Specialist Arms Forum
Specialist Games General Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: CyberShadow on February 27, 2010, 04:01:14 PM
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I will use this thread for discussion and updates on the status of the Tactical Command boards (TacComs).
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Firstly, it appears that we need to change the forum software... again. ::)
While this may not be the lead culprit in recent problems in the board, the previous software has never settled down properly and some features have either been difficult to get working or clearly full of bugs. Couple this with the fact that the development/support group for the board software have not had an active web site - or even a working forum of their own (never a good sign!) - for over a year, and we arrive at the conclusion that the board software will need to be changed in the near future anyway. It is likely that the forum software was making the problems that we had much worse by the way that is was written. So, although changing software may not solve all problems, I am of the opinion that it would certainly help matters, and is required anyway, and so worth being the first thing to do.
However, because this would be a complete change, we would be unable to transfer posts/threads/attachments to the new forum, and would therefore have to start again from scratch. This may not be a terrible thing, and I would attempt to keep the current/previous boards available and locked for reference.
Currently, I am looking at a number of possible forum applications. The ones that I am considering, in current order of preference are:
- Invision
- phpBB
- SMF (the software used on these boards)
- YaBB
I am therefore looking for opinions in two areas:
- What do you (TacCom members and potential members) think of changing to a totally new forum application
- If anyone has any experience of any of the above (aside from SMF, I know that system! ;) ) then any feedback and comments would be welcomed.
Thanks.
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Change cause its not stable and it will put people off.
I have only used phpBB as a moderator not as an admin and found it stable and feature rich enough to do what we wanted.
These might help.
Comparison of Internet forum software (ASP)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software_%28ASP%29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software_%28ASP%29)
Comparison of Internet forum software (PHP)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software_%28PHP%29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Internet_forum_software_%28PHP%29)
Comparison of Internet forum software (other)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_internet_forum_software_%28other%29 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_internet_forum_software_%28other%29)
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If it is causing that much of a problem then starting from scratch is ok as long as the old one is around for comparative reference, it'll be alot of work and I think as long as everyone is willing to put the time in and get all the threads up and running it'll be ok.
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I've used Invision as an Admin and its pretty good with great support.
i use phbBB as a mod and its fine i prefer Invision, also invision runs great free boardsso in the event of failure...
Just my 2 cents.
I miss tactical command.
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I have no experience of any of the software, so cannot help there. The only thought I have is that there may be some criteria to guide the choice:-
1. The ease of transfering Ids etc
2. The ease with which the old SG and now TacComs boards could either link or be converted to the new software etc.
3. The ease with which reference material can be resubmitted / retrieved from the main contributors (army lists, online rule books etc)
4. Compatibility with other boards
5. Security and stability
6. How quickly 'normal service' can be resumed.
This last may be the most important point as IIRC it was the delays and potentially the lack of references and links that did the most damage last time we changed the boards.
Meanwhile good luck with the conversion
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I do hope the original can be locked and archived for reference, or a lot of good discussion will be lost. I can't offer any comments or help with choosing software though sorry.
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*phew* Not old sins catching up with me. :o
phpBB has the best reputation, hasn't it?
And it ought to be possible to migrate, doesn't phpBB even have a "migrate DB" button?
Anyhow, keep up the good work Iain! :-* :-* :-*
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In my experience with forum software, Invasion is nice but I think it's pricy. PhPBB is free and I've only had good experiences with it. I would try to avoid YABB though since last I used it it didn't use a database to store posts and user data, just text files which makes it very difficult to change to another board.
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I do hope the original can be locked and archived for reference, or a lot of good discussion will be lost. I can't offer any comments or help with choosing software though sorry.
I wouldn't mind starting again from scratch on a new board, but I agree it would be a big shame to lose the discussions there, there are threads leading back to before Epic :Armageddon was released, if you know where to dig, as well as some extensive debates.
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as long as it has image attachment capability and unread message tracking, I'll be happy.
