Quote:Yes, let's move. And don't lose all the information again Andy!
Oi, I didn't lose it!
Seriously, if we do move over to, say vBulletin, I think they will try and import our existing EzBoard posts. However, I believe they will lose a lot of posts during the import -I seem to remember reading 40% lost.
But, we should be able to refer back to our EzBoard where our posts will remain archieved.
Re: Should We Move To A New Forum?
Andy,
I'm for it, if it assures us a bit of security and stability,
Also I like the idea of identity/boat history under each respondents name. We could have the respondents 'handle' and below that his/her boats name, previous boat names, (example Showa, ex Angus Song etc. the hull number, the date of build, even previous owners names with the ex Angus Song, current engine, name of first mate, home port /country, current boat location if cruising away, (caribbean, Baltic, The Med.etc.) The question then comes up visa vis respondents who are not owners. How might/should they be identified?
Any other suggestions out there?
Bill.
aahshowa
Unregistered User
(29/1/06 4:39 am) Reply
New Forum
Recently I went to another association's forum and they were in turmoil after having lost a great deal of information. How does one judge that the forum selected is going to be without any loss? I would think that if a forum has a loss, then they bolster up the defenses so it doesn't happen again. Ideas?
As to posting certain information on the forum... some of us would prefer not to have it posted on the public part but it would be fine in the members only area or a new section of the member's area. Personally, I feel disclosure of private information on the forum should be up to the individual member or person using the forum.
Quote:I would think that if a forum has a loss, then they bolster up the defenses so it doesn't happen again. Ideas?
These forums are really just databases. Therefore, they are always liable to losing some data. With this EzBoard Forum (cheap n cheerful) there is no way to back-up the data.
I reckon to set up a vBulletin forum will initially cost about £150.00 and then £30.00 per year thereafter. The main advantages will be aesthetic and the ability to post images more easily.
aahshowa
Unregistered User
(29/1/06 1:52 pm) Reply
Hacking
I think it should be made clear that Andy was not responsible for the loss of information on the forum. This type of thing happens on many websites. The people who do this are called 'hackers'. They are programmers who break into computer systems and websites in order to steal or change or destroy information. Unfortunately it is done all the time.
The forum-type programs are designed for many websites to use. The people who design them charge a fee to make money. A forum is selected and connected to the website so we can get to it easily. There is no way to know ahead of time if a forum is going to be hacked.
The Nicholson 31 Association is very FORTUNATE to have Andy as our webmaster. It takes a great deal of time and technical knowledge to design and keep up a website. I think the design he made up for the website is extremely good looking, the menus are clear and he updates it regularly. THANKS ANDY!!!
Personally I don't know if the aesthetics of a forum or the ease of posting photos is a valid reason for change, seeing that we will lose a lot of good information. This site is a little clumsy to use but I can live with it.
Another alternative of course for a new forum would be to set up and use an open source alternative ourselves - does our web hosting allow for that? An example would be:
www.phpbb.com/index.php (phpbb is one of the most popular pieces of forum software). You can see it in use on their support pages:
The key advantage of this route is that it is free (apart from the hosting cost - though we may be able to arrange something there) but that we can configure it any way we want and it is totally in our control!
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