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Hello forum members. It's time to upgrade the forum for real. The morning of Saturday 8/22 at 10 AM mountain time, I will generate a backup of the current forum. I will then get that snapshot upgraded and hosted on our server. Both the manual and automated parts of the upgrade do take a while but the new site ready within a couple days.
What do you need to do?
Nothing. You can keep using this old version of the forum during the upgrade, just know that anything you post after 10 AM mountain time on 8/22 will not be transferred to the new forum.
Why did it take so long to get to this point?
The current site owner, JP, has never responded to a single email or sent me any information. He is completely uninvolved in this site won't even take the time to answer very simple questions so that volunteers can carry out the work that needs to be done. I was able to get a couple user accounts from prior admins which is what allowed me to complete the upgrade. The upgrade process has been proven for months now but I have been waiting on JP to provide some DNS information and feedback on the new server hosting plan. JP can't be bothered and I am done with waiting.
I have purchased a new virtual server, domain name, and am ready to get everything upgraded and moved over.
Give me the details?
A new VM has been setup on Vultr. Another volunteer did a trade study and found Vultr.com was the best fit. Initially, the machine will have 1 CPU, 1 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of bandwidth. This matches the specs of the current server and is more than enough bandwidth for this site. This is a flat $6 per month, but if we need more horse power down the road, we can pay more to get more resources.
I will upgrade the forum database offline, then get everything loaded on this new server. I have purchased the xs11.club domain name ($14 per year) and will update it to point to this new server once its ready. I had to purchase a new domain name because I have no access to administer the existing domain name, xs11.com, and JP wouldn't respond.
Once the new site is up and running at xs11.club, I will modify the old xs11.com server to redirect xs11.club. As long as JP keeps the old server running, a user going to xs11.com will hit the old server and immediately be redirected to xs11.club. With this setup, it is possible that any old links to specific posts on xs11.com will resolve correctly to our new site. I am not making any promises though, there are a few moving parts involved there.
If JP stops paying for the current xs11.com server, the server implodes from lack of maintenance, or the xs11.com domain name expires, then any xs11.com links out there on the internet will be broken. If that happens, hopefully we have the opportunity to buy the xs11.com domain name so we can point it to the new server. That domain name is pre-paid for the next few years though so its unlikely to expire before the current server breaks or goes off-line.
How will I access the site now and after the upgrade?
Just go to xs11.com and keep using the site. Once the new forum is ready, you will either get automatically redirected there, or you will see some big banner that says you should go there. Either way, it should be obvious once xs11.club is ready for usage.
Hello forum members. It's time to upgrade the forum for real. The morning of Saturday 8/22 at 10 AM mountain time, I will generate a backup of the current forum. I will then get that snapshot upgraded and hosted on our server. Both the manual and automated parts of the upgrade do take a while but the new site ready within a couple days.
What will the new site look like?
Some forum members have been helping me test the new site so they know exactly what it will look like. In short, the new site will be just the vBulletin forum, that's it. The forum will have all content and posts from xs11.com through 8/22. Upgrading the other parts of xs11.com was unnecessary since all the content, such as tech tips, were either incorporated into the forum previously or not providing much value. The new site won't be perfect on day one, there will be issues to work through, but you will be able to register, login, and post content.
Final Thoughts?
This is messy. I wish it didn't come to this and I don't like the prospect of potentially splitting the community between the old and new sites. I don't want to see the xs11 forum disappear and I think this is the best way to ensure that the forum continues to exist in a usable form.
The costs associated with the new site are minimal and I will cover those costs. Thank you to all those members who offered to contribute money but it's not necessary. If we need money for a special purchase, like a vBulletin upgrade license, I will let the community know, but at this point I don't see any donations being necessary. I also do not intend to sell ad space on the server. Again, I appreciate the thoughts from members who offered to pay for advertising, but at this point I don't plan to include ads.
Much of the content on the forum that I really want to preserver are the how-to articles. That type of information is better contained within a wiki than a forum post. I think the community would really benefit from having a wiki in addition to the forum. I will be launching a companion wiki once the new forum is up and running.
