ATTENTION ALL USERS: Forum SUCCESSFULLY MOVED today!

BinaryOrange

I misspoke in my original post. I have LIMITED time to manage this forum in its current state, and I have no idea how to do anything inside of it because I never learned the software, and at this point do not have the time to learn how to, nor do I want to because Vanilla is rather sloppy and not updated as often as it should be. That is why I changed my mind about managing the forum - and also why I decided that moving services would be the best option. If I set up a forum with something I'm familiar with (Proboards or MyBB), I can better maintain the forum because I have used those services before with no problems from previous projects in my past.

I can either do this for free, or not at all. I can't move this current forum over to any new service, I don't have the knowledge. All I can do is set up a new forum that has much better features for moderation and proper signature support and better profiles. We also don't have the time to port it over - this forum's services will expire at 00:00 on March 11th. That's 3 days away from now.

Also, how would you hosting the forum for "Free" be any different from me hosting it for "Free" if it ends up having to be a paid service anyway?

BinaryOrange

May I also point out that ad blockers exist for a reason? Proboards only shows ads on the bottom of pages anyway, and you can easily block those.

BinaryOrange

If ads are that bad or people really don't like proboards, I can look into paid services to host a forum with better software. Host Gator wants $100 for the least expensive plan because it's a three-year plan. It's not a bad deal but I don't have those finances to support it at the moment. Does anyone know of a better host with better plans?

keltwookie

Sorry, misunderstood from me : What you said suggested me that the forum software would be NOT free. My intentions was absolutely not to hurt anyone. Apologies again.

About hosting solution, why not try with tuxfamily.org? Not sure but it seems free (no charges) for free projects (as free speech). Godot main website already using it.

Megalomaniak

I used to do some web development decade ago and I do have some friends and connection I could try to pull from however I doubt any would have lots of free time to donate. They all run their own businesses by now, have young families and so on, so time would be limited. Some might be willing to help just because it's a community forum for a open source project.

edit: as for ad's: don't mind them so long as they aren't pop-up's, animated or have sound.

Megalomaniak

erm, ok, talked to one friend, he was like "yeah, ok, lets just get it done then. I have a server guy if hosting is needed too". :neutral: Mind you I told him the main issue is just updating forum software because of supposed modifications done to soft. "just get old/unmodified forum soft and diff against the modified one, Meld is a good diff GUI on linux."

So yep, if a real need exists I guess we can get help from him.

keltwookie

Great ! :smiley:

"There are no problems, only solutions"

Megalomaniak

@Megalomaniak said: I used to do some web development decade ago and I do have some friends and connection I could try to pull from however I doubt any would have lots of free time to donate. They all run their own businesses by now, have young families and so on, so time would be limited. Some might be willing to help just because it's a community forum for a open source project.

edit: as for ad's: don't mind them so long as they aren't pop-up's, animated or have sound.

@Megalomaniak said: erm, ok, talked to one friend, he was like "yeah, ok, lets just get it done then. I have a server guy if hosting is needed too". :neutral: Mind you I told him the main issue is just updating forum software because of supposed modifications done to soft. "just get old/unmodified forum soft and diff against the modified one, Meld is a good diff GUI on linux."

So yep, if a real need exists I guess we can get help from him.

@BinaryOrange

keltwookie

For curiosity, I searched a bit how transferring a Vanilla database to MyBB :

Maybe a solution by Mik378 on Stack Overflow : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38226077/import-users-to-mybb-database-from-another-mysql-table-of-users

Well, for experts only and a bit of work..

Another one : http://profprojects.com/migrate-vanilla-to-mybb/

Hugh ! For myself , I pass ! :(

@Megalomaniak I knew your comments above were not for me, but I could not resist to comment myself bcause your proposition is far better than any other solution until now and you guys (you and your friend) looks like you know your stuff (another Debian user?) :)

Megalomaniak

Yeah, no problem just thought to myself better safe than sorry, add a post with @ mention to make sure its not overlooked.

NeoBerlin

Okay, as a novice who is about to "eat Godot" and "soak up the contents of this forum" to learn Godot, this discussion is very unsettling. Or put another way: 1. What am I? Absolute beginner, but extremely motivated Godot wants to master because it seems to be the best in open source, what is there! 2. What do I want? A forum where I can ask a question, find it again and hopefully get Answert (here, by the way, to 100 percent). An archive where I can research old (and same with my new) questions, just search by simple. A platform where I may or may not be active, daily or weekly, as my leisure time permits.

So ... where in all new or old already existing media I find that again, like here?

Where will I land?

I want to say that I have met here really great, helpfully competent people. And I would be afraid to stop meeting them because For example, I'm not ready to start facebook, or I do not want to chat, where questions come and go and can only be answered at the right time in the right place.

I wish a forum, an archive, a community - here's a good community ... Thanks community, I appreciate you very much!

