Right now I'm looking for a program we can use so we don't lose any of our old threads, we currently use cgi files in this program and they are the bulletin board equivalent of cassette tapes in a CD world.

What I want to ask is if any of you who surf different boards can point me to specific boards that you like the looks and functionality of. I presently really like the format we use, the forum layout and the threads. This is what I'm really looking for. I want it to really be user friendly, easy to use and understand for all our members, remember that most of us are car guys, not computer experts. If you can point me to board types you like, that would be great.

quote:

---

Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:

What I want to ask is if any of you who surf different boards can point me to specific boards that you like the looks and functionality of. I presently really like the format we use, the forum layout and the threads. This is what I'm really looking for. I want it to really be user friendly, easy to use and understand for all our members, remember that most of us are car guys, not computer experts. If you can point me to board types you like, that would be great.

---

Can't go far wrong with this format

http://www.mocgb.net/forums/index.php

Mine should be there by now Steve, it's under the GF's name on the CC, but I pay the bill.

------------------
William
M&M# 4256
MCA# 64831

68 Coupe
289
C4
3:55's/Trac-Lok

Yes, folks, the M&M Bookstore is an AWESOME place to do ALL your Christmas shopping!

I know some folks @ Memphisracingscene.com that use/install bulletin board software a good bit, you want me to ask? cost estimate I mean.

http://www.460ford.com/index.php

You can also ask "chilly" on the 460 Ford forum by email what it cost to maintain/transfer to that format. That is a good,easy to navigate type. ( I know nothing about types ) I know it met with ALLOT of resistance at first, as will your decision to do so here, all I can say is "do it anyway". The gripers that hate change will eventually like it better. I have no complaints about this format, but the others are nicer no doubt.

I don't see how anyone could object to giving up 10-20 bucks for a 1-2 year membership at this site.

I give up a 14 buck membership fee to Tiger forums every year. They have a deal where you can only view "one" public forum if you aren't a contributor but you can still particpate. Contributors get private messaging and access to the want ads etc.

It is certainly worth that small price.
there are members of both types there, usually the non-contributors turn into contributors after 5-6 months.

If you have a hobby like Mustangs, 14 bucks won't kill you.

------------------
JS
Life`s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-perserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "holysh....t what a ride!!!"

quote:

---

Originally posted by JSracing:
I know some folks @ Memphisracingscene.com that use/install bulletin board software a good bit, you want me to ask? cost estimate I mean.

---

That would be great, I think I'm looking at installing either vBulletin or PhpBB like the 460 site uses, and converting my UBB 5.47d files to either format. I read the instructions on using a converter and there are too many ways to mess up for me to even attempt.

quote:

---

Originally posted by JSracing:
Steve, have everyone cough up $5-10 bucks for this change. We can do it through paypal.

I don't see how anyone could object to giving up 10-20 bucks for a 1-2 year membership at this site.

If you have a hobby like Mustangs, 14 bucks won't kill you.

---

I agree with Jerry
Let us what we can do to help. I tend to have some free time for the computer all week long. So if I can be of any help,research,collection etc just let me know.

------------------
oddly obsessed with big scoops on little Mustangs

HOOD HACKERS DELIGHT!
My Pics

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bulldog66:
If there's not already, be sure to put up a paypal link. I'll gladly contribute.

Best site on the net, Ford related ( for me ).

---

http://www.panamacityjeepclub.com/phpBB2/index.php

It's a clean setup and is VERY user friendly. I'm just not sure how much it costs.

I know a brand new club that recently switched to UBB format (Ca-Mustangs.com) uses vBulletin Version 3.5.3 and it didn't cost them too much to purchase.

Personally, I hate phpbb. I've never liked the type of user interface phpbb uses for the forums page. phpbb seem's like a step backwards, not up. Heck, in my opinion, it's not even a step sideways!

Kathy Bowers runs the http://www.mustanggt.org/forums/index.php site. It's vBulletin version 3.5.4 and I remember when she and her husband Davis switched over to it. They had ton's of stuff to transfer over to the new UBB.

