PCF Server Move and Software Migration

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711

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PlanetCalypsoForum.com will be taken offline on Wednesday, July 8 at 20:00 UTC (Calypso time) for migration to a new server and software platform (XenForo).

The XenForo forum platform offers improved functionality, security, responsiveness, and future expandability compared to the current software platform (vBulletin).

Moving to a new platform presents several challenges for a forum as big, old, and customized as PlanetCalypsoForum, which has been running for over 15 years. This is a primary reason that the migration was not done sooner, though it has been considered for quite some time.

The migration is expected to require between 12 and 16 hours. Several test migrations have been performed over the past few weeks, and the the time required has ranged from 8 to 12 hours just for the conversion of all the forum data to the new software platform. That is in addition to the actual transfer of the database (12 GB), files, and gallery images (over 80 GB).

Hopefully those test runs have helped to identify and address the more common issues that might arise during the conversion, and thereby minimize the downtime. However, issues can (and do) still arise with a migration of this size, so please be patient if the downtime takes longer than expected.

Most of the current features and functionality that you have grown accustomed to using on PCF will be available on the new forum website. However, some features will be replaced by improved implementations of similar functionality built into XenForo (or available via addons), while some others will become redundant or no longer available. More details below.

  • The current member blogs will be moved to a dedicated blog forum section. Blog posts will appear as individual threads, and blog comments as thread replies.
  • The current Gratz and reputation systems will be replaced by XenForo's default reactions system.
  • The forum Gallery will be replaced by a completely new solution powered by XenForo's official Media Gallery add-on, which offers much improved and expanded functionality compared to the current Gallery. All existing Gallery images will be migrated to the new server and will be permanently available at their current URLs.
  • The member Albums feature will become redundant by the new Media Gallery solution described above. All existing Album images will be migrated to the new server and will be permanently available at their current URLs.
  • Premium account upgrades will no longer be offered. Any members with an active paid account upgrade will be contacted after the migration to coordinate a prorated refund based on the subscription time remaining.

While it is very unlikely that any data or files will be lost, there have been a few cases during the test migrations of avatar images or profile pictures that were not properly imported into the new software platform. Just to be on the safe side, I would encourage all members to download to their PC any content they would be upset to lose during the migration process, such as: avatar images, profile images, signature images, or important gallery/album images.

The new PlanetCalypsoForum website will initially offer two (sleek and minimalist) custom visual themes, one light and one dark. These themes are temporary, and will be replaced after the summer by custom themes provided by MindArk, which will feature Entropia-related images and design.

Thanks in advance for your patience during the downtime!
 
new forums :yay:
 
Hope we can still access the archives
 
It will be great to get everything up to date.

I will miss the reputation system. Always thought that was a great idea :)
 
Hope we can still access the archives

All of the forum discussion content will be imported into the new software (that's actually the most time-consuming part of the migration). There will be no need for archives.
 
Can we make our username match our Avatar name on the new forums?

:smoke:
 
Of all the Entropia related forums out there, PCF has always been my favorite for it's ease of use and functionality such as embedded video, images and tables.

I hope you guys don't screw this up
 
Really??
My ATH's, out off the ingame list
My screenshot safely stored online.. gone in 24h.
I have no words, you expect me to keep playing or using your forum wich you are paid for?

A nice Fuck You back from 14 year old user!

7h of sleep left.. fuck entropia & my gallery
 
Really??
My ATH's, out off the ingame list
My screenshot safely stored online.. gone in 24h.
I have no words, you expect me to keep playing or using your forum wich you are paid for?

A nice Fuck You back from 14 year old user!

7h of sleep left.. fuck entropia & my gallery

Huh? :eyecrazy:

All of your images will be migrated to the new server and will have the same URL as now.
 
Really??
My ATH's, out off the ingame list
My screenshot safely stored online.. gone in 24h.
I have no words, you expect me to keep playing or using your forum wich you are paid for?

A nice Fuck You back from 14 year old user!

