Fst News

[rookiecrd1]

Just a little newsletter, I guess as to what is going on

Coming in a couple weeks, maybe sooner I will be partnering up with a guy who is extrmely well versed in all this stuff as well as programming. We will have an arcade, get rid of the antispam and do much much more.

This might mean a change to VBullitin though. What are people opinions on changing to Vb instead of IPB?

What are some features you'd like to see here? As for the tracker/torrent folder, we are still considering this and it may or may not be added.


Brian

[DarthInsinuate]

all sounds exciting, but i'm not sure about changing to Vb, how is it different to IPB?

[TheRealDave]

keep IPB.. VB really sucks. I would come to the board alot less if it was with VB

[rookiecrd1]

well VB has a lot more that you can do, and would allow my partner to be able to integrate a lot of different things/write his own code.

An example of VB is: http://www.web-life.org

[j_man]

keep ibp, love the rest :music1:

[rookiecrd1]

RealDave, in your opinion, what are the disadvantages of VB?

[CAM1]

wouldnt you lose all posts and members if you switched to a different forum software?
or are VB and IPB backups compatible?

[TheRealDave]

Originally posted by rookiecrd1@2 August 2004 - 19:35
RealDave, in your opinion, what are the disadvantages of VB?
i would still use VB.. I just don't like the layout as much and I'm more use to IPB boards :)

Not sure what others think though

[Peerzy]

IMO Vb looks so different, it doesnt look like a fun forum it gives the impression of a very strict forum. I hate VB looks and it would tied me over as to visiting her less and less becuase i find them annoying to navigate and use.

Keep with IPB, it looks so much better, the features that VB has are nothing really compared to the looks and genral style of IPB.

It would also mean everyone losing all of there posts, thewre post count, the board layout, EVERYTHING will be lost. It would take alot of work to start the site up again.

[Filliz]

Originally posted by rookiecrd1@2 August 2004 - 20:35
RealDave, in your opinion, what are the disadvantages of VB?
the only "disadvantage" i can think of for now is the crappy emticons it uses :frusty:

[Peerzy]

If this was to become a VB board i wouhld myself prberly leave really as to tghe fact i hate the layout, smilies and just the whole thing, IPB is such a more fun, good looking board.

[[Spam]]

I would like it if you upgrade to IPB 2.0.

[Peerzy]

Originally posted by [Spam]@2 August 2004 - 19:54
I would like it if you upgrade to IPB 2.0.
Not untill it is fully bug ridden, remember we upgraded to IPB 1.3 from 1.2 and we had massive problems.

[TheRealDave]

Originally posted by peerzyboy@2 August 2004 - 19:53
If this was to become a VB board i wouhld myself prberly leave really as to tghe fact i hate the layout, smilies and just the whole thing, IPB is such a more fun, good looking board.
some agrees with me B)

[kAb]

vb = teh sux0r

keep ipb, and bring back the skins! :01:

[manker]

It would be a very bad thing to lose all of the posts. Also if everyone had to start over with their accounts a lot of members would be lost.

Is there a way around this? If not then the switch is pretty much a non-starter.

[rookiecrd1]

If we do switch to VB we would have the entire Databae switched as well. All posts and members would remain.

[sArA]

Originally posted by manker@2 August 2004 - 20:12
It would be a very bad thing to lose all of the posts. Also if everyone had to start over with their accounts a lot of members would be lost.

Is there a way around this? If not then the switch is pretty much a non-starter.
yep...thats about the size of it!


It would also be like closing this board, and opening a completely different one. You would lose a lot of members, particularly those that only visit now and again.


edited for new posts by Rookie

Ah...well, Rookie beat me to it with a prompt reply...unlike his response to my PM of course...but we wont go into that now will we Rookie???

[thewizeard]

Originally posted by rookiecrd1@2 August 2004 - 19:33
well VB has a lot more that you can do, and would allow my partner to be able to integrate a lot of different things/write his own code.

