[DIFH]

s42blue, on 31 January 2024 - 12:16 PM, said:

His was a great post indeed.

I’d happily contribute (might even sponsor next year if I’m S/E!) and would consider being a mod if there’s a few.

Just have no idea about the tech.

Marcia’s in the money again on the lottery she could contribute and moderate.

[Barrel Inn Away Travel]

DIFH, on 31 January 2024 - 02:12 PM, said:

Marcia’s in the money again on the lottery she could contribute and moderate.

For information to compare any future costs moving forward we have paid £1,057.47 in sponsorship for Bob's Board over 7 seasons.

We don't post often but really hope that someone can take this on from Rich and others, cheers Paul.

[Holmesc1]

Cfc4me, on 31 January 2024 - 08:50 AM, said:

Morning all, I've been a software/web developer for over 30 years so should probably add some of my thoughts/suggestions to this...

Current system - As someone mentioned above, at first glance it does appear to be a closed book, in that you don't seem to be able to migrate the whole thing to a different web hosting company. At the figures suggested above it also seems expensive. As a comparison, unlimited web hosting charge £50 for the year for a package with 99.9% up-time and unlimited data storage. Cheaper packages are available elsewhere but limit the amount of data you can store, which could become a problem very quickly with a site this size. Key is to find someone that doesn't limit the data, and provides regular back-ups.

Data migration - Providing you have access to the database (probably via phpmyadmin) then its not impossible to migrate to a different platform. Unless there is a tool that will migrate the data to a different platform for you however, it could take days, weeks to manually move all this over. This would mean locking the current system down while the migration takes place, otherwise your forever playing catch-up with new posts, threads, users etc. Obviously not ideal. Someone else suggested outsourcing the data migration, which is a good idea but likely to come at significant cost.

New forum - Personally, I'd take a look at phpBB. It's free open-source forum software, with good community based support. If you google football forums using phpBB, you'll see quite a few, including Man City, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and (dare I say) stagsnet, to name a few. It's also most likely that some web hosting companies offer this installation as part of their package.

Domain name - you could ask the current owner to have this transferred to you, then all the dns entries will need changing to point to the new system. This should be the VERY LAST THING to be done however, else everything will stop working. Alternatively, someone like 123reg will sell you a new domain name for around £12 a year (currently 79p for the first year). So you could register for example bobsboard.co.uk , then move the other one over later so they both point to the same site.

Mods - As goku said, definitely needed.

So my suggestion for the easiest/ cheapest (£62 per year) option would be to :
- Buy some cheap reliable web hosting and a new domain name.
- Install phpBB as a new forum and run the 2 forums in tandem for a few weeks to give people time to register on the new one and start using it.
- Freeze this one and get a database extract, and see if we can get someone to try and migrate it as an archived forum /sub-domain on the new site.


Just my thoughts, and apologies for the lengthy post

Good bit of info. Here is the link to a pro-boards i use for a forum called non league zone. When that closed nobody bothered paying to transfer data from the forum over, they simply put a link to the new forum on the site with closing date etc. the two ran together for a short while, the forum is still easy to find on google. The new forum also led to more streamlined sections with many redundant areas going when the old forum went
https://nonleaguezone.proboards.com/

[HoneyTrippa]

Barrel Inn Away Travel, on 31 January 2024 - 02:28 PM, said:

For information to compare any future costs moving forward we have paid £1,057.47 in sponsorship for Bob's Board over 7 seasons.

We don't post often but really hope that someone can take this on from Rich and others, cheers Paul.

Cheers for the info Paul. thats an average of approx £150 per season. Im sure we could crowd fund that amount to keep BB active and even update the technology if required. Would be a shame to lose this forum. Its much more interactive, knowlegeable and credible as opposed to other social media forums. You can have a good old debate and discussion on here, whereas other forums tend to be bullet points or a few word responses / replies.

[s42blue]

Barrel Inn Away Travel, on 31 January 2024 - 02:28 PM, said:

For information to compare any future costs moving forward we have paid £1,057.47 in sponsorship for Bob's Board over 7 seasons.

We don't post often but really hope that someone can take this on from Rich and others, cheers Paul.

Thanks for that. I’m sure we could raise that p.a.

