The End of SMF 1 is coming, sooner than later.

[pj]

That's kind of what choice 2) would be.  There is no reason to lose the content, just the stuff associated with the features.

[bluebird]

Can we just start over?  Like, not take anything with us, just start fresh.  Maybe at some point we can add back the features we like, and archived DJ's, etc.  It might be kind of fun, see how it plays out this time. 

It would be really sad to lose some of the features though, especially the awards and the dream counter they really make MM special for me

[Josh]

Hey guys, I know I haven't been around for awhile, but I might have some contacts that could help with this.

I myself don't have much free time these days, but a there is a very good friend of mine who really knows his stuff, has a good PHP/SQL background, experience with forum software, and lots of free time. I have no idea if he'd be interested, but we might could work something out if he is.

Could I maybe give you a call sometime, Pete, or vice versa? I'd like to help any way I can. I know I kind of wandered off a couple years ago, but things are a lot more steady these days, and I'm trying to head back in the direction of lucid dreaming. It's been far too long.

[JoannaB]

Pj,

I know I am the new kid on the block, and I hope no one minds my speaking up here. The following is of course just my opinion/suggestion.

It sounds like we really do need to move to non-deprecated forum format ASAP - the latest issue with registration failing due to captcha is an example of why.

Did I understand correctly that you could move the content, but that the trouble is with the customizations?

If so, why not move soon, and then over time build the customizations as projects in the Technical Guild? If the projects are small enough, I bet people would take them on.

While I do not know pHp and Drupal, but I used to be an ASP programmer in the days before ASP.NET. I work now mostly as a SQL analyst with strong SQL skills. I am also as mentioned in a PM to you strong in quality control and troubleshooting, I did that for a great number of jobs. Even if I do not know pHp yet, if the assignment were well defined, I am great at searching for code pieces in libraries on the Web and modifying them based on bits and pieces I learn here and there. I could not commit a lot of time, but if what was needed was occasional support for small project pieces, I could pitch in, and I bet others could as well.

 I think moving the main functionality over first would be a good idea, and then if people miss the customizations they would be motivated to help make them happen one step at a time. I think if you wait until we have a developer who has the skills and time to do all customizations, we run the risk of the forum becoming non-functional before a new one is ready, or anyway the timing may be rushed then and the hand forced to move in the last moment. Whereas if we move before customizations can be achieved, then there will be time to make them happen over time in baby steps.

Software development nowadays is moving more toward agile development which consists of developing small parts of the project in two week chunks rather than trying to have a plan for the whole project all at once. So if there is a way to break up the tasks into little units, I think that would be more achievable, and if we cannot find skilled and available programmers, several of us could learn I bet as long as we had little tasks.

[pj]

Joanna - I will be contacting you by PM shortly to explain exactly what we need.  There are multiple overlapping problems, not the least of which is my lack of ability to concentrate on complex tasks right now.

In the meantime, I believe the captcha problem is solved.  It involved the GD module breaking because of dependency updates that were incompatible with where we locked our PHP packages.  I need to lock those dependencies as well.  It is another band-aid fix.

[StarSeeker]

Given that we can make backups of our Dream Journals, and also backups of our Dream Stats, can't we focus on getting a Dream Catcher with an upload feature?

Also, some time ago we gave DreamCatcher to Attrape-songes. They use SMF, how are they dealing with the problem of upgrading?

[pj]

That is a VERY good question!  Do we have somebody here fluent in French who could make inquiries?

[bluebird]

That is a VERY good question!  Do we have somebody here fluent in French who could make inquiries?

Maybe Morphee could?

[StarSeeker]

It seems they are using SMF 1 like us

[pj]

Then we both have a problem. . . and maybe we can both get it worked out together.

[The Littlest Leaf Dragon]

Just wanted to drop in and post this up for comments and suggestions.  It's no great work of art, and the css for smf2 is complex to the point of ridiculousness, but I think it's a good start.



Edit: There are also no spoilers on smf2.  I'll go make a post in the Tech Guild forum.

[pj]

This looks fantastic!

You know where our test forum is set up - would you try installing it there to see how it works?

[The Littlest Leaf Dragon]

I've already installed it there and set it to the default so people can test it without logging in.