Discussion: Forum Migrations to vBulletin

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The search is epic fail - if it doesn't come up with a response or you spell something wrong, you get the message "You cannot make another search at this time. Please try again in a few minutes."

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In fairness, though, that's a fairly normal thing for forums, and is in place to reduce the server stress that might be caused by a whole bunch of people spamming searches. Not sure about ubb, but this can be changed in vBulletin to pretty much any period of time (in seconds), or disabled completely. So maybe this can be negotiated during the beta for the new forums.

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Looking for my SG's costume contest winners thread and it went poof! Freedom forum doesn't go past 5 pages? We've all been AFK with IRL! Who decides what gets purged? We'd really like the post back...people liked looking to see piccies of who won each week!

Who must I speak to about this concern?

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At least you can see server threads, I don't see past the first three AT threads.

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Yup, same here... what gives?

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Looking for my SG's costume contest winners thread and it went poof! Freedom forum doesn't go past 5 pages? We've all been AFK with IRL! Who decides what gets purged? We'd really like the post back...people liked looking to see piccies of who won each week!

Who must I speak to about this concern?

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At least you can see server threads, I don't see past the first three AT threads.

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Yup, same here... what gives?

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Ahem.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...umber=12105653

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Is vBulletin the same thing that the XBox forums uses? If so, count me as a "no". That thing is hella slow.

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Just FYI on this, vBulletin is not the same thing - those guys use something called Community Server.

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I know this is a bit late, but thank you for the reply.

I was concerned that it might be the same thing and I cannot stand the forum software that those boards use.

I just hope that the forum switch doesn't happen near the time of the release of I13.

My question about this, which I see as good news, is: "Are you going to merge the Villain boards with the Hero boards, or will they continue to have different log ins?" My hope is that they are merged, but if the decision is to keep them apart, I can live with it. I've lived with it so far.

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My question about this, which I see as good news, is: "Are you going to merge the Villain boards with the Hero boards, or will they continue to have different log ins?" My hope is that they are merged, but if the decision is to keep them apart, I can live with it. I've lived with it so far.

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They're the same boards, same logins...but because they are different domains, they have different cookies, so having it remember that you're logged into one doesn't set the cookie for logging into the other.

The alternative is to have http://boards.cityofvillains.com/blahblahblah redirect to http://boards.cityofheroes.com/blahblahblah which means only one set of cookies, but also only one skin.

*sigh*

I hate change.

I hate devoting any extra time in my packed life to having to re-learn something I have enjoyed knowing ...

I hate changing cell phones ... hate upgrading my computer ....


... but .. as in all things .. the only constant in life is change .. *sigh*


*goes and puts head under pillow* ... aaaaaaah ......

A complete database migration is nightmarish for even a small database. I hope you guys clone the site a few times to test that out beforehand.

Regardless, I'm glad you went with vBulletin.

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I seriously hope you retemplate it. The vbulletin templates putting gaps between each post are obnoxious. I also hope it tracks read/unread well. It's one thing UBB does that I've never seen any other forum software do even remotely as well.

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I hope they take it seriously to provide an equivalent or better readability than the current UBB forums. It's essential for a large community to have a pleasant and not painful to read forum.

All examples provided as links here are painful to read... dungeonrunners is awful and guildangels is making my eyes bleed.

Decent color schemes and fonts please !!

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I hope they take it seriously to provide an equivalent or better readability than the current UBB forums. It's essential for a large community to have a pleasant and not painful to read forum.

All examples provided as links here are painful to read... dungeonrunners is awful and guildangels is making my eyes bleed.

Decent color schemes and fonts please !!

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PM incoming.

Just to make my previous post clearer.
Performance/maintenance might be a concern but user experience should be a concern too.

Things I like in the current UBB forum:
* Overall:
- color scheme must be nice on the eye : current color schemes on UBB are perfect,
- font: the current font is immensely better than default vBulletin font. It reads faster. Wired magazine changed its printed font to improve readability. It counts if you want people to have pleasure reading you. Pocket books use a certain font for a reason: tight text but readable with less effort.

* Main index:
- Underlining links is so 1999: Underlining all links reduces readability (unless you hover over them),
- Forum subsections name are packed: little to no decoration here compared to what vBulletin is doing. With the current numbers of section, UBB sections list is already long, with vBulletin standards we are looking at skyscraper long,
- Forum subsections name really stand out from the rest of the text description (bold green),
- Last post stands out as well (bold green),

* Section:
- Posts list: Once again packed very well in the current UBB... all vBulletins I have seen seem to like spaced out items. With the number of posts we get here... it will be painful.
- Unread/New posts indication with a lightblue background on the post info
- No underline!

* Thread view:
- Packed / Condensed view please
- Only text and links in sigs

*angry face*

i like me boards as they are! humph! me no likey da changey thing. me like me stick and rock. me gonna use forever!

idk. i don't see anything the new one does over this. but I'm not a real forum guy. so idk. but there was just something about the v bulletin i never liked. i cant place it tho....

*Pops out of lurker haven*

While it will take some getting used to, I think the move will be much better in the long run. vB boards can do a whole lot more, interactivity wise, than the UBB and are much easier on the hardware.

Anything that shows continued support and willingness to improve the game and community is a good thing in my eyes

all i know is i have used the v boards. and i don't like them. they always look to generic. and personally i just don't like how they format it. I can never seem to find what i'm looking for when i want it.

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all i know is i have used the v boards. and i don't like them. they always look to generic. and personally i just don't like how they format it. I can never seem to find what i'm looking for when i want it.

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If you can put into words what you would change, I'm sure they'll appreciate the feedback. I believe the major reason for this change is a better backend to the forums. No more hanging forums, posting errors, etc.

@SpaceNut - My 50s, AE arcs and current projects at ParagonWiki

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all i know is i have used the v boards. and i don't like them. they always look to generic. and personally i just don't like how they format it. I can never seem to find what i'm looking for when i want it.

[/ QUOTE ]The appearance of any (decent) forum software can be customized to any level the webmaster desires.

Any updates on this?

Considering this thread was started seven months (and two community managers) ago, I wouldn't hold my breath for an update.

They may have diverted the unicorns to finishing the City Vault first.

You [censored] ned, now I have an image of a rainbow-farting unicorn and the city vault at the end of it...

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Any updates on this?

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I just looked into my crystal ball
It was shiny
There was a glimmer of hope in the future
And the crystal ball spoketh
With the sound of Golem's voice:

"Hear Ye'! Hear Ye'!
Shiny o' crystal I be!
With future updateth of i fifteen
Thus for-after be Halloween
Thou fate then falleth to going rogue
Followed by winter event of mighty cold
A patch in decades future will fix your base
With city vault falling in line last place."

Interpreted as: my gut feeling is, they will develop the city vault around the same time they address the base issues.

As in, never :P