I'm on the fence about threaded vs flat, mainly because I think threaded posts tend to devolve into several separate discussions, which can be distracting for a forum dedicated to rules development.
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i've heard good stuff about phpBB - free, stable, big community
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I've run a couple of very small phpBB boards and never had any problems.
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As long as the old forum can be kept as a ressource then lets move! :)
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I would suggest switching to another software, but I haven't admined any boards so I wouldn't know which is best.
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Is there any way to tell what the actual problem is?
And might I suggest posting a notice on the actual Tactical Wargames Network homepage?
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I've had good experiences as a mod and admin on PhpBB boards.
It is a popular target for bots to sign up to, but keeping them out doesn't require a vast amount of work.
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Hi Cyber,
I have set up several forums and my favorite thus far is Simple Machines Forum. As you know it is coded in PHP. Simple Machines is working on the next version 2.X, but I am currently using the 1.X version. I found that for me it is the easy to administer and adding mods is incredibly easy as well. One of the mods I applied virtually eliminated any spamming from bots and others. It is easy to add stuff like Google Analytics and Ads.
The interface IMO is much more intuitive than say PHPBB.
http://www.miniaturereview.com/forum2/index.php (http://www.miniaturereview.com/forum2/index.php)
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Old forum as archive.
New as Simple Machines.
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I wouldn't mind changing forum. If I can get my daily dose of Tactical command, I'm happy.
Invison forum are my favorite.
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As long as the old stuff is still available to reference, I'm happy for any solution that brings back TacComms.
I miss it... :(
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As long as the old stuff is still available to reference, I'm happy for any solution that brings back TacComms.
I miss it... :(
Me too. I'm having serious withdrawals.
It might make sense to choose the best long term solution. If cost is an issue, I'd be more than happy to contribute.
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As an update to this.... I have been looking around to see if any boards would be able to convert the previous forums to a new format. Since the issue appears linked to the guest swarms, and because guests cant log in or post, I am worried that even having the old forum locked and available will cause exactly the same issues.
However, it appears that no other boards have systems to convert the current/previous TacComs format to something new. Therefore, I will double check this, but most likely will go ahead and go with phpBB.
phpBB is currently the lead candidate as it is free (always a good price) and offers a good all-round package. I am currently investigating the support system for the boards, as this can make or break a forum system.
I will post here when I have more news.
Thanks for your continued patience.
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As an update to this.... I have been looking around to see if any boards would be able to convert the previous forums to a new format. Since the issue appears linked to the guest swarms, and because guests cant log in or post, I am worried that even having the old forum locked and available will cause exactly the same issues.
As part of my day job I deal with large scale web server deployments. I think you have a couple of solutions:
1. Put the old forums in a private sandbox and use a program to mirror the entire site as static HTML files (wget should do this nicely). Then make the static HTML files public.
2. Put a caching proxy such as Squid in front of the old forums so that a particular URL gets loaded once and then cached.
I'd be happy to help you with either of the above.
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I've never done a database transformation as such before. However I'm fairly used to parsing files with perl and using databases to store information. So I'm going to soon look into how much work would it be to retrieve the information from ikonforums format and put it into phpBB format. Now if I only had much time at my hands to do this :).
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I have administered PHpBB and feel it isn't as good as the Simple Machine Forums. Both are free, but SMF seems much easier to administer and IMO looks better. The other biggie IMO is when you add mods. SMF's approach to adding mods is way easier.
I would also check out the newer version of SMF, you may find that you like that even better than the 1.x. It is still in beta, but it looks great.
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1. Put the old forums in a private sandbox and use a program to mirror the entire site as static HTML files (wget should do this nicely). Then make the static HTML files public.
2. Put a caching proxy such as Squid in front of the old forums so that a particular URL gets loaded once and then cached.
