OC3D - Future of the Forums....

[tinytomlogan]

Right then boys.... we have been on a long old journey together....

After getting the site sorted the next job on the list was the forums. Ill be frank with you though its not a cheap thing to update - server costs ect.

Facebook is obviously killing off places like ours as it just easier for people to post on there than it is to use something like we all call home.

The only way it can stay will mean drastic changes though and we will HAVE to move to an entirely new forum platform.

Plans are in place but I just wanted to open up dialogue so you can let me know or discuss between you any worrys or fears you may have.

It will mean there will definitely be a big push by Mark, VB and myself to increase forum usage again so we are all ear to any ideas you may have.

 

[RobM]

Is just keeping the forums as is not an option?
It ain broke and joes the job

 

[Warchild]

• Add a multiquote functionality

• Update emoji (cosmetic but brings fun to the forums)

• Debatable but some like a social login as opposed to countless user/passwords.

• Add a feature to track post activity. e.g. see whats hot and highly active. Gets more viewers checking the dialogue, and maybe getting involved

• Shareable links feature for posts. Allows reviews to be shared, or even informative posts

• Multi colour options feature? some might like bright, some dark, blue is also soft on the eyes at night

 

[WYP]

Is just keeping the forums as is not an option?
It ain broke and joes the job

Sadly keeping things "as is" is not an option. Keeping things the way they are condemns the Forums to a slow death. We need a new platform that is easier to update and maintain over time, and something that is more user-friendly for newcomers.

A change has to happen, for many reasons. With this post we want start the conversation about the transition and try to do what is best for everyone here as the change happens. I love the Forums, I love this community, and I want this change to go well for everyone.

 

[NeverBackDown]

• Add a multiquote functionality

• Update emoji (cosmetic but brings fun to the forums)

• Debatable but some like a social login as opposed to countless user/passwords.

• Add a feature to track post activity. e.g. see whats hot and highly active. Gets more viewers checking the dialogue, and maybe getting involved

• Shareable links feature for posts. Allows reviews to be shared, or even informative posts

• Multi colour options feature? some might like bright, some dark, blue is also soft on the eyes at night

I agree with everything here, however the multi quote functionality is already present.

If you did not know, use the quotations, "" "" next to quote, tap that for multiple posts you'd like to respond to. On the final posts, hit quote, and it'll pull all the posts together.

 

[AlienALX]

Biggest problem is security.

It’s what you have to have and pay for with forums. The people who design them know that.

Otherwise you’ll be destroyed by bots in a matter of hours.

I’m easy with whatever you have planned tbh.

 

[Excalabur50]

Just do what you have to as far as I'm concerned as its for the betterment of the channel and forums.

 

[FTLN]

What everybody here must understand is that this forum software is end of life since 2017 :huh: https://forum.vbulletin.com/forum/v...bleshooting/4383928-vbulletin-3-x-end-of-life, that in itself is a major securty risk and could put a huge amount of negative press on OC3D & TTL if somehow the forums got hacked and personal data somehow got leaked, not to mention GDPR and financial penalties of incorrectly handling peoples data.

There is no way I would let end of life software run on a public facing server in this day and age.

Personally I would Archive the current forum into "read only" and start a fresh with something new. Lots of open source stuff out there for free, but problem with open source is you also take the risk that development for the forum you choose suddenly stops getting maintained.

 

[Damien c]

Man this reminds me of when the PC Clan I was in got rid of it's Forum due to cost etc.

Granted there were only 20 of us, and we each contributed each month towards the running costs, left a nice little sum of money at the end which got used for a bottle of whisky for the clan leader, and 2 donations to charities relating to the conditions which we lost 2 members to, but there was not enough of us active each month to justify the cost of migrating.



We used Vbulletin and the cost to migrate to something new was not small, we were told:
Cost to design the forum
Cost for the server either dedicated or shared
Cost of bandwidth
Cost of storage because that was not included in server cost
Cost of host branding removal
Cost of domain
Cost of bandwidth
Cost of support

I think there was more but it was a while ago so maybe forgetting a few things.


We eventually did the facebook thing, but that didn't work out as not all of us used it.

We eventually settled on Discord, sadly that is where a lot of places are landing now.


I don't expect this forum to go the same way, after it's still attracting new blood and still has quite a few active users each day.

