Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

How about gummy bears? Everyone likes gummy bears.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by corsos »

I have jawa finger puppets.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Jagtai »

It's not a problem archiving the old forum. I'd rather not lose all the old stuff either.

But yeah, I am all for rebooting this. Though whether we should with the new canon (First Order and all that), I don't know - we only know a third of the story at this point.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Nichalus »

So Jag...IS there a way we can change the theme on is site? I'd like a definitive answer on whether that is possible now, or if it is completely out of the question.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Archangel »

Changing the theme should be as easy as picking a theme we want. I believe that was the problem in the past--we'd need to modify or home-grow one if we want it to look appropriate to our content, and no one had the time/interest to do that.

It should also be fairly easy to export the SQL database and import it somewhere else. The only challenge is if we change forum software, but even then, it wouldn't be difficult to do conversions of the data, just tedious (unless someone out there has a "convert my phpBB data to [xyz] data" app/plugin).

If we're staying here and just reformatting/rebooting, I'd say we should also improve the "home page" of the site, or go back to having it redirect to the forum index. With all due respect to Smoke's work, Google changes their protocols for search engine favorability pretty often, and our index looks like an outdated attempt at satisfying Google (rather than a genuine home page with genuine users). We'd probably be better off to use a Google/SEO plugin for the forum software (there must be some), redirect the site homepage to the forum index, and let it do the optimization for us.

One thing to consider re: killing the old and starting with the new is that we don't necessarily want to rule out potential members. There is still a fairly strong (albeit somewhat ridiculous) fanbase for the EU, and folks who insist on holding to it in spite of Disney's actions. A "Stories"-style board might be plenty to keep them happy, of course; I just don't want to say, "EU stuff isn't welcome here," so to speak. I, for one, fully anticipate utilizing large swaths of the EU for any future SW writing I do--just because there are whole encyclopedias full of content there, rather than just 7+ movies, a TV show, and a couple of novels.

I also figure that, the further we get into the Disney era, the less people will complain about the EU thing (assuming Episode 7 is good--I haven't seen it yet, don't tell me about it, LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU).
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

Totes X-Wings Bruh.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

Good points, Arch.


And I just realized that it could be possible my freshman daughter and her friends make there way here if they were so inclined...

Excuse me while I go weep in the corner for awhile.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

High School or College?

Because one is obviously worse and I want to know which for better jokes down the road.

Like Obi-Wan with Sith Lords, Humor is my specialty.

Which, btdubs, am I wrong in thinking that my boy Ob's fights the most Sith Lords in cinema history? Maul, Dooks, Dooks, Vaderz, Vaderz. Quigs takes a saber to the stomach, only fights Maul. Anakin fights Dooks and Dooks. Yoda fights Dooks and Palps. Luke fights Vaderz, Vaderz, and Palps.

Man, Obs is bamfy.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

Ouch, Mir... Just ouch. :(

High school, geez!
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

Hey I joined here when I was a freshman in high school. Look at me now! Gainfully employed, in law school, in Chicago (Not shot. Whut whut?!), easily the most humorous chap in this establishment.

You're younger than Nich was when I first joined. I don't know this for a fact, but I know Nich is old, so I'm hedging me bets.

He was already borderline decrepit fourteen years ago, he just hadn't realized it yet.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

.. Your comfort is colder than my old, dead heart :lol:
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

Never said it would be warm. I'm not liable.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Vox »

Starlight wrote:Good points, Arch.


And I just realized that it could be possible my freshman daughter and her friends make there way here if they were so inclined...

Excuse me while I go weep in the corner for awhile.
Wait... She's a freshman? In high school? :shock:

That corner your going to weep in got room for two? Good lord. I remember her being tiny and... :?
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

Worse, next year she starts driving.


So what's the next steps for the forum?
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Vox »

First things first I think we start looking at what Arch talked about, backing up and moving data and figuring out a new layout/place. I mean Dave has a server right? What do we think?

