Roadfly Forums moving to vBulletin Software

[Head Honcho]

To our members and users,

The forum software which currently runs Roadfly has seen better days. We used to maintain it weekly, regularly add features, and were very proud of how fast and reliable it was. While it's still fast and reliable, the features are nowhere near what they should be in the year 2010. When we first started using our current software in 2000 there was nothing available that could meet our demands. That isn't true today. Today there are great options which better serve the members and the Roadfly community as a whole.

After looking at a number of options we have chosen to move away from the old proprietary Roadfly forum software and go with the new and current vBulletin 4 solution. There are some pretty impressive features available in vBulletin 4 and we are excited to upgrade our forums and start adding the features which you've been asking for.

What has been done to this point (Monday, Oct. 10, 2010):

1. We have a beta version of the new forums running. We're testing features and configuring the software.
2. We've migrated over all of the old user accounts from our legacy membership system. Your existing username and password will continue to work.
3. Inner Circle memberships have all been migrated over with a correct beginning date and expiration date. Renewals will be handled by PayPal.
4. The very old legacy 1997 - 2000 forum posts have all been imported into vBulletin.
5. Forum posts from 2000 - 2010 have passed a few beta test imports. We're still looking for bugs and hiccups. There are a lot of posts!

What's next:

1. Finish importing all the old forum posts.
2. Try to get a Roadfly Threaded Views plugin working for those who want it.
3. Phase in the membership/user account system.
4. Turn off our legacy Roadfly forum software and redirect everything to the new vBulletin software.

What we need from you:

1. Please provide us feedback. We need as much feedback as possible to help keep this transition smooth.
2. If you're a regular user of vBulletin software on other sites and there are features you really like please let us know so we can test the features before we launch.
3. Lastly we need your patience and understanding. There will be hiccups that we won't know about. Please let us know about the issues so we can address them.

Some of the cool new forum features we'll have soon:

1. A new, improved, and fully-functional forum search engine.
2. More control over your user profile.
3. Option to view threads either in threaded mode or in linear mode.
4. Easy picture uploading/embedding with user photo albums.
6. Thread subscription/email notification of replies (optional, of course).
7. Private messaging between members.
8. Rate members and posts, up or down.
9. More control over ignoring trolls.
10. Facebook integration


Alan and I both know that change is very difficult. We are working very hard to ensure that the move goes as cleanly as possible. There are more than 10 million message posts which we need to take care in moving. We want to make sure we don't lose anything important in the transition.

Thanks for listening and thanks for the years of support. We'll continue to keep you posted. We hope to begin the membership phase in soon.

- Charlie, Alan, Laura, Alex, and the Roadfly Team.

[95DayVI]

_______
Silicone intake boot
Silicone rad hoses
EMP Waterpump
PWR Radiator
Eyeball Arm CA mounts
Sunbelt CAMS w chip for 24# injectors, Euro MAF, Conforti/ITG CAI
96+ exhaust manifolds
accessory UDPs
M roadster lever
Euro fLoAtErS
GC RTAB shims, RSMs, T/S Coilover with Koni DA f/SA R & 450#f/550#r Eibach ERS
All done in my garage

<a href="http://video.roadfly.com/"><img src="http://m1.roadfly.com/files/photos/a733fa9b25f3368L.jpg" border="0" width="400" alt="corkscrew:Laguna Seca" /><a>

[///My5UV]

<img src="http://members.roadfly.org/pmiranda/TMCM_anim.gif">
<img src="http://members.roadfly.org/pmiranda/My5UV_logo.jpg">
02 LeMansBlue/Silverstone M5
98 EstorilBlue/Grey M3
Blue Spec Racer Ford
"Be good for goodness sake"

[Head Honcho]

Booo doesn't help us add the features you want. Tell us why you wrote Boo so we know what you're looking for.

