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Very Important Announcement!!!

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What is Reddit? I've heard of it, but never looked at it.

I am on Discord, but only for support for my dodgy box ... from what I've seen it wouldn't be good for this forum, other than as a messaging app

There is no way I can go to RAWK - I get lost just looking at the main forum page.

I like the village atmosphere of SCM and need it to continue ... but I have no idea how

I guess if we want one last laugh, we should just hand the reins to joint management of DB and BlueBell and sit back & enjoy the crash & burn show
 
Mamma Mia said:
What version of of PHP are we running at the moment?

And what does our current hosting plan look like and cost?
Click to expand...
We are on Ubuntu lucid 10.0.4..

Php 5.3.10 I think off the top of my head..

Whatever Max supported version for lucid..

At the moment.. we get 50gb storage, dual core, 2gb ram, silly bandwidth, just under £20 a month

Storage will probably need a slight increase next time round

Depend how it is set up on the new host.. we back up the db.. A managed host would take care of that as part of their package with snapshots..We can create snapshots on gandi at an extra cost.. is useful for upgrades

Then there is domain name costs and xenforo license fees on top of that

We now only carry two domain names.. sixcrazydev and sixcrazyminutes

Xenforo licence is around £50 a year for the extension

We purchased a few extras last time round with addons and domain names and what have you..
 
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Brizzle said:
Paging @Mystic
Click to expand...

Sorry mate, I completely get where @6TimesaRed is coming from, it's a huge burden, I completely understand his decision, I wouldn't want to be solely responsible. Taken you for granted @6TimesaRed, should have done more to spread the load there, apologies, but thanks for keeping us going for so long.

I've never run a website, although i do build them for a living, is it something that could be done by a group of people instead of just relying on a single person?
 
6TimesaRed said:
We are on Ubuntu lucid 10.0.4..

Php 5.3.10 I think off the top of my head..

Whatever Max supported version for lucid..

At the moment.. we get 50gb storage, dual core, 2gb ram, silly bandwidth, just under £20 a month

Storage will probably need a slight increase next time round

Depend how it is set up on the new host

Then there is domain name costs and xenforo license fees on top of that

We now only carry two domain names.. sixcrazydev and sixcrazyminutes

Xenforo licence is around £50 a year for the extension

We purchased a few extras last time round with addons and domain names and what have you..
Click to expand...
Do we need to change hosting providers?
 
Mamma Mia said:
Do we need to change hosting providers?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily..

It depends who wants to take it on..

A managed host would be less maintenance for whoever take it over.. You wouldn't hit the security issues we have.

The beauty of gandi is you can tweak it to your needs.. The disadvantage. You have to manage the host.. you essentially build it, maintain it and support it..
 
I attempted to carry out a dirty inline upgrade to 12.04 Precise on a snapshot after mounting the snapshots against sixcrazydev.. failed miserably.. partly because 12.04 is also out of support. Well the upgrade worked.. just broke everything else..
 
Athens said:
Huh, there you have it.

After all these years it's fixed and now the website is going to close...
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I'm trying to avoid that scenario, hence my heads up.

There's enough funds for another xenforo licence for 12 months, I ain't renewed it yet. Till the site comes to a decision of what it wants to do..

Host available till October. Could be pushed to November with current funds..

I will update on the domain renewal costs, availability and expiry later
 
Mystic said:
Sorry mate, I completely get where @6TimesaRed is coming from, it's a huge burden, I completely understand his decision, I wouldn't want to be solely responsible. Taken you for granted @6TimesaRed, should have done more to spread the load there, apologies, but thanks for keeping us going for so long.

I've never run a website, although i do build them for a living, is it something that could be done by a group of people instead of just relying on a single person?
Click to expand...
Nail on head

Thanks for the message... part of the problem. No one else technical enough has come forward to co support it.. but with the current solution.. too many cooks etc etc..

Why I think a managed host is the best solution moving forward here..

Site admins is not necessarily the issue, though you have to be savvy with xenforo its upgrades, addons and dependencies.. Not necessarily an expert, It's very easy to pick up if you are technical minded.. Though like anything it needs to be maintained.. i.e addons can break due to 3rd party off site dependencies and browser updates.. i.e. embedded media dependencies. Though developers are quick to update them.. you just then update the addon.. job done..

Sometime you can update the software, it then breaks the addon, which then will need to be disabled till the developer provides a fix.. There are many addons that have been updated, but because of the php issue they won't work because they require a newer version of php and/or xenforo to run.. I manually reverse engineer them to make them compatible with current version..

That can only go on for so long. Some fixes are just outside my technical knowledge

Support with xenforo is the best out there with any forum software.

1st class.. nothing can compete with it imho..

@Lippy was absolute spot on choosing that when we moved from SMF..

Xenforo 1.x is pretty much out of support. Support is at its bare minimum, hence the need to upgrade. It's leaving the site in a very vulnerable position security wise

SsL certificates also need applying..

Site needs to move SSL. Https. But that can be addressed once a new solution is in place

A lot of addons can be binned with the new upgrade because they are available in xenforo 2.x OOB
 
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I don't post anywhere near as much as I used - the same probable goes for a lot us now - but I still check the site every day and really want to see it continue.

