Who's the XS11.com moderator?

[IanDMacDonald]

XS for life baby! I don't want to see this site fail.

[Dudenatz]

There are a lot of guys all over the country, where does the owner live? I'd be willing to drive a little ways to visit him and take the personal approach instead of emails or phone calls or whatever. I am sure others would as well.

I called the owner last night, and had to leave a message. I introduced myself and stated that I lived down-state from him, and said I would like for him to call me back, although I didn't say why. He lives about 2.5-3 hours away from me. I'll post when I can if he calls me back, or in a few days if not. As far as a personal visit, I'd be willing to drive up to see him, (I also have his address), but I'm working all weekend and the 1st, so the only day soon I could do it would be New Years Eve, or maybe next weekend. I'd also rather wait until he responds, as an unannounced visit might do more harm than good. I consider just showing up on someone's doorstep to be in bad form, unless it is the absolute last resort available to us.
I know I'm not an "XS Super Guru" or the like, most of you don't even know me, but I do have the ability to effectively communicate a message, and would be glad to include any pertinent information any of you would like to pass on. I'll keep up on the thread to hear all thoughts regarding the matter. At this point I think there is still some time to sort the matter out and create a plan of action, so I'm not going to rush and do anything (stupid or otherwise) until a consensus has been reached, and you all feel comfortable with me being the messenger. Hopefully my calling him wasn't going too far too soon, or ruffled any feathers. I just want to help.

Regards

[jetmechmarty]

Look at XS650.com, CB750.com, and XS400.com. These are great forums with all the bells and whistles under one owner. Once up and running, I can’t imagine it being that challenging to keep going. There was an attempt to start a new Triples forum. YamahaXS.com. That effort appears to have failed. At least, so far. For success, I believe XS11.com needs to be kept alive. A new forum may or may not get off the ground.

[madmax-im]

The lack of ability to add new members and grow the community...a sore point...How many years TC would reuse old screenames long inactive to create a new opening for a new member? Not having the ability for new people to come and join in is surely not a healthy sign and needs to be remedied.

[Bonz]

Dudenatz, you've got my approval not that you need it but just hearing your willingness is awesome. I wasn't proposing an unannounced visit, but making contact and then getting together and discussing things in person instead of shooting emails and text messages or whatever. That's a good way forward, look forward to updates as you can.

[nezzer]

Sorry for the delayed response... holidays.

This has turned into a very active thread. Let me weigh in on a couple of topics. Its going to be long.

1. Can we jump from vBulletin version v3 to v5 or do we need to stop at v4 along the way?

According to vBulletin's website, you can go from v3 to v5 without going through 4. Just for background, v3 was released 15 years ago. Both v3 and v4 are no longer supported.

2. How does the domain name work?
Someone owns the xs11.com domain name. Domain registration information is public and can be looked up. The record for xs11.com just says that its registered with godaddy.com. We could easily register a new domain name as suggested but any existing links to xs11.com would keep going to the old site. Registering a new domain name is typically $10 / year but can get ludicrously expensive for recognizable domains.

The purpose of the domain name is very simple. A domain name server changes the name you type in (xs11.com) to an IP (216.37.42.101) which your browser can actually navigate to.

We need to either:
A. Update the forum software and fix the database on the host (computer) that the IP address for xs11.com already points to. I confirmed that host is running cPanel, meaning it is likely hosting multiple sites, meaning it is probably a paid hosting service.
B. Point xs11.com to a new IP for a new host, like the vBulletin hosting solution for $15/mo.
C. Get a new domain name and point it to whatever we need, with the understanding that old links to xs11.com will never resolve to our new site. If in the future we can get in touch with the owner, it is possible to setup a forwarder on the xs11.com domain record, which means someone going to xs11.com would get automatically redirected to our new domain. In that situation, it may be possible to keep the old links working.

3. Who owns the content on the forum?
I am not a lawyer but I do know that the creator of content automatically has a copyright on that content even without declaring it. That would mean each forum member would own their individual posts. That is why most sites (e.g. facebook) makes you agree to a terms of service when creating your account. That agreement says that you give facebook all rights to your content to use however they want.

I joined this site a long time ago and don't remember what agreements were required. Since new membership is closed I can't see what agreement a new member would have to agree to.

I am confident there would be no issue individually posting any of your own writeups to another site besides xs11.com. I would never suggest that we copy ALL posts from ALL members (including inactive users) to a new site without agreement from the current xs11.com site owner.

Minor note, the copyright at the bottom of the forum pages is for Jelsoft, the maker of the forum software, who obviously wouldn't give a rip about the content in this forum.

