Change the forums up

[GnomeWizardd]

IDEAS to change up the forums with new sections deleting sections and what not. Let em fly people!

[rapture]

Id say keep em as is. We have a decent mix already, no point trimming down to an off topic forum and a babe thread...

[LiLbRo]

I like it the way it is...

[primesuspect]

Icrontic needs to find it's focus. You can't really 'build' a community around a babe thread. It's great for us since we know and love this place - it's our off-topic chat forum... but it's not going to draw any new members. That's why growth is so slow.

[versello]

Off-topic and an "Everything Else" are the only forums you need.

Oh yeah, and the Adult forum :)

[Zuntar]

Icrontic needs to find it's focus. You can't really 'build' a community around a babe thread. It's great for us since we know and love this place - it's our off-topic chat forum... but it's not going to draw any new members. That's why growth is so slow.
I would agree, but when the front page hasn't changed in like MONTHS, that ain't helpin!

[GnomeWizardd]

front page needs to find its groove, I honestly think moving IC away from strictly pcs to a site that includes a variety of things wilkl help

[Zuntar]

front page needs to find its groove, I honestly think moving IC away from strictly pcs to a site that includes a variety of things wilkl help
I think that'is not a bad idea, but i do NOT think we should lose pc stuff at all.

[rapture]

Icrontic.com needs content to bring people to the message board. Turning it into some kind of portal for car and porn lovers will totally kill it for those of us that remember how things used to be but if thats what you want to do...

[kryyst]

Icrontic.com needs content to bring people to the message board. Turning it into some kind of portal for car and porn lovers will totally kill it for those of us that remember how things used to be but if thats what you want to do...


I fully agree. The last thing we want is to turn this into a roxxor babe/car site. That'll draw they type of people that frequent those sites and you don't want that. I have no problems opening up a message style whooping on the majority of those idtoits. It's even fun for awhile. But I get my fix of that kind of stuff on nothingland and I'm happy to keep it there.

I think we could probably condence some of the boards. It will look like there is more activity since if a new member comes to a forum and sees most boards are 1 week old etc... they tend to not stay. If we condence the boards so there is more activity in a tighter space it's probably better. Assuming the place gets jumping again then you can look at dividing the different areas up again as volume warrants it.

The other area that needs to change is the front page. Which requires the admin to give more access to the people that are able/willing to update it. Now the front page is the portal so you need some things that will draw people. Certainly more hardware news would help, but possibly other things as well, movie reviews, general news, I'm just grasping.

[Tex]

I fully agree. The last thing we want is to turn this into a roxxor babe/car site. That'll draw they type of people that frequent those sites and you don't want that. I have no problems opening up a message style whooping on the majority of those idtoits. It's even fun for awhile. But I get my fix of that kind of stuff on nothingland and I'm happy to keep it there.

I think we could probably condence some of the boards. It will look like there is more activity since if a new member comes to a forum and sees most boards are 1 week old etc... they tend to not stay. If we condence the boards so there is more activity in a tighter space it's probably better. Assuming the place gets jumping again then you can look at dividing the different areas up again as volume warrants it.

The other area that needs to change is the front page. Which requires the admin to give more access to the people that are able/willing to update it. Now the front page is the portal so you need some things that will draw people. Certainly more hardware news would help, but possibly other things as well, movie reviews, general news, I'm just grasping.

Finally a voice of reason in the madness.

Tex

[Zuntar]

I have to agree with what Kryyst/ Rapture / & Tex are saying. By my last post I did not mean that we should go towards cars and babes.
Let's refocus on what Mort had and what Icronic was, it worked.
Stick to the blue on black theme as a standard with the classic gangsta guy and "Welcome home theme", that's what most people remember.

I think we need to condense similar to this.

Hardware:
General Hardware
Motherboards & Bios Help
Overclocking, Cooling, Cases, & Mods
Storage & Networking

Software:
General Software
OS: MS & Linux
Recommended Downloads & Utilities

Games: PC and Console

Icronic:
same breakout, no change

The front page HAS to change and be the focus.

