A quick note about TGJ and the future...

[johnyg]

i have no idea of what your talking about but if you guys think its better...go for it.i just hope i can keep up. thank you for giving me a place to go for the past few years.

 

[ishiboo]

So we just finished a gigantic server upgrade and move to a new host and it went surprisingly well given my unprofessionalism, aptitude for rash decisions, and just general hooliganism.

*****

And as a quick sidebar:

I've spent over 50 hours on the site in just the last three days. During that thrash, I had a lot of down time waiting for code to compile, search indexes to index, etc... and I spent that time just browsing the site. Sometimes in the midst of my work load, I forget just how bad *** this site really is. Seriously. There is so much good **** here... and it over-shadows the free parking lunatics by such a large margin and... I just wanted to thank you guys. You really make this place.

Another real quick sidebar:

Hell, I even posted in FREE PARKING a couple times. I'm still alive. I didn't self combust... and it wasn't THAT bad. I guess...

*****

Anyway, I'm fired up about TGJ in a major way right now. So much so, that I am planning some really big changes. The first and most obvious will be a software change. In the next couple of months, I am going to try like hell to move TGJ from Vbulletin to Xenforo. For real this time.

This change will frustrate and piss a lot of you off initially... Changes like this always do. But it's a necessary one for the future of the joint and the content here. So, it's gotta happen... Just be patient and know this: Once you are familiar with Xenforo, you will eventually realize how much more powerful and convenient it is over VB.

A change that is coming with that is a complete redesign of TGJ. Like just about every project I take on, this is going overboard. I'm doing a new logo, a new look, etc... It's pretty cool too... Kind of a vintage tool ad feel. I'm really excited about it.

And because of that new look, I am holding off on shipping 2018 alliance tags until the design is fixed and I can print new ones with the new logo. And trust me, this one will be worth it. You know all those tags on vintage machinery? Inspired.

Anyway, thanks guys... I really appreciate both the support and the patience. Sincerely.

Thanks for the site Ryan... glad everything went well!

Just a tip from someone who's migrated a large vB site to Xenforo: Xenforo has built-in migration from vB, but note on a site this size it would take days and days to run due to how poorly its implemented. There is a set of scripts out there which will do it MUCH faster:

https://xenforo.com/community/resources/vbulletin-big-board-importer-vbulletin-3-vbulletin-4.1981/

It's well worth the purchase price.

 

[Super Mech]

Thank you for one of the greatest forums on the internet. Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to the new changes.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

Thanks Ryan, I'm sure what ever you got in mind will be in all our best interest.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Ryan, thank you

Your work is much appreciated..

 

[22george]

We appreciate the time you put in. It makes all this information available

 

[AMCguy]

I'm not too worried about a change. I've been on here for years and still haven't figured it out.

There's nothing you can do to make me leave. This is the greatest place on the www and I've been from one end of it to the other.

Glenn

 

[Sawdustmaker]

Ryan,
Thanks for all the work you do. A true labor of love. Have learned much on these forums. The only thing constant is change.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Hey Ryan, read your original post and to keep this post from falling too far back, I made this thread a Sticky. Hopefully, all will see it.

 

[ghlkal]

Ryan, thanks for all of your hard work on GJ. Administering a site is a _lot_ of work and it is appreciated!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Any chance of old, old classifieds being purged? I have a couple/few posts in the classified forum that are technically not classified ads. (I just told on myself.)

If you have some threads that need moved, shoot me a PM with a link to them and where you'd like them moved to. It shouldn't be an issue to get them moved to their proper place.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

Thanks for taking the time. There are a lot of good people with good ideas on TGJ. They are wealth of knowledge and ideas.

 

[ambenz]

Wow! Interesting thread...I saw you were working the site recently and was wondering what was happening.
Thanks for the update and a peek into what's coming....progress!
I am glad I don't have AOL dial up and 19200bps baud...thinking about those days make anything better....and upgrades usually make it easier in the long run.

 

[Strouty]

Thanks for the great place Ryan, I am not sure what all these people have against Olivia Newton John, I am ready for Xanadu whenever you want.

 

[ddawg16]

Ryan...a big thank you for giving us a place to STS (shoot the ****)

But I think a big shout out to your mods is also in order.....which is most likely the reason the FP section didn't piss you off

I only have one question....will the new SW have a 'like' or 'thanks' button?

Right now, about the only way to tell someone you appreciate their post is to copy it.

Otherwise...we will just have to get used to what ever you toss our way.

(Me? I like new)

 

[mharmon]

I knew that something was up when I saw multiple post from Ryan in Free Parking. I thought his account had been hacked.

I’m glad everything is okay.

 

[Dragfluid]

Thank you Ryan.

Darwin

 

[Ryan]

Thanks for the great place Ryan, I am not sure what all these people have against Olivia Newton John, I am ready for Xanadu whenever you want.

Holy ****. I spit out my coffee...

 

[cgrutt]

This site is awesome it will be even better under Zenforo.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

If this is Zenforo than I'm all for it. Just the last post button/arrow/link being away from the replies link sells it for me.

Thanks for a great site Ryan!

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Ok I took a look at the HAMB. Where is the last post button/arrow/link? I use that thing more than anything else on this site.

 

[James-W]

I don't think I have been to a site that uses Xenforo, or, maybe I have and didn't know it.