[azul]

Holmesc1, on 31 January 2024 - 02:38 PM, said:

Good bit of info. Here is the link to a pro-boards i use for a forum called non league zone. When that closed nobody bothered paying to transfer data from the forum over, they simply put a link to the new forum on the site with closing date etc. the two ran together for a short while, the forum is still easy to find on google. The new forum also led to more streamlined sections with many redundant areas going when the old forum went
https://nonleaguezone.proboards.com/

ProBoards has been mentioned previously. I created and set this forum up in less than 30 minutes yesterday…..

https://chesterfieldfc.freeforums.net/

I had quick look at the management tools and even used a few - it looks easy to maintain if things are kept simple.

The main drawbacks seem to be that it is not add free but they seem to be limited to the top and bottom of the page in desktop mode but I have seen complaints that they are more annoying in mobile mode. The add free option is payed for on a monthly basis and price plans seem to be based on page views. There is an option to link the ProBoards forum to an existing URL at an additional cost.

Unless an expert or an amateur with time on their hands can be found, I suggest this is an easy option to consider

[manc_spire]

Cfc4me, on 31 January 2024 - 08:50 AM, said:

Morning all, I've been a software/web developer for over 30 years so should probably add some of my thoughts/suggestions to this...

Current system - As someone mentioned above, at first glance it does appear to be a closed book, in that you don't seem to be able to migrate the whole thing to a different web hosting company. At the figures suggested above it also seems expensive. As a comparison, unlimited web hosting charge £50 for the year for a package with 99.9% up-time and unlimited data storage. Cheaper packages are available elsewhere but limit the amount of data you can store, which could become a problem very quickly with a site this size. Key is to find someone that doesn't limit the data, and provides regular back-ups.

Data migration - Providing you have access to the database (probably via phpmyadmin) then its not impossible to migrate to a different platform. Unless there is a tool that will migrate the data to a different platform for you however, it could take days, weeks to manually move all this over. This would mean locking the current system down while the migration takes place, otherwise your forever playing catch-up with new posts, threads, users etc. Obviously not ideal. Someone else suggested outsourcing the data migration, which is a good idea but likely to come at significant cost.

New forum - Personally, I'd take a look at phpBB. It's free open-source forum software, with good community based support. If you google football forums using phpBB, you'll see quite a few, including Man City, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and (dare I say) stagsnet, to name a few. It's also most likely that some web hosting companies offer this installation as part of their package.

Domain name - you could ask the current owner to have this transferred to you, then all the dns entries will need changing to point to the new system. This should be the VERY LAST THING to be done however, else everything will stop working. Alternatively, someone like 123reg will sell you a new domain name for around £12 a year (currently 79p for the first year). So you could register for example bobsboard.co.uk , then move the other one over later so they both point to the same site.

Mods - As goku said, definitely needed.

So my suggestion for the easiest/ cheapest (£62 per year) option would be to :
- Buy some cheap reliable web hosting and a new domain name.
- Install phpBB as a new forum and run the 2 forums in tandem for a few weeks to give people time to register on the new one and start using it.
- Freeze this one and get a database extract, and see if we can get someone to try and migrate it as an archived forum /sub-domain on the new site.


Just my thoughts, and apologies for the lengthy post

On the migration point, there are tools out there, the phpBB community looks pretty strong: https://www.phpbb.co...forum.php?f=666
I suspect a problem could come in terms of the aged version of IP Board we are running, will there be anything that'll migrate FROM it? It might need to be upgraded in place before any migration.
Otherwise you're in to the realm of doing it manually, or paying someone, as you say.
These people seem to offer the service: https://gconverters....orum-migration/

If we want to keep the old data, those are the choices I reckon

[JonB]

azul, on 31 January 2024 - 03:03 PM, said:

ProBoards has been mentioned previously. I created and set this forum up in less than 30 minutes yesterday…..

https://chesterfieldfc.freeforums.net/

I had quick look at the management tools and even used a few - it looks easy to maintain if things are kept simple.

The main drawbacks seem to be that it is not add free but they seem to be limited to the top and bottom of the page in desktop mode but I have seen complaints that they are more annoying in mobile mode. The add free option is payed for on a monthly basis and price plans seem to be based on page views. There is an option to link the ProBoards forum to an existing URL at an additional cost.

