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Haynes forum to close
Talon Motorsport - 17/11/16 at 01:07 PM

Thread from admin here...

http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=104604#post104604

MikeR - 17/11/16 at 01:19 PM

sad news - i hope the history / posts aren't lost. May see an upsurge in posts on here as people migrate back?

snapper - 17/11/16 at 01:20 PM

A shame but I have noticed for a while that forum traffic is quite slow

loggyboy - 17/11/16 at 02:30 PM

We arent running Vbulletin here are we?
ChrisW - have you ever looked at crossing over to one of the main stream/more widely used forum software?

Vmax1974 - 17/11/16 at 03:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
sad news - i hope the history / posts aren't lost. May see an upsurge in posts on here as people migrate back?


I hope not too there is a lot of valuable information over there

gremlin1234 - 17/11/16 at 05:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Vmax1974
quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
sad news - i hope the history / posts aren't lost. May see an upsurge in posts on here as people migrate back?


I hope not too there is a lot of valuable information over there
I have sent a request to The British Library to make a copy before it closes

russbost - 17/11/16 at 05:25 PM

Unfortunately just another nail in the coffin of the kitcar industry (that was!)

ianhurley20 - 17/11/16 at 08:45 PM

VERY disappointing

ChrisW - 18/11/16 at 10:44 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
ChrisW - have you ever looked at crossing over to one of the main stream/more widely used forum software?


I have many times. There are two issues really:

First is that this forum software is so old the conversion utilities that used to exist for it do not support anything close to a recent version of vbulletin.

Second that the software I am running has been heavily modified over the last 15-odd years so much so that in a lot of places the code is unrecognisable from the original. It would be a huge job to get the conversion utilities to even recognise the data.

There are ways I could get around it of course. Perhaps mod the site to be read only and essentially make it the locost archive, start a new forum and just move the usernames over?

Or I could try to write my own conversion tool perhaps.

Or what I have attempted a few times is to re-write the rest of the existing code base to give the site a more modern look and functionality, a bit like vbulletin.

It really comes down to time. I'm self employed, every hour I spend on the site is an hour I am either not earning or not spending with my family. I do my best but there is only so much I can give.

Chris

ChrisW - 18/11/16 at 10:46 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Vmax1974
I hope not too there is a lot of valuable information over there


I have been in touch with Haynes and offered to take ownership of the site, move it to my servers, and assume responsibility for it. I would assume they would want to re-brand it as they would not want something with the Haynes name on it outside of their control, but at least this would be a way of keeping all the information alive.

If it came off though I would likely need to recruit some moderators to help. It's hard enough looking after this site!

Chris

loggyboy - 18/11/16 at 01:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ChrisW

Perhaps mod the site to be read only and essentially make it the locost archive, start a new forum and just move the usernames over?



I would have no issues with that - I honestly think with the improvements in modern forums It would be a positive step long term. I think its the Xenforo forums used by a lot of other sites/clubs I frequent and the functionality is very impressive. I would be one of the happy volunteers to offer assistance.

ChrisW - 18/11/16 at 02:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
I would be one of the happy volunteers to offer assistance.


Funnily enough you were one of the first people to come to mind!

Chris

loggyboy - 18/11/16 at 02:15 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ChrisW
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
I would be one of the happy volunteers to offer assistance.


Funnily enough you were one of the first people to come to mind!

Chris

Unsure if thats a good thing!! Promotion or Punishment?!

gremlin1234 - 2/12/16 at 06:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
I have sent a request to The British Library to make a copy before it closes

quote:
Thank you for your nomination, we have added the forum to our archive and the archived version will be available in the Legal Deposit Library reading rooms in the near future or our website if the site owner gives us permission to do so. More information on Legal Deposit Libraries can be found here: http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/legaldeposit/introduction/

at least the information wont be lost completely, hopefully haynes will agree to the website access too

bi22le - 2/12/16 at 08:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ChrisW
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
I would be one of the happy volunteers to offer assistance.


Funnily enough you were one of the first people to come to mind!

Chris


Don't do that, he will never get his striker finished!

40inches - 3/12/16 at 12:11 AM

quote:
Originally posted by ChrisW
quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
ChrisW - have you ever looked at crossing over to one of the main stream/more widely used forum software?


I have many times. There are two issues really:

First is that this forum software is so old the conversion utilities that used to exist for it do not support anything close to a recent version of vbulletin.

Second that the software I am running has been heavily modified over the last 15-odd years so much so that in a lot of places the code is unrecognisable from the original. It would be a huge job to get the conversion utilities to even recognise the data.

There are ways I could get around it of course. Perhaps mod the site to be read only and essentially make it the locost archive, start a new forum and just move the usernames over?

Or I could try to write my own conversion tool perhaps.

Or what I have attempted a few times is to re-write the rest of the existing code base to give the site a more modern look and functionality, a bit like vbulletin.

It really comes down to time. I'm self employed, every hour I spend on the site is an hour I am either not earning or not spending with my family. I do my best but there is only so much I can give.

Chris


I really don't see what the problem is with the existing format?
What benefit would a different format bring?
If it aint broke don't fix it!