AndyF

I may or may not have been studying the roles to see if I can hop "back onboard" 😉

That looks very good 🙂

I may or may not have been studying the roles to see if I can hop "back onboard" 😉

Before I read this article I had wrongly assumed the 'F Word' was going to be FaceBook :D
Regarding the naming of forums @Matt yes I know what you mean exactly, this seems sometimes more prevalent in those who perhaps started their 'online life' when other social media platform were already in existence.
A small point I do recall a time where it was more common to call 'Forums' 'Boards' instead , whereas now generally speaking 'Community' seems more appropriate and slightly more all-encompassing even if the site only contains a 'forum' , people seem to be happier to recognise it from that descriptor word, at least as I see it anyway. :)

What's the most important thing to me? Not having to make a server and able to use cloud service. Thank you. 😎

I absolutely confirm that it is worthwhile doing a number of test conversions and having a test site where plug-ins and applications can be installed in order to understand how they work and whether they cause any problems.

The idea of modifying your existing site to look like your forthcoming Invision site is brilliant – and I don't know why I hadn't thought about it myself. Unfortunately, we carried out our conversion about a week or so before the above article was written.

Our old vBulletin site was pretty heavily modified after 13 years of use and so it's taken a lot of work to find plug-ins to replicate their functionality. I agree that too many plug-ins probably slow down the site – and we probably have too many plug-ins! But I shall be looking to rationalise them over the forthcoming weeks/months.

It's certainly true that traffic seems to reduce a lot after the conversion and I hope it is also true that it will pick up again.

There are various things which are confusing – including the huge number of notification possibilities. It is worth understanding how they work.

Also, the business of configuring administrators and "super admins" took a bit of getting used to – although it is starting to come together.


Finally I have to say that the support here is excellent. I felt rather embarrassed with the amount of questions I was bombarding the Invision team with that even if they got fed up, they never let it show.

 

We never get fed up 🙂 
And if you ever have questions about how the software works, you are always welcome to submit a ticket and one of our technicians will be happy to explain it. Just wanted to put that out there in case you or anyone else was unsure.

Excellent.


If you do not mind @Joel R I wanted to slightly expand on this.
Those looking to move from VB to the IPS Suite should not see the quoted text as any form of barrier at all.  On the contrary:
It is highly likely that a suitable replacement Theme (VB owners may be more familiar with the term 'style') will be available for their newly converted IPS Suite that either closely matches their original design or is something highly suitable.
A look at the quality themes on offer in the IPS Marketplace by third parties should I think satisfy the majority of those converting over from their VB based community to IPS in that they will be able to find something their community approves of.
Speaking very briefly of modifications, it is quite possible the functionality they required a third party addition on their VB site is possibly built into the IPS Suite, negating the need to look for a replacement. Again a cursory glance at the Marketplace may well reveal something suitable to use in the cases where its something specific in mind, or alternatively a post perhaps in the Peer to Peer support forums where other IPS Suite clients would perhaps be able to point the newly converted Client to a suitable file in the Marketplace to suit their needs.
 
My closing remarks to those considering the move 'over' if you're in any doubt then why not just try out the free 5 day demo to get a feeling of the IPS Suite 'under the hood' so to speak, and I think you'll be very happy with what you see here. 🙂

Excellent.


If you do not mind @Joel R I wanted to slightly expand on this.
Those looking to move from VB to the IPS Suite should not see the quoted text as any form of barrier at all.  On the contrary:
It is highly likely that a suitable replacement Theme (VB owners may be more familiar with the term 'style') will be available for their newly converted IPS Suite that either closely matches their original design or is something highly suitable.
A look at the quality themes on offer in the IPS Marketplace by third parties should I think satisfy the majority of those converting over from their VB based community to IPS in that they will be able to find something their community approves of.
Speaking very briefly of modifications, it is quite possible the functionality they required a third party addition on their VB site is possibly built into the IPS Suite, negating the need to look for a replacement. Again a cursory glance at the Marketplace may well reveal something suitable to use in the cases where its something specific in mind, or alternatively a post perhaps in the Peer to Peer support forums where other IPS Suite clients would perhaps be able to point the newly converted Client to a suitable file in the Marketplace to suit their needs.
 
