Hello! We'd like your feedback for important stuff!

Hello! We as staff have been talking about changing from SMF to MyBB for a bit now, but wanted the opinions of the member base to finalize it, so I'll go through some pros and cons of doing so, as well as an explanation as to why we've decided to think about this, so that everyone can get a better understanding, and then feel free to discuss how you feel about the change!

With SMF recently updating, we would have to consider updating the site, and in doing so our plugins will break. It would be possible for the time being to stick with 2.0 if need-be until replacements arrive, but there is no guarantee of that with all of our plugins, but switching over to MyBB could solve those issues. With it's larger community, it is updated more often and it has more plugins that are available for the updates that are easier to configure and are updated consistently.

MyBB is an open source software, and has an easier search system and is more mobile friendly than SMF. It also allows more customization and features in general, and a lot of things that are on this site will remain the same, such as mentions being the same, and all threads and posts will be transferred over. 

There are some issues with transferring however. At this point in time staff is unsure as to if templates will be able to transfer over as they are, though will be offered, as well as subaccounts having to be re-linked to the main account, but that is something that is easily done by yourself or staff. The awards that people have would have to be re-given as well.

Some examples of different themes we could potentially use are here here and here. The themes have customization options on them so that they won't all look like what is pictured there, but it does give a general idea, and some sites that are currently using mybb are here here here and here. The layouts of Mybb sites make it easier to keep track of things, as well as know where to get to things because they are organized in a way that makes sense ( such as the user panel and the layout for the site options ).

questions already asked/answered on discord ( we are willing to go more in depth with these if people ask for us to )

but are the theme colors gonna be preserved with the transfer?

"The themes will remain the same color. I don’t plan on straying.
It’s an easier conversion all together if we don’t stray too far from the original.
Also yes, please post your thoughts." - Orion

tracking this

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So as of right now we have little opposition when it comes to switch. When it comes to changes, what would you like to see? This is extremely needed, obviously.

I feel like the site can feel exclusive as of recent, and that can contribute to the slowness of the site, so perhaps doing things such as events to welcome new members after the change?

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Most definitely. What do you have in mind??

My opposition comes purely from template transfer tbh and past experience with mybb templates. Not much yall can do there since its the people who run mybb's fault for using HTML tamplates that are a little harder to codeswitch and sometimes cant use percents. This style is also hard to learn for beginners and sometimes impossible for some without paying for some type of class.

(not here for a debate, this is just my one post on this thread to explain since Orion asked.)

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[member=883]Elumina[/member] Thanks for the feedback! Here's a little more information on what we have going on with the templates right now.

I personally have tested HTML templates with <style> tags to get a feel of what it could possibly mean for a lot. Like you said, it is a risk and sometimes even undesirable. Overall though, I do enjoy the looks and feature of them w/ the style tags, despite the risk safety-wise. For the majority of the user base though? No. There's a lot of complexity compared to the simplicity of what we have now. Perhaps it'd be an alternative option for those who want it.

There's also something known as MyCode which can simulate templates if coded correctly. This is how we will be presumably transferring our current templates over if successful. We've had a ton of luck with it so far. The only problems? Templates must be closed (reasonably) with [ /div ]. Many users have not been ending their template, causing the conversion not to work. Another few things with backgrounds, especially background images, are out of whack. Otherwise it's been a nice choice for us.

To build on what Muddymutt suggested, I think doing more clanwide events (which I know was something we discussed when I was still staff!), maybe one each month or every other month could help bring people together and encourage plotting with others. It doesn’t even have to be holiday related- just something like a flood or a tornado, or maybe even a clan prom could be really fun- and maybe badges or prizes could be given out for participation too? Just something fun to bring characters and users together as a community. These things we could do even BEFORE the switch.

As for the switch itself, I’m ok with it as long as transferring stuff like threads and accounts won’t be a problem? I’m typing this all real quick before class so I apologize if I missed any of that if it was included above.

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Yep! If you remember when you were back from staff, we have a list of stuff that's ever expanding. We're doing a few of those things behind the scenes with Brutus and the mascot bois, along with the current tension between The Pitt/Tanglewood/Typhoon.

Posts, threads, and account transfers have been successful on the test site. It was actually the easiest thing. All I need to do when the time comes is relink subaccounts, which does not take long.