Forums are Upgraded to Phpbb3 - Info Topic & Report Issues Here

[Galaxian]

Sorry for any annoyance or irritation caused by my opinion and questions.

I'm a web developer also in the UK. Saw your email and thought I'd check out the website. I've been out of the forum game for about 7 years, so I can only use the bits and pieces I've read since my experience back then.

I see that you were using vBulletin 4 which is now an older version. Also, the lack of responsive design that you refer to is dependant on the theme you're using, right? Unless you're talking about the admin panel.

When you refer to "code", are you talking about theme code or the actual backend of the forum?

Regarding phpBB, they've been on version 3 since 2007. Yes, I see there've been some updates since then with .2 and .3 - bringing it up to speed with PHP7, etc, but from what I remember of the system, it was lacking compared to the more premium alternatives. Even MyBB, another free alternative, which seemed more promising at the time. I used to use phpBB for every forum before changing to vBulletin and MyBB. I just found their updating and modernising to be too slow.

I respect the amount of time you've invested in the upgrade. Crikey, though, 200 hours is a lot! Did you have to do a lot of bespoke workarounds that readily-available solutions couldn't offer? Or is that mainly on rebuilding the customisations that you had on the last system?

[Ferefire]

Sorry for any annoyance or irritation caused by my opinion and questions.

I'm a web developer also in the UK. Saw your email and thought I'd check out the website. I've been out of the forum game for about 7 years, so I can only use the bits and pieces I've read since my experience back then.

I see that you were using vBulletin 4 which is now an older version. Also, the lack of responsive design that you refer to is dependant on the theme you're using, right? Unless you're talking about the admin panel.

No, the lack of responsive design is inheritant in Vb 4.

When you refer to "code", are you talking about theme code or the actual backend of the forum?

The Vb backend is notoriously poorly-written. I'm honestly surprised the company is still in business. In terms of efficiency and speed, phpbb3 is far better than Vb, and that includes Vb5 which I was not impressed with.

Regarding phpBB, they've been on version 3 since 2007. Yes, I see there've been some updates since then with .2 and .3 - bringing it up to speed with PHP7, etc, but from what I remember of the system, it was lacking compared to the more premium alternatives. Even MyBB, another free alternative, which seemed more promising at the time. I used to use phpBB for every forum before changing to vBulletin and MyBB. I just found their updating and modernising to be too slow.

Phpbb3.1 to Phpbb3.3 are as good as Phpbb4 and Phpbb5 effectively. Don't confuse bad marketing with a lot of changes. Ultimately I looked at our options and opted with this one here.

I respect the amount of time you've invested in the upgrade. Crikey, though, 200 hours is a lot! Did you have to do a lot of bespoke workarounds that readily-available solutions couldn't offer? Or is that mainly on rebuilding the customisations that you had on the last system?

- Making the styles
- Ensuring the extensions work properly
- Managing the conversion process to be seemless
- Looking at how to custom code various attributes and extensions that don't exist
- Managing our staff to handle the new board system
- Preparing our users to
- Testing testing testing what is a very difficult process
- Etc

[LikkleMel]

Sorry for any annoyance or irritation caused by my opinion and questions.

I'm a web developer also in the UK. Saw your email and thought I'd check out the website. I've been out of the forum game for about 7 years, so I can only use the bits and pieces I've read since my experience back then.

I see that you were using vBulletin 4 which is now an older version. Also, the lack of responsive design that you refer to is dependant on the theme you're using, right? Unless you're talking about the admin panel.

When you refer to "code", are you talking about theme code or the actual backend of the forum?

Regarding phpBB, they've been on version 3 since 2007. Yes, I see there've been some updates since then with .2 and .3 - bringing it up to speed with PHP7, etc, but from what I remember of the system, it was lacking compared to the more premium alternatives. Even MyBB, another free alternative, which seemed more promising at the time. I used to use phpBB for every forum before changing to vBulletin and MyBB. I just found their updating and modernising to be too slow.

I respect the amount of time you've invested in the upgrade. Crikey, though, 200 hours is a lot! Did you have to do a lot of bespoke workarounds that readily-available solutions couldn't offer? Or is that mainly on rebuilding the customisations that you had on the last system?

Have you tested anything out or just posting here in this thread? Maybe you could help if you are a massive web developer though seems a bit strange to have not been on a forum in 7 years

PM me - love to hear your ideas!