An example of VB is:  http://www.web-life.org
Write his own code? That sounds familiar! No thanks. (anti-spam) :(

Brian, part of the FST/K-Lite board experience is the Invision Power Board... :)

The only VB that I would like to see here is member number one! :)

[newcster68]

keep this one and why cant you use the tracker/torrent folder here? other IPB Boards that I use have it and there are no problems...it will definately improve on files that people can get right away from others instead of crappy Kazaalite.

[manker]

Originally posted by rookiecrd1@2 August 2004 - 21:18
If we do switch to VB we would have the entire Databae switched as well. All posts and members would remain.
In that case the moaning will probably stop after a while to little or no detriment to the board.

No-one likes change but in the long run everyone is adaptable.

[DanB]

Does it really matter what we think? <_<

[thewizeard]

I would miss my control panel and note-pad...

[[B][O][T]]

Originally posted by danb@2 August 2004 - 22:32
Does it really matter what we think? <_<
no

[DanB]

Originally posted by [O][T]+2 August 2004 - 21:34--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>[b]QUOTE ([O][T] @ 2 August 2004 - 21:34)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-danb@2 August 2004 - 22:32
Does it really matter what we think?&nbsp; <_<
no [/quote]
Didn&#39;t think so :(

[rookiecrd1]

I don&#39;t want people to be upset. I just want to do what i feel is best for the board. Over the coming weeks when we have the final papers signed, My partner will be making some great improvements to the site. An arcade will be installed with probably close to 50 different games, as well as many other features to increase traffic.

VB is a more proffesional forum, and has a lot of features the IPB does not both for members and admins.

Brian

[Rick Phlegm]

Personally I really don&#39;t like Vb boards. They don&#39;t feel at all pleasant to navigate or read and the emoticons suck.

Edit: Ps your partner wouldn&#39;t be this man (http://filesharingtalk.com/index.php?showuser=122165) would it?

I seem to remember that he was the one who originally wanted a change to Vb...

[thewizeard]

What are you going to do if the members refuse to use the board? Maybe you should consider that possibility... Perhaps it would be better to use it in the beginning as the "arcade board" with a redirect from the present board? You could then, slowly, transfer the forums over a period of time.

[BawA]

no dont change to VB
there r lots of futeres like Subforum Futeres r missing in it, most of things can only be added with installing MODs.

will we lose our posts if we move to VB?

[TheRealDave]

Originally posted by rookiecrd1@2 August 2004 - 20:40
I don&#39;t want people to be upset. I just want to do what i feel is best for the board. Over the coming weeks when we have the final papers signed, My partner will be making some great improvements to the site. An arcade will be installed with probably close to 50 different games, as well as many other features to increase traffic.

VB is a more proffesional forum, and has a lot of features the IPB does not both for members and admins.

Brian
exactly what other features? :unsure:

[clocker]

I am also a member of OC Forums.com which is run on VBulletin software ( ver.3.0.1) and I like it alot.

Frankly, in comparison, I&#39;ve always thought this board looks rinky-dink.

I like the idea of the switch.

Since I rarely use emoticons anyway, I couldn&#39;t care less about whether they suck or not. <_<

[rookiecrd1]

Personally I really don&#39;t like Vb boards. They don&#39;t feel at all pleasant to navigate or read and the emoticons suck.

Edit: Ps your partner wouldn&#39;t be this man would it?

I seem to remember that he was the one who originally wanted a change to Vb...

No its not him. Its someone that is very professional and knows how to run a good forum. As for switching to VB, I still don&#39;t know if we will or not, but if we do we wil have everything from the database switched over. Nothing will be lost.

Brian

[Rip The Jacker]

IPB has the best look and feel, and smilies.

VB feels nasty and the smilies suck.


Lets have a poll? :)

[Peerzy]

Originally posted by Rip The Jacker@2 August 2004 - 21:38
IPB has the best look and feel, and smilies.