This post got long. In short, let's keep this community going even if its under a different domain name.
What do you need to do?
Nothing. You can keep using this old version of the forum during the upgrade, just know that anything you post after 10 AM mountain time on 8/22 will not be transferred to the new forum.
Why did it take so long to get to this point?
The current site owner, JP, has never responded to a single email or sent me any information. He is completely uninvolved in this site won't even take the time to answer very simple questions so that volunteers can carry out the work that needs to be done. I was able to get a couple user accounts from prior admins which is what allowed me to complete the upgrade. The upgrade process has been proven for months now but I have been waiting on JP to provide some DNS information and feedback on the new server hosting plan. JP can't be bothered and I am done with waiting.
I have purchased a new virtual server, domain name, and am ready to get everything upgraded and moved over.
Give me the details?
A new VM has been setup on Vultr. Another volunteer did a trade study and found Vultr.com was the best fit. Initially, the machine will have 1 CPU, 1 GB of RAM, and 1 TB of bandwidth. This matches the specs of the current server and is more than enough bandwidth for this site. This is a flat $6 per month, but if we need more horse power down the road, we can pay more to get more resources.
I will upgrade the forum database offline, then get everything loaded on this new server. I have purchased the xs11.club domain name ($14 per year) and will update it to point to this new server once its ready. I had to purchase a new domain name because I have no access to administer the existing domain name, xs11.com, and JP wouldn't respond.
Once the new site is up and running at xs11.club, I will modify the old xs11.com server to redirect xs11.club. As long as JP keeps the old server running, a user going to xs11.com will hit the old server and immediately be redirected to xs11.club. With this setup, it is possible that any old links to specific posts on xs11.com will resolve correctly to our new site. I am not making any promises though, there are a few moving parts involved there.
If JP stops paying for the current xs11.com server, the server implodes from lack of maintenance, or the xs11.com domain name expires, then any xs11.com links out there on the internet will be broken. If that happens, hopefully we have the opportunity to buy the xs11.com domain name so we can point it to the new server. That domain name is pre-paid for the next few years though so its unlikely to expire before the current server breaks or goes off-line.
How will I access the site now and after the upgrade?
Just go to xs11.com and keep using the site. Once the new forum is ready, you will either get automatically redirected there, or you will see some big banner that says you should go there. Either way, it should be obvious once xs11.club is ready for usage.
Hello forum members. It's time to upgrade the forum for real. The morning of Saturday 8/22 at 10 AM mountain time, I will generate a backup of the current forum. I will then get that snapshot upgraded and hosted on our server. Both the manual and automated parts of the upgrade do take a while but the new site ready within a couple days.
What will the new site look like?
Some forum members have been helping me test the new site so they know exactly what it will look like. In short, the new site will be just the vBulletin forum, that's it. The forum will have all content and posts from xs11.com through 8/22. Upgrading the other parts of xs11.com was unnecessary since all the content, such as tech tips, were either incorporated into the forum previously or not providing much value. The new site won't be perfect on day one, there will be issues to work through, but you will be able to register, login, and post content.
Final Thoughts?
This is messy. I wish it didn't come to this and I don't like the prospect of potentially splitting the community between the old and new sites. I don't want to see the xs11 forum disappear and I think this is the best way to ensure that the forum continues to exist in a usable form.
The costs associated with the new site are minimal and I will cover those costs. Thank you to all those members who offered to contribute money but it's not necessary. If we need money for a special purchase, like a vBulletin upgrade license, I will let the community know, but at this point I don't see any donations being necessary. I also do not intend to sell ad space on the server. Again, I appreciate the thoughts from members who offered to pay for advertising, but at this point I don't plan to include ads.
Much of the content on the forum that I really want to preserver are the how-to articles. That type of information is better contained within a wiki than a forum post. I think the community would really benefit from having a wiki in addition to the forum. I will be launching a companion wiki once the new forum is up and running.
This post got long. In short, let's keep this community going even if its under a different domain name.
this is cool 
) - 
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