|
|
Post by reed on Nov 30, 2017 15:09:25 GMT -5
Something with a strong affiliation with OSSI sounds really good. I could get on board to help out with that if needed.
|
|
|
|
Post by philagardener on Nov 30, 2017 19:21:19 GMT -5
Does OSSI have any forums running right now? I looked around their site and couldn't find anything like that.
|
|
|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Nov 30, 2017 20:10:38 GMT -5
Does OSSI have any forums running right now? I looked around their site and couldn't find anything like that. not that i know of. I was just sort of asked my opinion on it sort of unofficially. My impression is that right now OSSI is just looking into the idea, but nothing official yet. I don't know any more about it than i already mentioned. we will see what sort of information trickles in here. |
|
|
|
Post by steev on Dec 1, 2017 0:34:43 GMT -5
I'm pleased that there is energy going into this; I was displeased when a lot of early HG disappeared; I admit to little expertise/interest in such tech, but I think it can only be a good thing to have it based in SoHem, in case of Nuclear obliteration of NorHem.
richardw as a moderator?; what can I say but "yis".
|
|
|
|
Post by richardw on Dec 1, 2017 3:50:44 GMT -5
gees thanks steev
So who has the most contact/dealings etc with OSSI, i certainly dont.
A OSSI based forum concept sounds appealing
|
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Dec 1, 2017 6:47:39 GMT -5
gees thanks steev So who has the most contact/dealings etc with OSSI, i certainly dont. A OSSI based forum concept sounds appealing |
|
|
|
Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Dec 1, 2017 11:02:41 GMT -5
I think a dedicated new forum with better architecture/software that isn't completely vulnerable to the whims of Proboards and hasn't been abandoned by its administrator sounds like an awesome idea. There was actually a really interesting discussion about what a different, better, open-source version of HG might look like back in this thread. Of course it actually requires all the relevant people to come along and make a new forum worth posting on. There are lots of interesting people that have at least touched down here at HG that could make another forum very interesting. Thanks for sharing that link and insight. There are some interesting ideas back in that old thread that we should take a look at. Though back then it seemed to revolve around trying to back up HG data and moving it to relatively the same forum software. I think using a more up-to-date forum software like Discourse that has modern features and is easy on the eyes is key to retaining a large amount of forum users in this age though. Though we haven't heard from everybody it kinda sounds like everyone here is perfectly willing to jump ship (assuming the new forum is good that is). I don't know that I'm willing to jump to two separate new forums though. |
|
|
|
Post by gilbert on Dec 1, 2017 11:40:48 GMT -5
How would we be able to transfer all the wealth of information on here? Would it just take a lot of work to summarize things? Of course, that might make it more accessible anyway.
|
|
|
|
Post by billw on Dec 1, 2017 13:57:23 GMT -5
As I understand it, Joseph is looking into the forum idea for the OSSI. He contacted me about it a few days ago. I'm sure he'll post something here when he has something to say.
As far as exporting the data here, it can be done with a web scraper, but it has to be done slowly or Proboards shuts you down. You can grab about 20 pages per day before they catch on. Porting scraped data back into a database is possible, but a real pain in the ass.
The best way to do it would be to upgrade this forum to the paid subscription, which then includes a database export function. With the database, it wouldn't be too difficult to write an import program for any other forum software. That would require a bit of work from Alan, giving the keys to the kingdom to somebody to oversee the transfer if nothing else.
If the new board were to be a successor to this one, I think that would be an important step, along with shutting down HG. If not, this board will continue to beat the new one in search engines for years to come and search engines are the main way that forums attract new membership.
|
|
|
|
Post by walt on Dec 1, 2017 14:26:51 GMT -5
I'm pleased that there is energy going into this; I was displeased when a lot of early HG disappeared; I admit to little expertise/interest in such tech, but I think it can only be a good thing to have it based in SoHem, in case of Nuclear obliteration of NorHem. richardw as a moderator?; what can I say but "yis". So you read "On the Beach" too. Or saw the movie? I did both. Book was better. |
|
|
|
Post by steev on Dec 1, 2017 19:44:23 GMT -5
For a real dose of reality, check out "The Day After", starring Jason Robards; takes the fun right out of nuclear war; I doubt the Twit-in-Chief has seen it.
|
|
|
|
Post by oxbowfarm on Dec 1, 2017 20:21:16 GMT -5
One of the things that I hate the most about FB was how politics and random insanity in the form of memes could ruin a perfectly good conversation and before you know it you're in a slanging match with some 70 year old fascist postal clerk from Tombstone Arizona whom you'll never meet and have no business communicating with about any subject.
My dream for a Better HG would be one where politics and religion are forbidden topics, due to their inherent divisiveness. Also... Heirloom Tomatoes. How many idiot flame wars have been fought over the origin of mediocre, low yield, crack prone "heirlooms"? Whole forums have sprouted and died over the origins of Cherokee Purple.
|
|
|
|
Post by steev on Dec 2, 2017 0:03:50 GMT -5
What have you got against Tombstone, Arizona, that you think they have any aged, fascist, postal clerks?
Divisiveness is how one separates the sheep from the goats.
|
|
andyb
gardener
Posts: 179
|
Post by andyb on Dec 2, 2017 0:17:25 GMT -5
A thumbs-up to billw's and keen101's comments above.
I refuse to use FB and deleted my account several years ago.
As for proboards, I have no loyalty but I do appreciate some things about them. First, I like it that we can have a discussion like this without some super-moderator coming in and squelching it. The forum is also almost always available, with almost no downtime for technical or server or whatever other issues that may bring down a web site. They must have some pretty good system administrators. I also think the user interface is perfectly adequate except for the picture thing. It's also free, which is nice.
For downsides, I think the biggest one for me is that everything we post here is owned by proboards. That's why they can get away with preventing web site scraping. Having the full history of posts in one basket doesn't seem very robust. If they go out of business or their server farm burns down or any of a bunch of different bad things happen, the whole forum could disappear overnight. The picture thing is also totally annoying. It's annoying that we can't post them directly and it's annoying that old threads have stale links to images that are now behind paywalls. Storage is really cheap nowadays, at less than 0.03USD/gigabyte.
So, I'd have no problem switching over to a new forum if it's done well and if there's a consensus that we're all going to switch, particularly if I could have a copy of the entire forum downloaded as a backup.
|
|
|
|
Post by philagardener on Dec 2, 2017 7:11:25 GMT -5
Given the lack of involvement by the founder, and depletion of admins, it is totally amazing that this forum runs at all. That is more a testament to Joseph and the few others who have continued to serve - but I honestly don't understand how they've kept things on course with the tools they have available (and all the issues lurking out there). It's been a concern for a long time now. I'm here to learn and share. The core group of users is great. I'm not tied to Proboards but as andyb points out, they have been stable and you can't beat the price. I am another individual who has found FB deeply disappointing. FB is manipulative, and most conversations are inane. The key points have been raised by others - we need a self-renewing admin structure, a stable and user-friendly platform, and a critical mass to keep things growing. A way to move and relocate content if needed. Direct posting of images would be nice, but adds up over time - files are a lot larger now but, yes, storage is cheaper. No need to move in haste; a planned transition could go smoothly, particularly if we could get Alan's support to preserve the amazing content in this forum's archives. I'm in too. |
|
