hello there,
due the fact that we do have a pretty slow server i had to delete roundabout 1.300.000 postings on my ubb.classic 6.5 to keep the server running. i also had to limit the search-feature, kicked out a hits-hack and actually i HAVE to think about to convert my bbs to ubb.threads to improove features, speed and the uptime. having regulary a look at ubbdev.com it seems like that ubb.classic is today not the perfect choice to keep a pretty large bbs updated with useful mods, hacks and to keep my site interesting and fast for my users.
some poeple always want to force me to switch to post- or phpnuke or even to xoops because of the large amount of useful addons like galleries, chats and so on. but i still love the way of ubb and i'd like to keep it. so ubb.threads seems THE alternative for me, but i have some doubts concerning the migration as well as mods/hacks and future features, so, here's a list of serious questions and i would love to get some feedback. so, in advance: THANKS for any useful comments, hints and links:
1. is it possible to keep the look&feel nearly alive after switching to ubb.threads from classic6.5? please have a short look at my bbs:
http://technoforum.dyndns.org/public_html/ubb/ultimatebb.php2. my users love that background-gfx, is it also possible to include it using ubb.threads? please note, i don't have ANY experiences using php, so...
3. i'm into html, a bit of cgi and i've done hundreds of hacks on ubb.classic, so do you think i might handle to hack ubb.threads with some mods without having too much difficulties?
4. are there any incompatility-issues when switching to ubb.threads because of mods i've done to my classic6.5 like the instant messenger, custom user-title-hacks, additional profile fields, the background-gfx etc.. ?
5. i have loads of instant graemlins, so i might have to include a popup-mod and have to remove (!) the graemlin-field nearby the posting-screen: might this be complicated or is it quite easy? what about broken image-links after the migration to ubbthreads?
6. is there any instantmessage-mod for ubb.threads? my users LOVE that feature.
7. my users also love the STARS as well as the custom user title. is it possible to use both features at the same time using ubb.threads? i do not like to give my users the ability of using avatars.
8. i'm still missing a nice search-feature like listing excerpts of found threads with highlighting the search-term. as far as i know just eve does provide a better search-function, so is there any mod concerning the highlighting of search-terms as well as listing excerpts of founded threads/postings?
9. some very important thing: due the fact that my bbs is also included inside another website i would LOVE to design TWO different layouts based on the REFERRER: so if a user directs his browser directly to my site, the look&feel should be like it's actually using ubb.classic6.5 with the layout i actually have. but when users try to access the bbs thru another website they automatically should see another layout basing on the gfx of the other website. is THIS possible and how to do that WITHOUT giving the user the ability to CHOOSE the skin?
some feature like that would be so important for me.
10. does ubb.threads provide a HIT-counter? i installed that mod long time ago on ubb.classic 5 as well as on 6.4 and that hack caused difficulties concerning the stability of the bbs, i HAD to remove it. and my users still would love to see how many times their thread has been viewed.
11. i don't havy any clues concerning sql, so, how difficult is the first-installation of ubb.threads and moving all accounts and threads to ubb.threads? pleae note: our server is PRETTY slow, so - for example - the classic.65-'rebuild search index' will stop after a while re-indexing larger subforums of my bbs. i'm actually a bit afraid that ubb.classic will crash while exporting/importing all data to ubb.threads.
12. is it possible to switch off the posting icons on ubb.threads?
13. i also do NOT want users to choose the font-color. is this a mod or a basic feature of ubb.threads?
well, that'S all for now,
thank you so much for any hints,
bigup!
chris