Kathy is a member here, but she hasn't posted in years. She's a really nice person though (judging by her posts and the few emails we've swapped way back when I was an active member at her site) and I bet she wouldn't mind answering any questions you might have regarding the transition problems you'll face.

If you like, I could drop her an email and point her to this thread.

Stewart

PS - Spend a few days immersing yourself at mustanggt.org. Get the feel of it on a daily basis. Visit it several time throughout the day. I'm betting you'll see how phpbb pales in comparison. In my opinion, vBulletin is to phpbb the way a moped is to a Mustang GT.

I know you don't want to "charge", but how about you allow us to donate for the cause? If you look at http://www.mustanggt.org/forums/index.php you'll see this at the top of the page "This message board and web site has been made possible through donations from: List of Contributors THANK YOU!!!!"

Plus, under the member name, instead of "gearhead" or whatever you choose as the setup for the different catagories for the registered user, you can put "Donating Member" for recognition.

Another plus to upgrading to vBulletin is the ability to have a vendor forum.

You can set one up for MoneyMaker Racing where Alex can sell his products, one for Mustangs Plus as well as all your other supporting vendors (SV's) that pay for ad space.

I mean, how many members here can proudly state we've saved money on your vehicles because of the community you have put together here? Is it really to much to ask, to allow us to pay it back in the form of a donation?

C'mon Steve, set up a Paypal account and let us show you some love!

Stewart

PS - With the upgrade, there will be TONS of new smiley's you can add!!!

------------------
Said cynot65 to a troll on the board: "what a demented little spit puddle you are"

Black '99 Lightning
- It's my 13.19 second work truck! :D

2000 7.3L PSD Excursion
- The family land yacht

1990 Platinum GT: 25th Year Anniversary Edition
- Stolen and stripped, waiting to be rebuilt and reborn.

Mine is on the way!

Stewart

EDIT: Scratch that. It's not on the way. It's done!

------------------
Said cynot65 to a troll on the board: "what a demented little spit puddle you are"

Black '99 Lightning
- It's my 13.19 second work truck!

2000 7.3L PSD Excursion
- The family land yacht

1990 Platinum GT: 25th Year Anniversary Edition
- Stolen and stripped, waiting to be rebuilt and reborn.

M&M Member #437

Ernie

http://www.acscc.com/index.php

I'll add another vote of support for phpbb. When our club updated it's web presence back in February, we went with phpbb mainly due to the cost (it's free). I set up the bullittin board and found it very easy to use. If you want to check out our club's message board, you can try the link here:

http://www.somdmustang.org/phpBB2/

Phpbb has been easy to manage and so far, we really haven't had any problems with it.

http://www.royal-orleans.com/phpBB/index.php

And another group moved from MSN groups to this one:

http://fordtruk.com/forums/

They both seem to be php, whatever that is.

Tracy

quote:

---

Originally posted by DidgeyTrucker:

They both seem to be php, whatever that is.

Tracy

---

Tracy,

PHP is a programming language that allows for dynamic web page creation. In other words, it allows you to make webpages that can be easily updated on the fly, like this message board. In a static page, each of us would have to co in and update the code for teh page evertime we add a post. Using php, we can update threads without getting into writing all teh programmin required for the page to show up on the screen.

phpBB is one program that can set up a message board such as M&M. One advantage of phpBB is it is a free, open source program where an entire community writes and updates the code it uses.

Also thanks to everyone that gave me site to look at. I spent several hours yesterday with a vBulletin demo and I was pretty impressed with it's functionality.

I've visited PHPbb's website and they seem interesting too. I notice everybody uses the basic template and I was wondering why nobody used any of the other many types they have? I liked especially the ones named 'Classic, Jet, Neon, Saphia, SubLite, and SubSilver. You can view them here: http://www.phpbb.com/styles/demo.php

I didn't see a price list for their programs but you say they are free? Why are they free when the vBulletin costs so much? What is the catch? The VBulletin is priced comparable to what I paid for the UBB board.