If I could I would offer to host it on one of my servers, but I just don't have the spare bandwidth currently, I have a server doing nothing with plenty of capacity for a large forum, it has 3TB of SSD storage and 60TB Raw HDD storage, with decent CPU's and Ram but broadband bandwidth is just not there until I can get a 1:1 broadband connection.


I wish you good speed sir, it's going to be rough and probably some sleepless nights as well but it will be worth it in the end, and I as many others will be, will be here when the new forum/site goes live to show support!

 

[Warchild]

I agree with everything here, however the multi quote functionality is already present.

If you did not know, use the quotations, "" "" next to quote, tap that for multiple posts you'd like to respond to. On the final posts, hit quote, and it'll pull all the posts together.

Good god... I never even noticed that one. In my defence I didnt realise that "" icon meant multiquote


An additional request.

I get that you need to add sponsor links etc. But from a widescreen perspective, the sponsors/advertising take up more space than the forum. Yes I know you see a black screen, but thats because i am using my work machine where all ads are blocked. I have zero control over the Chrome settings.

Can we have the forum itself take up more real estate instead of having it crammed in the centre? or is there a forum setting where I can change this?

 

[hmmblah]

Good god... I never even noticed that one. In my defence I didnt realise that "" icon meant multiquote


An additional request.

I get that you need to add sponsor links etc. But from a widescreen perspective, the sponsors/advertising take up more space than the forum. Yes I know you see a black screen, but thats because i am using my work machine where all ads are blocked. I have zero control over the Chrome settings.

Can we have the forum itself take up more real estate instead of having it crammed in the centre? or is there a forum setting where I can change this?

I actually prefer how it is now. On an ultrawide the sentences are a mile long if it takes up the whole screen. An option to toggle between the two could be good though.

I love a recent threads area. The old Mad Onion/FM forums had what they called the remote control that auto refreshed in a separate small window. I loved that thing. Other forums I'm on that don't have a recent threads area like OC3D does now, I tend to not visit very frequently. I know it sounds dumb, but having to hunt through each section is annoying.

 

[tinytomlogan]

There will be so much we can do with a new platform. Like everything you want and more, I just also have to go at this from a sensible business perspective too (hate being a grown up)

As things stand, it may have to go 'off' for a bit anyways because the old hosts dont like the fact we moved the main website away from them.

Just always know boys, I dont make any of these choices lightly.

 

[Warchild]

well I didnt mean to take up the whole screen. But its nice to have something mid way.

 

[Dicehunter]

As things stand, it may have to go 'off' for a bit

 

[FTLN]

There will be so much we can do with a new platform. Like everything you want and more, I just also have to go at this from a sensible business perspective too (hate being a grown up)

As things stand, it may have to go 'off' for a bit anyways because the old hosts dont like the fact we moved the main website away from them.

Just always know boys, I dont make any of these choices lightly.

How about setting up a discord server ?

 

[AlienALX]

How about archiving this forum? just so it is there for prosperity. It would also stop attacks if no one can make an account or post. Then just set up some sort of basic forum?

 

[Warchild]

How about archiving this forum? just so it is there for prosperity. It would also stop attacks if no one can make an account or post. Then just set up some sort of basic forum?

Isnt Archiving leaving them stored with the current forum vendor hes trying to move away from?

Not my area but I guess a fresh start is required.

 

[AlienALX]

Isnt Archiving leaving them stored with the current forum vendor hes trying to move away from?

Not my area but I guess a fresh start is required.

Depends who “owns” the backup.

I would urge him (Tom) in that case to think about a small server and self hosting.

Used Power Edge cost peanuts so as long as you know someone good with Apache etc it’s well worth considering.

When I used to be into emulation we had a guy who self hosted all of our forums.

Mostly because DDOS were common (some real nuts in emulation tbh) so he would just switch them off lol.

 

[NeverBackDown]

If costs is a factor then using discord, while not a formal way of communicating, it can still be an option that's cheaper and has plenty of users in Toms target audience who's familiar with the Platform.

 

[Dicehunter]

How about setting up a discord server ?

While that is viable, I think Discord makes it quite impersonal, Good for arranging a game night, Voice chat, Announcing new review articles, Videos etc... but useful information tends to get lost in a sea of comments.