Potential forum change... please read

[Carl-NC]

I mentioned last August that I was considering a change in the forum. Since then, I've evaluated several scripts, and chose vBulletin as having the most features needed for this site. I know that the prior feedback was mostly to leave things as they are, but I cannot afford to spend any time maintaining or enhancing this code. And since I would like to significantly restructure the topics, now is a good time to switch.

Switching to a new forum script has several benefits, including lower maintenance for me, and more features for you. There might be some drawbacks as well. It might be a little slower, though vBulletin is supposed to be the fastest of the PHP-based forums. And, right now, email notifications will not include the full message text, only a link to the forum.

I've set up the vBulletin forums for everyone to try out, link is below. Right now, only the Test forum should be active. Lately, I've been working on a method to import all the existing messages, but have only pulled in the Mag and Sonar messages. You should be able to view them, and run searches on them.

What I would like is FEEDBACK. Explore the features and settings. How do you like the software? (I did NOT like these kinds of forums at first, but after using them, I now like them better than the old style.) How is the speed? (I am on cable, I especially want to hear from dial-up users.) How about the structure? I wanted to divvy up the discussions into more relevant topics, to make it easier to find information. When I import the "Tech" forum, I will move threads to their proper category.

I have not yet decided on a final move, but am leaning heavily toward what you see on the vBulletin forums. Please take some time to try it out, and let me know what you think.

Do not post anything you don't want deleted!!

- Carl



New Geotech Forums

[bbsailor]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

Carl,

In addition to the major groupings of topics:

Announcements,
Technology,
Projects,
Misc,
Off Site Forums,

I recommend adding one more category called Operational Discussions that can be further broken down into popular sub categories such as:
Gold Hunting/Prosepecting
Beach (Salt Water)
Beach (Fresh Water)
Shallow Water Hunting (Salt Water)
Shallow Water Hunting (Fresh Water)
Inland Hunting

I would describe the use of the "Operational Discussions" category as follows: Share and discuss your favorite detecting locations, machines, detecting tips and accessories from an operational perspective.

bbsailor

[Richardntn]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

I like the format. Looks great. Richardntn

[Chris]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

Hi BBSailer,

It's nice to seperate all topics...but it's not practical! Better have everything in under one topic. The advantage is that you don't need to switch for & back and you have everything at one place...not spread out over XX places.

Chris

[Gary]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

QUOTE: It's nice to seperate all topics...but it's not practical! Better have everything in under one topic. The advantage is that you don't need to switch for & back and you have everything at one place...not spread out over XX places.

I TOTALLY AGREE.

Other than Maybe a Seperate Catagory to Upload New Schematic Designs.

[Carl-NC]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

As you've described "Operational Discussions", it's very close to the general detecting forums on other web sites. I would prefer not to overlap with those sites.

In terms of operational issues from a technical/technology perspective, such a discussion would best fit in the general "Tech" forum.

- Carl

[Carl-NC]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

>QUOTE: It's nice to seperate all topics...but it's not practical! Better have everything in under one topic. The advantage is that you don't need to switch for & back and you have everything at one place...not spread out over XX places.

>I TOTALLY AGREE.

>Other than Maybe a Seperate Catagory to Upload New Schematic Designs.

Hi guys,

I understand your concern, and I was also reluctant to separate the topics. However, I am constantly getting emails asking about information that has been posted on the Tech forum, but is damned near impossible to dig out.

This forum will be 6 years old in 3 weeks, and a lot of information has been posted over the years. I'm trying to make my life a little easier, by making 6 years of accumulated information more accessible to everyone else. There are 2 ways to do this. One is to improve the search capability -- I don't have time to do this with the current scripts, and vBulletin has by far the best search methods of the forums I've looked at.

The second way is to create some new categories. I already had the Magnetometer and the Side Scan Sonar forums, both of which branched out from the Tech forum, and that has worked out well. Because of the relatively high number of threads, I think it makes sense to break out "Coils" and "Schematics" as well. And, it really makes sense to give various projects their own forums.

I realize that this means perusers will have more forums to look through. But honestly, the total volume for all the forums will be pretty low, so I don't think it will be much of an issue. Also, if it turns out that certain topics don't warrant their own category, I can move them back to the general Tech forum.

