion is complete you could still use that bookmark but bear in mind that there will be an auto - redirect that will take you to the new forum. It would be better to re-bookmark the new forum address once you get there.

User names and passwords will remain unchanged, however some details like avatars (profile pictures) and member map locations may need some updating. I will work my way through and update all of them within a few days of the transfer.

We (the whole of the Moderator Team) have tested the new forum to destruction, so hopefully you will not find any problems, however, if you do experience any problems or have any questions about it then I will be dedicating my time to making sure that all problems will be dealt with as quickly as possible and that any questions are answered promptly and without jargon or tech talk

Thanks for your contunued support

[peterb]

We (the whole of the Moderator Team) have tested the new forum to destruction!

Hopefully Nick not that much or we wont have a new forum.

[Bigfoot]

Are we having an enlarged bar area  

[Ami]

BF wrote

Are we having an enlarged bar area

That will be nice
Well I hope it all goes well
ami  

[Monika]

Or could we each have our own fully stocked (and self restocking?) mini-bar in our profiles?  

Looking forward to March 9!

[Alison]

sounds great.

    hope the move goes smoothly

[electric_ian]

Hope it all goes well..
typical you go aol friendly on the 9th,and I move to ntl on the 10th  
Ian

[Fishs]

All Sounds Impressive.

Team You have all done an excellent job already  ..

Hope you all have not overworked yourselves .

And I presume there will be a huge party when  the changeover is complete  .

Fish

[Nick]

Ohhhh ! Sorry Sparkz, I'm afraid the new one won't work with NTL    .... only kidding

Ans for Fish - rest assured matey It will be a massive party - and drinks be on the house for a week

[Princess]

I've only just seen this thread as I've been a bit busy doing Princess To Be Goddess promotional work.
Change of colour scheme and renovations? I'm quite excited - I do think the place should be Feng Shui'd and shouldn't we really be getting expert interior designers in.  Mind you, when the work is all completed and is a touch more upper class. won't Sparks and Elz feel a bit out of place

Signed Princess Goddess (Just practising my soon to be new name) to some of you!!!!

[Princess]

And did I hear you right, Nick, when you said that because of the change in technical thingies, the Goddess Achieving Posting Quota is now 400?

[peterb]

No, I thought he told you?  With the new forum it is 700, it is because of the new scripts!:-X

[Nick]

Uh-Ohhhh !

Well how about if we say that any female member with a nickname starting with 'P' and ending in 'S' become forum gods at 350 ? ? ?  

What about if you suffer from Psoriasis, does this count?

[Princess]

Uh-Ohhhh !

Well how about if we say that any female member with a nickname starting with 'P' and ending in 'S' become forum gods at 350 ? ? ?  

ELZ!!!!!  
Read above quote and weep Oh, I nearly forgot, and   to you again

[Nick]

Ahhhh, but Princess, don't forget that the above "350" is counted in "Princess figures", so by my reckoning that should mean the equivalent of about 7,396 normal posts

[Princess]

Ahhhh, but Princess, don't forget that the above "350" is counted in "Princess figures", so by my reckoning that should mean the equivalent of about 7,396 normal posts

No, Nick - you've got your calculations wrong  I make it: xysquared x Princess to the sum of 13 x 7,396 =(yx)squared + hypotenuse triangle = 350

[Elessar]

Nick, she's right - you have got your calculations wrong.. I've checked them myself, and it's actually 23,211....  

[Monika]

If goddess status was based on the use of smilies, Princess would beat everyone here - even Nick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

[peterb]

If goddess status was based on the use of smilies, Princess would beat everyone here - even Nick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

So many Smilies now, that is why the Forum is slowing down.

[Princess]

Nick, she's right - you have got your calculations wrong.. I've checked them myself, and it's actually 23,211....  

23,211x13/=+xytherefore(y)=xtothepowerof thingie^(xy)=350  


Somebody didn't pay attention in maths class at school like I did!!!

[Nick]

23,211x13/=+xytherefore(y)=xtothepowerof thingie^(xy)=350  


Somebody didn't pay attention in maths class at school like I did!!!

How can I argue with applied fuzzy-logic like that ? ? ?

[peterb]

Nick

Have you any idea what time tomorrow you will be changing over to the New Forum?  It will give the members a good idea not to log in until after the transition.

[Elessar]

How can I argue with applied fuzzy-logic like that ? ? ?

It's funny, but when I studied applied fuzzy logic, it didn't work quite like that..

I rather suspect there's a serious dose of Princessey-logic in there somewhere..  

[Elessar]

Nick
Have you any idea what time tomorrow you will be changing over to the New Forum?  It will give the members a good idea not to log in until after the transition.

Excellent idea, Peter! I second that proposal.

[Bri9801]

I third it...

We will all have to plan our surfing around the down time

[Princess]

It's 10 to 10 Saturday night - am I posting when I shouldn't be because of the re-decorations?