XenForo

[CowRocket]

I really dislike the color of these forums. I looked into designing a skin for them, but "design skin"<"Actually gaming"

"Content over Appearance" does seem to be what most of us think. I'm sure none of us would leave if the forums migrated. Maybe it's like my wife\myself with those new fandangled smartphones We didn't know what we were missing till we had them.

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

No objections per say though some concerns on additional costs but you would be in a better position to judge if we normally reach fundraising goals easily or not. More than the extra $40 a year I also wonder what their release plan on completely new versions will be. It's likely reasonable but if it becomes like Adobe or Microsoft then I'd reconsider. In addition what happens to all our old posts? Will users have to re-register? Goggling it appears to have the ability to import but it'd probably be good to have someone committed to figuring it out prior to purchase. How does Lloren feel about the swap? Probably should get his opinion if he's going to be updating it.

Anyway those are my initial thoughts. If you've prayed, thought it out, and the above concerns turn out fine, I've no objections. Though I can't say I'm excited It is kind of you to offer to front the money Tek, thank you.

 

[Tek7]

We definitely would keep all old posts. There's over a decade of posts on these forums so we would need to convert the data to a new format.

As for importing data, we would set up a test forum first, take a backup of the forums, do a test import, and then figure out how well the converter works.

As for costs, we're going to need to switch over to something else eventually and vBulletin 5 is right out. There are a few other suitable options, but XenForo, at least in my opinion, is the clear winner on price and features for what this community needs.

Yes, the expense is practical, but I realize there's not much demand to switch away from vB4 at this time, so I think my covering the expense will make things easier all around.

I've already contacted Lloren about possibly moving to XF, but I haven't asked him to tackle an import to a new forums system just yet. I want to take another look at a few other possible forums packages before deciding because once I buy the license, we're committed.

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

Okey dokey Tekzor. If Vbulletin gets a critical bug one day at least we will be future proofed by switching now rather than scrambling to do it then .