VB feels nasty and the smilies suck.

100% Agree&#39;d.

[Filliz]

If there&#39;s a way to upload the ipb smilies in to the smilies directory of VB,that would already make it look more atractive imo

[namzuf9]

I&#39;ve always found IPB boards to have a more cuddly, fun, funky feel to them, which I like.
Most VB boards I&#39;ve seen look ugly and in some ways drab and sterile.

I think most of your target audience would prefer a fun, funky feel to a board.
Maybe the added features will draw more traffic but how much of that traffic will stay and contribute to a forum that is instantly dismissed as being dull because of its format?

[ObiWan]

personally i would prefer to have IPB v2 when it goes final

however i would be ok with switching to VB

[Rat Faced]

Poll added.

Please remember NOT to vote with multiple accounts.

This is one reason we only take limited notice of some polls :ph34r:

[DarthInsinuate]

i prefer IPB, because VB is very different and it just isn&#39;t the FST/KLB i&#39;m used to

[wienerschnitzel]

Its is very simple to use the smilies that we have on here with almost any forum. This includes VB. The only problem we might have is with copyrights

the entire database can be converted to VB so posts, users, and most settings will not be lost (i think it can even save sigs and avs but dont quote me on this).

Unless you get a really really nice skin for VB this board will look better.

The a defult installation of VB will improve speed but once you start enabling features and adding mods the board will really start to slow down, especially one of this size.

I hate how VB 3.0 treats posts. I don&#39;t like threaded topics, i get confused with
the way people add responces. Linear mode is the best and is what all of us are used to.

The arcades that i have used on VB and IPB look exactly the same and can run the same games so there is no difference there.

And what is this new guy planning to add to the board? Most members want things taken off. I think a defult ipb w/ an arcade is all we need.

[TheRealDave]

Originally posted by wienerschnitzel@3 August 2004 - 00:11
I think a defult ipb w/ an arcade is all we need.
Yes i agree 100% :D

[Peerzy]

Originally posted by TheRealDave+3 August 2004 - 00:15--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (TheRealDave @ 3 August 2004 - 00:15)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-wienerschnitzel@3 August 2004 - 00:11
I think a defult ipb w/ an arcade is all we need.
Yes i agree 100% :D [/b][/quote]
Minus Anti Spam and i think how it is now is perfect and wouldnt have it any other way.

[J'Pol]

If the board is :

Always on

Stable

Fast

I don&#39;t give a flying feck what software you use. Neither do I give a flying feck about the wee huggy emoticons.

For me it is the ability to talk to the people here, when I want, without a long delay, that is the important thing.

Everything else is just technology.

Do what you want with the software, just keep it so that I can log in and post whenever I want. That&#39;ll do for me.

[[Spam]]

Originally posted by peerzyboy+2 August 2004 - 19:56--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (peerzyboy &#064; 2 August 2004 - 19:56)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-&#091;Spam
,2 August 2004 - 19:54] I would like it if you upgrade to IPB 2.0.
Not untill it is fully bug ridden, remember we upgraded to IPB 1.3 from 1.2 and we had massive problems. [/b][/quote]
Well on my very small board, I was running phpBB then I switched over to IPB 1.3, then I switched back to phpBB then I switched to IPB 2.0. I have no problems. It may be because I have a small board, meh.

[Peerzy]

Originally posted by [Spam]+3 August 2004 - 01:43--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE ([Spam] @ 3 August 2004 - 01:43)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by peerzyboy@2 August 2004 - 19:56
<!--QuoteBegin-&#091;Spam
,2 August 2004 - 19:54] I would like it if you upgrade to IPB 2.0.
Not untill it is fully bug ridden, remember we upgraded to IPB 1.3 from 1.2 and we had massive problems.
Well on my very small board, I was running phpBB then I switched over to IPB 1.3, then I switched back to phpBB then I switched to IPB 2.0. I have no problems. It may be because I have a small board, meh. [/b][/quote]
Small Board&#33; If something was to go wrong on a changeover on here it could be devestting for the one thing Rookie is trying to get - Visitors&#33;

[RealitY]

Originally posted by nigel123@2 August 2004 - 12:20
Brian, part of the FST/K-Lite board experience is the Invision Power Board... :)
Enough Said.