3. Run ikonfurms with mod_perl, a quick look at the source code tells me that it should play nice.
4. Try using query caching on the MySQL database.
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Does SMF support private mails? I don't think the SMF boards I'm on have that function, and its kinda crucial to that the Tac Comm boards do ;)
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I have administered PHpBB and feel it isn't as good as the Simple Machine Forums. Both are free, but SMF seems much easier to administer and IMO looks better. The other biggie IMO is when you add mods. SMF's approach to adding mods is way easier.
Well phpBB is free software (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) while SMF is not (it doesn't cost money, but that is a different matter). Which is why I'd rather support phpBB than SMF.
I found following for conversion, but since I'm on linux can't try this myself: Ikonboard 3.x Converter (http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=20282). However you would need to convert the result to phpBB 3.x next: Convert from phpBB2 to phpBB3 (http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=558997).
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I think longevity of support should be an important factor choosing a new board. I get the feeling that SMF is not as stable a community as phpBB, see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Machines_Forum#Simple_Machines_restructuring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Machines_Forum#Simple_Machines_restructuring) for example.
@Hena, I have much experience in programming databases so I can help you with sql scripts for having a go at ikon database transformation (at least the user details), i'm getting deja vu ;-)
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What do you mean by private email? You can hide your email address in SMF "There is a Hide email address from public?" Checkbox.
Hena
Not sure what you mean by Free for PHPbb vs SMF forums. Both are open source and both are free.
myBB is another one that a lot of people seem to like.
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It's not 100% certified tasty open sauce.
see here http://www.simplemachines.org/about/opensource.php (http://www.simplemachines.org/about/opensource.php)
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In SMF terms I mean messages, and I see that they are available so all is good.
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Not sure what you mean by Free for PHPbb vs SMF forums. Both are open source and both are free.
Not really. Their licence does prevent redistribution which is rather important element. As can be seen in the spectacle that happened there. Eg. there has been problems between persons and some are kicked out. They now dropped off and are starting a new forum software from clean (using BSD licence btw). I can't help but to wonder how much of that clean start is caused by the licence that SMF uses which prevents them from forking it.
Eg. see adams restructuring link few posts above and then this (and that forum in general).
http://www.smf-friends.org/index.php?topic=826.0
I think that SMF friends mess up seems to trigger enough warning sings for me to say that don't use SMF as it's seems to be a train wreck happening in slow motion.
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I have been burned in the past with development teams which have fractured and legal issues causing trouble with software.... Ikonboards! While I dont think that SMF is as bad, it is enough to make me a little cautious.
If I have a choice, keeping the two boards using different systems would make me feel better. For example, if both these boards used IkonForums right now, neither would be up and running!
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I can't say I'm overly impressed with SMF. The updated seems to have removed the "view posts since last visit" link which helps out considerably for finding posts with a forum structure as complex as the Tacticalcommand forum is currently set up.
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Vaaish, view most recent posts ( at the bottom, above stats) isn't what you are looking for?
Maybe it differs for me but I hardly look and want to look in all epic forums at TacCom, I just scroll down to the (sparsely visittes) BFG section. Cybershadow, in a new setup I want to talk about restructuring the BFG section, okay?.
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that's kind of what I'm talking about but usually it just lists the topics that have new post in them rather than the actual post itself.
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SMF has at least 2 ways to view new stuff.
Show unread posts since last visit.
Show new replies to your posts.
I am not sure if it will show you new topics or not. it will show you what categories/Forums have new posts though.
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I basically only use the "New Posts" button on Tac Comms to find conversations.
There are just too many sub-forums around to read each one.
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As a regular member I too use the New Post function the most often and then scanning through the folders after that.
Rookie question here: is there a way to just limiting the number guests from signing on? I mean, its desirable to hae new people looking in on things and seeing what the boards are discussing, but not at the expense of the community. If they could be capped at 5 guests or 10 guests, wouldn't that solve the problem?
Of course that might not be even possible. What about eliminating guests from entering the real forums and having another section that is a mirror of the forums that is updated weekly or monthly, like a snapshot. A small paragraphy explaining why this change was done would be enough for people to understand. Once again though I dont know if this would work.
