Forum Software Change

[Gobalopper]

I'm considering switching the forum software to IP.Board. Thoughts?

[gryphon]

Only the most common question, why. :)

Does SMF lack features you would like to have or what's the motivation for IP.board?

[Mahdi]

Who is this Gobalopper and why is he changing our forum?  I vaguely remember someone by a similar name, but that was so long ago....

[Dragoon Knight]

Yeah, have to echo gryphon's question - why the change?  Kind of grown on this forum style over the years. :)

Another couple of questions:

- Will the forum colour scheme be kept?

- More importantly, will the boards and posts remain as they are now, or be archived in some fashion?  I don't find the latter option very appealing. :P

[Andrew]

Dunno why the change. With SMF 2.0 being released sometime this year, I'd think you would just upgrade to that.

SMF is free.

IP.Board says $150.

Making lots of money with google ads?  :P

[Gobalopper]

Well development of SMF has slowed a lot due to some internal issues going on over there which makes me hesitate a bit on where it is headed. If we did switch the forum wouldn't look exactly the same but it would keep a similar color scheme and posts wouldn't go away although the URL to access them likely would.

Nope no money from Google ads... actually I'm not even sure we display ads anywhere right now.

[gryphon]

Nope no money from Google ads...

It's amazing how much money you can spend on it and how little you ever see back from it showing those ads. I prefer the pay-for-show way, not the pay-per-click Google is using.

[Edric O]

I'm very partial to the old look and feel of FED2k, so I'm against any change in the forum software. Or, to be more exact, I'm against any change without a clear benefit. We shouldn't be upgrading just for the sake of upgrading. What are the benefits?

If we were trying to attract a lot of new members, I could see the reason why we would want to stay up to date with the latest in terms of forum software. But I really don't think an upgrade would make any difference in the number of people posting here at the moment.

[athanasios]

Please definitely do not change the color scheme. This is one of the few decent forums.

[exatreide]

I think some more features would be nice. Embedding youtube videos, a java chat or something like that. A complete overhaul.

Why not? Were stagnating here... We need a scattering like event. Or something. Either way, I'm not going anywhere

[MrFlibble]

Yeah, have to echo gryphon's question - why the change?  Kind of grown on this forum style over the years. :)

I'm very partial to the old look and feel of FED2k, so I'm against any change in the forum software.

Please definitely do not change the color scheme. This is one of the few decent forums.

I fully agree with all of the above. Please do not change anything!

If we were trying to attract a lot of new members, I could see the reason why we would want to stay up to date with the latest in terms of forum software. But I really don't think an upgrade would make any difference in the number of people posting here at the moment.

That's true. The change of the look won't magically draw a lot new of members here. And as for new features like embedded YouTube videos or chat, does anyone here really need that? I, for one, have always liked the minimalist approach to interface design. The current state of the forum software is, IMO, more than sufficient for its purposes.

[exatreide]

I def think that would benefit the forum. Fed2k is one of the only forums I visit that doesn't have that function. The ability to share another forum of multimedia would def help things. Def help in PRP, you could post trailers ect for modding of emp or upcoming games.  Not to mention it would encourage more active posting from members. Just people would have to make sure not to spam it ect.

[veK]

I like the forum the way it is and don't think a change is necessary. While some forums might have more functions those usually end up being the ones that are way too colorful, have an awful lot of smilies and icons you can implement in your message and allow signatures that are way too big and other stuff like that. I like this forum because it's simple and clean.

[MrFlibble]

I like the forum the way it is and don't think a change is necessary. While some forums might have more functions those usually end up being the ones that are way too colorful, have an awful lot of smilies and icons you can implement in your message and allow signatures that are way too big and other stuff like that. I like this forum because it's simple and clean.

100% agree with you, veK :)

[Dante]

Changing the software wouldn't necessarily mean the advent of a singing, dancing, sparkling forum. I don't really know enough on the subject to make an informed opinion, but it should be perfectly possible to make a near-identical forum with different tools, no? If not then the new tools lack the flexibility to be worthwhile anyway. And it would be a handy opportunity to introduce any upgrades or adjustments thought necessary. I have often thought it would be nice to be able to embed videos, but then I remember the "what are you listening to?" thread and consider that it's probably just as well that we can't. Besides, surplus functions can be disabled.