And I wish that this is preserved, no matter which link I have to enter in my browser ... main thing not facebook and co.

Please do not take my motivation, by this forum in all directions is scattered ... I would like to read you again!

... and if there is a solution, pick me up, take me by the hand - not the docs and not the tutorials make Godot accessible to beginners, it is the community!

Thanks and greetings from Berlin Neo

Translation with Google translator ... I hope he did a good job!

BinaryOrange

@Megalomaniak said: erm, ok, talked to one friend, he was like "yeah, ok, lets just get it done then. I have a server guy if hosting is needed too". :neutral: Mind you I told him the main issue is just updating forum software because of supposed modifications done to soft. "just get old/unmodified forum soft and diff against the modified one, Meld is a good diff GUI on linux."

So yep, if a real need exists I guess we can get help from him.

Oh man, this would be great but I really need to make sure the forum is on a stable environment, so that this doesn't happen again. As much as I'd love to take advantage of that offer, I don't think I can. I had a forum a few years ago that was hosted on a server in a very similar setup as this, and lost contact with the owner of the server and the forum died out because I didn't have access to his server or even knew what hosting service it used so I lost everything... really don't want to repeat that experience, especially when this whole community is at risk!

As for transferring this forum to the new one, that's just not going to be able to happen. The way this forum is set up is so complicated it's completely mind-boggling, it would take me a week to figure it out . Also to consider is that Vanilla and other boards don't tend to merge well with each other - do any of you remember the original transfer that occurred and how it messed up every post? We had to go through and manually edit almost all of them to at least make them readable, it was about a two-week process! :tongue:

Also, @keltwookie, I didn't mean to sound like that this morning - I guess I was trying to say that hosting the forum wouldn't be free, but that the forum itself would be. I think what you thought I meant was that I was going to charge people to run the forum? That's not happening, don't worry! Forum access will always remain free.

@NeoBerlin, I'm sorry to say I can't find a way to preserve this forum. If you have anything you need to save personally, take screenshots please! I am sorry that the content on this forum can't be saved. If I had more time I would absolutely have attempted to transfer the content, but I was given extremely short notice about the original founder stepping down (not his fault, he can only contact me every-so-often due to school), and the time that the renewal fee is due.

So, I am thinking the overwhelming opinion is to NOT go with Proboards then? I'm unable to find any good hosting plans for a reasonable price, but I'll continue looking for the next couple of hours. Otherwise, it will be hosted on Proboards and I'll attempt to talk to the Godot team to figure out actual proper funding. I'm hoping to get reimbursed by them in some manner. :tongue:

Ace_Dragon

@BinaryOrange said: May I also point out that ad blockers exist for a reason? Proboards only shows ads on the bottom of pages anyway, and you can easily block those.

If the ad load is light, then you should also encourage people to have their ad blockers turned off when visiting the new Godot forum. The ads would be worth having if it means Godot continuing to have an active forum (people who have a completely black & white view on ads could be encouraged to donate money to help with hosting).

So looking at the smiley, it's possible you were joking about getting reimbursed. If you need to inquire about something to the devs, though, your best bet might be to contact Akien as Reduz tends to be busier these days (attending community events, traveling to events, and developing Godot. He probably does not have much time now due to the GDC coming up).

keltwookie

@BinaryOrange said : I had a forum a few years ago that was hosted on a server in a very similar setup as this, and lost contact with the owner of the server and the forum died out because I didn't have access to his server or even knew what hosting service it used so I lost everything... really don't want to repeat that experience, especially when this whole community is at risk!

Good point, trust me, I perfectly understand your views (I experienced something like that about a decade ago).

...The way this forum is set up is so complicated it's completely mind-boggling...

Well, I installed the latest Vanilla version on a free space to do some tests, just in case. I’m forced to admit that this latest version (v2.5.1), don’t run as it should. There are tons of things to do to make it work properly (including some old plugins edition if any use).

I think what you thought I meant was that I was going to charge people to run the forum? That's not happening, don't worry! Forum access will always remain free.

Of course not, I thought that you paid for a forum software. Vanilla have special paid plans (including assistance I guess), even if the software itself is free from charges. Once again, a complete misunderstood from my part. :) And no, I’m not worrying about that, my only concerns being the survival of this community.

So, I am thinking the overwhelming opinion is to NOT go with Proboards then?

I will be honest with you : My first forum (2012) was something similar (forumotion.org/forumactif.org), I keep it for sentimental reasons and as archives, and also because the management team is very competent, so a very safe place. But imagine a bit a lambda user browsing this new Godot forum with ads showing an advertising selling sport shoes… See what I mean ? Yeah, you are right, everyone knows ads blockers but I’m not sure this kind of hosting will attract new users and what we all want here is that this community keep growing.