If all this means more help on the admin side is needed then for the love of God, ASK for help!!

[kryyst]

I have to agree with what Kryyst/ Rapture / & Tex are saying. By my last post I did not mean that we should go towards cars and babes.
Let's refocus on what Mort had and what Icronic was, it worked.
Stick to the blue on black theme as a standard with the classic gangsta guy and "Welcome home theme", that's what most people remember.

I think we need to condense similar to this.

Hardware:
General Hardware
Motherboards & Bios Help
Overclocking, Cooling, Cases, & Mods
Storage & Networking

Software:
General Software
OS: MS & Linux
Recommended Downloads & Utilities

Games: PC and Console

Icronic:
same breakout, no change

The front page HAS to change and be the focus.

If all this means more help on the admin side is needed then for the love of God, ASK for help!!

That seems like a pretty good break down I'd probably just group games in with software though. Have three headings:

hardware - Use it
software - Run it
Icrontic - I drew a blank
keep it at that

[primesuspect]

Okay but all these things are pointless without new visitors, and changing forums around isn't going to bring people in.

Back to what I said: Icrontic needs to find its focus. Are we a hardware site? If yes, are we focused on hardware review? Well we'd better start recruiting some writers. Not a review site? Okay, what? Overclocking? Where are our overclocking champs posting massive 3DMark scores that we can post all over the web to draw people over here? See what I'm saying? We need to do something extraordinary, something that gets noticed, and then tell the world - then people show up and the site grows.

Organizing the forums is all well and good, but it won't solve anything.

[GnomeWizardd]

I was doing a review a month, Now ill admit I am not a great reviewer but i was trying to contribute, Now the fact taht Iv'e asked citrix for parts from geeks.com and have been held off and the fact taht parts have been shipped to others but yet no review followed is kinda disturbing. All of the reviews I did were of personal stuff I bought but unfortunately Funds have been low so therefore no purchases. IF i was to aquarire some stuff from our partners at geeks.com id be happy to write more reviews ( i am in elglish classes too so now i can do it properly )

Maybe open up a spyware and virus team and maybe a new slogan on he fron tpage " You f'd it up! We can help fix it! "

[primesuspect]

I mean, opening a spyware and virus team is great, but who's going to staff it? Reviewers have to do a ton of work to get review samples. You can't just say "send me stuff", you have to constantly be in contact with hardware vendors, build relationships, and treat it like the business that it is. If you want to review stuff, don't rely on Citrix to get the stuff for you. Email the PR or marketing departments of the vendors you want to get samples from, tell them about Icrontic, tell them the site's history and traffic numbers. I hate to say it, but until you build traffic up a bit, you might have trouble getting review samples. You can start small though - build relationships with vendors for stuff like cases, heatsinks, optical drives, peripherals, or software. If you write AMD they're not gonna give you the time of day yet, not until you can prove that you have the traffic to justify sending you new hardware.

Is icrontic really a review site? Don't take this as an offense, but I don't think we have it in us to be a review site right now. Plus, does the web really need another review site? Personally I think the site should find a new focus - what that focus is, I don't know, but I don't think hardware review is going to get us anywhere.

[citrixmeta]

2 items were shipped and reviewed.. and posted..
the 3rd item that was shipped had many problems, geek is aware of this.

i cant believe you even said that gnome

[GnomeWizardd]

from my standpoint i was lead to believe there were more than 3 items shipped, I knew of the two I figured there was around 5 or 6 items sent, My misunderstanding.

[citrixmeta]

i love ya man :)

[kryyst]

I agree with Prime at the present time we don't have the staff or time to become a reveiw site. It'd be nice but I don't think that is the reality anymore. At least not in the short run.

The you f'd it we fix it seems to be a better aproach. I know of other so called expert sites Experts Exchange being a big one, and frankly many of the people handing out advice there are idiots. We have a pretty good group of core techies here that have a really good understanding of the general sort of computer problems. We also know how to use google to find solutions that escape us.

