Hanging up my Invision hat, been a blast, thanks

[markopolo2002]

Well, since 2007 I've been running freewarebb.com because I couldn't find a decent bloody download portal that would give me simple freeware without all the crap we see nowadays, whether it's bundled adware or installers with everything, so I set up my own forum and before long was using IPDownloads, Blogs, Content, etc, etc and our site was making a pretty decent dent in the world of downloads.   As far as I am aware, FreewareBB is the only dedicated download site run entirely using IPB software!.   Unfortunately, with a major release from IPB we lost all our URL's due to a third party hook becoming outdated and we never really recovered if I'm honest.   I don't blame IPB, well, I suppose at the time I was quite upset and really needed someone to blame, but looking back I think the writing was on the wall for a lot of sites, probably mine included and it wasn't long after that major release that we saw a rapid decline in revenue.

I've been on and off these forums since way back then and got to know some of you guys, dealt primarily with Brandon who is a particularly sound individual and helped me a lot and if there is one thing that has remained rock solid about IPB it's the staff and the people involved with the platform.   Any ticket I ever opened was always dealt with professionally, and promptly and even when, technically, it wasn't really an IPB matter, they would always see to it that they gave the best advice so I could go back and tell my host.

Well done to all you guys and a final farewell from me because the site is currently being transferred to a new owner who can hopefully breathe new life into it and devote the necessary time and energy into it that it needs and deserves.   I'm not sure if FreewareBB will always be the only dedicated download site to run on IPB software, but I bet it will remain the best

Thanks for the last 8 years guys, I've had fun using your software

Mark

 

[Draffi]

I`sorry to hear that. 8 Years is a quit long time, i dont know if i can say "bye" ... maybe to IPB yes, but not to my "baby".

Unfortunately, with a major release from IPB we lost all our URL's due to a third party hook becoming outdated and we never really recovered if I'm honest.  

Can i ask for Details, please?

Since one year i run IPB, coming from SMF, and i lost a lot of SEO-Positions. I`m not sure, if i will strike them back...

I`m almost sure now, that i never will be have the traffic what i have before with SMF.

But i dont want to give up.not now...

Take care, my friend and dont forget us - i`m sure you will find your way!

[The Old Man]

What a great post. Good luck Mark. 

 

[markopolo2002]

What I didn't know then was when all our URLs changed, we basically lost the majority of traffic from the search engines, purely because the URL they were storing didn't exist anymore.   What we should have investigated was a way to let the search engines know that the old URL had moved to a new URL.   Problem was we didn't know that, and even if we did we wouldn't know how to implement it, when someone eventually came up with a solution, the damage had been done.

You need to figure how SMF was writing URLs and how IPB is now writing URLs and implement some kind of redirect but I'll be buggered if I could offer any technical advice!

[xtech]

You have to set the redirection in .htaccess

[Draffi]

Thank you @markopolo2002 ! What third party hook you was using...? Wondering, what hook can change URL`s in that terrible way...

(And why you dont uninstall that thing...)

 

[MGBrose]

Mark what about rolling back to a backup pre-seo self destruct? Then just re-import the newer posts. 

Honestly we had a very similar thing happen in 2009 when we moved from ipboard 2 to ipboard 3. Our SEO got completely trashed and ad revenue dropped to 1/3rd what it was. If I was smart I would have just rolled back and waited for 3.0 to become more mature. But we kept on it and a year later the ad revenue pretty much bounced back/recovered fully. And I'm interested in testing 4.0 carefully this time for the same reason and to better identify what link structures would change and forward them appropriately (hopefully little to no negative changes).

 

[markopolo2002]

Thank you @markopolo2002 ! What third party hook you was using...? Wondering, what hook can change URL`s in that terrible way...

(And why you dont uninstall that thing...)

 

We installed the addon way before IPB were doing any SEO at all and the addon helped our site appear in the search engines because at the time friendly URL's and other SEO matters were buzzing.   Once IPB started SEO, the developer of the mod basically abandoned the addon leaving everyone high and dry.​

Mark what about rolling back to a backup pre-seo self destruct? Then just re-import the newer posts. 

Honestly we had a very similar thing happen in 2009 when we moved from ipboard 2 to ipboard 3. Our SEO got completely trashed and ad revenue dropped to 1/3rd what it was. If I was smart I would have just rolled back and waited for 3.0 to become more mature. But we kept on it and a year later the ad revenue pretty much bounced back/recovered fully. And I'm interested in testing 4.0 carefully this time for the same reason and to better identify what link structures would change and forward them appropriately (hopefully little to no negative changes).

 

​At the time I didn't realise the developer of the addon was going to abandon us, they actually said they would make their mod compatible with the new version if memory serves me correctly and I had already made the move and by the time I realised things were very wrong we had overwritten the backups that would have taken us back to where we were.   I blame myself too for the mess, because if I'd have known a little more about the subject I would have known to redirect the links properly but unfortunately hindsight is always a wonderful thing after the event!! 

