Post by Ash on Jun 6, 2015 13:14:18 GMT
Message from Katanamangler, Reneefe, Jelle & Banoffee:
As many of you will remember Ash started this forum as a temporary platform while the main site was down. At that time there was already a large Facebook community running for the same purposes. None of us thought that the original site would be gone this long. For the last 12 months this forum and the Facebook page have been working together to keep the OSS flame burning, in the absence of the main site. We were all too aware that the OSS community had fragmented and we want to bring it all back together in one place.
We are now excited to share the news with you that after several years off-line, oldskoolsuzuki.info will shortly return. We have been busy building a brand new site for www.oldskoolsuzuki.info with an emphasis on quality content about the evolution of our favourite dinosaurs. A functioning news page as well as a home for the technical forum and community.
When it became clear that neither of the founding members, Mr7/11 or PP were going to be able to devote the necessary time to build a new site, Mr7/11 and PP passed the URL (oldskoolsuzuki.info) and all associated rights to Rene EFE and sanctioned the Facebook admin team Rene EFE, Jelle, Banoffee and Katanamangler to build a new site. We hope that both of the founders can pop in from time to time and maybe one day take a more active part in the site, if and when time allows.
Ash and Captain Chaos from this forum have also been involved in the development of the new site build. They have also agreed to help with the migration of members from the temporary forum as well as continuing to moderate on the new forum.
The new site has been set up with all of the same aims and objectives as the original; to create a place where those who want to keep these lovable old dinosaurs in the here and now and on the road, can gather. A place to share information and document projects for others to enjoy and learn from. The site will have a technical forum for discussion and project builds but most importantly it will have a news page and sections for technical articles. We know that the quality of info is ultimately down to the members to create.
We have already enlisted the help of some of our well known OSS big brains to produce technical articles for the new news page in order to build up a bank of quality content that we can release over the first few months. We will be gradually republishing old content from the original site in a section called the vault.
The new site including the forum is planned to go live on the 6th of July and we will be asking members to migrate to the new platform. When we have a majority of members migrated we will lock this forum for new posts but you will still be able to link back all of the existing posts from the new site.
Like you, we are all committed to making oldskoolsuzuki.info everything that it was and has the potential to become and we hope that we can count on your support and expertise to help us realise that potential.
We completely understand that after such a long time this will come as a bit of a shock and there will be many questions as to why we are doing this. Together with Ash and Captain Chaos we have created the following question and answers to try and help explain the reasons for this change and how we hope it will work.
Ash and Captain Chaos along with small test group will be testing and debugging the new site to make sure we iron out the wrinkles in time for the launch on the 6th of July.
Answers to some questions you may have:
Why are we doing this?
Oldskoolsuzuki.info has been missing for too long. It's also more than just a name as we all know a key part of that is the URL itself! For too long it has pointed to nowhere, now is the time to change that. We've had Facebook and the temp forum keeping the flame burning however neither are ideal for various reasons. It's time to bring back OSS proper and keep it alive.
Why can't we just stick with the temp forum?
The temp forum is exactly that. Ash and the moderators have done a fantastic job however the proboards platform isn't ideal in the long term for various reasons. For example, the content on there actually belongs to proboards rather than OSS and they don’t permit migrating it elsewhere.
Why not just switch the old yabb-based site back on?
It no longer exists as it was. Ultimately the old software was horribly out of date and held together with duct tape and cable ties so it was time for a new, properly put together build.
How do we know this won't go the way of the old site?
The platforms we have selected are stable, well supported and fully hosted. The maintenance of the platforms used to build the news page and the forum are industry standard and not bespoke. The admin team have the utmost respect for your content and that is why we think it should be the property of OSS as not the forum provider as is the case with Proboards.
I made a donation to the old site and never got anything back, where did the money go?
The current admin team has funded the new site independently from their own pockets. This includes the considerable number of man hours in planning and execution of the site. There has been no transfer of funds from the previous admins. As such we are unable to make any comment on previous donations. We can however say that going forward it is our intention to publish running costs along with any site donations to enable full transparency.
What about my thread(s) on the temp forum?
We are working to 'lock' the temp forum and keep the threads accessible. However, there is a risk that proboards may delete the temp forum contents if it's not 'alive' so we'd recommend you copy and paste any important content ASAP in case.
What happens to my pictures?
As above if they are stored on the temp forum itself. If you've hosted them externally then they are as safe as your chosen storage solution.
Will there be a 'general discussion' section?
Yes, as before it's intended to be about general OSS-related stuff. No doubt with some banter/bushwhacking/etc too as before. But please do keep your Honda pics to yourself.
Will I need to register?
Yes.
Can I keep my same username?
Yes as long as you register it. We'd advise getting in promptly to avoid disappointment.
What happens to my post count?
Any post count you have built up on the temp forum will be lost. This is a great opportunity for everyone to get involved with the new forum and get posting.
Will I need to have 50 posts to advertise in marketplace?
Yes.
Who will be the admins and moderators?
The admin team are Rene EFE, Jelly, Katanamangler and Banoffee who have been working behind the scenes to bring OSS back to life. Initially the moderating team are Ash and Captain Chaos. Once we're settled in we'll be looking to grow the moderating team to cover the relevant sections with passionate people.
What happened to Mr7/11 and PP?
They are alive and well and getting on with their lives. They do indeed look in from time to time and still have four cylinder Suzuki blood in their veins but they have both decided for the time being that they can't give OSS the time and effort it deserves. Mr7/11 has signed the URL over to the admin team and PP has given his full permission to the rebuild and full running of OSS by the admin team. We hope that they may find the time to get involved again in the future.
Contrary to what some believe, this sort of thing takes considerable effort, time and funds to achieve and keep going. We have been involved with OSS for some time and are passionate about it. We want to see it come back properly with a mix of what it was like in the past and some essential updated aspects too.