There are aspects that we at the moment can't cover and that's generally the deeper routed, more obscure enterprise software. So be it. If we can attract more members there is a good chance we can pull some of them in.

Prime I also don't think any of us were suggesting that a simple visual change was going to instantly draw members. But by going through changes it'll keep the board looking more active and possibly help to keep new members around.

[Nive11en]

Well, maybe we (well.., you :p ) should set up an Icrontic history page on http://www.icrontic.com/ instead of what currently can be found there. Real news won't happen. I think a page showing the birth, events, etc of Icrontic and what happened to the site would be nice. Then put up a link to icronticforums.com

I wonder, I've never really used Icrontic before it got hacked. I remember checking it a few times before, was extremely active. Did really all backups of the posts on the forums and the articles on icrontic.com get lost? Can't believe it.

[primesuspect]

it's really true. Not to talk bad about mortin, he's dead, but he didn't really care about icrontic at the end, and he had given the admin the wrong database info to backup. For over a year, the db that was being backed up was zero bytes, and nobody who had to the power to check, checked... or probably even knew how.

[versello]

Hmm, if I was an admin and I was backing up a files that equated to 0 bytes... I would have raised an eyebrow... wtf...

[GnomeWizardd]

its ok cause if it didn't happen SM wouldn't be around and addaboy well it wouldnt be addaboy

[primesuspect]

The admins in charge didn't have the technical skills to determine the backup size. Essentially, it was "login, run command, log out" every day, just trusting that mortin had given them the correct procedure. It was many failures on many fronts. We've learned many valuable lessons from the whole ordeal. SM's backup strategy is probably overkill. :)

[Zuntar]

Ok, since were on the subject, who does what around here as far as admin goes? What does it take to keep icrontic up on a daily basis?

Not try to say anything, but nothing will ever happen unless those in charge show up and interact here. Right? I don't see or hear about anyone except for citrix (great guy) who is clearly a busy man. But then again so are most people!

I wouldn't mind posting relevant hardware/software news from around the web, IF I had a clue what, how, when, where to make it happen. I have offered to help for a long time, but I am not going to beg like a child.

I see Prime all over the place at SM, and I receive emails from SM about folding and about whatever, that makes for great comradery!

Zuntar :bowdown: to Prime

[Tex]

The admins in charge didn't have the technical skills to determine the backup size. Essentially, it was "login, run command, log out" every day, just trusting that mortin had given them the correct procedure. It was many failures on many fronts. We've learned many valuable lessons from the whole ordeal. SM's backup strategy is probably overkill. :)

Not to rehash old probs here but.... Prime a backup of zero bytes takes how long? You and I both know the answer. Maybe a second or two...... And that would be a clue wouldnt you think? For someone in a admin position? This wasnt rocket science. Or even bottle rocket science if that was the size of the database.

I have customers who have some dumb old lady in basicaly a data entry type position in charge of their backups that call if the backup takes one second to complete because they know that can't be right.

To give everyone the benefit of the doubt lets assume their were MULTIPLE copies of a full database out there and they were copying the wrong version. Which would be harder to detect but.... then again that wouldnt explain why no posts or member lists etc... survived either? Ok so they must of copied a zero byte DB in 2 seconds I guess.... and assumed the backup was good. Over and over.... I think I would of asked someone to of checked out the backup. Don't ya think? I know my mind works differant at times but.... You would of thought .... Oh never mind...

Tex

[primesuspect]

It's pointless to wonder about it. That's the reality of it, and the only person who could answer these questions is dead. Time to look forward.

[Nive11en]

Haha, this is a mystery, I'm more and more curious. Evil must have been at the inner workings of Icrontic. Sabotage and conspiracy I say! Sure there haven't been any clues, left over logs, whatever?

[Tex]

It's pointless to wonder about it. That's the reality of it, and the only person who could answer these questions is dead. Time to look forward.

