Hi guys (and gals)
Sorry I haven't been around very much lately. Life has been hectic, and my computer has been down for quite a while. For the last year or so, pretty much everything I've been doing on here has been on my phone... which, as you all know, is less than ideal!
So, personal updates, for those that care to read:
After finishing up my MBA last year, I got a job with Burlington. Formerly Burlington Coat Factory. We dropped the whole Coat Factory thing because we're "more than just coats"... of course, I started in the coats department. I'm looking to rise through the ranks in the merchandise planning department. So far, so good. The company is great. The only downside is that my commute is roughly an hour each way.
My wife and I just bought a new house in August. Same town as the old house, which made moving fairly easy. In fact, we're still not out of the old house yet!
The new place is a foreclosure, so we're fixing it up as we go along.
The great thing is that the new place is 2,100 square feet, whereas my old place was only 865. HUGE difference! Also, it has a 2 car garage
Figures, now that my CB has been destroyed, I finally get a garage...
Right now, my designated computer room isn't wired to hook my computer up... so getting online at home is still a phone-only affair. That is going to be remedied as soon as possible.
Now for the site updates:
Once my computer is up and running, and my schedule is a little more manageable (I'm hoping shortly after the new year) I have plans for the site.
1) New Software.
As much as I've resisted it in the past, I think we can't deny the need for a software update. I'm going to look into upgrading to the newest version of vBulletin. Hopefully migrating our ancient database won't be an issue. I'll be sure that we get a 100% working backup in place in case we need to revert!
In the new update, I intend to set things up for better browsing and posting using a smartphone. I know it'll never be ideal, but seeing as most people use phones for internet browsing, we should probably be as accessible as possible. With luck, we’ll be able to increase traffic a bit as well!
2) Image hosting.
I THINK we’ll be able to host images on our (Pandemic’s) server. We’ll see how it goes. I need to see how such hosting will be done in the newest version of vBulletin. Another member also offered the use of his private server, which would be very helpful… but I’m always wary of wholly relying on someone else. Pandemic has proven reliable, but CD5tuner met its demise due to issues stemming from the person that was doing me a favor by hosting it.
If we can’t easily post images from within the vBulletin software, then I’m going to see what I can do about getting an image uploader created. That way, images can be uploaded to our private hosting location just as they would be to a proper image host. The only catch would be ensuring it was used ONLY for posting on this site, and not abused. I’d trust our core members to use it appropriately, but I can’t speak for new members… or people that catch wind of “free image hosting” that sign up solely for that purpose.
3) Beginner Forums.
Our Beginner Forum setup has done a great job of protecting the rest of the site from spammers and scammers over the years. However, the 30 post limit has perhaps run its course. I don’t want to completely eliminate the beginner forums, but I think it may be time to knock that post requirement down significantly. I’m fairly certain the current post limit has likely kept out more potential members than it has scammers and spammers (ok, maybe not spammers… I banned 25+ usernames yesterday alone!)
4) New moderator!
This isn’t terribly new, but I realize I never announced it. HappyGilmore has been made a moderator. There isn’t a whole lot of moderating to do these days, but we’ve got a fresh face among us.
So that’s pretty much it.
Sorry I haven't been around very much lately. Life has been hectic, and my computer has been down for quite a while. For the last year or so, pretty much everything I've been doing on here has been on my phone... which, as you all know, is less than ideal!
So, personal updates, for those that care to read:
After finishing up my MBA last year, I got a job with Burlington. Formerly Burlington Coat Factory. We dropped the whole Coat Factory thing because we're "more than just coats"... of course, I started in the coats department. I'm looking to rise through the ranks in the merchandise planning department. So far, so good. The company is great. The only downside is that my commute is roughly an hour each way.
My wife and I just bought a new house in August. Same town as the old house, which made moving fairly easy. In fact, we're still not out of the old house yet!
The new place is a foreclosure, so we're fixing it up as we go along.
The great thing is that the new place is 2,100 square feet, whereas my old place was only 865. HUGE difference! Also, it has a 2 car garage
Figures, now that my CB has been destroyed, I finally get a garage...
Right now, my designated computer room isn't wired to hook my computer up... so getting online at home is still a phone-only affair. That is going to be remedied as soon as possible.
Now for the site updates:
Once my computer is up and running, and my schedule is a little more manageable (I'm hoping shortly after the new year) I have plans for the site.
1) New Software.
As much as I've resisted it in the past, I think we can't deny the need for a software update. I'm going to look into upgrading to the newest version of vBulletin. Hopefully migrating our ancient database won't be an issue. I'll be sure that we get a 100% working backup in place in case we need to revert!
In the new update, I intend to set things up for better browsing and posting using a smartphone. I know it'll never be ideal, but seeing as most people use phones for internet browsing, we should probably be as accessible as possible. With luck, we’ll be able to increase traffic a bit as well!
2) Image hosting.
I THINK we’ll be able to host images on our (Pandemic’s) server. We’ll see how it goes. I need to see how such hosting will be done in the newest version of vBulletin. Another member also offered the use of his private server, which would be very helpful… but I’m always wary of wholly relying on someone else. Pandemic has proven reliable, but CD5tuner met its demise due to issues stemming from the person that was doing me a favor by hosting it.
If we can’t easily post images from within the vBulletin software, then I’m going to see what I can do about getting an image uploader created. That way, images can be uploaded to our private hosting location just as they would be to a proper image host. The only catch would be ensuring it was used ONLY for posting on this site, and not abused. I’d trust our core members to use it appropriately, but I can’t speak for new members… or people that catch wind of “free image hosting” that sign up solely for that purpose.
3) Beginner Forums.
Our Beginner Forum setup has done a great job of protecting the rest of the site from spammers and scammers over the years. However, the 30 post limit has perhaps run its course. I don’t want to completely eliminate the beginner forums, but I think it may be time to knock that post requirement down significantly. I’m fairly certain the current post limit has likely kept out more potential members than it has scammers and spammers (ok, maybe not spammers… I banned 25+ usernames yesterday alone!)
4) New moderator!
This isn’t terribly new, but I realize I never announced it. HappyGilmore has been made a moderator. There isn’t a whole lot of moderating to do these days, but we’ve got a fresh face among us.
So that’s pretty much it.
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