The Future Of The Forums

[M0rtimer]

There's a decent amount of options: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compariso ... m_software

Of course, not all of them as easy as others/ free, so some vetting might be required. And I've not had any personal experience (hence just the entire list).

Honestly, phpBB still seems like a decent platform, and I can't find any major bugs as long as you are on the last available version..? But I'm far from an expert, I only have a couple of minutes of googling, so I'll defer knowledge there. Also, to be fair, I have seen the mess that is trying to update phpBB, so... Given proper warning, I would be far from opposed to transferring to a different board, even if that means we can't carry across data.

[spiderwrangler]

Yeah, the main game I run is closing in on 900 pages and has over 21,000 replies, and I certainly KNOW that I don't have perfect memory of everything that has happened, so some way of backing it up would be very much useful if we end up demolishing this board and going to another.

[Rodgeir]

Yeah, the main game I run is closing in on 900 pages and has over 21,000 replies, and I certainly KNOW that I don't have perfect memory of everything that has happened, so some way of backing it up would be very much useful if we end up demolishing this board and going to another.

A searchable backup, please!

[redfeather]

I say try SimpleMachines, but keep the old forum up for a prolonged time after launching the new one (doubtless this will cost money, but still), so that there's ample time to compare back-and-forth to figure out what formatting problems arise.

I definitely vote against Discord, I looked at it once and nearly threw up, it was so ugly and confusing.

[Krulle]

Yeah, the main game I run is closing in on 900 pages and has over 21,000 replies, and I certainly KNOW that I don't have perfect memory of everything that has happened, so some way of backing it up would be very much useful if we end up demolishing this board and going to another.

Use wayback/internet archive, Go there, put in the address, and it'll archive if it hasn't been archived the last month or so.

[DrinksTea]

Yeah, the main game I run is closing in on 900 pages and has over 21,000 replies, and I certainly KNOW that I don't have perfect memory of everything that has happened, so some way of backing it up would be very much useful if we end up demolishing this board and going to another.

Not sure if this is helpful, but maybe FUPS: Forum user-post scraper is an option? Here: https://github.com/lairdshaw/fups and here: https://creativeandcritical.net/fups

I've never used it before... but because I dabble in forums & sometimes I like to backup stuff... I've been aware of this as an option.

[WearsHats]

If we do end up closing these forums, we might be able to keep an archived version of them available. Not my department, but we've done it in the past.

[Rodgeir]

Not sure if this is helpful, but maybe FUPS: Forum user-post scraper is an option? Here: https://github.com/lairdshaw/fups and here: https://creativeandcritical.net/fups

I've never used it before... but because I dabble in forums & sometimes I like to backup stuff... I've been aware of this as an option.

This seems useful! I will give it a try.

[Synch]

I'm fine with Discord because I use it every day for multiple communities and gaming.

It sounds like our games and many people would prefer forum format so I lean to that. Happy to help out with any graphics where needed.

[Tobbence]

All this is waay above my pay grade. I am happy with whatever as being over 40 all change is frightening on an equal level. ;D

[Dlover]

If we're going to talk forum option, jCink may be a good one? I've been a member of a forum roleplay community that's used jCink for a couple of years now, and it seems really stable for a forum. The forum itself has been running for four years no problem.

I don't know what sort of backend goes into making a jCink forum, unfortunately (I don't really know anything about the deeper details of it at all), but generally whenever there are big complications the guys behind the framework are quick to help so long as you're polite.

[Just Karen]

Ideally, I'd like to see the current settings and posts be on an archived server, something we can look at once in a while. This is largely to preserve posts from people we no longer have around.

Regarding forum software, I honestly like the software used for Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity, Xenforo.

[Jarednc]

Discord is not a replacement for forums, it is a replacement for a community. Many people would be lost in a switch to discord, and the things you do here on the forums would he lost as well. It's extremely difficult to follow what happened in a discussion a few hours ago once you've got even a little bit of activity.


As for forums, a lot of free suggestions have already been offered. I am always using vbulletin, which is a paid option, so I can't add much input.

I'm just certain that discord (and even reddit) would mean losing a large part of the community as well as many of the forum games and traditions.

[Merari]

Please no Discord.

I like a forum, I like reading all the past replies. Discord scrolls by too fast and people type things live there. It's fundamentally different from a discussion on a forum.