 

[Two Speed]

Thanks for the work you put into it Ryan.

I'm glad I am on high speed now, because Xenforo is absolutely not dialup friendly. Too much back end scripts loading that would time out. Never had any luck with xenforo forums back then.

Alex.

 

[Bad Eye Bill]

Ok I took a look at the HAMB. Where is the last post button/arrow/link? I use that thing more than anything else on this site.

Red button immediately to the left of the thread title.

Edit, actually, that is the first unread post button. To go to the last post, on the far right, click on the time/date under the last posters name.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Yeah! No. That did not work for me. Maybe I need to sign in.

 

[dreamingmuscle]

Ok I needed to sign in. But the sign in link isn't easy with fat fingers. Lol

 

[Bad Eye Bill]

I assumed you were signed in.

 

[astrohip]

Several forums I am on have moved to Xenforo, it's fine.

I've seen users on other forums state they would leave if/when the forum went to Xenforo. I don't know if I have seen Xenforo before so I have no idea why they don't like it.

I'm very active in a forum that went from VBulletin to Xenforo, about six months ago. Lots of screaming, teeth gnashing, "i'm never coming back", yada yada. And that was just me! It was a huge change.

It's far and away the best thing that ever happened to that forum. It is SO much easier to use now.

Can't wait! And thanks for GJ!

 

[Krash Kadillak]

Looking forward to the changes....

I'm on another forum that is Xenforo-based, and it actually seems quite similar to this one in the way you make posts, how they look, etc. - but I guess you can make something new 'look' old if you want to, for ease of use. Probably quite an improvement on the admin end, I would think.

 

[jdoe213]

Will the change effect those of us who use tapatalk? I rarely/if ever visit the forum on a computer.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

Tapatalk has not been working on my phone. I still get emails but nothing when I open the app.

 

[HOTFR8]

Ryan,

Having seen the change on the HAMB and knowing that the change will take time for many to adjust to all I would like to add is please make the move as soon as you can and many of us will be here to support the change and help others adjust to what will make this a better place for us all.

Thank you.

Any one that does not know what we will see should have a look at the HAMB.

 

[PugetDude]

The change to Xenfor shouldn't be that big of a deal from a user perspective. I'm definitely a Luddite, but I managed to join, post, and reply on the HAMB all by myself...

 

[neilc]

Really appreciate this forum - so much great content and a strong community.

One of the best!

Thanks for this Ryan!

 

[bdk1976]

If this is anything like what happened to the HAMB, it is not a move forward, IMO. I have still yet to see anything 'improved' over there since the upgrade from my perspective (and I am no luddite - just someone who appreciates simplicity and general usefulness).

As for the guy who asked about Tapatalk, that's the only way I can stand to visit the HAMB anymore, as it downright ***** on the web, IMO.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I'm hoping file names and URLs will be backwards compatible with the changeover? I would assume they would be or some conversion scripts can fix that. Otherwise so much content will be broken and become useless...

I don't know why people get pissy about forum software. So many sites use so many different things. It's not rocket science... Heck, I'm still on a couple listserv's (email based mailing lists where people post and it sends out a mass email)... lol

 

[Old Man Roger]

I skuured..lol

It's reminding me of WindowsXP to windows 7-8-9-10

 

[EOC_Jason]

I skuured..lol

It's reminding me of WindowsXP to windows 7-8-9-10

Shhhh... There was no Windows 9....

 

[ishiboo]

I'm hoping file names and URLs will be backwards compatible with the changeover? I would assume they would be or some conversion scripts can fix that. Otherwise so much content will be broken and become useless...

I don't know why people get pissy about forum software. So many sites use so many different things. It's not rocket science... Heck, I'm still on a couple listserv's (email based mailing lists where people post and it sends out a mass email)... lol

There is a redirect script to keep all the old links working.

 

[astrohip]

If this is anything like what happened to the HAMB, it is not a move forward, IMO.

I'm not familiar with HAMB, so I just took a quick visit. It is not a visually friendly site. Speaking from a neutral POV, I didn't care for it.

Having said that, another site I frequent (TiVo Community Forum) just went from VB (what this forum currently uses) to Xenforo (what they are switching to). Users were up in arms, as they were comfortable with VB from almost twenty years of using it. But the admins insisted they needed to switch, as VB was untenable.

And guess what... the forum is ten times better now. Much easier to navigate, more stable, easier to use. It took a lot of tweaking on the admins part to get to where they are today (they switched last year), but it was worth it.

Bottom line: Xenforo can be good if done right. Fingers crossed!

 

[HOTFR8]

If this is anything like what happened to the HAMB, it is not a move forward, IMO. I have still yet to see anything 'improved' over there since the upgrade from my perspective (and I am no luddite - just someone who appreciates simplicity and general usefulness).

As for the guy who asked about Tapatalk, that's the only way I can stand to visit the HAMB anymore, as it downright ***** on the web, IMO.

The Garage Journal like any business must move forward to be the best. It will take time to adjust to the new format and the changes will be easier for it to be managed and run. You may not see the improvements. For those of us that frequent the forum and help run it I can advise it will be much better and yes that will mean it is simplified. I frequent the HAMB although not like the time I spend here on the GJ and I have to admit the changes took me time to adjust to on the HAMB but in the long run I can see it will make a big change here.