- Joined
- Apr 2, 2013
- Messages
- 4,925
Exciting news! We are moving to a new forum software call Xenforo.
This change move us away from our aging vBulletin forum software to a more stable and modern forum environment. As with any major software transition, we will run into both graphical and technical differences from what we have today. While we are still testing and plotting (I am Blue after all) what will be needed to make the new Xenforo software the new home for the TarValon.Net community, some things are already clear.
The main forum structure we have today can be imported from our current vBulletin install and all existing posts will move over. Older posts may have some slight formatting changes, but the content should still move over and be accessible.
The most noticeable changes at this point look to be to avatar sizes and style/themes. With this more modern software, it uses avatars in multiple places throughout the forum and resizes the image to fit. The minimum avatar size is recommended to be 200x200 instead of our current 110x170. This would mean avatars would need to be resized or rebuilt to be squares. We will also be building a new theme as the layout of the Xenforo software would not allow a full import of our current vBulletin theme. We are playing with some ideas, both old and new, and will be excited to show off our theme when it's complete.
The new forum will also offer more security, in the ability to have 2-factor authentication via a mobile phone application, such as Authy or Google Authenticator, or via an email confirmation sent when attempting to login. You will have the option to “Trust this device for 30 days” for password-only login on browsers you use more often.
We are also looking at the built-in integration with social media, elasticsearch, an embedded chat page for our existing IRC configuration, and an updated mobile site interface, to name a few things. More to come as we dig in further.
Soon we will have a Tech department hiring post for those who want to help actively test and attempt to break the new forum software. We will also need help answering questions and troubleshooting when we fully transition. If interested, keep your eyes out to to Site Announcements.
This change move us away from our aging vBulletin forum software to a more stable and modern forum environment. As with any major software transition, we will run into both graphical and technical differences from what we have today. While we are still testing and plotting (I am Blue after all) what will be needed to make the new Xenforo software the new home for the TarValon.Net community, some things are already clear.
The main forum structure we have today can be imported from our current vBulletin install and all existing posts will move over. Older posts may have some slight formatting changes, but the content should still move over and be accessible.
The most noticeable changes at this point look to be to avatar sizes and style/themes. With this more modern software, it uses avatars in multiple places throughout the forum and resizes the image to fit. The minimum avatar size is recommended to be 200x200 instead of our current 110x170. This would mean avatars would need to be resized or rebuilt to be squares. We will also be building a new theme as the layout of the Xenforo software would not allow a full import of our current vBulletin theme. We are playing with some ideas, both old and new, and will be excited to show off our theme when it's complete.
The new forum will also offer more security, in the ability to have 2-factor authentication via a mobile phone application, such as Authy or Google Authenticator, or via an email confirmation sent when attempting to login. You will have the option to “Trust this device for 30 days” for password-only login on browsers you use more often.
We are also looking at the built-in integration with social media, elasticsearch, an embedded chat page for our existing IRC configuration, and an updated mobile site interface, to name a few things. More to come as we dig in further.
Soon we will have a Tech department hiring post for those who want to help actively test and attempt to break the new forum software. We will also need help answering questions and troubleshooting when we fully transition. If interested, keep your eyes out to to Site Announcements.
:joy