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Even on a shared server there should be more than enough band width for lots of guests to view stuff.
Here is a forum that I just looked at that has Currently Active Users: 352 (73 members and 279 guests) when I looked just now. It is vBulletin board. It has over Members: 17,100 members, which probably is more than Tactical Command had.
http://forums.relicnews.com/index.php? (http://forums.relicnews.com/index.php?)
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As a regular member I too use the New Post function the most often
I have this set as my favourite... no need to go looking for posts
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As a regular member I too use the New Post function the most often
I have this set as my favourite... no need to go looking for posts
For those that never DID mark that, and are wondering, this is the link
http://www.sg.tacticalwargames.net/forum/index.php?action=unread
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I don't know about how anyone else feels, but I'm getting kind of twitchy not being able to browse through lots of epic-related posts on a daily basis.
I hope Taccomm is back up and running soon (although I realize good work takes time, especially when you don't get paid to do it). All the hard work is very appreciated, CyberShadow.
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Is there any way to get the link lex posted on the main forum index? I don't even know where he found it in the first place.
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Is there any way to get the link lex posted on the main forum index? I don't even know where he found it in the first place.
I have had that one set as my standard link to the forum (and its predecesor) for ages....
It is actualy lurking somewhere, as it is a standard feature of all PHP and SMF forums I ever used
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Any updates on the status of the Taccomm boards? Just curious.
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Any updates on the status of the Taccomm boards? Just curious.
I was wondering, too. I'm having severe withdrawals. ;D
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Sorry guys. I am attempting to try a way to convert all of the old data into the new format.... I will keep at it over the weekend and should have some news early next week.
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Woop! Keep up the good work CS :)
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Good luck to you and I hope it works! :D
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As usual, thanks for all of your hard work, CS.
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ARGH NOW WARSEER IS DOWN!!!.....
ah it's back... phew
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I wonder how many cool 6mm vehicles/infantry will have been made while the forum has been down. Lets hope a lot.
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I now understand addicts..I am going through withdrawls,,,,
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You and me both. I would like to hear what is going on with all those cool figures we had seen.
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Any news?
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Sorry. I am currently (like, right this minute!) running through stage one of converting the old data. While I could leave the old boards locked and start fresh, I would prefer not to do this. My computer has been converting the forum data for the last five hours and is still going strong! Once this is done (as long as it doesnt all time out again!) I will need to run through stage two of the data conversion. Hopefully, by the end of it, although it is unlikely to be perfect, we will have all of the previous threads and resources saved for use.
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That's great news CS. Thanks for all your work on this.
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Rock on, CS. You are highly appreciated.
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That's really good news. Thanks, CS.
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So which software you ended up using?
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That's really good news. Thanks, CS.
Ditto!
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in the words of the great peter griffon, "freaken sweet!"
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I holding my breath with anticipation... unfortunately I'm starting to feel a bit light-headed, and peripheral part of my body are going a iffy shade of blue, so make it fast... I'm a desperate man. :P
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OK, an update....
I decided to go with phpBB for the new software. However, I dont want to leave the old boards locked and available. Previous problems appear to have been exaggerated by 'guest swarms' and a locked read-only board is just as vulnerable to them. Also, there is no converter from IkonForums to phpBB. But... there is a convert from IkonBoard to SMF, and a converter from SMF to phpBB.
So, I have run the IkonBoard converter to SMF and this is now partially (mostly) up and running. It took a while to convert over seventeen thousand threads ;) and we have lost around 80 threads in total somewhere (whether these are really lost, were duplicates or never existed in the first place is open to interpretation - and considering I wasnt expecting much from a converter that isnt designed for that particular platform, I am not unhappy) and - of course - the attachments are floating and not connected, although I still have all of these as I will keep the old installation available for myself only.
