Lane Shirey Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 Good morning members! I’m sure by now you’re aware of the challenges with regards to the old forum. The code is very outdated/obsolete and is very subject to hacking and other complications. At some point soon the old forum will have to be shut down. There’s no way around this. And it cannot simply be moved to our new server, because the code would still be obsolete. So now is the time to preserve all of the valuable information that we all know and love. I speak for many in saying that I learned to restore fans by reading through these old posts. I had a recent conversation with Annie hoping to understand what’s been done, and how this process can happen. She “suggested” that I take the lead on this. That wasn’t my intention and at first I said “not me” but I realized that to date everyone has said “not me” and therefore nothing has happened with this project. So I agreed to be the lighting rod for this project. I have a full time day job, so that shouldn’t be an obstacle if you’re thinking about offering your help. We’ll take whatever help you can lend. We will need many people to help. On behalf of everyone who uses this information and future members, I’m pleading for you to volunteer. The data has been backed up, so it is safe. But it cannot be moved as is. On the new forum, there has been created a Wikipedia, just like you see on the web. It is organized by fan brands and other categories like “Fan Restoration” or “Blade balancing” . It will make the old information easy to find. The volunteers will be doing the work of sorting through the many old posts and filing them into the appropriate “folders” in the Wiki. The board and volunteers will determine the types of posts that will move forward. In general, they would be anything of some value to restoration, history, or the like. “Happy Birthday “ and “Other Collectibles “ posts likely will not move forward. This criteria has not yet been determined. First step. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! LOTS OF VOLUNTEERS! So please get off the fence and throw your hat into the ring. Retired, employed, busy or otherwise, we’ll take the help you can provide. It would be nice to have some folks with web expertise as well as insight from our charter members. If you’re interested in being a part of this project, please PM me to be added to the list. I’ll give it a month to assemble a team, and in the meantime, I’ll establish a line of open communication with the board so we can make things happen quickly. I’m certainly not any kind of expert with this- I’ll be learning along with you. I am however a person who doesn’t want to see the great information to be no longer visible to the membership! Therefore I’m volunteering MY time. This is a little like voting. If you don’t volunteer your time, then you have no right to complain if the outcome isn’t to your liking. PLEASE VOLUNTEER SOME OF YOUR TIME! PLEASE PM ME IF YOU HAVE INTEREST! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven P Dempsey Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 I did that stuff for 30+ Years, so of course I will assist! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophie Braswell Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 I will sign up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Dobbins Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 I will help. I see it as a good opportunity to learn more along the way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Olson Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 8 hours ago, Lane Shirey said: PLEASE VOLUNTEER SOME OF YOUR TIME! PLEASE PM ME IF YOU HAVE INTEREST! PM sent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted June 29 Author Share Posted June 29 Got you all on the list! Thanks for volunteering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Horner Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 Hello Everyone!! Glad to hear we're getting some volunteers for this enormous project. Just to set a few things straight for everyone involved: As Lane stated, the old forum contains many years of old posts with invaluable information to which I'm sure most of us would rather not lose access. The information displayed in the old forum is stored in databases on the server with our new host. I do not know how to sort through those databases to extract information directly (nor does our host, as far as I'm aware) and I do not think the databases themselves would be helpful in attempting to search and sort. I'm sure they're in an MySQL format (a specific database code), which probably means nothing to most of you other than you don't know what the heck I'm talking about 😂. It's likely that whatever group accepts the challenge, of combing through the information from the old forum, will need to get together and put together a plan on accessing the old forum pages (via the internet) and searching and sorting subject matter to be temporarily stored elsewhere until it can be formatted for the new wiki. As far as how that subject matter will be organized, I think that's still up for debate. The new forum is NOT going to contain the wiki, so the new forum will not be housing the information gathered from the old forum, as the new forum search features are (let's say) less than stellar. The website (and possibly the new forum) will link to a wiki page called "Fanpedia". On "Fanpedia" members (beacause you'll have to log in with a username and password exclusive to AFCA members) will be able to search all information, by key word, and find whatever has been added. The organization and formatting of the "Fanpedia" pages is what I have been working on in my free time. (That and learning the software and code specific to the wiki software we were able to install for free). The software is the same open-source software that is used by Wikipedia, but the code to format the contents of the wiki is proprietary. Meaning, it's basically learning a new language to use it. My suggestion (to start) was to have a "Fanpedia" page for each manufacturer (I pulled a list