Unless an expert or an amateur with time on their hands can be found, I suggest this is an easy option to consider

Looks like ProBoards forums can be accessed via the tapatalk app on iOS and Android as an option as well.

[Holmesc1]

JonB, on 31 January 2024 - 03:14 PM, said:

Looks like ProBoards forums can be accessed via the tapatalk app on iOS and Android as an option as well.

Its not a bad app, handy function for seen the latest posts in all threads as soon as you load it

azul, on 31 January 2024 - 03:03 PM, said:

ProBoards has been mentioned previously. I created and set this forum up in less than 30 minutes yesterday…..

https://chesterfieldfc.freeforums.net/

I had quick look at the management tools and even used a few - it looks easy to maintain if things are kept simple.

The main drawbacks seem to be that it is not add free but they seem to be limited to the top and bottom of the page in desktop mode but I have seen complaints that they are more annoying in mobile mode. The add free option is payed for on a monthly basis and price plans seem to be based on page views. There is an option to link the ProBoards forum to an existing URL at an additional cost.

Unless an expert or an amateur with time on their hands can be found, I suggest this is an easy option to consider

Even on a phone or tablet the ads aint that bad, far less annoying than what you see on newspaper sites

[hilly81]

azul, on 31 January 2024 - 03:03 PM, said:

ProBoards has been mentioned previously. I created and set this forum up in less than 30 minutes yesterday…..

https://chesterfieldfc.freeforums.net/

I had quick look at the management tools and even used a few - it looks easy to maintain if things are kept simple.

The main drawbacks seem to be that it is not add free but they seem to be limited to the top and bottom of the page in desktop mode but I have seen complaints that they are more annoying in mobile mode. The add free option is payed for on a monthly basis and price plans seem to be based on page views. There is an option to link the ProBoards forum to an existing URL at an additional cost.

Unless an expert or an amateur with time on their hands can be found, I suggest this is an easy option to consider

That looks fine to me.

[JonB]

hilly81, on 31 January 2024 - 03:31 PM, said:

That looks fine to me.

Works for me, just depends how attached people are to the old stuff on here.

[Mr Mercury]

azul, on 31 January 2024 - 03:03 PM, said:

ProBoards has been mentioned previously. I created and set this forum up in less than 30 minutes yesterday…..

https://chesterfieldfc.freeforums.net/

I had quick look at the management tools and even used a few - it looks easy to maintain if things are kept simple.

The main drawbacks seem to be that it is not add free but they seem to be limited to the top and bottom of the page in desktop mode but I have seen complaints that they are more annoying in mobile mode. The add free option is payed for on a monthly basis and price plans seem to be based on page views. There is an option to link the ProBoards forum to an existing URL at an additional cost.

Unless an expert or an amateur with time on their hands can be found, I suggest this is an easy option to consider

I never knew you were from Roswell!

[azul]

Mr Mercury, on 31 January 2024 - 04:11 PM, said:

I never knew you were from Roswell!

That wasn’t you who posted that abusive post yesterday was it

I had to delete the post, disable the guest posting facility, the guest who created it and disabled registration for good measure. I’m amazed someone found it before I posted the link.

[Mr Mercury]

azul, on 31 January 2024 - 04:21 PM, said:

That wasn’t you who posted that abusive post yesterday was it

I had to delete the post, disable the guest posting facility, the guest who created it and disabled registration for good measure. I’m amazed someone found it before I posted the link.

Noooo, only just clicked on the link a cpl of minutes ago…
But I have seen that type of board before, it looks reasonably easy on the eye.

This post has been edited by Mr Mercury: 31 January 2024 - 04:24 PM

[Snowflake McBedwetter]

Cfc4me, on 31 January 2024 - 08:50 AM, said:

Morning all, I've been a software/web developer for over 30 years so should probably add some of my thoughts/suggestions to this...

