FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Our hosts (aussiehosts.com.au) shut the old YaBB forum down, due to excessive bandwidth usage and server load problems.

That was a rather nasty surprise :(

The good news :D was I was able to port the old forum across into this marvellous looking modern forum by "Simple Machines", and was very surprised that it worked first time. Hats off to the guys at SMF who wrote the YABB to SMF converter. You're all worth more money.

So have at it guys!  You should find everything you had at the old board works here - UNLESS you've posted links to specific boards/threads on our websites. They're toast, unfortunately.

Sorry for the disruption, but it looked like it could have been for a lot longer...

cheers
RET

So does that mean this is our "permanent" home now?

It sure does. This is the new reality.

All the threads/boards/PMs and everything else seemed to transfer across without a problem. (I still can't believe it, to be honest).

I'm still figuring out all the new features and functions, but so far I haven't found very much that I could do with YaBB that I can't do here (although I haven't come across how I can force Preview before post yet...)

cheers
RET

WOW what a shock this morning at 7am NO FE FC forum..THIS one is very pretty.WELL DONE RET and everyone else who got it up and running again so quickly well done.. Cheers Mark

huh, so its not tnat i am banned and my ip got blocked, they hole forum was cactus, cool.
 I had to sign in again, dont remember my passwords and ended up with my old username, i might sort that out when i am real bored.

Well done all,I would guess that was a task and a half but it looks like you pulled it off no problems.I had trouble with my login but it was a simple "upper case" problem.I see some users have lost their pictures,is that a fault with the change over or problems with the image hosting sites?Cheers,Jamie ;)

OK,

I've had some dinner, put the kids to bed etc. Now I can look into this a bit further, and see what's new, what's changed etc. Good to know, all linked images etc seem to work, except a few problems with avatars. Will look into that.

New:
-much nicer reply/post screen - honours adding text formatting to selected text etc.
- themes/skins. Check it out here ($2)

Broken:
- polls - leave it with me
- chat room - might have to install something else for that.
- home pages - not that they were used to any great extent...

All in all though, looks like a successful migration. I'm happy. The administration options available in SMF are just a world apart from YaBB.

UPDATE 20/07 23:50 - I think the major problem with avatars is resolved.

cheers
RET

Thank you to all the club members who contacted me to let me know they couldn't access all the options they thought they should be able to.

It turns out the default configuration for all the "club" profiles was missing a few vital check-boxes. :-\

It should be OK now. Thanks for your patience.

cheers
RET

A big thanks to Richard for the research and work involved, he did all the work, there was only 1 of him, no helpers.

Thanks Brenden. You don't want to be hassled by aussiehosts any more than I do!

A couple of other new features people might be interested in...

If you start a new topic, you are its "owner". This means you have the privilege to:
- lock it (useful in for sale/wanted threads)
- move it to a different board (if you realise you've put it in the wrong spot)

I've configured the calendar function, that allows you to add an event to the calendar ($2) and at the same time, generate a thread in the "Events Board". This will make both much more useful. (The old board had a calendar, but I don't think it was used very much, since it was pretty much independent of the main forum, apart from birthdays.)

cheers
RET

I was going to edit my post to say "The server thanks Richard as well" but couldn't fin the edit post link.

Brenden,

It isn't there. A few too many occasions where people have "rewritten history" in arguments with others.

There is a short grace period to correct a post, but once someone else replies, that's it. I was too quick for you.

cheers
RET

Hi RET,
Congratulations, on getting new/revised forum up and running. Still getting used to format, and making the necessary changes to my bookmarks etc.
Just noticed new "Insert Image" button, so might give it a try.
Image "Anybodies guess"now pressing button
(http://[img])[/img](well thats interesting"(http://[img])[/img]" but I have no idea what to do with it!
Cheers.
Geoff_K

This new forum software gets slicker all the time, it also seems to be a lot faster than the old forum. The search function is a lot easier to use, no more excuses for repeat topics hey?  :D

Dunno about the "total time logged on" feature though  :-[

Hey Stinky.
In the top box on the top right you will see a button with a "-" in it, click on that and it will contract that section and you won't have to look at the clock again.
Regards
Alex

It's definitely a lot faster, and once I completely decommission the old forum it will free up some disk space to index the search function, which will improve that feature out of sight.

