  Lowell Moderator Username: Lowell Post Number: 2207 Registered: 09-2003 |
Deep in a secret lab in an undisclosed location team AtDetroit has been furiously prepping, pimping out, testing and developing the next generation DetroitYES forums software for the past month. The new vBulletin product is a data base driven message board and social networking system that is far superior to the aging and no longer supported Discusware software. You are as familiar with the cracks in that system as we are weary of addressing them. So out with the old and in with the new. Some of the features offered by this package include: • Message Boards with • WYSIWYG editing • Polling • Blogs • Improved Search • Central Calendar and collaborative calendars • User Accounts with varying levels of privileges including o Contact lists o Profile displays to show as little or much as you wish about yourself o Friending for those you want o Ignore list for those whose posts you don’t want to see o Subscription for posts you want to follow o Social Group club spaces o Private messaging o Photo Albums o And some things I forgot Not all of these features will be enabled for everyone, but anyone with a good cause will be granted access. Are you ready to explore? Preview at: www.detroityes.com/forum We need beta testers, especially from those of you with knowledge. Want to help? Reply below or click the CONTACT link in the sidebar menu at the left. When? We are getting over the hump of the extensive learning curve created by the huge number of options and granular control of permissions and settings that vBulletin offers. It is like moving from checkers to chess and has been costly both in expense and time. Our next scary moment will be the attempt to migrate the current board and, most importantly, the user accounts into the new forum. If that goes well the switch could be within the next two weeks, hopefully sooner. Once that happens posting on the old forum will cease, but the forum and posts will remain, frozen in time, yet readable and searchable. It will take some adjustment on all our parts, but just dip your toes in and stick to simple posting for starters, especially using the ‘quick reply’ posting box, and you will soon catch on. Why? Because you are from the great international Detroit - Windsor family. Best Wishes, Lowell | ||
Ljbad89 Member Username: Ljbad89 Post Number: 102 Registered: 10-2007 |
The new system is very common with other forums all over the internet. Although I have enjoyed the simplicity of the current forum set-up (without all the bells and whistles of signatures, large text, etc), I think the new system will be fine. | ||
Crumbled_pavement Member Username: Crumbled_pavement Post Number: 697 Registered: 08-2007 |
Nooooooo. There will be much griping and gnashing of teeth if you do this. Of course, I will love it but you know the other members won't be so excited to see change. Yes we can!  (Message edited by Crumbled_pavement on February 19, 2009) | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5289 Registered: 06-2004 |
vBulletin boards are pretty nice provided they're well organized. One I subscribe to even has private rooms that newbies are locked out of until they reach a certain post count. Does this mean we're going to lose the archives from here, though? | ||
Lowell Moderator Username: Lowell Post Number: 2208 Registered: 09-2003 |
Agree Ljbad. Our goal is to keep it lean and trim, as we have it now. We are still mastering the templates but eventually we will get there while enabling some of the useful networking and collaboration features. There is ~so~ much to learn. vBulletin has immense tweaking options, but that requires learning all of them. Before you can trim the and clutter, you have to comprehend the immensity of details. And, no, there will be no annoying avatar pictures. | ||
Lowell Moderator Username: Lowell Post Number: 2209 Registered: 09-2003 |
Lilpup, the old forum will remain in places, posts readable and searchable a transparent link away. A lot depends on the success of the migration. But eventually it will probably be converted into static html pages and the program part disbanded. But, yes, all those posts will remain online forever. [Anybody wish that hadn't said something? LOL] | ||
Vetalalumni Member Username: Vetalalumni Post Number: 1194 Registered: 05-2007 |
Lowell, it was exciting just to read about the upcoming changes as you described. Thanks so much for doing this. We really enjoy DYes. So much so, that most of us have easily "forgiven" the lack of features. For what you've ALREADY done, we cannot fault you at all. Here is to a new age at DYes! I'd gladly help in any way I can Lowell. | ||
Dan Member Username: Dan Post Number: 450 Registered: 10-2003 |
Lowell, I have often wondered, how many of the conversations are saved? How many years are archived and search able? Will people 10, 20, 50, or 100 years from now be able to read our discussions? (I hope so, there is so much knowledge here!) Obviously that is hard for you to answer, but I am sure you have some idea what is floating out there in cyberspace? | ||
Spitcoff Member Username: Spitcoff Post Number: 119 Registered: 03-2004 |
what about rss feed | ||
20043_stotter Member Username: 20043_stotter Post Number: 791 Registered: 03-2007 |
Cool! I'm excited about this. We had a very large 7mi/Van Dyke thread a couple of years ago and it appears gone, gone, gone. Looks like this may solve any future losses. | ||
Lowell Moderator Username: Lowell Post Number: 2211 Registered: 09-2003 |
rss too | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 4141 Registered: 10-2003 |
Finally. I really appreciate this forum, but the format was more than limiting. As long as things don't get out of hand (because, I do think one can go in the other direction of having a format with too many features), this change over will be for the best. | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 2289 Registered: 03-2008 |
DetroitYES is going to have RSS feeds? DETROITYES IS GOING TO RSS FEEDS! Lowell, you are going to make my other RSS feeds jealous of DetroitYES. Three cheers for Lowell! | ||
Crumbled_pavement Member Username: Crumbled_pavement Post Number: 698 Registered: 08-2007 |