It feels that we probably need a few people to manage the site so we don't burn through admins (as much at least). I don't know anything about forum software (though yeah with patience and time can pick it up) but am happy to contribute my time. I just don't know if I have enough time to take it on alone.

I agree that a more managed solution is the way forward.

Are there companies that just offer hosted Xenforo solutions that you can configure / admin and all it would take is for us to throw money at it?

@6TimesaRed - you mentioned the ability to customize builds etc - was there ever a requirement for that due to our implementation of Xenforo or anything else? Or is it more of a case that you can tweak it if you want to.

At the moment, do we have Xenforo, MySql etc all on one box?

If a completely managed solution is not an option, probably better to switch to AWS, Digital Ocean or whatever... which takes OS worries away as a starting point.

I'm guessing the biggest headache is going to be migration, right? Are there any existing migration solutions or is it all handcranked scripts? If it's the latter, can we pay someone to write one for us that gets tested till it works?
 
keniget said:
I don't post anywhere near as much as I used - the same probable goes for a lot us now - but I still check the site every day and really want to see it continue.

It feels that we probably need a few people to manage the site so we don't burn through admins (as much at least). I don't know anything about forum software (though yeah with patience and time can pick it up) but am happy to contribute my time. I just don't know if I have enough time to take it on alone.

I agree that a more managed solution is the way forward.

Are there companies that just offer hosted Xenforo solutions that you can configure / admin and all it would take is for us to throw money at it?

@6TimesaRed - you mentioned the ability to customize builds etc - was there ever a requirement for that due to our implementation of Xenforo or anything else? Or is it more of a case that you can tweak it if you want to.

At the moment, do we have Xenforo, MySql etc all on one box?

If a completely managed solution is not an option, probably better to switch to AWS, Digital Ocean or whatever... which takes OS worries away as a starting point.

I'm guessing the biggest headache is going to be migration, right? Are there any existing migration solutions or is it all handcranked scripts? If it's the latter, can we pay someone to write one for us that gets tested till it works?
Click to expand...
The are solutions out there. It just needs the backbone in place with the right php flavour and sql.. xenforo installed over the top.

Everything accessible via a web management control panel as you get with a hosted solution

Xenforo website itself is a good place to start people offering hosting solution, but they are widely available for most forum software

Xenforo offer an installation service for their software, which I think @Lippy used last time after the base was built

Currently everything is in place installed manually.. sql, phpadmin, webmin, ftp etc etc

Virtualmin is broken.. And requires a manual re- install it won't install via repositories as the latest version webmin calls upon via our repo is not supported (or the other way round)

Dual partitioned. 10gb system 40gb data..

Migration I dont see as too difficult.. it just will take time.. time I don't have.. you have to mirror what we have with backbone updated import db then upgrade xenforo iron out issues..
 
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I think the days of us trying or wanting to grow the community are over.

We could simplify this site if that is indeed the case. We probably only need 3-4 sub-forums at the most. Does anyone ever use the homepage or read the news bot etc?

Like a few others, I would happily offer to help but lack the skills and experience. I'm willing to contribute funds if we outsource the build, migration, and management to a decent freelancer.

Reddit can be our last resort and would be simple enough to get going if it came to that.

@6TimesaRed what do you think about Simple Machines (SMF) instead of Xenforo?
 
SMF was our previous solution..
Xenforo does not play well migrating db to other software, but it's excellent the other way round..

There will be solutions out there though..

Manual import of the relevant db tables to smf db tables would probably be the place to start..
There is probably tools out there to make it easier

Betting Forum would go, merge with FF and Other sports depending on topics.. probably merge gamers and geeks with movies forum.

So you will end up with football forum (with its where to watch sub forum), other sports, general chat and entertainment geeky forum to cover music, films and geeky stuff

Merge feedback with general chat and of course.. keep the vault
 
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I'll obviously migrate to any platform going. All this talk is beyond me. It would be a shame if we lost our own little place on the web. I agree with MammaMia that a site with fewer features would be preferable to a Reddit/Discord migration, but if we have to do it then so be it.

I cannot imagine the amount of work Jono and others have put into the site, so thank you all.
 
6TimesaRed said:
SMF was our previous solution..
Xenforo does not play well migrating db to other software, but it's excellent the other way round..

There will be solutions out there though..

Manual import of db tables to smf db tables would probably be the place to start..
There is probably tools out there to make it easier
Click to expand...

There are definitely a ton of solutions out there. Seems like we need a decision-maker for a start.
 
Mamma Mia said:
There are definitely a ton of solutions out there. Seems like we need a decision-maker for a start.
Click to expand...

That decision shouldn't be down to me..
That's been the problem.. is been left to me for one reason or another to make the decisions.. I get why though.. to a point I had no problem with this, but now I feel it's down to the community to make that decision.. Some collective needs to step forward if this site is to continue..

I have to emphasize this is not my site.. I've just kinda inherited the market of it..

@Lippy knows exactly where I'm coming from with this..
 