As For My Vote...
NO.

[muchspl2]

Originally posted by rookiecrd1@2 August 2004 - 14:19
Just a little newsletter, I guess as to what is going on

Coming in a couple weeks, maybe sooner I will be partnering up with a guy who is extrmely well versed in all this stuff as well as programming. We will have an arcade, get rid of the antispam and do much much more.

This might mean a change to VBullitin though. What are people opinions on changing to Vb instead of IPB?

What are some features you&#39;d like to see here? As for the tracker/torrent folder, we are still considering this and it may or may not be added.


Brian
all that sounds great, please ditch image re-size & after all the mod&#39;s exudes you need to be asking around for new mods to take up the slack

http://filesharingtalk.com/index.php?showtopic=120132&hl=

[iMartin]

Originally posted by rookiecrd1@2 August 2004 - 13:19
We will have an arcade, get rid of the antispam and do much much more.
Wo0ot. Nuff&#39; Said.

[ck-uk]

Originally posted by TheRealDave+3 August 2004 - 01:15--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (TheRealDave @ 3 August 2004 - 01:15)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-wienerschnitzel@3 August 2004 - 00:11
I think a defult ipb w/ an arcade is all we need.
Yes i agree 100% :D [/b][/quote]
with no anon users...bri :D

[Snee]

As long as it works, I don&#39;t really have an opinion, tho&#39; I have a feeling it&#39;s not quite that fail-proof to swap format.

I wouldn&#39;t have minded IPB 2 tho&#39;.

[Nimdock]

IPB 2.0... it&#39;s about to become final, I&#39;m using 2.0.0 PF 2 in my production board and it&#39;s really good, I haven&#39;t had any trouble, of course that if the administration here prefer to wait until final, it shouldn&#39;t be too long, I would say a month, at the most.

As far as how fast or how slow... it all depends on how you manage your forum and your server, whoever said that IPB was not meant for large boards is making a big mistake... just to mention one, have you seen the pace at neowin?

Personally I prefer the look and feel of IPB, plus all the new features of v2.0.0 are really useful for administrators and for users as well, developing for IPB has become easier as well, including mods, tools and skins... IPB has become more secure, faster, and friendlier than before. I think IPS has the upper hand at the moment... they&#39;re developing a lot more and faster than other companies.

[ziggyjuarez]

God No, I hate it :smilie4:

[chinook_apache]

vb takes quite some to load up, with all the images. on the other hand vb has loads more features preinstalled than ipb.

i vote for the move to vb, if it was to take place that is ;)

[iMartin]

I just want the arade and no anti spam. :( Is it so much to ask? :rolleyes:

[namzuf9]

I voted no. I&#39;m not too keen on switching software but it wont stop me popping in.

[CornerPocket]

Originally posted by J&#39;Pol@2 August 2004 - 19:38
If the board is :

Always on

Stable

Fast

I don&#39;t give a flying feck what software you use. Neither do I give a flying feck about the wee huggy emoticons.

For me it is the ability to talk to the people here, when I want, without a long delay, that is the important thing.

Everything else is just technology.

Do what you want with the software, just keep it so that I can log in and post whenever I want. That&#39;ll do for me.
Amen to that. :)

[tracydani]

Originally posted by J&#39;Pol@3 August 2004 - 03:38
If the board is :

Always on

Stable

Fast

I don&#39;t give a flying feck what software you use. Neither do I give a flying feck about the wee huggy emoticons.

