New Server

[Collector]

We are finally being moved to a new server. Expect a few hiccups as the changed IP becomes reflected by the various DNS servers. You can report any issues you have with the migration in this thread.

[Tawmis]

Excellent news! They're doing it? Or you decide to go with another provider? I have been HAMMERING them about their HORRID customer service (being far more rude than I normally am - but really, enough is enough) - and they just showed me this:

http://www.arvixe.com/alerts?key=61106|1135

[Rath Darkblade]

Interesting times... Hopefully the new server will be more stable than the old. Thank you, Collector!

[BBP]

Great news! Hope it'll work out!
(Is it my imagination or is this side running better already?)

[Collector]

Sunday I really laid into them and let them have it. I threatened to go to another service and they did it the same day.

[Tawmis]

Went to a few FB Sierra related groups and conveyed the news - so we may or may not get some new users.

[Collector]

Time will tell, but my experience is that many are so addicted to facebook that they refuse to leave its confines. I suspect that most of these primarily access the internet from a handheld.

[DeadPoolX]

Time will tell, but my experience is that many are so addicted to facebook that they refuse to leave its confines. I suspect that most of these primarily access the internet from a handheld.

I still think that, if it's possible, giving people a way to log into SHP via their Facebook account would help.

I wouldn't do it (I don't want a bunch of my accounts tied together), but some people won't do anything unless it's through social media. These are often the same people who'll log into their Facebook accounts in a public place -- like on a store's computer -- and forget to log out.

Come to think of it... considering the type pf asshattery that's considered "normal" on Facebook and how virtually no one pays attention to spelling, grammar or punctuation, maybe we don't want those individuals here.

[Rudy]

Collector, as you probably know, I'll be setting up a whole bunch of community features in Chest 2, including a reactivation of the forums after they were shut down 5 years ago. One thing I will make sure to do however, is to enable the option to sign up through Facebook. That's basically a must these days. It simplifies things for people - they don't want to bother going through a registration form filling out their data and stuff - many consider that a "nuisance" in these social media days. In addition the ability to sign up through Facebook allows people to share their posts on FB, spreading the word about the site, easy marketing.

Edit: That said, make sure the traditional site registration stays enabled as well as an alternate option for those who do not have a Facebook account.

[Collector]

Are you going to do phpBB again? I have looked a bit into implementing it and it appears that, as you would expect, that some have done so. I just have to winnow things to see what will do the basics with the fewest modifications. It is something that I do have some reservations about implementing. I have seen what it has done to the comment section of certain online publications. It can take a good discussion by adults and turn it into some juvenile, semi-literate free-for-all. It could also open up security holes.

[adeyke]

There seems to be a strange problem: every time this thread gets a reply, all posts in the thread get marked as "unread" for me.

[Collector]

I have seen this happen on phpBB boards before. It is usually fixed when it spills over into a new page.

[Rudy]

Are you going to do phpBB again?

Chances are I won't. Reason being that there will be many other site-related community features which are not supported by phpBB, so the forums may be built from scratch to hook all the features together. That's probably the toughest task of version 2.

[Collector]

Are you going to try to convert the old phpBB database to the new software or just abandon it? I think I would do the later to avoid any compatibility issues. The old database had not been up long enough to have a lot of value in it, anyway.

[Rudy]

Total remake probably, though the programmer doesn't particularly like it - "don't reinvent the wheel". PHPBB is good enough for forums, but it's not good enough to integrate in a larger community environment with a range of other applications that are interconnected. It must be made from scratch to make that possible imo.