Your Help Needed - Evalutating Forum Software

[Nifty]

Thanks for your support! We really want to make sure this is a good fit before we invest a lot of time and money into the conversion process!

BTW, if you want, just download an existing pic to your computer and upload it... heck, any picture will work for testing.

 

[Southern by choice]

There are a few things that I would like to share, however it may be more appropriate in a pm.
Shall I address the pm to you?

 

[Nifty]

Sure, but please do it there so we can test out the PM's there too!

 

[Southern by choice]

Gotcha!

 

[Harbisgirl]

Just for the sake of argument, what are the benefits of moving?

 

[Nifty]

Great question! There are a lot of reasons we're considering a move. From a high level, here are the main reasons:

1) Easier for users (especially new visitors). Compare functions in both systems like: creating a link, uploading pictures, subscribing / unsubscribing, and many many more things (which we should start listing as more peeps use the new system)
2) Better moderator tools (like spam blocking / spam removal, merging threads, etc.)
3) Better admin tools
4) Better SEO to make the site show up better in search engines
5) and many many more things...

There would definitely be some cons to the move, but so far we believe the pros will far outweigh the cons.

 

[Nifty]

Ok friends, some updates:

We've done some test conversions and things are looking really good. We've been able to convert all the users, topics, posts, subscriptions, etc. We were able to do an import of PMs, but it looks like there will be duplicates. Not the end of the world, but definitely not idea.

We're still working on finding out how to import articles / member pages. Don't worry, we won't loose any of them... just trying to figure out the best way to convert them over.

If you haven't already, please register over at http://remodelforums.com/ and kick the tires. A few of us moderators (including Emily) are over there if you want to test out the "conversations" (PMs) system.

 

[Nifty]

Hey all!

So far the feedback on the other forum platform has been excellent! From an admin/moderator perspective I'm LOVING it!

My favorite features from a user perspective:

1) SUPER easy image uploading
2) Much easier text formatting (bold, hyperlinking text, etc.)
3) Auto-save of replies while typing. If I "fat finger" off the page I can come back and my post response has been saved!
4) The ability to subscribe to entire forum sections
5) Better control over what types of notifications and how often I receive them.
6) Threaded "conversations" (PM's) that make it way easier to follow a conversation between two (or more) people.
7) Ooodles of other cool features & stuff that makes using the site easier.

We've done multiple test conversions of the forum information from the site and from what we can tell, all the forums, topics, posts, users, passwords, PMs, subscriptions, etc. have all transferred over perfectly!

We're very confident that a move will be best for the users, moderators, admin, and community as a whole, and we expect to move forward on the conversion barring any huge roadblocks. We don't have a time schedule yet... it could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months since we'll be doing a conversion of other sites first. We'll definitely keep you posted as we get a better idea of conversion timing.

If you have any questions or concerns, please post them here!

Oh, and a reminder: You can test out the basics of the new software at this forum here: http://RemodelForums.com/

 

[kstaven]

Having mobile device support is huge!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you saying you are going to switch BYH to the BYC platform!!!!??? NOOOOOOO!!!! I had to leave BYC because it doesn't work on my computer! Don't take BYH from me too!!!