I think the time has finally come. SDCFans needs a restart. Our forum software is very outdated and between it and our server we are seeing more and more issues and errors. We have already migrated the existing forum database once when we upgraded SMF versions. I think that led to some of the issues we are still experiencing.
I've been looking into various options and have been trying to decide what makes the most sense. Considering how people use the internet has changed dramatically since we started this site, it might make more sense to radically change our software to be more social media integrated and dynamic. Basic forums feel pretty dated at this point, but obviously I still like how they are more permanent and allow us to look back on conversations from a decade or more ago.
I've considered Flarum, XenForo, and MyBB as well as simply re-installing the latest version of simple machines. I think at this point the best option is probably Flarum. It's free, and the extensions would allow us to easily do everything I've been wanting to do for years with these forums. We could have photo galleries, login with your FB account, mentions, blog posts, and more.
Unfortunately it would essentially be a brand new site from the ground up. I would lock the old forums and have them available to browse on a new directory, such as sdcfans.com/forums/archive
I'm just curious how many people would still use the site if I go through the effort of restarting it. Like I said, the way people use the internet has changed dramatically since we started this site, and at this point it's hard getting people off of FB and twitter to even look at a news article. I'm grateful we still have a small active community here though, and as long as there are still a few people around I feel like it's worth it to keep things going.
Let me know what you think.
I, for one, enjoy going down a rabbit hole every-now-and-then of old posts or searching something that I remembered someone saying. If restarting the site gives us access to forum archives, I am all for it!
Thanks for all you do in here. I still check it daily!
I check this site severally times a week, and even though I really don't post, I thoroughly enjoy reading the content everyone posts. It is much different than Facebook communities, and I really appreciate that.
I usually check this site daily. I guess I am old fashioned but I much prefer forums.
I too enjoy perusing the archives. And having some discussions with fellow fans away from the mess on Facebook fan groups.
I appreciate that even though we don't all agree here we can do so respectfully and have good discussions about a park we love.
I would continue using it. I don't really dig into old threads.
I agree that SMF is outdated. It doesn't handle images well, and images are a big part of the forum.
I'm here!
I'm here, also. I like the forums best, but understand your need to change.
I am not a Facebook user so hope this continues in some form that I can access.
Many thanks for you providing this for so many years!
I agree the old forum formats are outdated and need a jumpstart. Not sure what is best but I do not go back and read older threads. I would hope it does not evolve into a Facebook page that is nothing but an ask questions about my cup, or what kind of season pass did I buy. ;D Whatever you decide I appreciate the work that is put into it.
I'm here as well!! I'm on three or four times a week. Don't post much, but read A LOT! ;)
I'm here for the long haul. I also like the opportunity to go back and read old threads. Thanks for all the work, Shave
I think I'm going to target July 20th to have the new forums setup. Might be able to figure out a way to let people preview it before then. We'll see how easy it is to setup.
Does Flarum have a way to react to posts without commenting?
I frequently want to thank people for a post or just give them a thumbs up, but don't have anything substantial to say in a comment.
I really enjoy the site. I don't post much, but still like to see and read what is happening.
I'm here as well. I often go back and read the Where in the City threads and still can't guess where the pictures are LOL
Im here as well! I still hop on from time to time and would very much move over to the new site if it happens.
Folks need to engage more. Myself, included.
Definitely keep these archived, lots of great park info and convos would be lost otherwise.
I'm working on this, but the new setup isn't quite as simple as the old forums so it is taking a bit. Fortunately things seem more stable since we cleared out the old files from the server, so there's less rush.
So I ran into some issues getting a new setup in place and have also been incredibly busy. I just got back from some travels abroad as well. Hopefully thing will finally settle down for me a bit so I can get back on this project.
I have been looking into simply upgrading to the latest version of SMF and installing a bunch of new features. Not sure if that will work either, but that may be worth trying out before we jump to an entirely new platform. It looks like a lot of features have been added since the last time I messed with it.
It will get messy, however. I will have to break a lot of things that I had hard-coded long ago in order to get it set up. I may be able to start as soon as this weekend, so if the site looks completely weird, just know I'm working on it.
Thanks for the update
The updates aren't installing correctly for some reason. I think I am out of options at this point with the current forum. The last thing I am going to try to save it is to replace all the current files with the most recent version from SMF. Hopefully it will still connect to the database and work for everyone. If not, we may have to kill it and switch to an entirely new forum.