I'm going to love the quote button. It will make it easier to follow the conversation and I won't have to type the code in manually. Oh, and more smilies are coming! SMILIES, SMILIES, SMILIES ! ! ! And I can give 2 stars to some of the silly threads people be creating. Beta style looks interesting. Although I don't think it will fit the colors of the forum - although it will be neat if forumers can choose their preferred style. Crumbled can hardly wait . . . | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 5291 Registered: 06-2004 |
and there's an ignore button for those nights certain batty posters just get aggravating | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9017 Registered: 12-2003 |
So the fellow complaining about flat files was a PLANT? Way to create e-buzz, Lowell! I beg to differ with you about these conversations being on-line forever. Find me: Beautiful Paraguay in the Post Apocalypse Springtime All Will Fail and My Insanity, Defined and THEN I'll believe the archives haven't been compromised! They are among many of the threads I've started that I am unable to find anywhere any longer, including the RE-TYPED Paraguay thread! All are quite important to me...so it is quite the bother that they have been vacated from the ether. Cheers | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9018 Registered: 12-2003 |
What's the big deal about similies anyways? I'm more a metaphor man myself. | ||
Mdoyle Member Username: Mdoyle Post Number: 515 Registered: 10-2006 |
lowell, I would love to help out with the transition in any way possible. Im a 5 year veteran of web programming. While I really welcome the change there are some issues that must be addressed. The biggest is the Frames need to go! Websites should adopt a more fluid scaling method that aides in the compatibility for everything from iPhones to 30" displays. Make this site a single page as opposed to a page that loads an iFrame into a window with a predefined height and width. This is a simple task. Many changes are easier to do all at once rather than piecemeal over a long period of time. One large traumatic event for users is easier to handle than a series of moderately traumatic events. ha. Also, if you are looking to really implement a new level of interactivity and social media I suggest looking at some of the great open source cms systems out there that support not only vbulletin and phpbb but also wiki's and blogs. I personally use Joomla! with a series of 3rd part modules and components. Additionally WordpressMU (multi user) Mambo and Drupal systems are all great. Good luck and I look forward tot he future of DYes! | ||
Sean_of_detroit Member Username: Sean_of_detroit Post Number: 2290 Registered: 03-2008 |
Yes, I want to see the "All Will Fail" thread as well. It still comes up on Google searches, but the link is dead. (That was a good thread from Non-Detroit. Everyone laughed at Gannon's letter to the President based on a dream he had. It turned out he accurately predicted the current fall of several larger companies and entire industries). Gannon, do you still have that letter? It was from early last Summer, I think. | ||
Vetalalumni Member Username: Vetalalumni Post Number: 1198 Registered: 05-2007 |
Second on the wiki. Great way to collaborate. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 929 Registered: 08-2007 |
Boy I get reminded of my bad writing skills and now this. I guess I'll see what Stooges videos are on youknowwhat. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 3011 Registered: 01-2004 |
blocking of users you dont want to read ? ! brain... flooding... with.... endorphins.... | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9022 Registered: 12-2003 |
Easy, Mauser, those things are addicting! Sean, I wouldn't say 'accurately predicted' at all...it was merely a dream or vision that haunted me for days after the September 11th tragedy. Way too generic to be called any form of prediction...but to see how quickly everything came undone after I found the printed copy of that presidential e-mail earlier in the year...now that is a wee bit un-nerving. If I remember right, the falling dominoes after the two first ones that resembled the WTC were labelled airlines, car companies, insurance, banking, tourism, churches, govnernments...this all back in September of 2001. I am WAY more interested in that Paraguay thread...I retyped the whole damn thing and IT disappeared, too. The Wiki entrees for Brian McMahon, Prescott Bush, and a few others have been amended since that thread...but I've also gone back a few more generations in Bush family tree to more astonishment of their legacy. They are curiously close to Lincoln's and McKinley's assassinations and a few MORE war instigations...it is quite sick to read, actually. Luckily I have printed copies of the original...I really want to analyze that list of locations for those CIA maps I tripped upon that morning, hell THREE of 'em were small towns in Egypt on a path to the damn Pyramids of Giza. When re-read my posts, I occasionally stumble upon stuff that is profound that I have NO memory of writing. Cheers... | ||
Rid0617 Member Username: Rid0617 Post Number: 396 Registered: 03-2008 |
Familiar with this type of forum lay out. QRZ (ham forum) has this. Toss my hat in as a tester. I can give you the Linux opinion of how it works. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9024 Registered: 12-2003 |
Sean, Did you forget this thread? I'm not the only one dreaming dreams... Cheers! | ||
Ndavies Member Username: Ndavies Post Number: 1651 Registered: 10-2003 |
I'd like to be included in the testing. | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1955 Registered: 11-2003 |
YES! I volunteer as a beta tester. | ||
Wally Member Username: Wally Post Number: 571 Registered: 12-2003 |
quote:I always liked that about this forum. I also always liked that there are no annoying automatic signatures as well. | ||
Pgn421 Member Username: Pgn421 Post Number: 987 Registered: 02-2005 |
Thanks Lowell! | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 1720 Registered: 05-2005 |
i welcome the new software, just don't go nuts with the user options, i've been to a couple vbulliten forums that allow users everything and they are hard to look at for all of the visual clutter. may i suggest no pictures in signatures, limited signature lines, and small avatars |
