Why proboards... Why...?

[Bunnyheart]

You have stated we will have an opt out option until the end of 2013. Does that mean that we will be able to opt out if the April 29th deadline comes and we are not ready?

[Willing Sniper]

Jan 12, 2013 15:17:04 GMT -8 VS Admin said:

Hi all,

We definitely understand your concerns, and want to make sure we can ensure everyone is happy.

We're going to provide you an option to opt-out of v5, for at least until the end of 2013. This ensures that any and all codes that need to be updated for you will be, and our theme and plugin databases will be populated with everything you can need to make your transition as simple as possible. If we see the need, we will consider supporting v4 past the end of 2013 -- we'll address that at the end of the year.

Patrick

Can you clarify how to opt out. I would like code options prior to switching. I don't mind switching, but it would be nice if it could be made smoother

[VS Admin]

An opt-out link will appear in your admin area prior to the forced updates starting at the end of April.

[JJ]

Thank you LadyAuburn, your post speaks for me as well. Like you, I have spent years, in my case, seven, searching for codes and leaning how to use them to create a look that I find pleasing. Like you, I got a lot of help from the wonderful people here at Proboards and other helpful sites also, like InterOcean Designs, Studio Zero, Slightly Insane and SoCal among others I cannot recall at the moment.

The help is out there, and now we have a time extension to get the specific help we want without feeling pressure. I think the extra time will also give Proboards more time to find out what is working smoothly and what isn't and make any necessary changes to V5.

Thank you for the ability to opt out until we feel like we are prepared for the change, Patrick.

[Forever Sunshine]

IMO, no one should be forced to change. We've all worked tirelessly on building our boards and perfecting them to what our members like and now, it's all for nothing and will have to spend hours upon months re-doing it all.

I don't want to change and my members have expressed the same to me. It's not that we don't like change but we've seen what the new version is like and none of us view it as an "upgrade" or "improvement".

[Ryan Roos]

Jan 15, 2013 11:49:36 GMT -8 Forever Sunshine said:

IMO, no one should be forced to change. We've all worked tirelessly on building our boards and perfecting them to what our members like and now, it's all for nothing and will have to spend hours upon months re-doing it all.

I don't want to change and my members have expressed the same to me. It's not that we don't like change but we've seen what the new version is like and none of us view it as an "upgrade" or "improvement".

Pat has already mentioned there will be an opt out Forever Sunshine.

That being said when I look at your forum I literally see nothing that won't convert perfectly 100%. Unless I'm completely missing something on a theme that exists for logged in members or something. You won't spend hours upon months re-doing anything. I doubt if you'd have to spend even 2 minutes doing anything other then upgrading your own account which you've already done since you're logged in here.

I respect that you don't want to upgrade, and for the next 11 months or so that's your choice. But eventually our servers are not going to be running the old outdated software any longer. I highly suggest that if you haven't already that you make a copy of your forum in Beta-Zone, you might be surprised. As far as I can tell you haven't really customized your forum at all (from a code modification standpoint), so you don't even need to touch a single thing in the admin area that isn't a moderation tool. You can take the next 11 months to familiarize yourself with the v5 admin area on your own time. Whenever you do something in v4 maybe you should go see how to do it in v5. Over time I think you'll find that v5 is far easier to do it once you know how. At launch the help guide should be available and will be ever growing and changing to assist members. Once that is out I think you should reference things on your v4 forum just for comparison. If you still don't want to change (which you claim not to be against) after that, then it's entirely up to you.

Thank you.

Edit: I take back a small part of the above, you do appear to have a code that throws a background on certain min-profile areas. Again though, with 11 months to go you could request such a thing if it hasn't already been created as a plugin. I think you'd find that managing that code would be a lot better in v5 as well.

[Thesealion]

I am sure there will be many people willing to help rebuild your forum. They might even just totally re-build it with all themes and stuff for you if you're willing to pay...or they might do it for free you never know...

[Willing Sniper]

Hello everyone, Is there an area devoted to V5 codes specifically? If so I can start downloading code now to get it together.
Also, I have already opened my beta-zone board. Does this mean I may be switched prior to being able to opt out?
Please understand I am not resisting the change like some others, I understand that you cannot split between two software packages, I would just like to have my ducks in a row prior to the change.

I must say the back end is not as strait forward as V4, it's like a carnival back there. But it is what it is.

Also thanks to all of you who spend your own unpaid time writing code for those of us that aren't able to, or are not as good at it as we could be.

Thank you.

[Thesealion]

Jan 15, 2013 12:22:08 GMT -8 Ryan Roos said:

Jan 15, 2013 11:49:36 GMT -8 Forever Sunshine said:

IMO, no one should be forced to change. We've all worked tirelessly on building our boards and perfecting them to what our members like and now, it's all for nothing and will have to spend hours upon months re-doing it all.

I don't want to change and my members have expressed the same to me. It's not that we don't like change but we've seen what the new version is like and none of us view it as an "upgrade" or "improvement".

Pat has already mentioned there will be an opt out Forever Sunshine.