Current system - As someone mentioned above, at first glance it does appear to be a closed book, in that you don't seem to be able to migrate the whole thing to a different web hosting company. At the figures suggested above it also seems expensive. As a comparison, unlimited web hosting charge £50 for the year for a package with 99.9% up-time and unlimited data storage. Cheaper packages are available elsewhere but limit the amount of data you can store, which could become a problem very quickly with a site this size. Key is to find someone that doesn't limit the data, and provides regular back-ups.

Data migration - Providing you have access to the database (probably via phpmyadmin) then its not impossible to migrate to a different platform. Unless there is a tool that will migrate the data to a different platform for you however, it could take days, weeks to manually move all this over. This would mean locking the current system down while the migration takes place, otherwise your forever playing catch-up with new posts, threads, users etc. Obviously not ideal. Someone else suggested outsourcing the data migration, which is a good idea but likely to come at significant cost.

New forum - Personally, I'd take a look at phpBB. It's free open-source forum software, with good community based support. If you google football forums using phpBB, you'll see quite a few, including Man City, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and (dare I say) stagsnet, to name a few. It's also most likely that some web hosting companies offer this installation as part of their package.

Domain name - you could ask the current owner to have this transferred to you, then all the dns entries will need changing to point to the new system. This should be the VERY LAST THING to be done however, else everything will stop working. Alternatively, someone like 123reg will sell you a new domain name for around £12 a year (currently 79p for the first year). So you could register for example bobsboard.co.uk , then move the other one over later so they both point to the same site.

Mods - As goku said, definitely needed.

So my suggestion for the easiest/ cheapest (£62 per year) option would be to :
- Buy some cheap reliable web hosting and a new domain name.
- Install phpBB as a new forum and run the 2 forums in tandem for a few weeks to give people time to register on the new one and start using it.
- Freeze this one and get a database extract, and see if we can get someone to try and migrate it as an archived forum /sub-domain on the new site.


Just my thoughts, and apologies for the lengthy post

Excellent post and suggestions.

i'm happy to chuck a tenner in to a crowdfund.

Also, might be an idea if people stopped haranguing moderators when it's not necessary. They do this for nothing and aren't here to soothe egos or create safe spaces for everyone. If you believe someone is breaking a law or something, fine. Otherwise. Leave them in peace.

[DIFH]

Snowflake McBedwetter, on 31 January 2024 - 04:40 PM, said:

Excellent post and suggestions.

i'm happy to chuck a tenner in to a crowdfund.

Also, might be an idea if people stopped haranguing moderators when it's not necessary. They do this for nothing and aren't here to soothe egos or create safe spaces for everyone. If you believe someone is breaking a law or something, fine. Otherwise. Leave them in peace.

Your all heart McBedwter lol

s42blue, on 31 January 2024 - 02:47 PM, said:

Thanks for that. I’m sure we could raise that p.a.

Just pm a bank account I’ll sponsor for the initial year. Walton’s co sponsoring he doesn’t know it yet.

This post has been edited by DIFH: 31 January 2024 - 09:33 PM

[CFC91]

The Earl of Chesterfield, on 31 January 2024 - 09:03 AM, said:

No need to apologise.

A very informed and informative post.

Suggestion: could a group of interested contributors meet up and sort this? Sixty quid a year is nowt - we could raise that in minutes (I'll chuck a tenner in for a start) - so it's merely down to folk taking the time to set this up and moderate.

Over to those prepared to step forward...

Happy to get involved and help - either chucking a few quid in, helping out with any admin etc

Might need someone like Cfc4mes help on the technical side of things though!

[Andy Spireite]

CFC91, on 31 January 2024 - 09:42 PM, said:

Happy to get involved and help - either chucking a few quid in, helping out with any admin etc

Might need someone like Cfc4mes help on the technical side of things though!

Sign me up too for contributing financially and with either moderation or any other admin.

I'm not a techie and I think that's the key role or roles we are looking for at the moment. Can anyone come forward in that area?

[Snowflake McBedwetter]

DIFH, on 31 January 2024 - 09:32 PM, said:

Your all heart McBedwter lol


Just pm a bank account I’ll sponsor for the initial year. Walton’s co sponsoring he doesn’t know it yet.

My sheets are pearly white!

[DIFH]

Snowflake McBedwetter, on 01 February 2024 - 01:57 AM, said:

My sheets are pearly white!

Yeh but do something about those stain rings.