Jason Dunn
03-15-2008, 06:12 AM
The moment I've been waiting for has finally arrived: this weekend, we're jettisoning the bloated, buggy, security-hole-ridden corpse of phpBB and moving to the much faster, much more stable, and much more secure vBulletin. In addition to the change in forums, we're also going to be changing the Pocket PC Thoughts template to match the template on the other Thoughts Media sites - only a bit better. While we'll be switching to a fixed-width design (which not everyone will be thrilled about, but it had to happen), the new Pocket PC Thoughts template is an updated version of what we have on the other sites - it will be 100 pixels wider, all of that being in the content area. That means more text, bigger screen shots, and more content goodness. It looks great!<br /><br />Beyond the performance and security improvements we'll gain in switching to vBulletin, we'll also gain the feature I'd wished we'd had right from the beginning: a single Thoughts Media login that allows you to comment on any of our sites. Like peanut butter and chocolate, it's just the right thing to do, and the way it should have always been (well, except if you're lactose intolerant and have a peanut allergy). What's going to happen is that your username and password will be migrated into the new vBulletin forums via a script that the wonderfully talented Fabrizio Fiandanese created for this very purpose. If you already have a profile in the vBulletin forums (from one of the other sites), if the username and email match, your profile will be merged into one happy pile of posts. It's possible there may be some username conflicts, or other user profile issues, but our analysis has shown there should be a very low number of users impacted in this matter. If you run into trouble, let me know.<br /><br />As with all major changes, there will be some bumps along the way: we've migrated the two major subscriber services, namely the email blasts and the ability to turn off advertising on the site. The remainder of subscriber services, such as site customization, forum badges, and other features will be added later. We simply didn't have the resources to migrate 100% of the features if we wanted to make our switch date. On the bright side, however, all Pocket PC Thoughts Subscriptions will become Thoughts Media Subscriptions - meaning that once we get the subscriber features in place at Pocket PC Thoughts, they'll be rolled out across our other three sites, and you'll be a subscriber at all four sites. And this is all at no added cost to you. Once we have the subscription services on all sites, it will be much easier for me to add new features, get special deals and discounts, and generally make the subscription service a more valuable offering.<br /><br />I'd ask that you give the new forums and new look a chance to grow on you - the first few days of the week might be a bit bumpy as we iron out some issues, and not every feature will be in place right away. But the team and I are very determined to make this change a good one, so I ask your indulgence as we work to smooth everything out. This is a much-needed change, and it will be for the better in the long run.<br /><br />What's going to happen at some point this weekend is the forums will be locked down - you'll probably see our traditional haiku appear - but the front page will stay in place with this message. By Monday AM North American time, the forums should be live, and the news should be flowing again. Here we go...