of purported manufacturers from information stored on the old website, so I do not know how correct it may be). On each manufacturer's page, I thought it might be a good starting point to have the history of each manufacturer (however brief or lengthy), the history of that manufacturer that might pertain to fan production, and a chart with a list of every fan model/type produced by that manufacturer including a date and a brief description. Once those pages were created, we could then work on creating a specific page for every fan model/type for which we might have any information (We will be writing an encyclopedia, not a children's book, so this is going to take time and group effort). Some of my other possible page ideas were a page that lists all manufacturers (done, but not verified), a general terms page (for terms that we all use when discussing fans that might not be familiar to all - like the term "pancake" - also created, but by no means complete), a "How-to" page for a basic list of "how-tos" that pertains to a larger number of things (such as blade riveting, Emerson blade removal, etc. - created as well, but with only a couple additions to the page at this time) Anyway, I hope the above information is helpful in organizing how you may plan to structure this information transfer project. No one person could do it alone. Thanks! And good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjun Saini Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 (edited) On 6/29/2023 at 6:57 AM, Lane Shirey said: Good morning members! I’m sure by now you’re aware of the challenges with regards to the old forum. The code is very outdated/obsolete and is very subject to hacking and other complications. At some point soon the old forum will have to be shut down. There’s no way around this. And it cannot simply be moved to our new server, because the code would still be obsolete. So now is the time to preserve all of the valuable information that we all know and love. I speak for many in saying that I learned to restore fans by reading through these old posts. I had a recent conversation with Annie hoping to understand what’s been done, and how this process can happen. She “suggested” that I take the lead on this. That wasn’t my intention and at first I said “not me” but I realized that to date everyone has said “not me” and therefore nothing has happened with this project. So I agreed to be the lighting rod for this project. I have a full time day job, so that shouldn’t be an obstacle if you’re thinking about offering your help. We’ll take whatever help you can lend. We will need many people to help. On behalf of everyone who uses this information and future members, I’m pleading for you to volunteer. The data has been backed up, so it is safe. But it cannot be moved as is. On the new forum, there has been created a Wikipedia, just like you see on the web. It is organized by fan brands and other categories like “Fan Restoration” or “Blade balancing” . It will make the old information easy to find. The volunteers will be doing the work of sorting through the many old posts and filing them into the appropriate “folders” in the Wiki. The board and volunteers will determine the types of posts that will move forward. In general, they would be anything of some value to restoration, history, or the like. “Happy Birthday “ and “Other Collectibles “ posts likely will not move forward. This criteria has not yet been determined. First step. WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! LOTS OF VOLUNTEERS! So please get off the fence and throw your hat into the ring. Retired, employed, busy or otherwise, we’ll take the help you can provide. It would be nice to have some folks with web expertise as well as insight from our charter members. If you’re interested in being a part of this project, please PM me to be added to the list. I’ll give it a month to assemble a team, and in the meantime, I’ll establish a line of open communication with the board so we can make things happen quickly. I’m certainly not any kind of expert with this- I’ll be learning along with you. I am however a person who doesn’t want to see the great information to be no longer visible to the membership! Therefore I’m volunteering MY time. This is a little like voting. If you don’t volunteer your time, then you have no right to complain if the outcome isn’t to your liking. PLEASE VOLUNTEER SOME OF YOUR TIME! PLEASE PM ME IF YOU HAVE INTEREST! I can possibly get me and my cousin who knows code and computers much more than me to help. Edited July 1 by Arjun Saini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Durbin Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 I like the ideas Lane! Make it happen! I will give you a shiny new quarter when you guys gitter done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted July 2 Author Share Posted July 2 Only 6 volunteers so far. Need more to make it happen. We’ll assess whether we have enough by the end of July. If not enough volunteers it won’t happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Andersen Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 I will help out. I have previously done this when I was in the saltwater fish hobby. Fans live longer generally. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted July 3 Author Share Posted July 3 (edited) Thank you Trevor! I’ll add you to the list. Please pm me your email so I can include you in the group. Funny that both fish and fans smell bad when they die! Edited July 3 by Lane Shirey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Salcedo Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 Just sent you a PM on FB I would like to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted July 22 Share Posted July 22 So how is the progress going transferring the old forum data? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 (edited) The project has not yet begun. I’m currently trying to build a team large enough to get the job done. Would you like to volunteer, Russ? I’m anticipating this being a fall/winter project when people have a little more time. Edited July 25 by Lane Shirey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark McCormick Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 Hi Lane - sign me up to volunteer. Not sure what I'm signing up for....but thats half the fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Huber Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 (edited) On 7/25/2023 at 4:13 AM, Lane Shirey said: The project has not yet begun. I’m currently trying to build a team large enough to get the job done. Would you like to volunteer, Russ? I’m anticipating this being a fall/winter project when people have a little more time. I wrote this message below in the "Old Forum Access" post in bold letters on June 22. I don't possess the computer skills to "realistically" move the vast amounts of images and information compiled spanning over a decade on the old website Forum, BST. I don't have files of information on my computer, or other means of storage. I have memory, and a skill set in the electrical trade books that has been honed over a number of years. I simply asked how progress was going with this monumental task. This concept of grabbing and moving the old website as a whole in its format is the salvation of the old website content realistically. How it is done and what is being stated above by Mark is a foreign language to me. At the minimum you could salvage all the old galleries, catalogues, info., restoration and repair, etc. I go back to the old posts by memory and refresh and use images for specific topic. At present, I don't even need to back to the old website all the time, I use key words in the internet search engine and go to images that I recognize from past. Moving all of those posts ONE by ONE is a nonrealistic feat. The ability to move it as a whole to a safe place in cyber space and to be able to access topic posts through key words once again would be the goal. If this is not possible, then what is...is what is. I am not being a pessimist or negative, I am being realistic. The key people in the management of this website have made a gallant effort to persevere and keep the torch burning. But many of us are falling victim to things like the aging process and the distinct possibility of not waking up tomorrow. 🙂 It is called life. All I have to say is those that are computer skilled do what you can do if you can do it before you can't do it. Once that documentation, book links, and images on the old forum are gone, my personal abilities as a historian member to rifle post information and images on the present forum will be lacking quality for sure. I still retain much to memory of fan motor history, but unlike members like per say Mike Kearns, I don't have extensive image files. Edited July 26 by Russ Huber 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 On 7/25/2023 at 11:33 PM, Mark McCormick said: Hi Lane - sign me up to volunteer. Not sure what I'm signing up for....but thats half the fun! Thanks Mark, I’ll put you on the list. I anticipate this project starting toward Fall/ Winter when folks have a little more time to spare. So stay tuned. Please pm me your email so I can add it to the group email. Thanks for offering your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark McCormick Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 Mark.McCormick.oh@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted August 18 Author Share Posted August 18 Thanks Mark. I’ll be in touch toward Fall timeframe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Yurko Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Hello, I work with SQL databases for a living, and I've run/backed-up/migrated a few forums as well. Let me know if I can be of any help with this as well. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted August 22 Author Share Posted August 22 On 8/18/2023 at 10:41 AM, David Yurko said: Hello, I work with SQL databases for a living, and I've run/backed-up/migrated a few forums as well. Let me know if I can be of any help with this as well. I appreciate that David! Please PM me your email so I can include you in the message list as the project begins in Fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Katterhenry Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 random question from an internet searcher but it looks like the new forum vendor does conversions https://invisioncommunity.com/services/convert/ Has anyone requested a quote? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Morris Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 Lane, Please put me on the list. I'll do what I can to help out. Will PM you with my info. With respect to the old forum, it is very apparent it is having a lot of trouble staying operational/accessible at the current time. Will it remain operational/accessible long enough for the volunteers to do anything? This may be a silly question since I am not familiar with software or hardware requirements needed to run the old forum. The storage requirements I am sure are very large. That being said, could the forum data and its operating software be cloned so that it could be loaded on a standalone PC? I have one I could wipe and use for that if possible, it is one I built and has a reasonable amount of power under the hood. I realize this may not be viable or even an option for many people, but if we can't get to the information via the internet what are the other options? Thanks Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lane Shirey Posted August 25 Author Share Posted August 25 Hi Mike, thanks for volunteering your time. I did receive your email and will be in touch toward Fall when the project begins. It is my understanding that the site has been backed up. However it is saved in a manner that cannot easily be viewed and copy/pasted. That’s why I’ve asked for help from folks that know file and software management. Both Jamie and Larry Hancock (old forum webmaster) have offered their assistance in helping to work that out. Also some of the volunteers have code experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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