Also to add members tested and approved phpbb over vb, so take that as you will but you clearly have a love for the outdated 2005 VB software. Again, would love to hear opinions on what you think could improve the site, if any

[Galaxian]

Have you tested anything out or just posting here in this thread? Maybe you could help if you are a massive web developer though seems a bit strange to have not been on a forum in 7 years

Also to add members tested and approved phpbb over vb, so take that as you will but you clearly have a love for the outdated 2005 VB software. Again, would love to hear opinions on what you think could improve the site, if any

Of course I've used forums since then, but I'm talking about the main period during which I actually ran them. What kind of help do you need? Depends what you define as a "massive web developer" but it is my full-time job.

Also, I don't love vB. I think that Xenforo superseded it as (I heard) the developers from vBulletin pretty much moved over to that one.

[LikkleMel]

Have you tested anything out or just posting here in this thread? Maybe you could help if you are a massive web developer though seems a bit strange to have not been on a forum in 7 years

Also to add members tested and approved phpbb over vb, so take that as you will but you clearly have a love for the outdated 2005 VB software. Again, would love to hear opinions on what you think could improve the site, if any

Of course I've used forums since then, but I'm talking about the main period during which I actually ran them. What kind of help do you need? Depends what you define as a "massive web developer" but it is my full-time job.

Also, I don't love vB. I think that Xenforo superseded it as (I heard) the developers from vBulletin pretty much moved over to that one.

Just post around the forums and see if you can think of any improvements that aren't in this post There's a difference to adding your opinion, but then not really explaining well. Compare features here to Xenforo

[Galaxian]

Have you tested anything out or just posting here in this thread? Maybe you could help if you are a massive web developer though seems a bit strange to have not been on a forum in 7 years

Also to add members tested and approved phpbb over vb, so take that as you will but you clearly have a love for the outdated 2005 VB software. Again, would love to hear opinions on what you think could improve the site, if any

Of course I've used forums since then, but I'm talking about the main period during which I actually ran them. What kind of help do you need? Depends what you define as a "massive web developer" but it is my full-time job.

Also, I don't love vB. I think that Xenforo superseded it as (I heard) the developers from vBulletin pretty much moved over to that one.

Just post around the forums and see if you can think of any improvements that aren't in this post There's a difference to adding your opinion, but then not really explaining well. Compare features here to Xenforo

I might use the forum for a little to see how it is and if I have any feedback. The problem is that I'm really not up to scratch like I used to be with this software.

Which part do you want me to explain better?

I've no experience with Xenforo personally, but you can see it here: https://xenforo.com/

Seems a lot of big names use it. I personally think that vBulletin kinda died down a bit.

Problems for forums nowadays is social media. Easy to join a group on Facebook or Subreddit, but I guess the anonymity of forums and the fact they're already established is their attraction, as well as offering features that social media platforms don't.

[Faithy]

So,

I tried to pull off information from the group I was in, and I get the following:


Invalid Group Discussion specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

I was under the impression that we would be able to get the information from the archives after the move.

[Ferefire]

So,

I tried to pull off information from the group I was in, and I get the following:


Invalid Group Discussion specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

I was under the impression that we would be able to get the information from the archives after the move.

Need some more information. What's the group, what did you do/go to and can you get a screenshot.

[Arya]

PAAANIC!!

SOMEONE STOLE MY BLINKY BAR!!

[LikkleMel]

PAAANIC!!

SOMEONE STOLE MY BLINKY BAR!!

You just need to ask me nicely~

[Ferefire]

PAAANIC!!

SOMEONE STOLE MY BLINKY BAR!!

You realise as a hmod that you can re-add your own hmod bar, right?

[Faithy]

So,

I tried to pull off information from the group I was in, and I get the following:


Invalid Group Discussion specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

I was under the impression that we would be able to get the information from the archives after the move.

Need some more information. What's the group, what did you do/go to and can you get a screenshot.

The group is: City of Devils

When I clicked on https://archive.animeleague.net/forum/g ... gmid=63917 I get the error I stated above. Screenshot is attached.

[LikkleMel]

So,

I tried to pull off information from the group I was in, and I get the following:


Invalid Group Discussion specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

I was under the impression that we would be able to get the information from the archives after the move.

Need some more information. What's the group, what did you do/go to and can you get a screenshot.

The group is: City of Devils

When I clicked on https://archive.animeleague.net/forum/g ... gmid=63917 I get the error I stated above. Screenshot is attached.

Social Groups seem to be broken you may not be recoverable unfortunately. We'll keep trying, but just keep in mind may not be able to get it back

[Faithy]

I appreciate you continuing to try.

[GraceMellody]

Despite it saying "Enter 0 for permanent ban", entering 0 when kicking or silencing somebody from chat doesn't do anything