-Charlie

[JimLev]

<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~jimlev/07Sig.JPG" height=299 width=600>
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~jimlev/SLINGSHOT2.gif">



<b><i>"Drive It Like You Stole It, A Sickness for Quickness"</i></b>
<b>The Bottle Rocket "King of Spray" 2 Stage Nitrous Oxide</b>
<b><i>Dare to be different and stand out among the crowd of me-to-cars!</i></b>
<b><i>No guts, no glory!</i></b> <b>Tire smoke, not traction control!</b>
<b>Zionsville all aluminum radiator to replace the 3 leak prone Nissens Radiators!</b>

NOS Progressive 2 Stage Controller with port injection
Snow's Performance Methanol/Water Injection
Dinan downloads, VAC Under Drive Pulleys
Dinan Carbon Fiber CAI
Dinan Front Strut Bar
Electric Cooling Fan w/PWM controller
NGK Iridium Plugs
DDE Enhanced Angel Eyes, Smoked Lenses
Koni FSD's/H&R Springs, BAV Brass Caliper Bushings
Eisenmann Race Exhaust (from H8-Rain's car)
///M5 3.15 LSD
///M5 Sway Bars, Front & Rear
Energy Suspension Polyurethane Sway Bar Bushings
///M5 Gauge Cluster Rings ///M5 Lip Spoiler
///M5 Mirrors and Switches
Leather Z weighted shift knob (thanks H8-Rain)
Rogue “Octane” Short Shift kit w/WSR
Rogue Tranny Mounts
StopTech Brake Lines Front & Rear
Axxis Deluxe Plus pads Front & Rear
Staggered M Parallel 66, Xenons
Modified CDV, UGDO
Euro Storage Tray (thanks Zombywolf)
Redline in Diff and Tranny
Passport 8500 X50, Escort ZR3 Laser Jammer
G-Tech/Competition Pro Data Logger
Auto Enginuity OBD-II Scan Tool
25% Tint, X-Pel, LoJack
PIAA Driving Lights
BMW CCA Member Boston Chapter

[Charlie R.]

We'll have the new search option included with vBulletin and we'll also have our old search function (100% up-to-date). Our old search function is pretty much the best of the best but we hadn't indexed any new posts in probably a year. It will be 100% up-to-date w/ the move.

Folks will have the option to use either search option plus of course we'll have usable archives.

[Filehorse]

vBulletin. I'd just like to get a sense of what Roadfly will look like running on the vBulletin software. They don't necessarily need to be automotive forums. I'm looking for form, not content. Thanks
<img src="http://members.roadfly.org/filehorse/SigPic 2-26-05.jpg" height=225 width=300>

Filehorse
Knoxville, TN
BMWCCA #407627

2002 525i Steptronic Sport/Premium | Build Date: 05/02
81,000 Ultimate Driving miles
Xenons
Style 81s | Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS
Titanium Gray | Gray Leather
35% LLumar ATR LLumaStar tint
Valentine 1 | Hardwired
Steering wheel position memory w/Alzheimers
"Lifetime" ATF replaced at 40,000; Switched to Valvoline MaxLife @ the 80,000 mile service
StopTech SportStop slotted rotors w/Axxis Deluxe Advanced pads
StopTech SS Braided Brake Lines

2001 E46 325i (Jet Black) Forced Retirement 6/28/09

2001 E46 325i (Orient Blue) Forced Retirement 10/09

1989 E30 325i (Alpine White) Retired

[eagle_8]

Pretty much every forum besides roadfly.

[Charlie R.]

I emailed you a private message.

-Charlie

[Stinger9]

system, but I can't for the life of me imagine what we lack here. Works pretty well for me for the last six years of my experience. Now that doesn't mean that others don't pay more attention to the mechanism here and aren't better visionaries than I am.
All the above by way of arriving at my big fear; That the new software will lose the advantages of the format here that are far superior to every other board I've ever explored. Mainly I'm in love with the hierarchical layout that serves the purpose here so well.
Admittedly I cannot take the time to decipher the lengthy explanation listed here of what is to come, but I'll eagerly check out what is presented, and weigh in depending upon the degree of excellence exhibited.
I only want my enthusiasm for using this board to remain high.

[jm3]

<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v101/jeremy43/Gifs/Miyabi_Isshiki1.gif" height=120 width=120>

[///M3lissa]

I am sure vBulletin does more than I am aware of.