- Carl

[bbsailor]

Practical Reasons for A New Topic. Please Read and Comment

When planning a forum, one must anticipate what the bulk of data will look like over time and how much manual sifting and sorting one must do to maintain the integrity of the data. One key element for maintaining integrity is the length of time that photos or illustrations are maintained active.

Nothing bugs me more that when reading a good reference technical post only to find the related illustrations, schematics or waveforms deleted because they were old and storage space has become limited. You might as well delete the whole post. But that runs contrary to the forum having a good historical source of technical data.

Knowing that Carl wants to update the forum to a more modern one that requires less human maintenance was the key reason why I suggested that another "Operational Categry" be added so that any photos posted in this category could be deleted over time, saving valuable space. This leaves other more technical forums to be managed more easily and to keep the more relevant photos, illustrations or schematics for a longer time to maintain the integrity of the posts over time. Otherwise, mixing non-technical posts with technical posts requires human interaction to decide what stays or what goes when it is time to purge the files to save space. Worst, an expedient decision is made to delet all of them. This is what is done on most other forums, where photos are automatically deleted after a certain priod of time. Good early planning could minimize these headaches and preserve the value of technical information.

I am not that keen on just adding a new category to complicate things, but I am keen on maintaining the value of technical information over time. Adding a category where photos could have less value, and could be deleted, was just my way to offer a proactive, constructive recommendation to better preserve relevant technical data where photos, illustrations and schematics are necessary to maintain the integrity of the post.

This is just a recommendation and opinion to better anticipate future issues. Maybe I should have provided my reason with the initial post?

bbsailor

[Silvino]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

Carl,

I think you're right.
Congratulations for your great work!
Thank you!

Silvino

[Carl-NC]

Re: Practical Reasons for A New Topic. Please Read and Comment

Since I began these forums 6 years ago, I have never deleted any pics that were uploaded to the server. Never had to, as my web host allows me 2GB of disk space, and we are currently at less than 600MB. And, when sometime in the way future, I manage to accumulate 2GB worth of stuff that's just too good to throw away (you need to see my basement to appreciate this), then I will simply buy more server space.

Of course, I don't have any control over links to offsite pics, and those can disappear at any time. I thought about auto-loading them to the server to make them local, but technically that violates copyright law.

- Carl

[Phil]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

Hey Carl I know nobody likes jumping all over the place to read/find things but I thing the new forum is great. This type of forum is used by some other sites and I have never had a problem with speed,access or even downloading, and yes I do have a dialup connection that is probably slower than most.( very old phone lines and miles from city) KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND THANKS FOR BEING HERE

[Gene L.]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

Hopefully we will be able to access all the information that we have before.I have been busy working , so I have just found out some change is happening on this forum. This has been my favorite site on the internet for 3 years. It is also my main hobby , and electronics is my field of Employment. I hope as I learn more of this change , I can access schematics , photos , modifications as Before . It would be sad if this site changed for the worse . I hope not !! Do we have to log in now with a Password ?? Is this new Geotech "UP and Running 100 % , and will this site im on now dissappear ?? Thanks for any Answers.

[Yves]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

nice work
but i will register and i cant
error:
The following errors occurred during your registration:
The username you entered as your referrer could not be located.

[Carl-NC]

Re: Potential forum change... please read

You will be able to access everything that is here, hopefully faster & easier. Nothing will get deleted.

I will not require registration for general participation, i.e., "Guests" may post. However, I did limit image uploads to registered participants. Registration does require a password (so that someone else cannot use your login name) but I do not require validation, such as with an email call-back scheme. You can be anonymous if you chose.

Once I move everything over to the new forum, I will simply disable postings on this forum, but will probably leave it up for a while.

- Carl

[sean from ma]

Too many topics with little activity is a PITA.

I agree with keeping it simple.
Too many topics with little activity is a PITA.

Yes, have enough topics to make finding data etc. easier, but promise yourself you'll evaluate them from time to time and consolidate those not used enough.

THanks. New forum is fine with me....format and usage is very familiar to me from others I've posted on.