I am very sorry then. I never realized it was Mortin backing up. I aplogize. I thought he only wrote the script that was flawed? Isnt that what you said? I thought it was some of the key folks that started S-M basicaly that were supposed to be backing up Icrontic in those days? Remember ? The old admins at Icrontic in charge of backing it up before you split off? And you guys split after there was no backup... and you were in charge of the backup basicaly..... Because Mortin had actually split for College and left them in charge.

My mistake. My apologies.

So your actually saying here in this public forum on the record that the guys backing up Icrontic's zero byte database in 2 seconds were not the admins at Icrontic that are now the key owners of Short-media? But instead it was Mortin backing it up? maybe I was delusional all this time and its really nice of you to clear it up.

Tex

[Zuntar]

Hind sight is always 20/20 lets move on please.

Back to Gnomes original question, and the front page.

I genuinely want to know about the admin side of these sites, so bump to my last post please!!!

[GnomeWizardd]

i would love some more help but i dont have the authority to give it, I know cyclonite is due to become a mod and so are several others

[primesuspect]

Tex, why do you always have to call people out in public? Is it some kind of need that you have to word things so flowery yet so laced with venom?

I was quite clear and we all know this, but since you have some need to hear it again, and make sure you are getting some sort of upper hand "in a public forum", "on the record", I'll make it very clear again.

As you well know, it's no secret, mediaman was in charge of backing up icrontic. I use the term "in charge" loosely. The reality of it was more to the tune of "mortin, please tell me how to back up the site, we really should do it." Mortin says "okay fine here is a script to run". Mediaman, knowing absolutely zero, nothing, about linux, gets a simple instruction sheet - step 1 type this, step 2 type that, etc. He has no idea what the script does, what's involved, etc. He runs the commands, logs off, and assumes that mortin gave him the right info. If it took a split second to run, how was he to know that there wasn't a program running in the background, backing things up? You guys assume too much.

You full well know the backup strategy at short-media, and I'm not going to repeat myself here. If anyone's interested, there's always a 'search' button. It's no secret.

Have a goddamned heart and just let the whole thing drop without being a sarcastic smartass about it, please.

[GnomeWizardd]

alright guys comeone. No more cock fighting Either this get back to how to make Icrontic better or this will be locked and deleted. Comeon we aren't here to point blame in the past since we can't change what happened.

[OverLoad]

who all has systems in thier cars and for the homes, that way we can show off if there was an audio forum.

[RA_WILL_KILL]

PHPBB

PHPBB

PHPBB

Or Invison. Invision rules.

[Zuntar]

PHPBB

PHPBB

PHPBB

Or Invison. Invision rules.

Were talkin content chief, not source code and such, that would be a whole new can-o-worms.;)

BTW

BUMP GUYS!!!

[rapture]

I like the current board software anyway. Invision isnt that great and phpBB is only so popular because its free.

[kryyst]

I was thinking one thing we could add is an Introduction forum.

It's really quite simple newbs can read anything else on the board but can't post until they've introduced themselves. It may help cut down on the bots but it also helps with a sense of community a bit. Set it so that they have to have 3-5 posts for example before gaining access. That'll stop most spammers. If you want to tighten it don't let them in until a mod grants them access.

[versello]

Should note that Citrix and I are putting together a new server. Once all the data is successfully migrated over, we'll begin reforming the place.

Big issue with the current server is that all the people that have the keys are pretty much AWOL.

[primesuspect]

what keys do you need? I have all the root pws, but so does citrix. Let me know if you need anything.

[versello]

I got all that after some frustration. I need the Vbul access code so I can download VB and the update for the new server.

[primesuspect]

you can contact vb support and they'll tell you what it is.

You can get the license code from the includes/config.php and then use that to recover the vb login.