7h of sleep left.. fuck entropia & my gallery

Chill out LOL . Wth is going on whit people

711 good luck and smooth change to a new home :)
 
Sounds interesting - Blog changes definately sound like an improvement
Good Luck with the move - hope it goes smoothly
 
I hope the changes aren't too drastic and traffic doesn't fall off. I've seen big changes to forums before and it can take several months, up to a few years, for traffic to recover.

Best of luck!

:beerchug:
 
@711,

Does this mean CFD (Calypso forum dollars) will be brought back? :)
 
Will the new platform have the missing improved communications feature MA staff mentioned in the past? ;);)
 
Thanks for doing this!

Good luck tonight! :)
 
Will pms be migrated too?

It is probably a good idea to download them if there is anything in them which is valuable to you. Choose XML format for re-importability.
 
@711,

Does this mean CFD (Calypso forum dollars) will be brought back? :)

There are currently no plans to reintroduce the old CFD system.

Will pms be migrated too?

Yes, all content will be migrated: user accounts, user groups, forums, threads, posts, private messages, private forums, polls, etc.
 
[*]The current Gratz and reputation systems will be replaced by XenForo's default reactions system.

This is quite disappointing. I really find it distasteful to remove this. All that REP lost?

No more of the old Gratz when one gets a nice hof?


Really not a fan of this system, is ít gonna be the same one on dead forums like on arkadiaforum?
xenforo_reaction_system.jpg


Like/dislike/disagree/agree etc. Personally I don't think the reaction system should have an option for negativity on a particular post. Trolls would love it though.

Why was there so little notice on this change? Why not ask the community about feedback beforehand.

To me it seems like basically another unnecessary upgrade/change. The forum has worked for 15+ years like you said, if it ain't broken don't fix it motto imo.
 
To me it seems like basically another unnecessary upgrade/change. The forum has worked for 15+ years like you said, if it ain't broken don't fix it motto imo.


It seems unnecessary to you because you aren't the one having to maintain it.
 
A few questions:

  • Will the new forum homepage have Latest Posts and News (I really like those), or will we go directly to the forum categories?
  • Will all of our current thread subscriptions be maintained post-migration?
  • Will the new forums have dedicated mobile browser formats and work better with iPhones?
  • Will we still have a profile page where we can fill out "About Me"?

EDIT: will Calypso time still be displayed at the bottom of the pages?

All times are GMT -7. The time is now: 09:15 | Calypso Time:16:15
TM & ©2005 - 2020, PlanetCalypsoForum.com. All rights reserved.
 
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Good luck with the migration - may it go smooooothly :)
 
Why was there so little notice on this change? Why not ask the community about feedback beforehand.

I think there's actually more notification this go round than there was last time, when entropiaforum got moved over to pcf.
 
To me it seems like basically another unnecessary upgrade/change. The forum has worked for 15+ years like you said, if it ain't broken don't fix it motto imo.

It is certainly not an unnecessary change; in fact it is long overdue.

The current platform (vBulletin 4) is extremely outdated and difficult to maintain, which creates all sorts of software compatibility issues, weaker site security, and worse website responsiveness and usability.

Upgrading PCF to vBulletin 5 would be nearly as much work as migrating to XenForo, while providing much less benefit. To put it simply, XenForo is a vastly superior forum platform.

I am confident that the majority of PCF members will appreciate the improvements achieved by the migration.
 
This is quite disappointing. I really find it distasteful to remove this. All that REP lost?

No more of the old Gratz when one gets a nice hof?


Really not a fan of this system, is ít gonna be the same one on dead forums like on arkadiaforum?
xenforo_reaction_system.jpg


Like/dislike/disagree/agree etc. Personally I don't think the reaction system should have an option for negativity on a particular post. Trolls would love it though.

Why was there so little notice on this change? Why not ask the community about feedback beforehand.

To me it seems like basically another unnecessary upgrade/change. The forum has worked for 15+ years like you said, if it ain't broken don't fix it motto imo.

I like that we get the chance to both agree and disagree with a OP in a thread, specificaly
those in Suggetions/Wishes so people can give a quick opinion about something without
the need to do a post. There will always be some few who can't handle it correctly but
that is only due to they have a hard time to understand things and react on wrong reason.
 
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