I still haven't been around every nook and cranny of the admin interface, either.

I agree with you about the total time logged on - before long we'll all be like minivan's "You've been logged on for one year" sig-line ;D

As for the image link button, it seems to function exactly the same as the previous version: it generates a [ img ] URL [ /img ] pair, and you replace "URL" with the URL of the image.

cheers
RET

Hi RET,
I could not fathom the old board process for including images, so I am still none the wiser when you say......
"As for the image link button, it seems to function exactly the same as the previous version: it generates a [ img ] URL [ /img ] pair, and you replace "URL" with the URL of the image."

I maybe backward on this front, but for most other programs I use, when I want to attach something (zip, doc, dwg etc) the software (when you click on the button) lets you go find the attachment and select it.
If this is not the case here, can I be directed as to how/where I go, to get a low level, step by step set of instructions of how to do it. ( AND I mean, step by step, for the dummies, with no level of experience assumed) as this process is looking like BMW's Idrive to me.
When I get placing images in posts working, I will add the detail to an updated version of how to use the forum for NSW members.
Geoff_K

Congratulations to all concerned in the rapid relocation of the forum to this site.  I am still getting used to it but it seems better and quicker. I, like Geoff K, would like a "dummies" version on how to add images to the forum.  Must be too old or just thick.javascript:javascript:void(0);
Cry


Keith

Gotta be thick, can't even add a smiley correctly!

Geoff,Keith,

An easy way to add images is to connect to Tinypic (www.tinypic.com) and you will see:

(http://i16.tinypic.com/67gsuir.jpg)

There is a button in there called 'choose file' which then allows you to navigate to the one you want to use on your hard disk (I'm assuming you have already made your picture a reasonable size in an image editing program). Once you have found it, hit 'upload now' and you will see something like this:

(http://i8.tinypic.com/4yhkcb9.jpg)

Your image is now stored on the Tinypic servers for you to use wherever you wish. To use this image the URL you need is the second box down, 'IMG code for forums and message boards' the bit of code bounded by two [IMG] tags. Copy the whole line including the two [IMG] tags

Paste this line into your posting on the FEFC forum and the image should appear when you preview. Note the original file name you used for your photo does not appear in the Tinypic tag.

hope this helps, Jonno

Hello all,
                Have come across a problem which may or may not be due to the new host.   Here goes.

I shot off a personal message to someone on the forum and when they replied I was notified of it in my Email (outlook express) It was all jumbled up and looked like a cross between Chinese and Egyptian Hieroglyphics.

Not really a problem as when I logged onto the forum it was OK in my inbox. Not sure if its an outlook problem or a communication problem with the new host's software.

Have you ever tried to open a Microsoft word document with an older version than it was created with?? If so that is what it looks like.

Anyone else found anything that they may think is a bug?

Regards  Michael

Thanks for spending all your time fixing the forum Richard....!!

I know there must've been a whole bunch of us with withdrawals while it was down ;)

I like the new-look forum, and I'm sure we'll all get used to it pretty quick...

Thanks again to all concerned!!!

Cheers
Les...

Has anyone else had this experience?

The new forum sends a much clearer notification than the old one, ie:

The link takes you straight to the reply box (as long as you're logged in). I am hopeful this will reduce the number of emails that come to me as forum admin because people reply to the notification instead of the message.

cheers
RET

PS - furthermore, the new software uses a proper database (instead of a mess of little files), so the issue of lost PMs should also be a thing of the past.

That's why you are the double Guru.

Thanks for your efforts RET. We all appreciate it.  ;D

Jason.

