Upcoming changes to the TB Forum...

[davesmith_au]

All active members please note:

Due to the continuing expansion in the number of registered users and the size to which the database has swelled, we are going to start a new forum, in essence identical to this one. The current board (unofficially and hereafter referred to as version 2.0) has been in use since March 2008, and I anticipate shutting it down at the end of this year.

BUT DON'T PANIC! All content will be kept as a permanent archive, searchable, and linkable, but no new posts will be able to be made. The new board will be known as the Thunderbolts Forum v3.0, and will begin operation as soon as v2.0 is mothballed, at this stage anticipated to be on New Year's eve/day.

Now the difficult bit (for me). I currently anticipate being able to populate the registered users tables in the v3.0 database with the registered users details from v2.0. This would mean all current members will appear on the new board without having to do anything. However, I make no promises. In the event of my being unable to make such a transfer, all users would need to re-register, but I hope it doesn't come to that.

In the meantime, users may notice the occasional glitch and cosmetic changes, as I make some updates needed to help facilitate the transfer of the database tables. I need to update the phpbb software from 3.0.x via 3.1.x to 3.2.x, before attempting to transfer users to the new board's database.

Now having said all that, if there's anyone who KNOWS their way around the backend of phpBB software, including ability and experience with phpMyAdmin and manipulation of database tables, now would be a good time to send me a PM if you can help

Regards, Dave Smith.
Thunderbolts Forum Administrator.

[davesmith_au]

Some of the 'glitches' I mentioned in my previous post art going to happen very soon (after I brew a strong coffee). The board will go into maintenance mode for a short time, whilst some upgrades take place. As well as times of board unavailability, there are likely to be some significant cosmetic changes as our current board appearance is presented by a highly modified style which is incompatible with the upgrades. After the board upgrades, the style will change again to something similar to the current one. Apologies to anyone whose has their viewing/posting interrupted by these events.

Dave Smith.
Thunderbolts Forum Administrator.

[davesmith_au]

So far, so good. You'll all notice some cosmetic changes now, thanks for your patience.

Cheers, Dave Smith.

[moses]

Many thanks Dave for another big successful effort.
Cheers,
Mo

[JP Michael]

Cheers Dave.

As a side note, some of the useful navigation tabs, eg. New Posts/Your Posts/Unread Posts, have gone awol (I remember this happening when I was a moderator on another phpBB forum that underwent this exact process about 1 year ago). These will need to be manually re-added by admin/forum dev.

[JP Michael]

As with my previous forum, I just realised all those items sit under the 'quick links' tab at the top left.

Would still prefer seperate buttons on the top right as before, but that is a style preference I guess!