I don't think I (or anyone else, really) would mind how the forum is made; we just care about what it does. The only thing I'd worry about is losing (access to?) all of the old material. We're a small community these days, starting afresh might tip the scales from quiet into bleak. Of course I say that from the perspective of a Fanfictioner, so there will be some bias in the sense of wanting to keep old stories. That aspect doesn't really apply in PRP, General or Gaming, where current events take a much larger role than old inspirations, though it could be said to be true in Duniverse as well.

[MrFlibble]

I don't think I (or anyone else, really) would mind how the forum is made; we just care about what it does. The only thing I'd worry about is losing (access to?) all of the old material.

I also have concern for this issue; it's not uncommon for a software update to have negative side-effects of varying range.

Of course, even if the forum undergoes drastic changes in terms of visual style and functionality, people will undoubtedly get used to the changes relatively quickly. Truly, the forum already changed quite a lot during the past years, and many of the changes went completely unnoticed. Yet I, for one, have this purely psychological urge to avoid changes, a kind of "I don't like change!" thing. I tend to agree with Edric's somewhat pragmatic standpoint, namely, what are the possible advantages of this software change/update?

[Andrew]

posts wouldn't go away although the URL to access them likely would.

If changing forum software means all links in posts linking to other threads become dead then I'd have to object to the change at this time.

I don't see how new forum software will attract new members. Sadly the only way that is going to happen is if some new Dune related game comes out.

[Gobalopper]

If the forum software did change I would try my best to make it look similar to how it does now. I like the current look and the minimalist structure of it, what you see now is more from work I've done than from the default templates.

Part of this update would be to improve forum features and anther part to make managing the website easier as well. Before putting the new software live I would create a mockup to let everyone take a look and give feedback of course.

Oh and I think there is a way to get old links to still work, they would just redirect to the new ones.

[SandChigger]

IP.Bored is the crapware Hyppo & Irulan are using over on C-H Tabr.

http://excalibur-designs.com/arrakeen/index.php

Sure, go for flash-whizz-bang over content. Look how well that's worked for DuneNovels! :D

[Gobalopper]

I'm not sure what they've done to their layout... don't worry it won't look anything like that.

[athanasios]

Please SandChigger don't post such links again. Respect our eyes and health. :-)

[SandChigger]

Please SandChigger don't post such links again. Respect our eyes and health. :-)

No one made you look. And should you be spending so much time online, anyway, with goats to herd and milk?

Their layout is crap, but I really don't see the merits to using that boardware. Bandwidth slurping bells and whistles. (yeeaaawn) I think they went with it because Hypatia was familiar with the InvisionFree crap from the old Arrakeen site (now THAT was sh*tware).

[AMIgaBot]

do not change it.  actual changes  made me hard to  read pms  i dont see  info "you have new zzzz message read it where zzz is number of messages.. changes can go only worse  leave it crurent

[Lord J]

I agree with the majority of posters that the current layout, colors, and function are great, at least from a user's point of view.

I doubt that chat would add anything (really, how frequently are there a bunch of us online at the same time itching to chat? ...And with each other, for that matter? ;) ) Imbedded videos could be helpful, but I don't think I would use it anytime soon.

For those of us that like to jazz up signatures and links, would the forum code change at all?

If though, it makes it easier and better for you and any of the other mods, then yes, I support the change. A happy Gob is a good thing.

[veK]

A quick note on embedded videos: I think they suck. Usually they only make threads explode. I always click them anyway to watch them on youtube because the window is bigger there and I don't watch videos fullscreen very often because my screen is too big and I also can't keep paying attention to other stuff on it. I like the simple hyperlinks you can put in here and imagine what the "what are you listening to" thread would look like if all those youtube links would become embedded videos  :O