For me it is the ability to talk to the people here, when I want, without a long delay, that is the important thing.

Everything else is just technology.

Do what you want with the software, just keep it so that I can log in and post whenever I want. That&#39;ll do for me.
Pretty much sums it up.

EDIT: Didn&#39;t read the last page. Sorry to copycat ya CP :D

EDIT 2: Didn&#39;t we do this once before? A major change where we had to convert everything? Did we originaly start with VB?? I don&#39;t remember:blink:

TD

[Rat Faced]

Good point.

Is VB the software we converted from, due to the Licensing not allowing Hashes etc for verifieds?

:unsure:

[TheRealDave]

Originally posted by Rat Faced@3 August 2004 - 21:41
Good point.

Is VB the software we converted from, due to the Licensing not allowing Hashes etc for verifieds?

:unsure:
If that is a fact then we won&#39;t be allowed to use it. Can we? :unsure:

[manker]

Originally posted by Rat Faced@3 August 2004 - 22:41
Good point.

Is VB the software we converted from, due to the Licensing not allowing Hashes etc for verifieds?

:unsure:
Hmm, I&#39;d say that&#39;s a pretty important point to clear up before any further planning or any decisions are made.

[shn]

Ya maybe your so-called partner can code a script to get rid of Linux Section and the rest of theese dead cold spots. :lol:

[rookiecrd1]

Hmm, good question. I wasn&#39;t here when we converted the site in the past. Does anyone know if it was VB before?

Brian

[Peerzy]

Originally posted by rookiecrd1@3 August 2004 - 23:48
Hmm, good question. I wasn&#39;t here when we converted the site in the past. Does anyone know if it was VB before?

Brian
Im prittys ure it wasnt to be honest but i can&#39;t be 100%. Ask the Mods or Entity, they may know.

[[B][O][T]]

January/February 2003 this board was using Invision Power Board v1.1

[sparsely]

it&#39;s always been ipb afaik

[Skillian]

The board has never been VB since I joined. It was Invision who gave us hassle about the verifieds.

[lynx]

Originally posted by Skillian@4 August 2004 - 03:12
The board has never been VB since I joined. It was Invision who gave us hassle about the verifieds.
This is correct, it was something to do with where and/or how it was hosted.

But we would need to make sure the same thing wouldn&#39;t be an issue with VB.

I don&#39;t like the idea of the threaded replies, I&#39;ve seen that sort of thing elsewhere and it can get very annoying. That format can also be difficult to follow sometimes, since replies to replies can appear before chronologically earlier replies to the original thread.

To give an idea of what that can mean you can get the following scenario, where the letters indicate chronological order.

a
ab
abc
ad
ade

If someone then posts another reply to b you would get

a
ab
abc
abf
ad
ade

This may be ok for boards where most people are only occasional visitors, but trying to follow a rapidly expanding topic can be a nightmare. Is this how the VB board works? If so it will be a disaster here.

[thewizeard]

Well the no&#39;s are in front of the yeses, so forget it Brian. :lol:

[sparsely]

Originally posted by Skillian@4 August 2004 - 03:12
Is this how the VB board works? If so it will be a disaster here.
no. check out generl [M]ayhem (http://www.genmay.com/) or the something awful forums (http://forums.somethingawful.com/index.php) etc etc etc

[RealitY]

http://www.comedy-zone.net/pictures/images/signs/200503/stop.jpg

[Cheese]

Originally posted by Sparsely+4 August 2004 - 06:31--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Sparsely @ 4 August 2004 - 06:31)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Skillian@4 August 2004 - 03:12
Is this how the VB board works? If so it will be a disaster here.
no. check out generl [M]ayhem (http://www.genmay.com/) or the something awful forums (http://forums.somethingawful.com/index.php) etc etc etc [/b][/quote]
They are kind of ugly...I&#39;m sure the forums are great but the ugliness puts me off.