One thing for sure would be to repeat the "Forum Navigation" breadcrumb at the bottom of each thread.

What's the migration plan for the user id? For example, my user id is M3lissa but my posting name is ///M3lissa due the Roadfly restriction on special characters for user id's.

Do you have a test forum you want us to check out before you make the cut over?

[Head Honcho]

Melissa, I'm looking into a way to display aliases for usernames. For now M3lissa will show up as your username. I do like the idea of privileged users having the ability to add username aliases.

W/ regards to the forum navigation there are a few different view options. There's a toggle menu which will allow you to change the way you view the forum. You have the ability to set your view option in your profile preferences as well.

I'm emailing you a test url.

[ApocalypseNotNow]

THANK YOU! anything would be an improvement to the current format.

what did you think i was gonna say? :))

<div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;"><embed src="http://media.entertonement.com/embed/OpenEntPlayer.swf" id="1_e0a8090c_e0c2_11df_9f22_0019b9e56dac" name="1_e0a8090c_e0c2_11df_9f22_0019b9e56dac" flashvars="auto_play=false&clip_pid=fgmgrnycbs&e=& id=1_e0a8090c_e0c2_11df_9f22_0019b9e56dac&skin_pid =wfxswdnlkf" width="300" height="30" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent"></embed><div id="1_e0a8090c_e0c2_11df_9f22_0019b9e56dac_anchor " style="font-size: 8px; color: black; text-decoration: none; display: block; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.entertonement.com/clips/fgmgrnycbs--Scent-of-a-Woman-Al-Pacino-Lieutenant-Colonel-Frank-Slade-[Oops!]-you-too" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">[Oops!] you too sound clip</a> &nbsp;<a href="http://www.entertonement.com/collections/4896/Scent-of-a-Woman?ht_link=1_e0a8090c_e0c2_11df_9f22_0019b9e56d ac" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">Scent of a Woman sound clips</a></div><img alt="[Oops!] you too sound clip" border="0" height="0" src="http://www.entertonement.com/widgets/img/clip/fgmgrnycbs/1/1_e0a8090c_e0c2_11df_9f22_0019b9e56dac/blank.gif" style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin:0; padding:0; float:right" width="0" /></div>

[klex]

the forums fully "opened", where each post in each thread is visible in one page. Pretty much the same as in the current software.<br><center>.<p>.<p>.<p>.<p>.<p><img src="http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/101553550/28183535"></center>

[Head Honcho]

[imadriver]

...you mentioned that you had the beta version up and running. Can we access it and try it out?</br>
<hr />
</br>
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~imadriver/TacoSpeedLimit.jpg">

2010 Magnetic Gray Tacoma Double Cab 4x4 - TRD Off-road Package - JBL Audio - Tow Package

[Head Honcho]

I've given a few Inner Circle members limited viewing privileges at the moment. When there is more than a skeleton up I'll post a URL for others to review.

-Charlie

[iam4ecu]

Currently my account "name" and what I use as "Author" are different.

I'd really prefer not to have my account name, since I chose it back when I didn't know what a forum was and have been able to use the "Author" field to let people know who I am.

I'd really prefer to go by "Lee in NC" or "e24mpwr" (<--which is what I use on other BMW-related forums). Do I have the opportunity to change it?


Also, I'd love to view the proposed format. I've noticed some v.bulletin-based sites (BigCoupe) that completely lose the "community" feeling and some (BF.c) that do a pretty good job. I totally support the move - many of us have stuck w/ Roadfly because of the good people-resources that are here despite the archaic structure - but I'd appreciate the opportunity to give some direct feedback.

[Head Honcho]

I totally agree w/ you on the Author vs. username thing. I want to make that feature available. I want folks to be able to have aliases for their usernames. We didn't let folks change their usernames under the old system because it was a big pain for us. We had to manually update the backend databases. W/ the new system you will be able to change your username yourself.

In your case my goal will be that you are able to change your username to "e24mpwr" (or whatever but no spaces or special chars.) and then also easily set an alias for yourself. I'd like to give you the option of having multiple alias/author names which don't affect your official username. As of now you will be able to change your username on day 1. I'm still working on the alias feature.