4. Raising money?
Someone needs to pay for the domain name, forum software (if using commercial software), and for hosting the site. That must be the current site owner today, and kudos to him for keeping up with it all these years.

If we do decide to take action as a community and need to raise some money, we need a way to capture it. I propose gofundme.com or perhaps patreon.com. I would rather do it through some official site rather than just a bunch of paypal transfers to one individual. That's just me though. Seems more official when tied to some expectation of what the money is for. I am open to suggestions.

Closing thoughts
The best way forward is working with the current site owner. If Dudenatz knows him and can make contact, let's do that. This entire process would be much easier with support from the current owner. Otherwise we are just setting up our own new site going forward and not ensuring all the existing content is preserved.

There are other forums software packages besides vBulletin. For example, phpBB is open source, free to use, and can import from a vBulletin site with the appropriate database credentials. If we make contact with the site owner and can get the database information, I can conduct a forum software trade study, run a test import of our data, then make a recommendation on which software package we move forward with.

[IanDMacDonald]

I agree. Let's wait & see.

[MaximPhil]

Thanks Nezzer for your excellent description of our options. Although I know even less about computers than XS11's I understood that.

There should be enough money already collected to get started and we have seen there are members willing to send in reasonable $$ to keep it going on a paid server.

Phil

[Radioguylogs]

We all want to preserve the content of the existing XS11.com.

If there are changes, I vote we investigate a way to post pictures without hosting them elsewhere.

[jetmechmarty]

I vote we investigate a way to post pictures without hosting them elsewhere.

Most of the up-to-date forums do that.

[Dudenatz]

Greetings All,
I spoke to the owner today. He was very cordial. I don't know him personally, I just did some web research and some logic-type connect-the-dots and was able to find him. He's close geographically, so per Bonz post I took the next step.
More to the point: He explained to me that the upgrade had been paid for, to Jelsoft Enterprises, Ltd, the owners of vBulletin. The person he had doing the upgrade had gone through all the steps needed, to the point where he was ready to set up a test site to ensure functionality. All this happened 1.5 to 2 years ago, and that was the last he had heard of the matter. He did give me the contact info for the software tech, and I have just called and left a message with him, explaining that current active members of the forum wanted to ensure continued viability of the site, my contact info, and a request that he call me back. I will glean all the info I can from him, as far as where he was in the process and what needs to be done to complete the upgrade. I will also request access credentials to that end. (Note: Should I come into possession of those, I will forward them to Nezzer, unless there are objections. It sounds like he knows which options we should go with.)
Also consider that at some point we'll need an active administrator. I have absolutely no desire to step on TC's toes, as he has my utmost respect, so if anyone with his contact info could, please, give him a heads-up that we are trying to upgrade the site, and we need an active admin to accomplish that. I disqualify myself. If the software tech isn't willing or able to complete the process, I feel Nezzer to be of very sound abilities to get us where we need to be, sans objections, if he is willing to take the position. With all that he is willing to do, he may be admin by default. All that is just my opinion. Mine is only one voice in this choir, and I can't hold a note for crap. Just trying to help things along.
That's kind of where things stand at this point. I'll keep updating as events dictate. All of you have a safe and Happy New Year.

Regards

[DiverRay]

If the software techs name is Mike, I know what happened. He is in California, and just as the shift over was going to happen, was informed is wife was leaving after a lot of years. He is probably NOT available to finish the upgrade. We should probably go with Nezzer if he is willing to do this.

[Dudenatz]

If the software techs name is Mike, I know what happened. He is in California, and just as the shift over was going to happen, was informed is wife was leaving after a lot of years. He is probably NOT available to finish the upgrade. We should probably go with Nezzer if he is willing to do this.

Well, Ray, you hit that one on the head, squarely. I was unaware of the reasons, just that it didn't happen. I PM'd Nezzer to see what he might need me to get for him to facilitate any change, if I can. I'll give it a few days, then try again.

Regards

[MarkD]

Not much to add here, only a big 'thank you guys' for looking into keeping this forum viable.

[IanDMacDonald]

I'm younger, and a little more brash (think Greg Teter, but younger, lol). If no response from TC, let's post a poll. Odds are, there won't be much response, as we've lost a large base due to constant issues. Our core is still here, and that's all that matters.

Nezzer should Admin. If TC ever comes back, he can request a Moderator title.

For my part, I'll donate money. Just let me know when, and you have my support. I have plenty of XS's in the garage that have long-term plans of restoration, so I'm not going anywhere.