Someone who has some knowledge on how Google does their searching. I can always pick my brothers brain. He's a marketing manager for three car dealerships.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Cadden »

If we go with a new board format/provider/whatever, we need to stress test it before we move to it. The last one that was proposed by Ghost looked good from an initial standpoint, but the more I used it the less I, personally, liked it. And not just from an opinion standpoint, either. I don't know about anyone else, but no matter what device or browser I used, I ran into several issues that, ultimately, prevented me from doing much of anything on that proposed style. (The extremely limited and limiting trial period didn't help, either.)

We'd need several people to test the crap out of it. One person could run into issues others don't, and we need to be prepared to answer those issues. (Things like, "It doesn't like pics, so don't use them," yet it doesn't change the fact the site doesn't work the way it should as a result, isn't exactly tackling a problem. Knowing why, exactly, and if it can be fixed, doing so, does. I'm not dissing anyone or anything, here, just presenting the most recent problem we had, here, as an example.)

I'm all for switching to a new format, don't get me wrong. But we need to do it smart, not just find a bandwagon to jump on.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

^^ Mir agrees with Stress Tests.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Vox »

Something tells me Dave would be more than willing for Mirr and I to get into a Meme war to stress test it.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

Something tells me Dave's feelings on the matter would not impact whether or not a meme war took place.

You take those tentacles off the trigger, Squiddles!
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Archangel »

I probably shouldn't let on that I test software for a living.

Wait--dammit.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

I know (vaguely) where you live!

It's north of me!
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

Archangel wrote:I probably shouldn't let on that I test software for a living.

Wait--dammit.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Nichalus »

Let's keep in mind that we are 'not' in a rush to find a new site to move everything to. We have all the time that we need to find somewhere that 'everyone' will be happy to land and start anew.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Archangel »

I think next steps are (1) compiling needs and (2) researching options.

What do people want in forum software? What does it need to do? What needs to work best about it?

Honestly, I think the biggest answers for our community are "pleasant to read" and "high-performance," but we should also keep an eye on availability of plug-ins, mods, and other customization tools, as well as software-community depth (which is usually a good indicator of long-term software support, wide familiarity with usage, and numerous choices when it comes to themes).

It's been a loooooong time (in industry terms) since I was in the forum-construction-and-design fields of the Internet, so I'm far from the best resource for picking new software. Eight years ago, I could have told you the top 10 options, listed pros and cons, and ranked them by preference, but I don't remember most of that stuff, and it's certainly not up to date. But that kind of research needs to be done.

TL;DR: We need a list of things we want, and a list of things that provide more or less what we want.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Cadden »

Archangel wrote:TL;DR: We need a list of things we want, and a list of things that provide more or less what we want.
In other words, you're admitting at the end you should have just said that. ;)
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Vox »

Starlight wrote:Consider yourself volun-told, dear Arch
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

Cadden wrote:
Archangel wrote:TL;DR: We need a list of things we want, and a list of things that provide more or less what we want.
In other words, you're admitting at the end you should have just said that. ;)
Arch was providing extra backstory :)
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Archangel »

I summarize myself to minimize the risk of others summarizing me inaccurately.

TL;DR.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Cadden »

Archangel wrote:We need a list of things we want
A like button, for starters. :mrgreen:

Well played, good sir. Well played.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

well okay then.. I've been away from forums too long when I forget not to click the links :lol:
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

OMG I LOVE CATS.


+10 Points for usage of Cats.

Star's officially winning now.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Vox »

I'm suddenly disappointed in you Mirr... Very much so.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

I have two cats. Mara Jade and Sam, daughters to another cat, Selina Kyle.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Vox »

Mirrodin2nd wrote:I have two cats. Mara Jade and Sam, daughters to another cat, Selina Kyle.
I...I have no words to describe the level of disappointment I just had flow through my body. You just lost all those cool points...somewhere back by Shunter is where you now exist in my world.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

Don't worry Mir, you get all the cool points from me. And a gold star for having a cat named Selina Kyle.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

Doesn't...doesn't that require me to care about the cool points you give people?