[drowd]

i remember when i used to post on the front page. the thing is, when i was doing it, there was maybe like, one other guy. and its REALLY easy to get burned out fast. so you gotta have a group of guys who are willing to post. like, if you can just do, say, 1 post a day. shit, 1 post a week, with 8 guys, that will be lots of content (if you want to go the news avenue). so thats my two cents, as someone who has done news posting (and a lot of it), its easy to be overenthusiastic about posting news for a site, but its extremely easy to get burned out fast because enthusiasm will only get you so far.

[Zuntar]

i remember when i used to post on the front page. the thing is, when i was doing it, there was maybe like, one other guy. and its REALLY easy to get burned out fast. so you gotta have a group of guys who are willing to post. like, if you can just do, say, 1 post a day. shit, 1 post a week, with 8 guys, that will be lots of content (if you want to go the news avenue). so thats my two cents, as someone who has done news posting (and a lot of it), its easy to be overenthusiastic about posting news for a site, but its extremely easy to get burned out fast because enthusiasm will only get you so far.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[versello]

I contacted vBulletin support and they said they couldn't give me the info as it would be a violation of customers' property and trust.

Effin heck.

[primesuspect]

the site admin is entitled to it, just like any "i forgot my password" type of form. They can re-email it to the site owner. Don't let them give you crap. Citrix needs to do this, though. You can't, unfortunately.

If you really truly can't recover it, take up a collection to get the $85 together to buy a new license. I'll chip in $10.

[GnomeWizardd]

Unfortunately getting citrix to do stuff is like pulling teeth, its not cause he doesnt want to its cause he is F'n SWAMPED with work

[versello]

It is my understanding that Aranyic purchased the license...

but let's hope Citrix can get the info necessary to download 3.5

[drowd]

so, is a vb to phpbb migration out of the question? i have no idea how hard that would be, but phpbb would be more than adequate i would think. but its prolly way too much work, so go ahead and disregard.

[primesuspect]

phpbb sucks compared to vb3.5 -- believe me, i've run them all. vb 3.5 is the BEST out there.

IPB got nice after version 2. I actually think IPB v2 is better than vb3x... but vb35 is incredible. just wait and see ;)

[Zuntar]

It is my understanding that Aranyic purchased the license...

but let's hope Citrix can get the info necessary to download 3.5
Ummm..... where is Aranyic?

[citrixmeta]

i Pmed him last night, he usualy replies pretty quick.

[drowd]

phpbb sucks compared to vb3.5 -- believe me, i've run them all. vb 3.5 is the BEST out there.

IPB got nice after version 2. I actually think IPB v2 is better than vb3x... but vb35 is incredible. just wait and see ;)

right, i was just trying to suggest an alternative to the whole "gah-who-ordered-the-license-what-will-we-do-how-much-do-we-owe!!!1" fiasco :D

i have no doubt that vb is teh pwn, i was merely trying to think outside the box. i used phpbb and have grown to love it, so i just wanted to see if it was being considered :D

[kryyst]

I've started using another board called YaBB myself and it's pretty slick. Not sure how robust it is for handling large scale but the numbers of features that are incorporated into it are quite impressive.

However I also have to say that other boards I'm on using VB3.5 are slick. The new software has some cool new features.

[citrixmeta]

would everyone chip in to get the latest and greatest VB?

just wondering if this would be an option

[versello]

Already spent enough money buying quad xeons :fu: :horn:

[GnomeWizardd]

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[citrixmeta]

:yell1: :yell1: :yell1: :yell1: :yell1: Already spent enough money buying quad xeons :fu: :horn:

[Zuntar]

Already spent enough money buying quad xeons :fu: :horn:
shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
:rarr: ????????????? :rarr:

would everyone chip in to get the latest and greatest VB?

just wondering if this would be an option
What's the cost?

[kryyst]

would everyone chip in to get the latest and greatest VB?

just wondering if this would be an option

Yeah I'd be willing to donate a few bucks to the cause.

[versello]

:rarr: ????????????? :rarr:

What's the cost?

If you want to go cheapass, it's like $85 for a 1-year leased license. $160 for an owned license.