A last thing : The greatest loss in my humble opinion would be the tutorials

BinaryOrange

I get what you're saying about ads, but at this moment I don't think I have a choice. I can't secure funding from the Godot team in time, and in order to run something through Host Gator right now, it would cost me $150 USD up front just to set up hosting, and that's with their best deal at 60% off. Pretty insane!

I looked into tux family, but I'm not sure I like their rules, and judging from their news page their services tend to go out a lot.

Therefore, the new forum will be hosted on Proboards. If I can secure funding in the future, I can look into their paid services to get rid of ads. I will post a link to the new forum once it's done being set up. I currently am working 10 hour days so my time is kind of limited! I promise I'll have it set up in a day or two at most, so that there's a chance that most users here will see it.

NeoBerlin

Good morning, how about a Gogle group? When I'm on the road, I used to do a lot of scripting with Droidscript. And this community meets up in a Google Groub ... admitted, I use that only on the mobile phone, have no experience with it on the pc. but on the mobilephone it works great, ill test it on pc after work. ... just spun in the morning ...

Nice day Neo

memzen

I went to discord and it seemed more about intellectual and philosophical chatting and only helping with snippets of code. I wouldn't feel good about disturbing the ambiance by asking questions which were paragraphs long. So I will probably use Reddit. A new board would be better than nothing. And with all of the changes in the new version starting over wouldn't be so bad. It seems to me that the developers want to use newer social media to interact and not waste time on old school social media. I don't believe its about looking modern or hip but about moving on because the world is changing how it interacts. I wanted to add one more thing, if Godot was hugely popular a forum would be a necessity, could you imagine Unity with no forum?

Vale-git

Hi, I will not use facebook or other similar "social" engines because what I value the most is my privacy. In my opinion is a place where you give away your privacy for nothing, just to make more rich who already is.

I hope I can find this useful forum content elsewhere.

Thank you.

Megalomaniak

@BinaryOrange said: Oh man, this would be great but I really need to make sure the forum is on a stable environment, so that this doesn't happen again. As much as I'd love to take advantage of that offer, I don't think I can. I had a forum a few years ago that was hosted on a server in a very similar setup as this, and lost contact with the owner of the server and the forum died out because I didn't have access to his server or even knew what hosting service it used so I lost everything... really don't want to repeat that experience, especially when this whole community is at risk!

Fair enough, though the hosting could be just temporary means. The rest is still applicable however. A Professional developer is willing to help out.

Shoot me an email and I'll put you in direct contact with him. I've made my email visible to other forum members for now.

As for transferring this forum to the new one, that's just not going to be able to happen. The way this forum is set up is so complicated it's completely mind-boggling, it would take me a week to figure it out . Also to consider is that Vanilla and other boards don't tend to merge well with each other - do any of you remember the original transfer that occurred and how it messed up every post? We had to go through and manually edit almost all of them to at least make them readable, it was about a two-week process! :tongue:

Well, no wonder insane challenges are met when trying to do insane things(in sense of scale) That was a crazy complex migration from a ahem rather unique forum software to another rather unique forum software. I'm sure the kid learned a lot from the process.

@NeoBerlin, I'm sorry to say I can't find a way to preserve this forum. If you have anything you need to save personally, take screenshots please! I am sorry that the content on this forum can't be saved. If I had more time I would absolutely have attempted to transfer the content, but I was given extremely short notice about the original founder stepping down (not his fault, he can only contact me every-so-often due to school), and the time that the renewal fee is due.

So, I am thinking the overwhelming opinion is to NOT go with Proboards then? I'm unable to find any good hosting plans for a reasonable price, but I'll continue looking for the next couple of hours. Otherwise, it will be hosted on Proboards and I'll attempt to talk to the Godot team to figure out actual proper funding.

Do the temporary hosting on Proboards if need be. Saving the user and post DB is the important bit here.

keltwookie

@NeoBerlin said: how about a Gogle group?

@Vale-git said: ...because what I value the most is my privacy

Well, about Google, don’t think a single second your privacy will be safe, surely not ! Like other big companies like FB, Twitter, Amazon, Discord, Reddit and so on., they don’t care about this, even if they pretend the contrary in their conditions of use.

@Megalomaniak said: The rest is still applicable however. A Professional developer is willing to help out.

Please, say thanks from us all

Okay, as I said earlier, I already made some tests, seeing the urgency and here’s the result.

https://www.godotdevelopers.klgs.eu/

Yes, it is a Vanilla forum again, theme is not made and there are still tons of things to do. But I secured the thing a bit and a SSL certification is properly running (means that it is a secured website from your browser). If I did set it like that, it was just because of less work for transferring DB, once again, is there some backup available ?

And yes, once again, if this solution is chosen (temporary or not), I will transmit all specifications and authorizations needed to the Godot Devs forum management team.

Edit: Just for information, I got more free time as I'm working at home.

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