I want this to go off without a hitch, that's why I'd prefer a professionial install it. I installed our board originally and had bugs I had to hire tech support to straighten out and when I did subsequent updates I hired out. Chasing errant Cmod commands is not my idea of a good time. And in this case, in order to keep all our old posts I'll need to convert tons of cgi files over. That's a bag of hornets I don't want to stick my face in.

The reason for the cost difference is all of the developers of phpBB are volunteer. They continuiously update the program and do it for maintaining their shills or to learn. vBullitin is a commercial product and is there for profit.

I looked at both when our club set up it's website. I liked the fact that phpBB also has a very good support system in place. The reason So. MD Mustang Club uses pretty much the standard template is that this was the very first board I set up, and I wanted to limit the amount of problems coming out of the gate. Yes, I did have a few bugs, but so far, it's working pretty well (knock on wood).

I would be willing to help you on the update to M&M if you wish, Steve.

Greg, thanks, I may need to call on you if I do the install. The conversion from cgi is what concerns me. I looked over a script for a converter and it didn't look fun.

The vBulletin board has tons of options on almost everything you can think of. It takes hours just to look at all the features.

I guess it just boils down to how fancy we want to get.

quote:

---

Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
A very big THANK YOU to the folks that sent donations to M&M, namely Scott H, Stewart, ekbeanctr, Capri Man, and Big D, it's very much appreciated!

---

As far as VMF, I stop by there also, but that damn Wyotech pop-up ad makes it hard to reply in some cases. Please don't allow those in the new format.

------------------
William
M&M# 4256
MCA# 64831

And I use Cobalt 2.0... Not the standard colors.

quote:

---

Originally posted by 68 Coop:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
[b]A very big THANK YOU to the folks that sent donations to M&M, namely Scott H, Stewart, ekbeanctr, Capri Man, and Big D, it's very much appreciated!

---

As far as VMF, I stop by there also, but that damn Wyotech pop-up ad makes it hard to reply in some cases. Please don't allow those in the new format.

[/B][/QUOTE]

Sorry about that, William, thank you for your support!

Don't worry about pop-ups, I hate them too and will never have them. That's one of the reason I don't use free boards, I control a lot more this way.

quote:

---

Originally posted by indyphil:
Steve,
Is it still going to be called Mustangsandmore? Did you get a letter from ford yet?

---

I plan no changes to the name, at this time.

------------------
William
M&M# 4256
MCA# 64831

Look just above the AMAZON Donation Box & there's a small PAYPAL Donation Box.. Makes sending Steve a Donation Very Simple..

quote:

---

Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
Stewart, I'm curious about what you don't like about PHPbb if you wouldn't mind explaining?

---

Steve, I just saw this question.

I just sent you an email a little bit ago where I touch on one aspect of phpbb I don't like.

Stewart

------------------
Said cynot65 to a troll on the board: "what a demented little spit puddle you are"

Black '99 Lightning (my work truck)
- Tons of mods, still too slow!

2000 7.3L PSD Excursion (The wife's)
- AFE Stage 2, MBRP 4", Beans 1.0 exhaust housing & WW, DP-Tuner F5 chip, ITP Overboost Annihilator and pre-pump mods, Prodigy brake controller, B & V code spring upgrade, Bilsteins, & Hellwig rear sway. (Smokin' the Cummins, now!)

1990 Platinum GT: 25th Year Anniversary Edition
- Stolen and stripped, waiting to be rebuilt and reborn.

Sorry, it's not more, but hopefully I can donate more down the road!

And thanks also to Steve Alley, aka Prostreeter!

M&M members are the best without a doubt!

I'm sure you know how many times "How do I add a photo to my post" has been asked.

Probably some more advanced systems will allow the user to add a file directly from their PC. Most should at least ask for a URL. But clicking the button and then proceeding with the file's location would certainly be easier than having to type out and remember the appropriate HTML/UBB code tag.

Frank, you'll like what I have cooking.

More books to be orderd soon as well.