This will be like, the third time Icrontic has had to buy a vBulletin license. :firemat:

[citrixmeta]

300$usd

[Aranyic]

I'm not around all that much any more but there is no reason to get another version, it costs me like $35 a year to keep the subscription going which doesn't bother me at all.

[citrixmeta]

aranyic hooked us up!!!!

thanks alot phil, we really appreciate it

:bowdown: :bowdown:
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

[kryyst]

woo hoo

[Zuntar]

Thanks Man!!!

[LIN]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


LIN

[versello]

yeh, thanks.

got vb running on the new server and migrated some of the data. gonna try to get everything moved over today and the forums moved around.

and then before the end of the year give icrontic a new "reform"

edit:

Here's how I think the new forums should be (taking cues from Zuntar and Gnomewizard in other threads):

Hardware:
- General Hardware
- Overclocking, Cooling, Cases & Mods
- Networking

Software:
- General Software
- OS (MS and *nix)
- Spyware / Anti-Virus (???)
- Downloads & Utilities

Games
- PC & Console

Icrontic
- Distributed Computing F@H
same as current design

[kryyst]

I'd just put games as a board under the Software Category. I'd think that Spy/Anti-virus shoudl be renamed but I'm stumped. Somthing that means bascially Utils for keeping your computer running, so things like spy/viri/ad/recovery/cleaning etc...

[LIN]

how about:

Security, Spyware, and Viruses
- All things related to PC security, spyware, and virus threats


i lean towards having Games forum separate, something like:

Gaming Corner
- Games
- PC and Console


LIN

[Zuntar]

how about:

Security, Spyware, and Viruses
- All things related to PC security, spyware, and virus threats


i lean towards having Games forum separate, something like:

Gaming Corner
- Games
- PC and Console


LIN
Me likes ^ ideas!!

[versello]

I'd like to see a "LIN's Corner" :D

jkjk

The separate virus/security section is something to consider methinks.

Most likely everything wont be migrated over today... almost everything is functional on the new server (proof of concept I guess!), but since icrontic will get a makeover in the following months, I figure there's no point exerting additional effort trying to get the damn vb template 100% as it is now.

[Zuntar]

Umm is there any way we could get back to having the avatars on the left and post on the right insted of top and bottom?

(LIN's corner :D All LIN all the time!):fishslap:

[versello]

Keep your pants on, I'm working hard on the redesign. :rarr:

Changed the forum layout. I was getting sick of the vertical layout too.

[LIN]

umm, vers? - i say we take a vote on whether Zuntar keeps his pants on, if you don't mind. ;)


LIN

[drowd]

in for off.

[primesuspect]

yay! old school postbit is back :)

Thanks! I'm happy now. No more complaints from me :D

[LIN]

in for off.
Lol Lol ;)


LIN

[Zuntar]

Keep your pants on, I'm working hard on the redesign. :rarr:

Changed the forum layout. I was getting sick of the vertical layout too.
:urawes:






Off for you LIN.:eek:

[versello]

Off for you LIN.:eek:

Whoa whoa, let's keep it clean. :kaka:

[Zuntar]

Yes Sir!!!

[citrixmeta]

is everyone seeing the skin ok?

[rapture]

versello said to keep it clean and you come back with that? Disgusting...

[Zuntar]

is everyone seeing the skin ok?
Yup, n i c e!!

[citrixmeta]

currently working on a new front page...

im going to need a few people to post news, blogs, articles, interesting reads etc...

everyone is coming and posting that Icrontic needs more content , more activity etc... well, this is your chance to help.

send me a PM if your interested... thanks everyone

[kryyst]

Looks good. Front page is also starting to take shape nicely.

[citrixmeta]

thank you zuntar and kryyst, i appreciate it

[citrixmeta]

i added a shoutbox on the front page.

:D

lets see how it goes

[LIN]

it goes well :thumbsup:


LIN

[citrixmeta]

icrontic is looking for a news poster.
contact me if your interested.. thank you