New Forum Software

The latest news and announcements from the staff at GenVibe
Post Reply
mkowdley
Site Admin
Posts: 349
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:51 am

New Forum Software

Post by mkowdley »

It has been 10 years since GVC first launched and we have been on the Zeroforum platform for the entire time. When we launched, the company that owned GVC had a formal relationship with Rely.net, who was making the ZF software as a package you could download and install, and they would support (interestingly the spellcheck feature was always a hosted service).7 or 8 years ago GVC and Zeroforum split ways (technically what happened was that vwvortex.com split from GVC, and the Zeroforum/rely.net relationship went with it). Some time after that, ZF stopped offering a software package at all - they only offered a hosted service that was prohibitively expensive for our small site.ZF as a company is no more as far as I can tell based on 3 minutes of google research.I'm in the process of contracting with a company called gConverter that will convert the site from ZeroForum to phpBB. I have done some google searches to see what people's satisfaction is with the company and the results seem to be generally good. Their website says that they are based in Wyoming but it also says that you get fastest results if you are in their timzone (GMT+2, aka Eastern Europe), so I'm guessing their team is mostly overseas which is why their rates are so competitive. I know that the File Attachement feature of ZF is a little unusal (phpBB3 might have it, I don't know), but I asked gConverter if file attachements will be preserved, and they said yes.I hope to get the work done in the next 2 weeks once I have gotten the full details from them.There will definitely be some growing pains, people are very used to ZF and we do have a few enhancements (Registry) that will require some extra work to port over, but I think that we will all benefit from moving to a platform that is current, supported, has available add-ons and gets security updates. (And is based on 2012 technology, rather than 2002).I will do my best to make information available on the website when I have more information. Thanks for your patience!I'm always glad to see we are still regularly getting new members to our community, and look forward to the next 10 years.
mkowdley
Site Admin
Posts: 349
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:51 am

New Forum Software

Post by mkowdley »

The "GVC Announcements" forum is pretty low on the homepage so I figured I would provide a link here... http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=46690
User avatar
millster
Posts: 2752
Joined: Tue Jun 18, 2002 4:49 am

Re: New Forum Software (mkowdley)

Post by millster »

I keep looking for the "like" link. Sounds like the next logical progression, to be sure. Here's to the future of GVC!
-Millster-
2006 Toyota Matrix XR
1995 Saab 9000CSE 2.3T
1986 Jaguar XJ6 Vanden Plas (GM Drivetrain Conversion)
2007 Outback XT EJ257 2.6L Build
Persephone
Posts: 191
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 8:39 am
Location: Iowa

Post by Persephone »

As long as we keep everything, of course I'm all for it! Thanks for all your work, Mike.
My lovely Gambit.
User avatar
jkm311
Posts: 1180
Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:13 am
Location: Royal Oak, Michigan

Re: (Persephone)

Post by jkm311 »

I've made it through all the beeps, boops, 1s, and 0s of this topic post and can only assume positive benefits. Any GVC fan should be along for the... wait for it... ride on this one. [rimshot] Thank you, Mike.
Steelies to the rescue.
BlueCrush
Posts: 8272
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:47 am
Location: Twin Cities, MN

Re: New Forum Software (mkowdley)

Post by BlueCrush »

Awesome! I'm looking forward to the "NEW" GenVibe!
My Fleet:
'15 Ford Fusion AWD Titanium 2.0 Tutbo
'14 Lincoln MXZ AWD 2.0 Turbo
'14 Nissan Pathfinder AWD SL
'05 Pontiac Vibe AWD
Sputnik
Posts: 3775
Joined: Tue May 28, 2002 9:56 am
Location: Ottawa, ON

Re: New Forum Software (mkowdley)

Post by Sputnik »

Good news! Thanks for all your work on this Mike!
GenVibe Global Moderator

Current: 2012 Nissan Juke SL - Sapphire Blue Onyx (July '12 - present)
Current: 2012 Nissan Leaf SL 100% Electric - Blue Ocean (Dec '11 - present)

