A message to our members

[Harrison]

Quick update.

I'm getting more and more frustrated with the bugs and mess that is vBulletin 5, and I apologise to members for having to try and use this software.

As a vBulletin admin and developer since its early days in version 3 I always loved this forum platform. Version 4 was amazing in its prime. But in recent times I couldn't understand why so many admins and sites abandoned it and found alternatives. I think now we can all see why. Version 5 is junk.

My hope was to get Amibay running fast on a new server and with up to date software so I could take more of a back seat to get on with other things, knowing I was leaving it in a great place for when I couldn't devote time. Knowing the other staff had a platform that was stable and easy to manage. But I definitely can't leave it like this.

Therefore, I'm going to try and fix what is here, but won't be devoting any time to adding anything new. It's not fit for purpose so we need to move again to a new software platform.

I don't have the time before Christmas to do this, so you will need to live with this current version for the moment. But in the new year I seriously want to find the time to take members up on their generous financial offer and move Amibay over to Xenforo, where we can add a feedback system back into the site and have a forum that works as intended.

Thank you for your patience. We will make Amibay great again.

 

[Sardine]

In the mean time will the site registration be reopened for new members ?

 

[Harrison]

Not until the PM system is fully working.

 

[konc]

Excellent approach and caring for the users/platform, thank you Harrison.
It's true that the site is unusable at the moment but with the way this is communicated I'm sure we'll all wait as much as needed for the move.

 

[aaronkatrini]

Excellent news!

Thanks Harrison for everything you're doing, especially for being so transparent and honest!

 

[idledk]

Keep up the good work, and thank you for being so open about it.
I know Amibay is run on a volunteer basis, and running cost is covered by donations, but I really think that it would be possible to raise the fund to migrate to a new platform if you raised more awareness of needing money.

A single page explaining this is how much we need to migrate to a new platform, and the expected running cost is xx....

I would like to devote some time to help out, but also know I won't be able to put in a lot of hours on a permanent basis.

However, would like to help with test-migrating things, donate a place to run a test-install or something...
Who should I get in contact with?

 

[Sardine]

The full costs for moving & purchase of new forum software has already been offered inclusive of help setting up the site.

this very generous offer was not fully explored due to Amibay having already purchased vb5 and Harrison being experienced in vbulliten

both myself and Harrison thought this offer needed exploring.

 

[jurassicman]

Thank you Harrison, we really appreciate what you do for us. Don't worry, we can live with this version of the site until you'll have the time to switch it to a better platform. Thanks again.

 

[Harrison]

I will definitely be needed volunteers to help test as we prepare to move over to Xenforo. If we secure the software license sooner I will be seeing up a test site to try things out. Any menbers wishing to help test and offer suggestions and ideas will be most welcome.

As for site donations. There is link in the main site menu bar at the top. You can also contact davideo directly as the site treasurer who can give you any details.

 

[Harrison]

I have now taken up the offer from both members offering to purchase the Xenforo license and am currently working out final details.

I want to get a test install of Xenforo up and running soon, so we have time to try it out and familiarise ourselves with it and what is possible.

 

[Dannyboy]

That is outstanding news! Thank you for all the work you've been putting in over the years - this is such a great community!
I'd also like to offer my humble assistance to help out testing the new site when the time comes

 

[Sardine]

Fantastic news.

 

[Adve]

Thank You for Your effort. Question from me - Why we had to abandon previous version. It was just perfect looking and very organised (can't we just migrate back???). Here the Feedback system is dead, so In my opinion if it won't be fixed (with a history too) amibay will suffer a lot (members!). PM, lack of feedback, errors on 1st visittor screen, cannot log in very often... this v5 is just garbage. Anyway Thanks for Your hardwork.

 

[miggymad]

Adve

At the moment we have a working website on vB5. Granted it's not perfect, but for now we must wait until Harrison and the rest of the team involved gets Xenforo up and running, fully tested and ready to unleash to the world.

If stuff such as the ability to leave feedback that we had in vB4 is no longer available in vB5 then no amount of complaining can get it back. Everyone is aware that this vB5 is complete and utter garbage but we go with the best we have for now.

 

[Adve]

Understood, but still one question left without answer. Why we couldn't use vB4 and had to migrate to vB5? Amibay on vB4 was just perfect.

 

[davideo]

Unfortunately, we needed to upgrade the server to try and improve the usability of AmiBay.

The new server would not allow us to continue to use VB4.

 

[moggsie]

Vb4 is officially retro..

 

[Harrison]

Understood, but still one question left without answer. Why we couldn't use vB4 and had to migrate to vB5? Amibay on vB4 was just perfect.

I've already mentioned this in other posts but will quickly state it again.

vBulletin 4 was getting quite old. It's development ended quite some time ago, so no new updates would ever be released, and security patches ended in 2019 because it was deemed end of life by its developer.

And because of it's age it only supported the programing language PHP and the Database server MySQL up to certain versions. These versions, like vBulletin 4, are now beyond end of life and no longer supported or given as an option on newer server builds.

Our old server was built in 2012, hence the site slowdown, and we had to pay extra for legacy php support even with that to allow vBulletin 4 to run. That's because we need a server that is managed by the data centre. I'm the only one with any server experience and don't have time to manage a root server for Amibay to keep updating the OS and software, or performing security tasks. And it needed to be accessible by other admins if needed. With a managed server this is all left to the data centre. The downside being you have to use up to date software versions, meaning vBulletin 4 cannot be run.

We had to move server as the old one was getting too old and too slow. But vBulletin 4 wouldn't run on a new managed server. The logical root was to upgrade to vBulletin 5 as it supports current server builds and is still in active development. And we owned the upgrade license. But as you can see it's not great.

So the solution going forward is to move to different forum software. The original vBulletin development team left when the company were taken over. They formed a new company and the end result is Xenforo. This is what Amibay will be moving to in the new year. It offers the features we liked in vbulletin 4 and the developer of our old feedback system moved over to it and developed the feedback system for it, and it includes an iTrader feedback importer so we should be able to restore all the existing members feedback. It also has a third party plugin and mod community bigger than vBulletin 4's used to be, because it seems everyone that used to develop for vBulletin has moved over.

 

[Merlin]

It's better to admit defeat now, than to try fixing a forum platform that is waning fast with dwindling support. There's no sense in beating a dead horse any more, VBulletin have ruined their core customer base by not supporting VBulletin 5 as it should have been. We know that developers jumped ship, but the core support should still have been there and it isn't. Authors of plugins have all but given up and moved on to Xenforo and others.

 

[DarrenHD]

Glad AmiBay is moving to Xenforo. I had high hopes for the upgrade to vBulletin 5 but I have been disappointed as have others. Good move on the decision to switch!

Darren