Xenforo Move

[JayC]

I wanted to let everyone know that the move to Xenforo will probably be happening within the next week. I dont know when the downtime will occur and its most likely that when the site returns, it will be using the default Xenforo color scheme for abit until our custom style is finished. I actually have an old Buick guy that Ive been talking to about doing the style. Guy has a lot of talent and should do a great job for us.

Theres a lot of reasons Im making this move. I just feel like the quality of vBulletin has gone downhill since they were purchased by Internet Brands. Alot of stuff here doesnt work like it should and vBulletin will not provide support if you are running addons, which pretty much every forum runs. We run about 20 addons here. Some of the stuff you can see like the TOP button and some of it you cant but Ive been fighting with this stuff for months and Im really ready to throw in the towel on VB.

So.. we'll be moving to Xenforo shortly and Ill also be installing their Big Board Search Engine which is based off of Elastic Search. Hopefully it solves the search woes here once and for all.

I know this is going to be a shock to some people as Xenforo is a little different than VB. However, IMO and a lot of others, its far superior both from a user standpoint and a technical standpoint. I hope in the long run you guys will come to like Xenforo. Im pretty confident you will.

 

[JayC]

One of the things I wanted to mention that no one has noticed with Xenforo is it has the ability to stream videos in the posts. Not like Youtube videos but live videos. So, in theory, if someone felt so inclined, they could set up a channel on Justin.TV and actually live broadcast at events with a wireless connection. This is a feature I really hope we can make use of, especially at the TB Nats.

 

[86brick]

One of the things I wanted to mention that no one has noticed with Xenforo is it has the ability to stream videos in the posts. Not like Youtube videos but live videos. So, in theory, if someone felt so inclined, they could set up a channel on Justin.TV and actually live broadcast at events with a wireless connection. This is a feature I really hope we can make use of, especially at the TB Nats.

Live streaming from Buick events would be very cool! Thanks for your continued work on the board!

 

[Pronto]

Maybe every once in a while there could be a live seminar. I'ld love to see some of Richard Clarks experiments or Bisons!

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

This should be interesting in a good way.... anybody that continually pisses and moans and starts threads about how they dont like this and dont like that should get a magic carpet ride.

 

[JayC]

This should be interesting in a good way.... anybody that continually pisses and moans and starts threads about how they dont like this and dont like that should get a magic carpet ride.

Its a nice piece of software. Ill hopefully have more information about the move on Monday. The guys from Xenforo are going to assist in the data migration so all of the scheduling depends on them.

 

[turbofabricator]

I hope it works better. It's been a PAIN lately, especially at work due to pop-up blockers and the sort. Thanks for trying to improve the website.

 

[JayC]

Maybe every once in a while there could be a live seminar. I'ld love to see some of Richard Clarks experiments or Bisons!

Thats completely do-able too.

 

[Pronto]

Hope the techincal part of the switch goes better than the last. I did like the look of the test sites, just tweak the colors some to be more "Turbo Buick" and I think people will adjust. I am looking forward to an easier search function.

 

[JayC]

Hope the techincal part of the switch goes better than the last. I did like the look of the test sites, just tweak the colors some to be more "Turbo Buick" and I think people will adjust. I am looking forward to an easier search function.

This will probably be a bumpier move but I should be able to get it sorted in short order. A former Buick guy that happens to do skins is going to be handing the styling and we're going back more towards the old TB color scheme with some improvements.

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

we're going back more towards the old tb color scheme with some improvements.

sweet

 

[dynoman]

So the site will be down monday? If so I'll have to make other plans. This site makes my recovery sooo much easier, Thanks for all your hard work. Sam

 

[KevinB]

Will we lose our pm's?

 

[INEEDAGN]

Maybe every once in a while there could be a live seminar. I'ld love to see some of Richard Clarks experiments or Bisons!

FANTASTIC idea!

Will we lose our pm's?

I would also like to know this. If so I need to copy some stuff. Yeah I know, if it's important it shouldn't be stored there anyways...........

 

[JayC]

I am not expecting any loss of posts or PMs. We could "lose" the photos but only from a standpoint of the software wont import them. The actual photos themselves wont be lost.

And no, this is happening Monday. It will probably be one day next week. We are planning to do a dry run with a copy of the database first.

 

[Rivical]

One of the things I wanted to mention that no one has noticed with Xenforo is it has the ability to stream videos in the posts. Not like Youtube videos but live videos. So, in theory, if someone felt so inclined, they could set up a channel on Justin.TV and actually live broadcast at events with a wireless connection. This is a feature I really hope we can make use of, especially at the TB Nats.

I'm sure we'll all adjust, but some will need somebody to hold their hand while they cry.


LIVE events and seminars would be worth an admission price!!!

Good luck getting anything outa Norwalk tho, I can only even get cell signal half the time out there!

 

[gnxtc2]

Live streaming from Buick events would be very cool!

Maybe we could bring Nelly out of retirement and have him stream the events.

Billy T.
gnxtc2@aol.com

 

[JayC]

For those interested, we are tentatively planning a dry run migration tomorrow to a test board. Given the sheer amount of data we're working with her, better safe than sorry.

We will most likely have to deal with the default Xenforo skin for a couple of weeks while I work with our designer on finalizing the new skin but hopefully everyone can live with it. I can make some color tweaks if need be.

 

[87chrisss]

cant wait to see nationals live

 

[TurboTnZ06]

One of the things I wanted to mention that no one has noticed with Xenforo is it has the ability to stream videos in the posts. Not like Youtube videos but live videos. So, in theory, if someone felt so inclined, they could set up a channel on Justin.TV and actually live broadcast at events with a wireless connection. This is a feature I really hope we can make use of, especially at the TB Nats.

The idea I had years ago was to take it a bit further and schedule events virtually. For example, say you race in California, Indiana or Ohio, you can run a test n tune on Wed one week and make 5 passes, upload the slips, pics, video via software I would have to write (think ipad/iphone calibre), and you would ladder race another group of racers who may be in FL racing 5 passes on Thursday. Then the race is hosted virtually at any time and you can see the ladder fill up and complete without having to travel 800 miles for a couple events a year, but you could race each week all season (even if your local track runs on a different day/time than the other racers) if you wanted and get more participation. I've got a server here and my iOS development setup, but I haven't designed the app to completion yet, but it could make money if enough racers bought in, maybe like an entry fee of $5 to go into a pool and pays out a percentage or something. Sure you could cheat the system and sandbag, but that's what the pics and slips in realtime should verify within reason.