My two cents. vBulletin is the top ranked message board/forum software on the internet. Very robust. Have you consulted with them regarding having them do the actual upgrade and transferring of user databases and thread databases? If I recall, this is an available option.

Erik

is powered by Fusion BB. It took Bob about a month to get it up and running, but IIRC it was more the software that had issues than anything.

http://www.mercurycougar.net/forums/

Another example of vBulletin. I like the popup "preview" pane that show up[ when you pause over a post. I think this is one of my favorite board setups. The Gallery is a little weird to use, but otherwise no issues.

I wanted to thank the newest contributors, namely:

Jeffrey Saylor {tr1gger5},
Robert Edwards {Bulldog66},
Barry Tindell {Barry70Stang},
William Monk {65whitestang},
Earle Holt,
Robert Urban {bob6364}
Scott Halseth at National Parts Depot {Scott302}

Thanks guys, you are really helping us out here!

If you have contributed through Amazon please either email me or mention it here because I'd like to thank you personally.

quote:

---

Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
Also, some have contributed through Amazon.com

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by 68 Coop:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
[b]Also, some have contributed through Amazon.com

---

[/B][/QUOTE]

Well, technically it does help Paypal. They get exposure and such

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bulldog66:
Well, technically it does help Paypal. They get exposure and such

---

...and their cut of the donation.

quote:

---

Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:

I wanted to thank the newest contributors, namely:

Jeffrey Saylor {tr1gger5},
Robert Edwards {Bulldog66},
Barry Tindell {Barry70Stang},
William Monk {65whitestang},
Earle Holt,
Robert Urban {bob6364}
Scott Halseth at National Parts Depot {Scott302}

Thanks guys, you are really helping us out here!

---

No need to thank me Steve,Thank YOU!! For all
the time spent on the this board and the new one your setting up. Is it possible to find out the total of all donations so far ,since the announcemnt of the need for a new board?

quote:

---

Originally posted by 65whitestang:
No need to thank me Steve,Thank YOU!! For all
the time spent on the this board and the new one your setting up. Is it possible to find out the total of all donations so far ,since the announcemnt of the need for a new board?

---

Absolutely. So far our awesome members has contributed a grand total of $739.16 and we are EXTREMELY grateful.

The costs of this new board and the server space to house is on isn't final because of course we aren't done yet and I may or may not need to hire some tech help to work on a pretty serious problem I've discovered with the old board we are using now, but so far the cost have run:

vBulletin license $160
installation $135
new server rental {5 years} $798
license for new domain name {5 years} for new board $99.75

Which has our costs so far at $1192.25.

As you see our members have paid a significant portion.

The reason I am setting up the new board on an entirely new server is for three reasons: 1) Network Solutions is the #1 biggest host server provider {read most dependable and state-of-the-art}, 2) I'll be able to attempt to transfer files safely from UBB to vBulletion without risking the files from the old UBB board, and 3) If Ford should decide to go after us {although Alex told me he has an insider at FoMoCo who says they won't because mustangsandmore is a different word than the trademarked 'Mustang' --- you can't be too safe} we could surrender the M&M site and split off 'gearheadtalk' like a Star Trek escape pod, thus protecting our investment.

All that will change is when someone clicks on the forum link to the front page it will go to gearheadtalk.com. All the links will still bring you back to the other M&M pages. If you link directly to the forums you'll want to change that to the gearheadtalk.com, or soon you'll be just looking at an archive of the old board.

I am putting the finishing touches on the new board now, trying to fix a couple of snags, and trying to decide if I should attempt to merge all the old posts and member files into the new, or just make the old board an archive and start anew with the new board. It's starting to look like we may be starting anew in light of what I've discovered with the old board, but I will try because I know it would be easiest for our members not to have to re-register on the new board.

http://www.gearheadtalk.com/forums/index.php

You can't register yet, please don't try as I'm still painting the walls and trying to get the furnace in the basement to run right.

quote:

---

Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
....still painting the walls....

---

a lovely shade of ford blue!!
yup!

looking nice hunkie stevie!

kk