Past: 2003 Pontiac Vibe - Satellite Silver (Aug '02 - Dec '07)
star_deceiver
Posts: 5800
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:49 pm
Location: Airdrie, AB

Re: New Forum Software (mkowdley)

Post by star_deceiver »

Change is coming, all righty!!!I look forward to posting many more pics of my usually filthy car on here!!!
2019 Ram 3500 4x4 CCSB srw 8HP75
2016 Ram 3500 4x4 RCLB Dually w/stick (traded in - 05/10/19)
2012 Chevy Silverado 1500 Cheyenne 4x4 (Traded in - 03/30/16)
2009 Vibe. (Traded in - 12/12/12)
06pvibe
Posts: 1571
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:49 pm
Location: Manor (Austin,) Texas

Re: New Forum Software (mkowdley)

Post by 06pvibe »

Crossed fingers for a smooth and uneventful transition, Mike.*edit* OH, and I'll second what Brian (Blue Crush) said too.And thanks for letting us know in advance. That's better communication than I usually get at my regular job.
FJ's Garage Thread "There is no tool you can buy that will replace experience." - Josh Mills, C.K.DeLuxe January 2011 GenVibe MOTM
User avatar
Water boy
Posts: 398
Joined: Thu May 29, 2008 12:29 pm

Re: New Forum Software (A Psycho Martyr)

Post by Water boy »

Not to confuse things but have you looked at this?http://www.invisionpower.com/products/board/I'm also on a forum GM-Trucks.com and they use that software.Here are some stats for that forum:1,231,398 Total Posts98,478 Total Members1,047 Users Online Now2,532 Most OnlineOne thing I wish for is pic hosting within the site. It gets to be depressing to view a super interesting thread and the pics are no long available. Especially when I'm right in the middle of that project and need that "how-to" snapshot.BTWHow is GVC being supported financially?
2008
47,891 Added new horns
47,900 Yokohama Avid 205/55-16 $492.40 drive out w/TPMS rebuild kits
69,036 Added sound deadening
70,395 Battery
106,019 Yokohama YK580 205/55-16 $589.19 drive out
User avatar
ColonelPanic
Posts: 8419
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 8:48 am
Location: South Central Indiana

Re: New Forum Software

Post by ColonelPanic »

The forum I'm a moderator on went from phpbb to vbulletin, it was interesting to see the change from that perspective. I imagine going from an antiquated and unsupported piece of software like ZF to something new would be quite a task. Mike, I know you have a lot of hard work ahead that us users will never see. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help!Here's to everything going smoothly.
03 Vibe base. Born 10/14/2002 06:07 AM
Auto, Moon & Tunes, power package. 143k
Neptune/dying clearcoat/primer grey. :lol:

Image

'21 Elantra Limited - 2.0L/IVT
'15 Escape SE - 1.6L EcoBoost (hers)
Image Image
User avatar
joatmon
Posts: 10018
Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2003 5:19 am
Location: SMC MD

Post by joatmon »

Hope that the conversion goes well (and that you have a good backup )Looking forward to exploring the new site.
Image
Old Tele man
Posts: 668
Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 6:15 am

Post by Old Tele man »

...two comments:1) CHANGE for the 'sake' of change alone is BAD.2) CHANGE due to 'necessity' alone is RISKY....because of #2 above, I heartedly endorse the statement "...hope you have a good backup..."
...and the Devil said: "...yes, but it's a DRY heat!"
• 2014 Prius 1.8L eCVT
• 2009 Vibe 1.8L 4A
• 2004 Vibe 1.8L 4A
mkowdley
Site Admin
Posts: 349
Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:51 am

Re: (Old Tele man)

Post by mkowdley »

One of the nice things about hosting with AWS (amazon) is that we can easily take a snapshot of the whole server (configuration, disks, etc.) and rebuild it from that snapshot as necessary.It's currently looking like this work will start midnight tonight and last 36 hours, but I don't have final confirmation from gconverter yet.Mike K.
Post Reply