My closing remarks to those considering the move 'over' if you're in any doubt then why not just try out the free 5 day demo to get a feeling of the IPS Suite 'under the hood' so to speak, and I think you'll be very happy with what you see here. 🙂

Excellent.


If you do not mind @Joel R I wanted to slightly expand on this.
Those looking to move from VB to the IPS Suite should not see the quoted text as any form of barrier at all.  On the contrary:
It is highly likely that a suitable replacement Theme (VB owners may be more familiar with the term 'style') will be available for their newly converted IPS Suite that either closely matches their original design or is something highly suitable.
A look at the quality themes on offer in the IPS Marketplace by third parties should I think satisfy the majority of those converting over from their VB based community to IPS in that they will be able to find something their community approves of.
Speaking very briefly of modifications, it is quite possible the functionality they required a third party addition on their VB site is possibly built into the IPS Suite, negating the need to look for a replacement. Again a cursory glance at the Marketplace may well reveal something suitable to use in the cases where its something specific in mind, or alternatively a post perhaps in the Peer to Peer support forums where other IPS Suite clients would perhaps be able to point the newly converted Client to a suitable file in the Marketplace to suit their needs.
 
My closing remarks to those considering the move 'over' if you're in any doubt then why not just try out the free 5 day demo to get a feeling of the IPS Suite 'under the hood' so to speak, and I think you'll be very happy with what you see here. 🙂

I'm going to skip the security part with regards to staying up to date as well as taking backups etc as that's well covered. I wanted to speak a little about the 'community' rather than 'sysadmin' side:
 
I think one of the concerns admins may have with a major version update aside from any third party addons they use (although a good thinking admin will have already spent a few minutes looking for updated versions of these anyway well in advance and likely obtained and tested them) is simply ensuring two things:
1. That the community is informed it is being upgraded, this is really only a concern in most cases if its a large upgrade (say for instance coming from a competitors software or perhaps say a 2x or 3x to 4x upgrade)
2. Providing initial 'helping hands' guides where needed. Only needed really for major changes.
Let me expand on (1) , by this I mean giving the community plenty of notice of this, ideally with some screenshots of the 'new' community and where possible a private test site of it where a few trusted members can post / play with it and give their thoughts. The time factor here is quite important I feel.
To expand a bit on (2) A few simple guides, even if they are just a couple of sentences each such as "how do I now do xyz" or "what happened to xyz" or "where is xyz" , these things can go a long way to help avoid problems provided they are kept simple and straightforward, ideally just a few essential words. Those who need more information will be able to ask or find it easily enough.
I should point out I've not read Matt's guide before I wrote the above (honest) but I expect it will likely touch on these points.

OK, the thought of a 'lite read' for a 'How Do I ...' and/or other queries could be enough.  Perhaps then a link to a more 'detailed' explanation or example(s) or even one of Matt's videos could be posted with the simple, easy to follow documentation.
BUT: I still say, perhaps we don't need 'the VCR manual' ( how many bink'n clocks do you remember seeing? ), but some kind of printed document for reference. 
Especially if it is in a 3-ring binder, again, as an example, since any updated pages could then be printed and simply inserted to re-place the out-date one. 
Running a board, as an Administrator or a Moderator, can be a donning task with a very heavy responsibility.   One simple mistake when one did not completely understand it's usage, could literally destroy not only the functionality of the software, or the security, but most importantly, the trust of your users who don't want to hear about how someone accidentally 'clicked on the wrong ...'
For a bunch of guys & gals that are really, really good at authoring software, the simple online documentation provided leaves a whole lot to be desired & should have a 'print version' available (imo).
 

