Forum cleanup

QQ
edited July 2004 in News & Announcements
Right now the WinBoards are huge.

35 seperare boards.

5 of these are considered dead:

Promotion
Convention\Nominations
Government

Mail Servers
Miscellaneous

What should we do with them?

They've been hidden for now.

I'm against deleteing them, as they are, in a way, part of our heritage, but they are taking up screenspace.

Note: This is NOT a question of diskspace, just of astetics.

The issue with hiding them, is that ppl may want to get back to them and read them.

-Q

Comments

  • IanIan
    edited June 2004
    OK, I suggested merging the forums but after checking on phpBB support forums for the Simply Merge Threads MOD apparently some users are still posting problems with the modification this June 2004. The modification has not been fully tested for validity by the MOD team but only for functionality, therefore the idea of merging forums is out of the question.

    The best thing that can be done for now would be to hide the forums that are deemed unnecessary or inactive for a long time.

    In addition, I think the entire WinBoards National Party section should be made only visible to Admins and Moderators. I don't think any of us Registered Users are even interested in those forums, and also we don't even get much of a say anyway. The forums Promotion Convention\Nominations were locked when I last checked so those 2 definitely seemed a complete waste. Hence, making that entire category only visible to Admins and Moderators instead of every Registered User being able to see it.
  • Any forum that is entirely locked needs to go.

    This would be Promo and Convention/Nom.

    Government needs to stay. I think Mail Servers is of use, and miscellaneous should probably stay.
  • Were NOT installng mods to save old threads. Editing PHP is *VERY* hard to do.
  • I think Government should be moved up under News and Announcements or maybe also move the other 2 forums up there as well but make it only visible for the Admins and Moderators.

    Don't you think it's easier and more convenient for you to be able to discuss what you're doing or the policy making for WinBoards if it was nearer the top of the page? Just my suggestion.
  • Were already so used to where everything is :-\
  • Yea, but you changed it all around once before and we got used to it, as we will again.
  • IanIan
    edited June 2004
    FishNET650 wrote:
    Were NOT installng mods to save old threads. Editing PHP is *VERY* hard to do.

    I already said it's out of the question because it hasn't been validated!

    Anyway, those mods are not difficult at all to edit! Just open up the necessary files in UltraEdit32 or some other real text editors (not MS NotePad) It's better practice to keep a copy of the original file as say bk_filename.php or bk_filename.tpl so if something doesn't work you can always revert back to the original file by deleting the bk_ prefix.

    Many mods take less than 5 mins to make. There are some really useful ones that have been validated, you should check them out.

    Ahh, gonna finish this post later, busy with something

    Update:

    Ahh, OK, I talked to Fish, I understand his concern now. When upgrading to the new phpBB 2.2.x some mods may (although I'm not sure how likely but I doubt it will have much of a serious problem) cause a problem which can be fixed when the mod author updates their mod.

    Well anyway, now Fish has added a date mod. Now I forgot why I was even mentioning mods. I can only remember asking for a Tutorials forum. lol this is what happens when I don't sleep. Gone all :|

    Update:

    Oh yeah, now I remember, it was about what to do with old forums, about whether to discard, hide, or merge them. Since phpBB 2.0.8a doesn't have a merge forum feature by default, it is only possible by using a mod. But then, the Simply Merge Threads mod isn't validated (hence throwing that idea out the window) that's not possible.
  • They SAY the special text mod is only a few minutes... I spent hours and screwed up every time. Plus, you need to do it to EVERY TEMPLATE, which takes LONGER>... Once PHPBB 2.1.x comes out we'll be set.
  • IanIan
    edited June 2004
    Woah! I'm amazed you can mess up. What text editor were you using? It's one of the easiest things to do I think. If you want, I can go through it with you later such as sending you the already edited files and where to put them and which original files to rename as backup.

    And... how many times do you want me to tell you not to use phpBB 2.1.x when it comes out? You're setting yourself up for some compromise if you use that version. That will be a beta version. You might even be susceptable to any exploits as they become available. Are you sure you're actually willing to accept such risks?

    The project page says itself they only recommend using 2.2.x:
    phpBB 2.1.x is the developmental version of phpBB 2.2. This will never be released publically, as it exists purely for developmental purposes. When 2.1.x becomes stable, it will be tagged as 2.2.0 and released to the public. 2.1.x is, thusly, an un-stable product. You can use it for experimental purposes, but you should never use it in a live environment.

    Go read phpBB 2.2 Development FAQ

    This is why I was saying in another post that it's going to take some time, maybe months even before you can install the new stable version of phpBB.

    I dunno what other people think, but I'm kinda tired of the forums being pretty boring. Just posting the same things, such as in Random Crap which really isn't much about computers sometimes. Or just browing the other categories to see what else there is and not being able to contribute because I don't have any knowledge or experience to the topics. WinBoards needs to be more useful.

    This is also why I wanted a Tutorials section so I can read what other people have to offer and so I can learn something useful instead of just drudging along for anything that I can contribute to or even read.

    Hell, even I can contribute to a Tutorials section such as how I clean my laptop keyboards with photos, or even how to do a clean installation of Windows XP, or how to use some software and what settings to use.

    I don't want to offend you or criticize you because you're hosting the forum and I very much appreciate that. But I do think that some changes need to be made and this is all in consideration of the bigger picture. To make WinBoards a better community, more interactive and useful. I'm sure that's what everyone wants as well.

    We should take into more careful consideration the suggestions made by other people and if it's feasible we should try to implement it. If it is impossible or cannot be completely guaranteed to work or doesn't seem useful or appropriate then it should be shelved.

    Update:

    Man, are my posts harsh? I get that feeling. Kinda regret making such posts. Well if anyone wants to delete this post, go ahead, it might ease my conscience :)
  • Yeah, typo. I NEVER use beta things. I already know all about area51, and check for updates ALL the time.
  • OK, I'm not sure ppl understand the point of WB Nat'l Party: it was for FUN. It has nothing to do with actually running WinBoards.

    -Q
  • I say hide the boards until someone needs it.
  • Leave the posts, of course.
  • Id say get rid of the goverment things, those seem to be dead (for the most part), and as Q said, for fun, i dont see a reason why we should keep them.

    EDIT: keep the 2 server forums, we might need them.
  • I see we removed the 2 server forums. since you done that, why not make web servers forum servers in general.
  • No forums has been removed, they're just hidden.

    Here's my idea:

    Hide the ones that are dead for now. When we upgrade to phpBB 2.2.0, we can nest forums within forums. We can then consolodate ALOT, unhide them and move them to subforums of a forum called 'Dead' that only takes up one space.

    How that?

    -Q
  • I think Gov and Mail should stay as they are. The others can go.

    You might be able to combine all servers together- but there needs to be a mail server presence here.
  • How about just getting rid of Government forum.
  • I think we should leave everythin as it is.
  • Here is an idea: take the email server and the webservers board, and combine it into 1 forum like Internet Servers or something. Then take all of the government and combine it into 1 forum Government. That way, the forums are still there, but combined.
  • I think they did that already.
  • The 3 'Servers' ones are combined into 'Servers' with is the only section under 'Software'.

    As usually, we can't but wait until phpBB 2.2

    -Q
  • Any idea of when it's coming out?
  • Nope! No release dates.

    -Q
  • Is ther beta testing?
  • Uhhh I mention the betas all the time, and even play with it alot.... how have you missed all that? :P
  • SLipped my mind.

    Hope it comes out soon
  • just dont fuck with the forum

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