That being said when I look at your forum I literally see nothing that won't convert perfectly 100%. Unless I'm completely missing something on a theme that exists for logged in members or something. You won't spend hours upon months re-doing anything. I doubt if you'd have to spend even 2 minutes doing anything other then upgrading your own account which you've already done since you're logged in here.

I respect that you don't want to upgrade, and for the next 11 months or so that's your choice. But eventually our servers are not going to be running the old outdated software any longer. I highly suggest that if you haven't already that you make a copy of your forum in Beta-Zone, you might be surprised. As far as I can tell you haven't really customized your forum at all (from a code modification standpoint), so you don't even need to touch a single thing in the admin area that isn't a moderation tool. You can take the next 11 months to familiarize yourself with the v5 admin area on your own time. Whenever you do something in v4 maybe you should go see how to do it in v5. Over time I think you'll find that v5 is far easier to do it once you know how. At launch the help guide should be available and will be ever growing and changing to assist members. Once that is out I think you should reference things on your v4 forum just for comparison. If you still don't want to change (which you claim not to be against) after that, then it's entirely up to you.

Thank you.

Edit: I take back a small part of the above, you do appear to have a code that throws a background on certain min-profile areas. Again though, with 11 months to go you could request such a thing if it hasn't already been created as a plugin. I think you'd find that managing that code would be a lot better in v5 as well.

The background code seems pretty simple actually...there's also the hover image on boards, but I believe that is extremely easy in v5. Forever Sunshine if you made requests for those little updates if you can't figure them out your forum would be ready as soon as those codes were which would be a few days at most depending on when people were able to help...

[Bunnyheart]

Thank you for answering my question Patrick. I appreciate it. Our site will definitely be opting out.

[Thesealion]

Jan 15, 2013 18:38:06 GMT -8 Bunnyheart said:

Thank you for answering my question Patrick. I appreciate it. Our site will definitely be opting out.

Can I ask why? Just curious...I don't understand the mindset i guess since it's so easy and there are so many benefits....

[Willing Sniper]

Jan 15, 2013 18:52:21 GMT -8 Thesealion said:

Jan 15, 2013 18:38:06 GMT -8 Bunnyheart said:

Thank you for answering my question Patrick. I appreciate it. Our site will definitely be opting out.

Can I ask why? Just curious...I don't understand the mindset i guess since it's so easy and there are so many benefits....

I think it's kind off like my new phone. My old phone (one year old) not only became quite comfortable, but had less going on, and was more intuitive. Sometimes all the graphics can be distracting. The admin sections of V5 are a bit over done. It's distracting. Especially when the V4 sections aren't embellished at all. 

[JJ]

I would just like to add that from a practical standpoint, I can definitely understand how onerous a burden it would be for Proboards to run two different versions of of their hosting service. That is just asking too much. I would also like to acknowledge the comments that time are changing and some of the old things don't even work well on the internet/web any longer. I have spent the past several years upgrading my codes to work with the newer technology, because I saw the way things were going.

I think now that I don't have to try to get my site set up in a few months, I actually WILL get it set up. I'm an old gal, long retired and it's been awhile since I had to work under pressure, so I think I was just freaking out.

I have a question though... in the old system, there was a handy guide with screenshots that showed that if you put a color or background in X area, it would show up in Y and Z. I used that for a long time till I learned it. I know a "manual" is asking too much, but I do think there could have been a guideline that broke it down in areas and terminology. I don't think we call certain area by the same name. I came across something last night called "containers" and that stymied me. What the heck are containers? Would it be possible for someone familiar with all the new area we can decorate to give us a tour?

[Martyn Dale]

References such as that are in the pipeline.

In the mean time however, in the Easy Theme Creator, if you use the customize colors link, and start playing with those colors, they will live update in the preview (to the right, or below depending on your screen size). This allows you to test the appearance of everything before even saving and hopefully will be more useful than a reference card.

[AshFR]

Jan 15, 2013 19:24:54 GMT -8 Patrick [ASE] said:

Jan 15, 2013 17:53:15 GMT -8 Willing Sniper said:

Hello everyone, Is there an area devoted to V5 codes specifically? If so I can start downloading code now to get it together.
Also, I have already opened my beta-zone board. Does this mean I may be switched prior to being able to opt out?
Please understand I am not resisting the change like some others, I understand that you cannot split between two software packages, I would just like to have my ducks in a row prior to the change.

I must say the back end is not as strait forward as V4, it's like a carnival back there. But it is what it is.

Also thanks to all of you who spend your own unpaid time writing code for those of us that aren't able to, or are not as good at it as we could be.

Thank you.

Really depends on what you want to do, many of the old codes will be turned into plugins, so check the plugin database, other things may need a template modification, or simply some code in header or footer.
Find a task you want to do, and if you can't find an answer, post a thread to ask.

Also remember that your beta board is a test site which will disappear in the future, but anything you do to it can be exported to your computer, then imported to your current site when converted.

Will ALL the codes be turned into plugins, my system doesn't seem to run .pdp files just want to know before hand.