As many of you will remember Ash started this forum as a temporary platform while the main site was down. At that time there was already a large Facebook community running for the same purposes. None of us thought that the original site would be gone this long. For the last 12 months this forum and the Facebook page have been working together to keep the OSS flame burning, in the absence of the main site. We were all too aware that the OSS community had fragmented and we want to bring it all back together in one place.
We are now excited to share the news with you that after several years off-line, oldskoolsuzuki.info will shortly return. We have been busy building a brand new site for www.oldskoolsuzuki.info with an emphasis on quality content about the evolution of our favourite dinosaurs. A functioning news page as well as a home for the technical forum and community.
When it became clear that neither of the founding members, Mr7/11 or PP were going to be able to devote the necessary time to build a new site, Mr7/11 and PP passed the URL (oldskoolsuzuki.info) and all associated rights to Rene EFE and sanctioned the Facebook admin team Rene EFE, Jelle, Banoffee and Katanamangler to build a new site. We hope that both of the founders can pop in from time to time and maybe one day take a more active part in the site, if and when time allows.
Ash and Captain Chaos from this forum have also been involved in the development of the new site build. They have also agreed to help with the migration of members from the temporary forum as well as continuing to moderate on the new forum.
The new site has been set up with all of the same aims and objectives as the original; to create a place where those who want to keep these lovable old dinosaurs in the here and now and on the road, can gather. A place to share information and document projects for others to enjoy and learn from. The site will have a technical forum for discussion and project builds but most importantly it will have a news page and sections for technical articles. We know that the quality of info is ultimately down to the members to create.
We have already enlisted the help of some of our well known OSS big brains to produce technical articles for the new news page in order to build up a bank of quality content that we can release over the first few months. We will be gradually republishing old content from the original site in a section called the vault.
The new site including the forum is planned to go live on the 6th of July and we will be asking members to migrate to the new platform. When we have a majority of members migrated we will lock this forum for new posts but you will still be able to link back all of the existing posts from the new site.
Like you, we are all committed to making oldskoolsuzuki.info everything that it was and has the potential to become and we hope that we can count on your support and expertise to help us realise that potential.
We completely understand that after such a long time this will come as a bit of a shock and there will be many questions as to why we are doing this. Together with Ash and Captain Chaos we have created the following question and answers to try and help explain the reasons for this change and how we hope it will work.
Ash and Captain Chaos along with small test group will be testing and debugging the new site to make sure we iron out the wrinkles in time for the launch on the 6th of July.
Answers to some questions you may have:
Why are we doing this?
Oldskoolsuzuki.info has been missing for too long. It's also more than just a name as we all know a key part of that is the URL itself! For too long it has pointed to nowhere, now is the time to change that. We've had Facebook and the temp forum keeping the flame burning however neither are ideal for various reasons. It's time to bring back OSS proper and keep it alive.
Why can't we just stick with the temp forum?
The temp forum is exactly that. Ash and the moderators have done a fantastic job however the proboards platform isn't ideal in the long term for various reasons. For example, the content on there actually belongs to proboards rather than OSS and they don’t permit migrating it elsewhere.
Why not just switch the old yabb-based site back on?
It no longer exists as it was. Ultimately the old software was horribly out of date and held together with duct tape and cable ties so it was time for a new, properly put together build.
How do we know this won't go the way of the old site?
The platforms we have selected are stable, well supported and fully hosted. The maintenance of the platforms used to build the news page and the forum are industry standard and not bespoke. The admin team have the utmost respect for your content and that is why we think it should be the property of OSS as not the forum provider as is the case with Proboards.
I made a donation to the old site and never got anything back, where did the money go?
The current admin team has funded the new site independently from their own pockets. This includes the considerable number of man hours in planning and execution of the site. There has been no transfer of funds from the previous admins. As such we are unable to make any comment on previous donations. We can however say that going forward it is our intention to publish running costs along with any site donations to enable full transparency.
What about my thread(s) on the temp forum?
We are working to 'lock' the temp forum and keep the threads accessible. However, there is a risk that proboards may delete the temp forum contents if it's not 'alive' so we'd recommend you copy and paste any important content ASAP in case.
What happens to my pictures?
As above if they are stored on the temp forum itself. If you've hosted them externally then they are as safe as your chosen storage solution.
Will there be a 'general discussion' section?
Yes, as before it's intended to be about general OSS-related stuff. No doubt with some banter/bushwhacking/etc too as before. But please do keep your Honda pics to yourself.
Will I need to register?
Yes.
Can I keep my same username?
Yes as long as you register it. We'd advise getting in promptly to avoid disappointment.
What happens to my post count?
Any post count you have built up on the temp forum will be lost. This is a great opportunity for everyone to get involved with the new forum and get posting.
Will I need to have 50 posts to advertise in marketplace?
Yes.
Who will be the admins and moderators?
The admin team are Rene EFE, Jelly, Katanamangler and Banoffee who have been working behind the scenes to bring OSS back to life. Initially the moderating team are Ash and Captain Chaos. Once we're settled in we'll be looking to grow the moderating team to cover the relevant sections with passionate people.
What happened to Mr7/11 and PP?
They are alive and well and getting on with their lives. They do indeed look in from time to time and still have four cylinder Suzuki blood in their veins but they have both decided for the time being that they can't give OSS the time and effort it deserves. Mr7/11 has signed the URL over to the admin team and PP has given his full permission to the rebuild and full running of OSS by the admin team. We hope that they may find the time to get involved again in the future.
Contrary to what some believe, this sort of thing takes considerable effort, time and funds to achieve and keep going. We have been involved with OSS for some time and are passionate about it. We want to see it come back properly with a mix of what it was like in the past and some essential updated aspects too.
