Losties Forum Move!

All mods are now installed....a few false starts as I got to grips with the file editing etc, but once I realised I had to make extra edits to the Lost style templates I was away!

We now have a portal....although it is not as advanced as the current one, ie I cant create custom blocks (yet) for things like widgets and the world clocks, but there is a way of creating custom blocks, its quite advanced editing of files which I will need to spend some time with....but I will

I also need to figure out the domain thing....I want the main URL to point directly to the portal, but i'm sure the answer is pretty straight forward, I just haven't found it yet!

Right....wallpapering for the next few days then back to it....I actually think this new forum will be ready a lot sooner than I had thought

If anyone wants to have a look, you can see the portal at www.losties.net/phpbb3/portal.php and then find the link to the forum from there, on the left hand side menu

Style and structure is now set up, and I must say looks better than the current forum!

Permissions and other settings are also done.

I now have about 20 mods to install...yikes! Lots of great new features though.

A few puzzlers for me.....

I cannot in any way transfer the database as forumotion wont allow me to purchase the database from them, which means no posts. I already plan to keep the current forum open and readable only as an archive, and my members have agreed to that. I have a mod to change postcount so as they reregister I can alter their postcount to reflect posts on the old forum, but oh how I would love to get those posts over.

I can make a link in each section to the "archive" on the old forum, but I have been wondering if I can copy all the posts over. I can post them as a guest (so I can change the username to the posters username) and add a "originally posted on..." at the top. But that will take ages......theres currently 12253 posts! Maybe before the move I will ask members to request certain posts moved, that should cut it down a little.

I also need to figure out how to point the domain to the forum without having to use the /phpbb3 script path.

Right....onto the mods!

phpbb3 successfully installed!

The ftp supplied with the hosting package was pretty crap so I used filezilla instead, but even that took a good hour or so....not sure if thats down to the size of the install (in which case its much bigger than phpbb2) or my connection....but anyway it is done

The admin panel is different to what I am used to, and I realise that is because I am used to free forum providers who have coded the admin panel to be a lot more user friendly, so it seems I have to relearn phpbb3, but its a learning curve I am looking forward to following. Sad geek girl that I am. Or so my other half says anyway lol

Next steps....

Replicate original forum in structure and style
Install mods that are already on original forum and add some extras

This is where the fun starts then! I now appreciate the work that free forum providers put in, but curse them for not allowing me to purchase the database!!!

A list of the mods I would like to install sorted by catagory IN ADDITION to the mods already installed on the current version....(from http://www.phpbb.com/mods/db/index.php?i=browse&mode=group:category)

Add Ons

ACP Announcement Centre
Adds an Announcement Box to the Index Page.
Features:
- Enable/Disable Announcement
- (Guest) Announcement Preview
- BBCode/Smilie enabled Announcements
- Possibility to show different Announcements to Guest users
- Possibility to show birthdays as announcements (display of avatars possible)
- Option to show Announcements to Guests only, Group(s) only or everyone
- (Guest) Announcement Title configurable
- Option to show pages on all pages or on index page only

Adaptive Quick Search
This is a flexible Quick Search, that adapts its function to where the user is searching. So, in the index page, the MOD searches all forums; in a forum, the MOD searches that forum; in a topic, the MOD searches that topic; and in results, the MOD searches within results.
In other words, it merges all the different quick searches in the prosilver template into a single one. The MOD also includes instructions for subsilver2.

Change User's Post Count
Allows an administrator to change a user's post count.

After all that, I have decided to go with GoDaddy.com Its cheaper, easier to use, and BlueHost seems to have a lot of problems with CPU quotas being reached all the time on phpbb3 forums, which GoDaddy doesnt seem to have an issue with.

The new domain name is www.losties.net which wont go live until everything is complete.

Exiting!

Well the phpbb forum recommends www.bluehost.com so I had a look at thier website and it does look very competitive. I noticed a live chat box for support so thought I would test the support, and this was the conversation: (USA times)

FIRST TIME SALES QUESTION [5:10:31 PM]: Hello, do you offer support in the UK?
Ann A. [5:10:31 PM]: Thank you for contacting the Sales Team. Please give me a moment while I review your question.
Ann A. [5:11:13 PM]: Hi! we have many customers in the UK, and offer 24/7 tech support by chat. We also have phone support, but it's expensive for international customers. You can sign up online, the account sets up immediately.
[5:11:21 PM]: I can give you some urls hosted here, if you want to test the speed.
FIRST TIME SALES QUESTION [5:12:26 PM]: Im at work at the moment so wont be able to do a speed test, im just making enquiries atm.....can you recommend a suitable package to host a phpbb forum?
Ann A. [5:13:03 PM]: We offer one hosting package, shared Linux hosting. everything listed under Hosting Features is included. We offer one click install of phpbb3.
[5:13:05 PM]: Our hosting is prepaid, due at signup. We have 3, 6, 12, and 24 month plans. You can view our complete pricing list here: http://helpdesk.bluehost.com/kb/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&id=162
FIRST TIME SALES QUESTION [5:13:46 PM]: i will have a look, thank you very much for your help goodnight
Ann A. [5:16:11 PM]: You too, thank you!

So I'm pretty impressed so far, the list of features is amazing and we get enough space not just for our little forum, but for 100!!!! That will be plenty me thinks! Free domain, free email etc, and shit loads of other stuff for $6.95 a month....I think thats about £4 a month??? Definitely a serious contender!!

Why a Blog for a forum move?

Good question.

It is primarily to keep members of www.losties.darkbb.com in the loop as I build and design the new forum, but also to act as a technical diary for myself. Although I am very familiar with phpbb3 and have created and run many forums, this will be the first time I have created a forum completely from scratch, so its a challenging project I am looking forward to getting started on!

Why move the forum?

When I first started the Losties froum, I had no idea it would become so busy and popular as it has. I was on a nightshift, bored, and was frustrated that I couldnt find any Lost discussion forums that offered what I wanted in a forum, so I thought hey, why not start one! I cant believe that was only a couple of months ago

The free hosting and phppb3 provider I used seemed like a brilliant package. Nothing to pay, with full tech support and a LOT of features and mods, but alas it really was too good to be true. The "technical support" is not only non-existent, but they refuse point blank to sell on the database or allow access to it. This worries me for a number of reasons, but mainly because if we have any major technical problems I cannot access the database to fix it myself and have to wait for non-existent technical support. I would also like to have complete control so that I can install mods and features that will make it an even better Lost forum!

So what next?

The first step is to get a download of phppb3 which is free as it is open source. I can then shop around for the best hosting/domain package that is both reasonably priced and offers a suitable bandwidth for the forum traffic as it is now, and how I expect it to develop in the next couple of years. What we need is to extend the shelf life so that the forum can continue long after Lost has finished!

I should then be able to simply export the style and start playing with mods!

I will keep this blog updated as I go...thank you for reading