[markopolo2002]

You have to set the redirection in .htaccess

​But you also need to know exactly what redirects to put in place which is the tricky bit

[The Jimmo]

​But you also need to know exactly what redirects to put in place which is the tricky bit

Don't know what year this happened but a solution like Google Webmasters would have helped out tremendously.

 

[markopolo2002]

Well, never saw that one coming.   The domain transferred across to the new owner this morning and they released payment from escrow only to tell me they intend to simply pass on the site to some "hacker" in India to use as a fake facebook password site that generates income from surveys, etc.   What a disappointment that was, 8 years hard work all flushed down the toilet in one fail swoop.  Apparently the guy who bought the site was only in it "for a quick buck" and the guy he is selling the site onto wants established sites with good reps so he can masquerade his illicit ways!!.   I've already managed to contact all our members and ask them to rate the site negatively in WOT and if anyone here fancies trying to get back at the spammers and scammers out there then now could be your chance by doing the same to the site I used to own and love.   If you go to https://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/freewarebb.com and rate the site negatively, it should cancel out the usefulness of the site to the guy in India.   I know this was meant to be a "feedback" thread but we all stand something to loose if we allow these people to continue using the net for their drivel and illicit ways.

[Cyrem]

Well, never saw that one coming.   The domain transferred across to the new owner this morning and they released payment from escrow only to tell me they intend to simply pass on the site to some "hacker" in India to use as a fake facebook password site that generates income from surveys, etc.   What a disappointment that was, 8 years hard work all flushed down the toilet in one fail swoop.  Apparently the guy who bought the site was only in it "for a quick buck" and the guy he is selling the site onto wants established sites with good reps so he can masquerade his illicit ways!!.   I've already managed to contact all our members and ask them to rate the site negatively in WOT and if anyone here fancies trying to get back at the spammers and scammers out there then now could be your chance by doing the same to the site I used to own and love.   If you go to https://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/freewarebb.com and rate the site negatively, it should cancel out the usefulness of the site to the guy in India.   I know this was meant to be a "feedback" thread but we all stand something to loose if we allow these people to continue using the net for their drivel and illicit ways.

​Wow man, that's a shame having built it up then having to tear it down. A disappointing end. The guy who you sold it to should be ashamed to be a part of such activity and aiding criminals.

[markopolo2002]

Actually, the never requested the transfer of IPB licenses, I have IPBoard, Content, Blog and Downloads, all of which are still being used on the site.   As I am still the rightful owner does that mean I can withdraw my permission for them to use my licenses on their site now?.   If so, can anyone suggest how to go about that and how I would then make Invision aware of the fact they are running unlicensed?

Cheers

Marko

[craigf136]

Do you have ACP / ftp / cpanel access? I would remove the database (copying it first) and then delete the database and download all the files associated to the forum (deleting them from the server after you have back ups).

If they haven't bought the licences, then you have every right to prevent them from using them and you have every right to report them. If you wanted to be really nice, you could convert the forum to another forum software for them (such as PHPBB) before deleting the IPB database and files.

[markopolo2002]

Unfortunately I don't have any access to the site, they have closed off all accounts, including the admin ones because I had originally thought of basically un-installing everything but they have obviously second guessed that one - fact is though, I still hold the licenses for all the software they are using and I've already asked Matt for his suggestions on that one.   From where I'm sitting, the licenses have expired so for me to change the URL attached to those licenses I would have to pay to renew them (not a prob) and then potentially report them for using an unlicensed copy of IPB?.   Thing is, this guy is in India and it's likely not to be something IPB could pursue so I could really be wasting my time.

[craigf136]

I would ask IPS to change the licence key number, this way it becomes unlicenced and if they try to activate it they can't.

[The Old Man]

I don't IPS would want their software to be associated with a website of this nature, possible criminal activity etc. there's probably something in the IPS License about use for such things.

[markopolo2002]

Yep, that's why I contacted Matt, just in case he feels he can take any action.   If Matt doesn't feel it's worth pursuing, I'm happy just to drop the matter but it's just the entire injustice of it all !

[AlexWebsites]

We installed the addon way before IPB were doing any SEO at all and the addon helped our site appear in the search engines because at the time friendly URL's and other SEO matters were buzzing. 

​That was Community SEO, I used to use it as well.

[Cyrem]

Yep, that's why I contacted Matt, just in case he feels he can take any action.   If Matt doesn't feel it's worth pursuing, I'm happy just to drop the matter but it's just the entire injustice of it all !

​Can you just report that your license key is being used by an unauthorized party and have it revoked?

"Sorry for the downtime earlier. We have moved to a new host in India who has agreed to accept our content as it doesn't break any laws. Thank you for waiting. "

LOL