Next stage is now to convert from SMF to phpBB, give the entire thing a quick once-over check and open it up. It will be a couple of days, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks for your patience.
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Good to hear the first stage has progressed. Crossing fingers for the second!
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Excellent news. Thanks, CS.
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Great news, but as ever a question ;D
Do you expect user's to be migrated or will we need to register again?
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Great news, but as ever a question ;D
Do you expect user's to be migrated or will we need to register again?
he's just worried about having his post count reset :P
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Nope, I was never in the running for uber numbers!
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Thanks for all the work CS, crossing fingers ;D
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+1 to Cybershadow.
*casts spell of protection*
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Question, in this migration were the PMs saved? I was in the middle of planning a trade when the forum blew up and I wasn't able to get the email of the guy I was trying to trade with.
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If all goes well, all member profiles and even PMs will be able to be moved across to the new software. As I say, it is currently working in the SMF format, and all data was successfully ported in the first phase, so it is looking good.
As a safety net, the old boards will remain available to myself so if there is anything that doesnt make it across I should be able to dig it out at a later stage.
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Excellent news, CS!
Would it be possible to post a progress report/notice on the actual Tactical Wargames homepage:
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/
There hasn't been any *new* news there since 2008!
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Good News
I have just completed the final stage of converting the data to the new format. This appears to have gone well. I will now just need a little time to make sure that the system is water-tight and working correctly. I will then open up the boards to public use, most likely in a day or two.
As an advanced note, when the boards are open, there are two issues that I am already aware of:
- attachments; These are not included in the transfer process due to a technical issue. However, I have the initial installation of the boards, with all of the attachments included, and I will put up a thread for links so that members can request specific attachments moved across to the new system.
- colours; These will be the system default. I would guess that people would rather get back into the boards rather than waiting for me to make it look coherent (especially given the fact that most people seem to prefer the default colours to my own decorating in most cases!)
:D
Many thanks for your extended patience, guys.
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Great! Thanks for the update, CS.
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Beauty of phpBB is that users can select from whatever skins you chose to allow CS.
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Great news! Thanks CS!
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That are really good new
thanks CS
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Beauty of phpBB is that users can select from whatever skins you chose to allow CS.
This is true.... but I still need to set up the skins first. :D
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Didn't say it was easy!
Of course if you don't add any funky mods most skins should install without issues. It's when you do heavy customization or use mods that it gets a bit flaky.
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Just a general note of thanks for your continued support of the community here.
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OK.... Lets see how this works..... ;)
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=18021
Thanks to all.
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I can't seem to login?
But if it is only me, no probs as I can re-register with Horizon.
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It may not be only you... Can you click the 'forgotten my password' link and let me know if that works?
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Didn't recognize my mail (tried my current & former one).
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OK. I think this should now be sorted..... ???
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Fantastic job!
I can now log in fine, but post moderation is on?
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is woiking for me.
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That should now have sorted out the moderation issue. If anyone cant log in, please try clicking the 'forgotten my password' link and check your email. If this still doesnt solve it, please let me know. Thanks.
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Yay, I'm in!
Oh wait. I went into my profile to change my password and when i log back in I'm getting a message that I haven't typed my username correctly. :(
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I can't even get to the page. It says the page times out after trying to log in.
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I can't even get to the page. It says the page times out after trying to log in.
Well I can see the page now. Tried to log in but failed. Went to reset password but I'm not getting email in my email to reset. Grrr!
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If anyone is still having trouble logging in, please drop me an email from the account that is registered with the boards, including your login/username and I will reset their passwords.
Thanks.
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I don´t remember my pass word s**t >:(
edit: I tried to email you but the email I was registered with cannot send mails.
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No problem. Drop me a PM here with the email address that the boards have, and your account user name, and I will send you a new password via that email address.
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No problem. Drop me a PM here with the email address that the boards have, and your account user name, and I will send you a new password via that email address.
I having issues logging in at Taccoms agian. Like when the server first came back up. I PM'd already CS?