Hadn't noticed that. Does that make me a "Maha Guru" ?  ;D

New feature for the truly desperate forum junkie and/or seriously bandwidth restricted: WAP2 support!

If you want to use the forum on a WAP-enabled mobile phone, the address to use is:

http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/index.php?wap2

enjoy...

RET

PS: this is out-of-the-box SMF functionality. I haven't been fiddling with this instead of getting a Chat client running. Just thought I'd let people know in case it was likely to be useful.

Bugger......I thought i'd hit the wrong button and broke something (again !)

Just got the hang of the old layout (almost) (well bits of it...)

is this italized ?
NO ! how do i italize and underline etc ? (may as well learn something new while i'm finding my way around)


 8) 8) 8)
He who is scared of change.....so drives a 1958 car and listens to AM mono radio

 :o  OH   :o
It worked   (it didnt look like that in the preview)
I must be getting the hang of this computery stuff
Maybe one day I'll be as good as you Ret  ;D

 8) 8) 8)

Love the changes,but was devastated to see that I have dropped from a Full member back to Junior again! :'(
Ah well,only one way to fix that I guess.......

RET,
                 Thanks for taking the time to reply regarding that little prob I had with the notification.

Cheers   M

Don't go there Jamie  ::) Please, don't go THERE!  :D

Hi Ret
  Love the new forum but I seem to have a problem every time I go to login it says this user does not exist and the only way to log in is to send of "forgot password" email and then log in that way, ::) what am I doing wrong? Any help would be appreciated.
                            Thanks  Roy  ;D

Roy,

There are two versions of your name, the one you used to create the account called "login name", and the "displayed" name which we all see. I've sent you a PM with the specifics.

Anyone else having a variation of this problem:

Use the forgotten password option to get an email with a login link. Once in, Go to your Profile, and under "Modify Profile Information" on the LHS, choose "Account Related Settings". At the top, next to "Username", you'll see the login name. Make a note of it somewhere. There's also an option to change it if you need to.

cheers
RET

CHEERS MARK

I think the post-count to reach the different levels must be different in SMF. :-\

Thanks for all the effort RET. 

I think I use to be a guru but maybe I'm dillusional, either way I am happy that I'm not anymore - always thought I was a long way from that mark ;D ^{And now I}_{can do this!}

Sorry RET but every day when  I go into our forum it asks for my password etc.  I make sure I am clicking on the right address but to no avail - can u help???  Cheers Hotlips

Hi Ret
   All fixed , Thank you for your help.
               Cheers  Roy ;D

You may have discovered this already, but I only noticed it today.

If you're looking at a board index (ie the page before this one), threads that have new posts in them have a little (http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/Themes/default/images/english/new.gif) icon beside them. Nothing "new" there (if you'll pardon the pun).

But what is new is the fact that the (http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/Themes/default/images/english/new.gif) icon links to somewhere different to the title of the thread. If you click the thread title, you go to the first post in the thread. But if you click the (http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/Themes/default/images/english/new.gif) icon, you jump straight to the first post that you haven't yet read in that thread. That's very nifty, especially in long, multi-page threads where you're not sure if you last looked at page 4 or page 5.

cheers
RET

Some more new features:

1. Amongst the BBC icons - direct YouTube link (http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/Themes/default/images/bbc/youtube.gif)and direct Ebay link (http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/Themes/default/images/bbc/ebay.gif)(just put the item # between the markers).

2. My Bookmarks - you can now bookmark threads you have an interest in so you can always find them easily. Particularly useful for older, reference stuff.

cheers
RET

Thanks RET.  That is very useful and will save a lot of searching.

Keith

And another one: (http://fefcholden.org.au/forum/Themes/default/images/bbc/lockguest.gif)

Anything between the markers will be hidden from Guests, and only visible to registered users. You might find this useful if you're posting phone numbers or email addresses etc.

cheers
RET