Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Transference

Will someone be transferring previous threads that fit the new categories?

It would be a valuable exercise, but I'm not sure the resources exist to scour the archives and do this. Eric has talked about trying to migrate threads and losing them entirely...I would hate for that to occur.

I agree, there are many misplaced topics, but the logistics of it would be challenging and if Eric think losing some thread would be a possibility, that wouldn't be good.

Another question I have is if I move a thread does it change the link address. If so it will break the links on the other posts and threads that reference it.

Someone needs to write a Macro, a Big Complicated Macro!!

All;

I have Clint looking into this as we speak - he's a programmer that's been working with Bob on many of the changes to the website/forum, improving security, installing patches, testing testing and retesting, etc. I asked him to look into this and he will most likely respond tonight.

Agreed, there are posts in the archives that could find a more suitable home in the new topics on the forum. Eric cites bad experiences in the past where migrating threads ended up losing everything.

With that in mind, I've asked Clint to backup the forum in it's current condition to an external hard drive so - in the event we migrate threads and lose them, we have a copy. These threads are invaluable and we needed a failsafe, so I'm adding one tonight.

I'm hopeful we should be able to confidently being migrating some threads. If we lose them, we can fetch them from the backup copy of the forum.

Clint, please address Eric's query specifically regarding: "Another question I have is if I move a thread does it change the link address. If so it will break the links on the other posts and threads that reference it."

Thanks

TJ

Good work TJ... It truly would be nice to have things more organized and a search function that is easier to use.

All;

There is a backend feature that allows me to move posts and topics to different areas of the Pond Boss forum. I am currently testing out the functionality of this on a development server to ensure the best possible results.

With this new upgrade the number one priority has been no loss of posts and we successfully did that. So any additional enhancements have to be handled with caution and methods must be rigorously tested before I can start moving posts on a the live server.

When we do move posts, the old topic and it's post, will be moved to a new topic of choice. There will also be a remaining post in the old topic left behind to direct users with a message and a link saying that the post has been moved.

This ensures that people searching and following old links will be sent in the right direction.

If you want certain post moved please compile a list of posts, and I am more than happy to spend some time looking into this further. What I need is the post name, a link, and where you would like it to be moved.

If you have any other questions please let me know.

Thanks TJ and Clint.

My 2 cents. Moving threads or merging them should be done , if at all , only with great care and the input from the original thread creator and mgt. Unless there is an urgent need (bad post ect) then the mods should be on board. The archives are a special function and should be left alone without Bob and the mods involvement.

Agreed. I cannot afford to dedicate the time necessary to perform migration of archives at this time. Last night we backed up the forum in it's current state, and will perform automatic backups weekly from this point forward, so when the time comes we have a failsafe in place. Whenever the moderators are feeling motivated I know you'll move things forward. If I can help please let me know.