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6TimesaRed said:
That decision shouldn't be down to me..
That's been the problem.. is been left to me for one reason or another..

I have to emphasize this is not my site.. I've just inherited it..
Click to expand...

Oh absolutely, and again, thank you so much. You've done a great job and we appreciate your efforts.
What I meant was that there are loads of options, we have the will and the means to take one of many directions, but we need someone to make the decisions.
 
Founder members have to make that decision or make a decision for some one else to make that decision who are willing take it in board.

The Community is key here, I guess with that..

Whatever way it goes forward..

I have no issue as acting as an advisory and support moving forward..
 
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6TimesaRed said:
That decision shouldn't be down to me..
That's been the problem.. is been left to me for one reason or another to make the decisions.. I get why though.. to a point I had no problem with this, but now I feel it's down to the community to make that decision.. Some collective needs to step forward if this site is to continue..

I have to emphasize this is not my site.. I've just kinda inherited it..

@Lippy knows exactly where I'm coming from with this..
Click to expand...
Perhaps a poll is in order? We could just compile the options (together with pros and cons) and vote on them?

Or just take what seems to be the consensus view here to go with a managed (hands-off) solution, and pay someone to do the migration/maintenance? Like others, I don't have much time or expertise to offer, but I'd happily contribute a bit of cash to keep the community intact.

It seems the obvious solution here is to just throw money at it and leave it to the experts.
 
@Mamma Mia

Sorry I'm reading my posts.

They all seem a bit full of rage.. not intended that way

From the founder members perspective. They would like to see it continue, they probably just want to some one with the knowledge to point then in the right direction moving forward..

I've mentioned my recommendations..

Like you say a decision needs to be made, it shouldn't be hasty.. it has to be the right decision that fits all..
 
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Delinquent said:
Perhaps a poll is in order? We could just compile the options (together with pros and cons) and vote on them?

Or just take what seems to be the consensus view here to go with a managed (hands-off) solution, and pay someone to do the migration/maintenance? Like others, I don't have much time or expertise to offer, but I'd happily contribute a bit of cash to keep the community intact.

It seems the obvious solution here is to just throw money at it and leave it to the experts.
Click to expand...
The migration I will support, but it's key someone is place during and after that process to maintain it moving forward

A managed solution will be for the host. Maintenance will be for the forum software, host elements via control panel and it's dependencies

Someone will need direct contact with the host if we run into issues with the host..
 
6TimesaRed said:
@Mamma Mia

Sorry I'm reading my posts.

They all seem a bit full of rage.. not intended that way

From the founder members perspective. They would like to see it continue, they probably just want to some one with the knowledge to point then in the right direction moving forward..

I've mentioned my recommendations..

Like you say a decision needs to be made, it shouldn't be hasty.. it has to be the right decision that fits all..
Click to expand...

Jono - if we have fewer forums, it's cheaper/easier to manage?
 
keniget said:
I don't post anywhere near as much as I used - the same probable goes for a lot us now - but I still check the site every day and really want to see it continue.

It feels that we probably need a few people to manage the site so we don't burn through admins (as much at least). I don't know anything about forum software (though yeah with patience and time can pick it up) but am happy to contribute my time. I just don't know if I have enough time to take it on alone.
Click to expand...

Yep, I honestly feel this is the only way forward really, I'm also happy to contribute to this role, but I'm the same, I can't take the full time responsibility, and I'd steer well clear of anything money related.

I've been reading through Jonos posts, and must admin my naivety is showing through, i'd have assumed we could have just dumped it onto an AWS or Azure webapp and spun up a relatively small database and be golden, but I'm guessing there's a lot more nuance to Xenforo and our current set up, and thats the bit that would make me nervous.

Out of curiousity @6TimesaRed , are you looking for a clean break here to ensure you don't fall back into the position of sole responsibility, or if we could find a team of people happy to maintain the site would you be up for being a part of that, as clearly you have all the knowledge about our damned corner of the internet right now?
 
LeTallecWiz said:
Jono - if we have fewer forums, it's cheaper/easier to manage?
Click to expand...
No that won't make a difference.

It all about the content.. the more posts the more storage is needed to cater for the db an content

The more users the more bandwidth is needed, etc etc .

Managed Hosting package are out there to cater for site requirements.. You have to be careful though you have some small entity that will offer the world but on face value are terrible

Xenforo forums would be a good place to start to find your requirements.

We are relatively small community with overwhelming support in donations. Costs should not necessarily be an issue..

We don't want a freelancer that will be costly you need a savvy hobbyist with the relevant support from the likes of Xenforo and host in place..

@FoxForceFive mentioned a chap who charges £15 a month via subscription to carry out maintenance with with Xenforo..

Though you would want the hobbyist geeky enthusiast also in place to add functionality as offered with xenforo licencing

Most community like this are done by hobbiests..

The managed host would just makes things simpler for this hobbiest manage the thing at the back end
 
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Right I need to get back to work..

I've got pins and needles from sitting on the bog. Typing into my phone..

I've spent far too long discussing this, this morning [emoji1787]
 
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