[kherezae]

ETA: Okay, I'm starting the activity check now!  Since all that's required is having logged in over the last month and/or posted during the last two months, I'm only going to give a few days for this.  I'll be sending an email out, as well.

Some of our long-time members don't have email addresses associated with their accounts, which is the only problem I can anticipate in moving to IPB since from what I hear each account requires a unique email address.  With that in mind, especially if you transferred from Stories, please check to make sure you have an email address with your account!

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So I've been distracted recently for multiple reasons, but here's a big one:

Kat and I have been discussing the possibility of my purchasing the license for Invision Power Board.  SMF is free and it's nice, but it has its own annoyances, and at the end of the day I guess you get what you pay for.  IPB would be more familiar to those of you who've spent a lot of time on InvisionFree (and the old Stories site, of course), and it would open up a lot more functionality.  Sites like Tallygarunga and RPers Anonymous run on IPB 3.

We're doing a slight move either way.  I've found less expensive hosting that has great reviews and the same or better features as those we have here.  And if we do choose to move board systems as well, it will be a much smoother transition than the original one from Stories since I have control of the database this time.  You might remember that the old conversion made new passwords for everyone and didn't transfer emails over, but it wouldn't be like that this time.  It promises to be a pretty seamless transition; you'd simply login on the new board like normal.  (In the end it might even be more seamless than transferring back over to SMF since I'd have to remember how to install all our mods and themes again...)

Invision Power has a lot of extra features that are pretty amazing, like the Blog and Chat.  To start with I'd only be going with the normal board and the basic free chat plan (maximum of 5 users at a time, just to try it out).  I would probably put up an entirely voluntary donations button for bringing in extra features like the Blog and for maintaining current ones.  When I can afford it I'll get upgrades myself; anyone who chose to donate would just be helping it come around faster.

So please, post any opinions, positive or negative, here.

The new hosting package will be under a slightly altered domain (synthetictruth.net with no hyphen) but I'll look into redirecting our current domain there too until it runs out.  I'm not sure how much it would cost to make it point to the new host.

This move won't happen (at least not fully) until the current hosting package runs out at the beginning of August.  Before then I would go through another activity check to purge inactive members.  Anyone who hasn't logged in for over a month and/or hasn't posted for more than two months would be removed so as to tidy up the database somewhat for the move.

[Rezerai]

I'm all for more functionality, I've been meaning to look into coding things for a while so if the thing is a little more open to that it'd be a bonus I guess.

I don't really have too many opinions either way really. If it's going to work out cheaper hosting wise then that's a good enough reason for a move. I honestly doubt I'll have the spare money next year to donate since I'll be living on uni funds without much chance of getting a part time job. On top of that I'm going to be getting reduced money since they overpaid me last year through their own stupidity. That's the best case scenario anyway.

That said if I end up with some disposable income that I don't spend elsewhere I'll see about floating some over to the site if the fancy features appeal to me.

So yeah, nice easy move wouldn't be much of a problem for me. Then again I'm not picky with my forums as long as I can post and what not.

[kherezae]

Oh, there's another plus by the way!  IPB has a permission for allowing members to use HTML in their posts, so we could code our portfolios nicely again.

And Rez, don't worry at all about donating -- I know very much what it's like to be a broke uni student.  I'm not going to be expecting donations and I'm prepared to run the site on my own coin, but having the option open can't hurt!  I always want SynTru to be free, that's kind of the point ;D

[Mavz]

I'm all for anything cheaper. Plus, I'd like to be able to mess around with coding just as much as Rez, so that'd be fun.

Also, Kher, thanks for paying for the site :) I'll buy ya lunch.

[Aurora Lynn]

As long as the transition is smooth, I'm all for anything cheaper! Just as long as it isn't too hard to understand...

And if we had HTML coding, that would make my life SO much easier, seeing as I could just copy a HTML document straight from Microsoft Word. And about donating, my funds are also a little short, seeing that I just bought a laptop... Plus I am expected to buy gifts for people now and other things. I would donate if I could!

Other than that, I don't have any opinions.

PS: I'm also thankful for Kher for paying. You're awesome!!

[friday afternoon]

Awww, I like that we're contemplating a second move together. It's like we're a family !

Of course I'll be willing to move if it's cheaper AND easier for everyone involved ! I'm a big fan of thrift, and I don't want to be costing you too much to manage such a wonderful site. You already do so much work !

So yeah. Sounds awesome ! Just give me the link when it's time to move, and I'll hop on over.

[CrazyGirlyCaptain]

Yeah it's great that we're all talking about this! :) And YAY for Kher for being so awesomesauce! I'll be totally willing to donate some money when I'm back at school and I have a real job again.

[Kattius]

Well, Kher already knows my feelings on the matter, but yeah, as soon as I've sat down in September/October and I've figured out my finances, I'm definitely going to donate. Even if it isn't a lot, every little helps, so yeah.

I've been able to play around with the demo that Kher sent me, and while I don't think I'll be able to get the true scope of it until we've got a fully fledged forum (although see the examples Kher gave for what we can do with the software), it's definitely shaping up to look a lot more exciting and functional than SMF is.

Those of you who were on IPBFree with us on Stories should remember how that functioned, so it's pretty much the same except on a grander scale. It's pretty fancy and ultimately it's going to have everything that our previous and current host could have given us--and more!

I'd be excited to get the HTML back again as well... I think I'm going to finally open up a shop once we've moved, so I'll get to play around a little bit! :D Yay! \o/

[Tezcacoatl]

I'm perfectly fine with this. c:

Maybe once I actually get money I could donate. xD Maybe. Possibly. Probably not. But I'd try.

[Assirra]

I'm all for invisionfree. Grew up on it. *chuckles* Or rather, have been playing on it since... I started rping. So, no issues here. And everyone else has pretty much summed up mah sentiments. Easy move = win.

[Jedi Knight Muse]

Definitely for Invisionfree. And sorry I haven't been super active. D: I'm determined to start doing that more, and I'm definitely going to finally get my chapter finished so I can get it posted. Consider this my "I'm here, don't delete me!" post. :P

[Grimoire]

Sounds like the move will be a good thing, especially for those who actually run the site, so as far as I'm concerned, go ahead :D

I think I have the finances to donate a bit, but I'll have to see when the time comes.