And Star, Selina had a litter of 6:
Fatso
Stitch (of the lilo variety)
Minerva/minnie (mcgonagall)
Zoso (Zeppelin)
Mara jade
Samantha Davis (they're all black and white tuxedos except for Sam who's all black so she's the Sammy Davis of my rat pack)
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Archangel »

A quick glance through this list presents a few options that should be investigated. And I do mean investigated; I don't want to make it sound like I'm jumping all over a big change. I'm just starting the "research" phase early (because I only have my own list of "wants," and that one thing Cadden mentioned while complimenting my awesomeness, basically).

Investigate!
Sticking with phpBB3 is an option, though improving themes and features requires plugins and... creative editing. I haven't looked through the mod/plugin/theme library in years, so there could be some excellent options just waiting to be uploaded to this site to make everything peachy. Hence... investigate!

Both myBB and SMF ("Simple Machines Forum") have reputation/liking functionality, themes, a generally pleasant layout, and (perhaps most importantly) official conversion software to change over from phpBB3. I've used SMF before and found it inoffensive, but I didn't try anything robust with it (I was just a member someplace). I don't think I've ever used myBB.

I kind of like the simplicity of FUDforum, but it isn't as inherently pretty as phpBB/myBB/SMF and doesn't have standard liking/reputation (maybe there's a plugin, but I couldn't find one with quick searches of their site). One of the huge benefits with FUD, though, is that (allegedly) SEO is built into the software--for phpBB, myBB, and SMF, any forum-based SEO will need to be done by plugin. I haven't investigated the details of FUD's SEO, but they claim it's amazing (well, at least present), and the other options don't make those claims. (FUD also has conversion software available, FWIW.)

One built-in thing to look for as far as making SEO easier is "user-friendly URLs"--phpBB, by default, uses things like "f[orum]=[number]&t[opic]=[number]&p[ost]=[number]" in the URL. This is efficient and utterly non-duplicative, but neither people ("11954" =/= "Discussion about Exodus Site's Future" in my syntactical analysis) nor search engines (I doubt anyone's Googling "11954" looking for discussions like this) like it very much. Sure, you can get around user-unfriendly URLs with metadata, but if your URLs are pretty and you have metadata, everyone's happier.

Ignore!
Vanilla looks pretty and claims to be "open-source," but the version with all the good features and themes is obscenely expensive. As in more-than-half-my-mortgage-payment expensive (I have a cheap mortgage, but still).

Anything with session-only message tracking (every time you visit, everything gets marked "read" even if you didn't read it), plugin-based image attachment, and/or no themes should be right out.

Even if we were interested in the look and feel of software like Phorum or Beehive, there's definitely no official conversion code out there for those two. Also, I think they look "meh" at best, themes or no themes.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Vox »

Mirrodin2nd wrote:Doesn't...doesn't that require me to care about the cool points you give people?

And Star, Selina had a litter of 6:
Fatso
Stitch (of the lilo variety)
Minerva/minnie (mcgonagall)
Zoso (Zeppelin)
Mara jade
Samantha Davis (they're all black and white tuxedos except for Sam who's all black so she's the Sammy Davis of my rat pack)
I was more referring to the geekiness of the naming. I'm guy with a dog named AMRAAM. Yes, the military meaning (AIM-120 variant) because of my job and his personality. With two more coming soon named Apollo and Artemis.


Back to the topic at hand:

I'm trusting the people who know this stuff. I know what I'd like/dislike but in the end...I just want to be able to tell stories.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Mir »

Peayitforward refused to let me name them all after the Jedi council. She ended up naming Mara who is her baby girl after reading about the character and liking the personality and story. Sam loves me. Hates Cait and thinks that she is trying to steal me from her.

And I'm in the same boat as Squiddles. Whatever works for everyone else as long as it works.
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Re: Discussion about Exodus Site's Future

Post by Starlight »

Likewise. I'm no Subject Matter Expert, but willing to be a guinea pig.
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