I think that AndyF has touched upon a few somethings that is extremely important whether you are the sysadmin or a member / user.
There used to be printed documentation (both User and Manager) for the board software and certainly as an Admin or Moderator one must be completely familiar with how to manage certain aspects of the board.  And if your board attracts new users who are unfamiliar with how to operate or manage this new fantastic software, there is absolutely no help for that newbie. That said, finding answers 'on-line' seams simple enough:  If you are on-line all day and can multitask with multiple windows or apps on whatever device you are using.
However:  Some of us suck up this management how-to's while doing other multitasking's when not connected to devices.  Studying a "User Manual" on an airplane while jam'n to some tunes in your headphones as example, or chill'n on some other 'not connected' event or activity allows for the complete concentration of the material one is reading.  It also allows for making notes in the sidebars and even the 'folding over' of a corner of a page for quick re-reference.
While I realize keeping software management / usage documentation and/or end-user documentation up to date can be a humongous task, there is software available to manage such a project.  Obviously ours is managed by software:  I just don't understand why it's just not available to sys admins / moderators in a 'print' version. 
And; a User Manual that might help that unfamiliar user set up his notifications and account data,, and/or manage their own data and/or notifications from the board, would most defiantly be of value.

I'm going to skip the security part with regards to staying up to date as well as taking backups etc as that's well covered. I wanted to speak a little about the 'community' rather than 'sysadmin' side:
 
I think one of the concerns admins may have with a major version update aside from any third party addons they use (although a good thinking admin will have already spent a few minutes looking for updated versions of these anyway well in advance and likely obtained and tested them) is simply ensuring two things:
1. That the community is informed it is being upgraded, this is really only a concern in most cases if its a large upgrade (say for instance coming from a competitors software or perhaps say a 2x or 3x to 4x upgrade)
2. Providing initial 'helping hands' guides where needed. Only needed really for major changes.
Let me expand on (1) , by this I mean giving the community plenty of notice of this, ideally with some screenshots of the 'new' community and where possible a private test site of it where a few trusted members can post / play with it and give their thoughts. The time factor here is quite important I feel.
To expand a bit on (2) A few simple guides, even if they are just a couple of sentences each such as "how do I now do xyz" or "what happened to xyz" or "where is xyz" , these things can go a long way to help avoid problems provided they are kept simple and straightforward, ideally just a few essential words. Those who need more information will be able to ask or find it easily enough.
I should point out I've not read Matt's guide before I wrote the above (honest) but I expect it will likely touch on these points.

That does make sense in that it ensures if the reader is interested they return to the community get the "whole content" 🙂
Are you suggesting (just a thought) an additional setting: Something like "limit to x characters" , it probably would work with sane values applied.

That does make sense in that it ensures if the reader is interested they return to the community get the "whole content" 🙂
Are you suggesting (just a thought) an additional setting: Something like "limit to x characters" , it probably would work with sane values applied.

That does make sense in that it ensures if the reader is interested they return to the community get the "whole content" 🙂
Are you suggesting (just a thought) an additional setting: Something like "limit to x characters" , it probably would work with sane values applied.

That does make sense in that it ensures if the reader is interested they return to the community get the "whole content" 🙂
Are you suggesting (just a thought) an additional setting: Something like "limit to x characters" , it probably would work with sane values applied.

Only if its > x characters then. Something I should of mentioned sorry, I did half think about it. You raise an excellent point though if its a tiny reply like that.
"Only show x % of content" , "Do not apply the restriction if the content is less than x characters" :)
 

There is an existing app in the marketplace that does this and I've used it. 
If such a feature is implemented please also work on handling quoted text and don't include that in the count of characters to display.

That does make sense in that it ensures if the reader is interested they return to the community get the "whole content" 🙂
Are you suggesting (just a thought) an additional setting: Something like "limit to x characters" , it probably would work with sane values applied.

That does make sense in that it ensures if the reader is interested they return to the community get the "whole content" 🙂
Are you suggesting (just a thought) an additional setting: Something like "limit to x characters" , it probably would work with sane values applied.

That does make sense in that it ensures if the reader is interested they return to the community get the "whole content" 🙂
Are you suggesting (just a thought) an additional setting: Something like "limit to x characters" , it probably would work with sane values applied.

Makes sense - we can take a look at that before 4.4 is released.
Yes (although realistically if you are using Sparkpost, you may be able to glean more advanced analytics through their control panel).

Is it possible to limit which groups receive email advertising?
We sell subscriptions that give people ad-free browsing of the site, and I'd like to exclude this group from receiving ads via email.