Big Boys Hobbies

Forum upgrade

I haven't logged onto Liberty in a long, long time. Looking forward to taking a stroll there again and see how it changes. Thanks for a couple of great forums! It is appreciated.
 
Tin-Tin said:
I will speak for the F2 uses on this board. If you can keep everything Digger27 has ever wrote on the subject of the Fisher F2, then I'm fine with the upgrade.

His unlimited wisdom and posts are an inspiration around here, and if they ever became lost, we Fisher F2 users would have no where else to turn too.

It would be a great burden if we lost his posts!!
Click to expand...

No, no posts will be lost!
 
HarveyH48 said:
Don't think the new software will be a problem, the forum is about the people, and how it's run. We'll learn and adapt.

Upgrades are pretty much mandatory, forum grows. There is also hackers and spam, a never ending battle.
Click to expand...
:agreed:

Lucertola said:
Change is inevitable. I love this forum and all the folks here, I look forward to trying out the new boards! Thank you for keeping it open for us.
Click to expand...
:agreed:

Love this forum, but change is good.
 
Vlad... Please tell me the new software works well with a iPad? It is the only way I can view and contribute to this wonderful forum!
 
Could you guys go to http:libertymetaldetecting.com and give it a good test run to see what works and what does not before we commit to using it here. I would like to make sure before installing it here.
If you already have an account there you should be able to log in. Otherwise, create an account.
Thanks!
 
I went there and checked it out , at first i had a hard time logging on , had to try about 3 times , after that all seemed well , I just browsed thru the new post.
 
Thanks guys, give it a more though test when you have a chance. Post some threads, albums, etc, do what you normally do here. I want to be 100% sure before installing it here.
 
Would the upgrade correct the rotated pictures from apple products. Not sure if you are aware, but any photo i put on with my iPhone to iPad ends up rotated. I guess the forum can't determine the orientation for some reason. Not a big deal, just FYI. Thanks.


Vlad said:
I need to upgrade this forum in the near future.

My reason is that when I tried to upgrade my server software it broke some functionality so I backed out of it. I could live with an outdated forum software but living with outdated server is pushing your luck too far.

In order to keep things secure I must upgrade the server at some point, I really don't want to upgrade the forum software to VB4 to stay compatible with the server software, as I feel VB is not what it used to be any longer, and their latest offering of VB5 is beyond useable. So, I don't see a reason to upgrade to VB4 since it's a dead end.

I feel xenForo would be a good long term solution because it is developed by the same programmers who created VB (before version 4), which we are running now.
If you have not heard the story, the head programmers of VB left the company due to new management and their new policies, and started their own company. Shortly afterwards, their old company tried to sue them but the case is finally closed, and they can move forward with full development of xenForo now.

I just bought a copy of xenForo two days ago and my plan is to convert the Liberty metal detecting forum, and give it a test run for a while to see how it goes before converting Friendly to it. This will give all of us an opportunity to get familiar with it.

I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Click to expand...
 
RingNut said:
Would the upgrade correct the rotated pictures from apple products. Not sure if you are aware, but any photo i put on with my iPhone to iPad ends up rotated. I guess the forum can't determine the orientation for some reason. Not a big deal, just FYI. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I wish I could test it but I don't have any apple products, could you please try posting a picture using your ipad/iphone on http://libertymetaldetecting.com
The new software was installed on there for testing before we roll with it.
 
When is the big cut-over?

Liberty is OK, but does not feel like home. However, I guess that if I can live though the transition to Windows 8 and to an android phone, I can survive the needed changes to FMDF.
Let us know when you are going to cut over so I can log in and watch all the folks go crazy when the log in. LOL
HH,
John Morton
 
Not that it will make any difference but the format at liberty was exactly as I hoped it wouldnt be. Like a couple other websites that I wont mention the name of unless you wanted me to ( they have that format ). Not as easy on the eyes and just dont seem as easy to navigate as VB is. VB is the simplest , least "busy" to look at , and easiest to navigate that I have seen , its a shame its being fazed out. Not a complaint , just giving honest feedback. I think one of the reasons people like and keep returning to this site when there are so many others is believe it or not the simple look look of this format. The other sites I know of seem to be having trouble getting people to return , in spite of the fact they have been online for quite a while. The easy look and navigation of this one is one of the reasons I keep coming back here while I dont visit the others much at all anymore. I know you gotta do what you gotta do but just saying VB is much better.
 
I agree that VB is awesome and I would love to keep it a while longer.
It's like a well built engine that just keeps on going.

However, this version we are running is from 2006 or so and in terms of technology is pretty old. It did not pass my server upgrade test and after weeks of debugging I started looking at the alternatives.

As we stand, there is no support for this version of VB and the original programmers are now working on xenforo.

While looks and ease of use are very important, if the forum gets flooded with automated spam it would not be a very good choice in my opinion.

We used mybb on the liberty and it could not stand up to the spam bots, we had to close registrations and installing countless plugins did not solve the problem. So far, after installing xenforo on liberty and leaving the registrations open, we had 0 spam for almost a week and most security spam protection comes by default. So, so far its good in that regard.

I've been working to convert the ol vbAliens theme to make it look more like home, and to be honest I don't feel its a whole lot different as far as usability goes. Once you learn where things are its very easy to use IMHO.

I could strip all the "boxes" and make it look less busy by making a custom theme you can switch to if that is what you like.

Here is my progress so far with the old theme...
 

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