Forum Downtime Scheduled

[Savonarola]

Forumgoers,

Bulletin board maintenance has been scheduled for 11:00 pm CDT Saturday, July 19. The board software will be updated and new anti-spam features may be installed.

Please refrain from posting for a few hours following 11pm. Any submissions made between the commencement and the end of maintenance may not be posted properly or may be eliminated from the database upon completion of the update.

Your cooperation is appreciated.

Thanks,
Savonarola, Mod@Large

[Savonarola]

Forumgoers,

In preparation for the software update, I will attempt to remove the users created by bots that have managed to register. The best way I can think of doing this is to delete users with zero posts. Unfortunately for any lurkers, I have no way to distinguish between registered bots whose posts have been deleted and real people who simply have not made any posts. As a result, some real people may end up with their accounts deleted.

Before I do anything rash, I want to give lurkers the opportunity to notify me of their existence. Anybody who wants to keep their account can make this happen in one of two ways: send me a private message before tomorrow or make a post -- posting a response here would be acceptable.

I apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks for your cooperation.

Savonarola, Mod@Large

[Savonarola]

Forumgoers,

Big changes at FFForums are underway. Unfortunately, they are underway instead of functional. Users may experience some errors while I continue to work. The effect and extent of any errors are not known to me at this time.

Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

Savonarola, Mod@Large

[Dardedar]

DAR
I submitted a post and it said "the forum you have posted to does not exist." No problem. I went back, made a copy of my post just in case and tried again. It worked fine, and WHOA, the whole forum looks completely different! Cool. Will take a little getting used to.
And only 79 members instead of 6,000 spammers.

D.

[Savonarola]

Forumgoers,

Big changes at FFForums have been implemented, and more are underway. Everything should be up and running, so if you see any problems that persist, please email or send a private message.

That said, I will try to add some anti-bot modifications that may result in temporary dysfunctionality. Please be patient while I work with the software.

Yet again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

Savonarola, Mod@Large

[Savonarola]

I submitted a post and it said "the forum you have posted to does not exist." No problem. I went back, made a copy of my post just in case and tried again. It worked fine, and WHOA, the whole forum looks completely different!

What the hell? You broke it!!

No, you happened to post during the 15 seconds I was swapping directories. Welcome to the newest version of phpBB.

Cool. Will take a little getting used to.

Quite right. And I hate that, especially for our users who may have a hard time with something new. But the options are essentially the same with just a different layout, so it should be more of a matter of finding what you want to do than trying to wade through countless possibilities. See also below.

And only 79 members instead of 6,000 spammers.

Hopefully I didn't nix any real people. This version makes it easier to delete spambots, too, but I'll do what I can to keep them out to begin with.

Now, if you guys will give it a rest, I have work to do...

ETA:
For anybody completely lost with the new "style," you can revert back to the same template as the previous version by following these steps:

Click on "User Control Panel."
Click the "Board preferences" tab.
In the main part of the page, there is a line that says "My board style."
The default is "prosilver." The option "subsilver 2" is the next generation of the style everyone is already familiar with. After making your change, press the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page.
This option can be changed at your leisure.

[Savonarola]

Forumgoers,

For the time being, the upgrades, updates, and modifications are done. Some minor things may be added this week without explicit warning, and that may cause temporary problems. However, please notify us somehow if you experience a problem that doesn't seem to go away.

Savonarola, Mod@Large

[Betsy]

I switched back to the old format, but was glad to see it is still a bit modernized, with the new font and a little more sleek design. The new design is pretty but too cluttered for me. I like the updated version of the old design.

[Savonarola]

I like the updated version of the old design.

(Psst... Me too.)

[tmiller51]

I like the new design, but it doesn't work well at all with the PocketPC I use sometimes. The old design still works nicely.