****Forum going away for good.... please read****

[admin]

After 9 years the forum we run on phpBB 3 is going to retire and be replaced with vBulletin 4.X. We have been experiencing extreme corruption in the forum database and we have had instances where a thread has been deleted and it caused the whole forum to have to be rebuilt because it got rid of EVERYTHING.

This is not going to be painless I assure you, but it is best for the forum and gallery and will allow us to move forward without fear of losing everything. The biggest pain is going to be that everyone will have to change your passwords... you will get an email with instructions on how to change it before we actually switch over completely. And it will look and feel a lot different... some for the good and some not so fun...

Thanks for you continued patience and support... I love our little community and these changes will ensure that the forum will be around for years to come.

Me

[dianak]

Oh! That's quite a surprise. Sounds like a lot of work for you. :(

[bdlakebum]

What's the timeframe, Rick? Sometime in August or later? Good Luck with transitioning - hope it goes well!

[teresacurrie]

Thanks for the announcement Rick. Great to have the heads-up.

Sorry for the enormous workload of the forum. I appreciate the decision to make the change, and the determination to go ahead, because we all really enjoy it. Looking forward to seeing the changes, especially to the Gallery.

All best wishes for a smooth transition. Where shall I drop off the banana bread and the brownies?

[Dkirby]

Thank you for letting us know!! I will hope for a smooth transitions for all of us!

[merryf]

boy that sounds like a real pain in the ... ink pad. :-o
Thanks so much for telling us in advance. Do you think we will be starting from scratch, or will all the threads (especially the Showcase forum) be transferable to the new platform?

[beths]

As long as I know the gallery is coming back, I will be happy. It will be an enormous amount of work for you, and I wish you the best of luck!

[cnixon]

Thank you for letting us know in advance. What a LOT of work. Here's hoping for a smooth transition.

[jilouise]

Not an enviable task! Hope it all goes smoothly. Thanks for giving us this outlet to communicate.

[queeky]

Thank you, again for the advance notice...and thank you for all the work you do! Sounds like a nightmare scenario. I hope the transition goes smoothly for you!

[Ashjoy]

Yikes, sounds like a big undertaking.

[Cindy O]

Thanks, Rick, for sharing the plans. I hope this transition is super smooth for you! The forum is a big part of my love for card making and PTI. I'm grateful for all the effort behind the scenes, and grateful that it will continue in a different format.

[admin]

I am on Atkins diet so no snacks for me :) The new forum is based on vBulletin, which a Google search will show is the de facto standard for a forum/gallery/blog combination application.

I have hired some vBulletin engineers to do the conversion, so we should have no issues bringing over all the old threads. The biggest pain is going to be finding the vBulletin equivalent for the commands we normally use, and of course the administration interface is completely different.

Poor Nichole tried to delete one of her own posts a couple months ago and it wiped out the whole "Stamping Talk" sub-forum!! She was so scared until we got it back... and even then it still acts up on a whim and just drops full threads..

Time for a change.. they say pain is a great motivator! :)

Me

[GlitterGypsy]

Thanks, Rick. I'm looking forward to the new setup.

[Lybrarygirl]

I was worried, the forum itself was going away when I read this headline. Glad it's not. Thanks for all the work you do to keep it up & running for us.

[Aunt Min]

I personally have gone through the stress of computer crashes, server being rebuilt, hijacked data, ID theft, and learning new computer programs. I say being proactive and learning the new program (for all of us) is going to be a piece of cake. Oops, Rick, sorry for the non Atkins analogy. :hehe: Bring it on!

[online22much]

Is there a date set for the new forum? Maybe the 'search' feature can be fixed at the same time? Here's hoping for that.

[ginaegg]

I am on Atkins diet so no snacks for me :) The new forum is based on vBulletin, which a Google search will show is the de facto standard for a forum/gallery/blog combination application.

I have hired some vBulletin engineers to do the conversion, so we should have no issues bringing over all the old threads. The biggest pain is going to be finding the vBulletin equivalent for the commands we normally use, and of course the administration interface is completely different.

Poor Nichole tried to delete one of her own posts a couple months ago and it wiped out the whole "Stamping Talk" sub-forum!! She was so scared until we got it back... and even then it still acts up on a whim and just drops full threads..

Time for a change.. they say pain is a great motivator! :)

Me

You can have pork rinds! :) The spicy ones are quite good. And the plain ones are good in cheese dip. :D Trust me, I know the no-carb/low-carb snacks!

I'm sure it'll be good - maybe a little painful, but good!

[peggysue]

That's a surprise...and a lot of work for you initially but hopefully will produce better results in the end!

[karen b]

Thanks for letting us know ahead of time! Hope the transition goes smoothly! And thank you and everyone behind the scenes that spend so much time keeping this up and running for us!

[KatyM1]

Whoooa!!!! This sounds like one huge undertaking! To heck with the carbs....sounds like some serious alcohol is called for considering the circumstances.

Thanks for the heads up. I really enjoy this forum bunches.

[corinnamcgregor]

Thanks for the heads up. I am just getting active here in the forum, so I'm looking forward to still being able to chat with all the PTI family members. This is one of the nicest communities ever! :D

[sharon]

Yes, Rick, thanks for doing the work. This forum is my happy place on the internet! When I first saw the title of this thread, I feared the worst. What would I do without my nice PTI forum friends?! So I'm glad to learn it's just being switched over.

I too am curious about the timeframe.

[Ashjoy]

I'm just wondering if this will impact SAF? Hopefully it will be after. Also wondering if PTI has considered a fb group instead of forum. Not sure how it would have everything you have here but might be cost effective.

[teresacurrie]

Unfortunately I don't have facebook and so if that became the new format, I would not be able to enjoy the forum.