Sorry to those who have been trying to register and can't at the moment. I had to disable the registration using a BS anti-spam question because the bots were taking over the site due to our old anti-bot plugin no longer working.
Appreciate your efforts, Shave.
It's been years since I built a forum and played admin. It wasn't simple then, and it's only gotten more complicated with spambots.
I appreciate all the work shave puts into this forum.
Well, I finally figured out how to push an upgrade through. Still playing with things obviously. Will be awhile before I get everything back to looking anything like before. At least the site isn't nearly as broken anymore.
Thanks for keeping the site alive! I enjoy it and look at it every day.
Very nice
It looks great and runs so fast! Thanks for working so hard.
Thanks for all the work you're putting in, Shave.
It took me a couple of visits to figure out that the star would show me all unread posts since last visit (the way I prefer to view all forums).
I know Shave will be updating the look and feel after making everything function correctly. So far, I'm not having any trouble at all.
Quote from: KBCraig on October 19, 2024, 10:07:24 PMIt took me a couple of visits to figure out that the star would show me all unread posts since last visit (the way I prefer to view all forums).
I know Shave will be updating the look and feel after making everything function correctly. So far, I'm not having any trouble at all.
Enlighten me please.
Quote from: History Buff on October 22, 2024, 03:28:19 PMQuote from: KBCraig on October 19, 2024, 10:07:24 PMIt took me a couple of visits to figure out that the star would show me all unread posts since last visit (the way I prefer to view all forums).
I know Shave will be updating the look and feel after making everything function correctly. So far, I'm not having any trouble at all.
Enlighten me please.
On forums, I like to see a list of all new posts since my last visit. That way I don't have to dig through the different categories.
With the new software, that's done by just clicking the star just under the Home/Search/Visitors bar. I attached a screenshot.
SDC forum new posts.png
I'll be messing around with the look of the forums on Friday most likely. I tried messing with it some tonight, but this current theme is a bit more complex than I am used to and I am out of practice. This theme actually generates style sheets on the fly rather than using a fixed css file, so that's kind of a pain.
I will eventually make this place look "rustic" again. You know we love our theming around here, lol.
Quote from: shavethewhales on October 22, 2024, 08:54:02 PMI'll be messing around with the look of the forums on Friday most likely. I tried messing with it some tonight, but this current theme is a bit more complex than I am used to and I am out of practice. This theme actually generates style sheets on the fly rather than using a fixed css file, so that's kind of a pain.
I will eventually make this place look "rustic" again. You know we love our theming around here, lol.
I thnk that once you explained why you didn't want a "like" button on the old forum.
I don't recall the reason, but it's a feature I'd like to see. It lets users acknowledge that their question was answered, without hitting the quote button and typing out a reply.
Quote from: KBCraig on October 22, 2024, 05:47:13 PMQuote from: History Buff on October 22, 2024, 03:28:19 PMQuote from: KBCraig on October 19, 2024, 10:07:24 PMIt took me a couple of visits to figure out that the star would show me all unread posts since last visit (the way I prefer to view all forums).
I know Shave will be updating the look and feel after making everything function correctly. So far, I'm not having any trouble at all.
Enlighten me please.
On forums, I like to see a list of all new posts since my last visit. That way I don't have to dig through the different categories.
With the new software, that's done by just clicking the star just under the Home/Search/Visitors bar. I attached a screenshot.
SDC forum new posts.png
Thank you. That's what I was missing!
Are the posts all stacked with the latest listed fits in the first page now?
Is it just me or is there no way to upload a photo with a post?
From what I can see, we have to upload the photo somewhere else and the add it to the list using the link.
I will have to look into that. It might have been a feature that got turned off during the upgrade. It looks like all the old attachments are throwing errors... Maybe they got rid of that functionality?
I will also look into adding more features such as the Like button.
Didn't get a chance yet to play with the theme - will try to get to that this week. Might end up changing the base theme again just so I can get something that I'm actually able to update.
^ Thanks for all your hard work on this site Shave!
I'm back...
I got distracted with life in general again, but I figured with the new season coming up, it's time to start working on this site again and get it back to it's glory days at least one last time. I've already started messing with things on the visual end, and will be working on that throughout the week when I have time. I will also get around to adding some new features hopefully. Right now I'm trying to get the anti-spam stuff working properly. These days the AI bots make things even harder.
I certainly appreciate your time and effort you put into it. I still check it daily!
Thanks, shave!