I&#39;m so shallow. :(

[sparsely]

there&#39;s loaads more skins for VB than IPB though.

and you do realize it&#39;s just html, right? any forum software can be skinned to look like another. ;)

[clocker]

Originally posted by lynx@3 August 2004 - 21:45
Is this how the VB board works? If so it will be a disaster here.
No.
The VB boards I&#39;m on work just like this one.
Maybe there are options for how replies are handled and others might be set up as you say, but OCforums.com is not.

[TRshady]

I would prefere we stick to IPB and upgrade to 2.0 when complete.
Am using 2.0 myself and on many other sites and have come across no problem, I tihnk IPB is the future of things, more friendly looking and I sense goodthings to come from it. =D

[tracydani]

Originally posted by Sparsely@4 August 2004 - 09:56
there&#39;s loaads more skins for VB than IPB though.

and you do realize it&#39;s just html, right? any forum software can be skinned to look like another. ;)
The layout doesn&#39;t seem too bad. I could get used to it as long as there are brighter skins(I only looked at the first option).

TD

[Filliz]

The skins i&#39;ve seen so far for VB are really crappy looking.
You can hardly see the difference between pinned topics and regular ones.
Also topics with new posts are very hard to distinguish,...
You always have to scroll your way up to the top of a topic if you want to go to another part of the board...

If you can make the skins look like this one and change the VB smilies with the ones used here,then I won&#39;t mind either if we change from IPB to VB.

[vivitron 15]

i would guess it would be fairly simple to find an ipb skin - or get something very similar.

i dont really give a monkeys, whatever is best/easiest for you to administer.

its ironic that you fancy this change, i spoke to 7th on swapgate before his departure, and he was thinking of the same&#33; lol, nm...sorry, back to topic - i dont give a hoot :)

[clocker]

Originally posted by Filliz@4 August 2004 - 13:00

You always have to scroll your way up to the top of a topic if you want to go to another part of the board...


No you don&#39;t.

[Busyman]

I say go for it&#33;&#33;&#33;

Keep in mind though:

1. People are used to the way that this board is laid out.

2. You may lose members....IN A BIG WAY&#33;&#33;&#33;

3. You will also gain members.


I really don&#39;t mind.
The intelligent convo is what I enjoy.

In the end there is life outside of the computer.
Some act like they&#39;ll die if you change it. :lol:

Go for it man. ;)

Btw, your partner does seem to be ad-lib.


Originally posted by rookiecrd1+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (rookiecrd1)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>I don&#39;t want people to be upset. I just want to do what i feel is best for the board. Over the coming weeks when we have the final papers signed, My partner will be making some great improvements to the site. An arcade will be installed with probably close to 50 different games, as well as many other features to increase traffic.

VB is a more proffesional forum, and has a lot of features the IPB does not both for members and admins.

Brian
[/b]
<!--QuoteBegin-ad&#045;lib
Hello all,

Who I am, and what my contribution to this site will be evident shortly.

For now, I ask, what do you think?

Indeed, Invision Board is a great piece of software. However, vBulletin is the commercial (paid) bulletin board solution used by a large majority of forums. Additionally, I feel the overall appeal/aesthetic the vB will provide - Is much more professional than that of Invision board.

Please let me know your thoughts, as this will determine whether or not the board is switched.

Thank you,
-Michael
[/quote]
:o :o :o :o
If that be the case see number 2.

[thewizeard]

Originally posted by Busyman@5 August 2004 - 01:37


Btw, your partner does seem to be ad-lib.

...if that&#39;s true, then we will soon be back to flashing banners... <_<

After our last entanglement with him, I don&#39;t think Brian will make that same mistake again.

[Snee]

haxor seems to be pretty fond of vbulletin too.

[TheRealDave]

Originally posted by SnnY@8 August 2004 - 13:13
haxor seems to be pretty fond of vbulletin too.
He still hangs around here? I thought he would have moved on by now. :smilie4: