This BBS is great!

[nlamb80]

Just wanted to say, I've been in The Internetz for many moons, and this is one of the more intuitive BBSs I've ever seen. A lot of them try to be feature-rich but just end up cluttered. Or, they are too simplistic.

In any case, props to the admin, I love this board.

 

[southernlady]

Just wanted to say, I've been in The Internetz for many moons, and this is one of the more intuitive BBSs I've ever seen. A lot of them try to be feature-rich but just end up cluttered. Or, they are too simplistic.

In any case, props to the admin, I love this board.

Thanks, I was VERY lucky to be one of the early adopters of this BBS. (I got my first copy, a beta version, on 5 Oct 2010 when it went live for the first time but not released as a final system).

It's a paid system called XenForo. The guys who wrote it use to work for vBulletin back about 5 years ago before vB went off the rails by adding too much, not updating old code etc. The two guys left vB before version 4 came out. MOST of the most popular vB sites out there are version 3 series which is the one they worked on most. Their vision was to make a system as easy to use as possible. And made add ons easy to adopt. The core platform is still very simple without being simplistic.

 

[nlamb80]

That's how it always happens these days, it seems. A development company has a good idea, maintains it poorly or makes weird changes, and then a group of original devs will leave and start their own thing. I'm not complaining, it's how a lot of badass stuff gets out there!

I like this a lot, as it utilizes the Aero aesthetic without it being too obnoxious or stylized. Glad it's easy to use, I've quasi-mainatined a BBS in the past and it's a pain in the butt.

 

[southernlady]

That's how it always happens these days, it seems. A development company has a good idea, maintains it poorly or makes weird changes, and then a group of original devs will leave and start their own thing. I'm not complaining, it's how a lot of badass stuff gets out there!

I like this a lot, as it utilizes the Aero aesthetic without it being too obnoxious or stylized. Glad it's easy to use, I've quasi-mainatined a BBS in the past and it's a pain in the butt.

Which one? I use to develop themes for vB before they screwed it up in version 4. And I've used a lot of the more common ones...free and paid, as an admin/owner.

 

[nlamb80]

I can't remember, and I asked DH and neither can he! It was almost ten years ago now, oh my goodness. He threw it on the database and I messed around with it. I was helping to run a DKP site for an MMO game at the time.

I sort of wish I'd kept up on everything in that sense, I used to code HTML and a bit of JavaScript, and I was a big PhotoShop nerd. I took a JS and a C+ class in college. Then everyone started using CSS and I cried and ran away.

 

[southernlady]

I sort of wish I'd kept up on everything in that sense, I used to code HTML and a bit of JavaScript, and I was a big PhotoShop nerd. I took a JS and a C+ class in college. Then everyone started using CSS and I cried and ran away.

My HTML coding is all by hand but it has been awhile. I use Photoshop now as Paint Shop Pro isn't Mac compatible but I PREFER PSP (at least the older versions, LOL). Once HTML 5 came out, I kinda thru up my hands too plus I had SERIOUS burnout. You can see some of what I have done here: http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/whats-your-hobby.609/

I was helping to run a DKP site for an MMO game at the time.

I was never a gamer...want to help this poor old soul with the abbreviations? DKP? MMO?

 

[nlamb80]

Yeah I think I sort of burnt out too a few years after college. It's pretty cool that you're still into it and still learning though, I'm not even doing that much.

DKP stands for "dragon kill points", it's an old term that applies to many currency systems in use for online gaming. When you go around with your little band of fellow social misfits, you kill big angry things, and the angry things drop loot. But, the angry things are assholes and don't drop enough loot for everyone, so you have a currency system based on attendance for boss kills. It's a zero-sum system that uses plugins and pasting code to update. It was a pain in the ass at the time, but I've heard it's gotten a lot easier. MMO is short for MMORPG, or "massively multiplayer online roleplaying game". I still game, but I don't raid (kill high level bosses) competitively anymore, it just takes up too much time.

I do still like to build my own computers though. It's really not that impressive, once you get the hang of it it's like a big puzzle ... the design may be different and the pieces may fit together slightly different for varying puzzles, but the concept is still the same.

 

[nlamb80]

I think sometimes people are intimidated by technology or programming, but it's all logic-based. Once you understand that it becomes a working-knowledge framework that makes it far easier, and even applicable to new things.

 

[southernlady]

Considering I didn't lay hands on a computer til 1996 when I was 42, hard to start much earlier.
My husband taught me basic html and then I surpassed him by leaps and bounds (something to do with him having to actually WORK to support us, LOL). Then one day I got a free copy of PSP and it went from there. I think version 5??? It was while it was still a JASC product and not Corel.

My oldest taught me and my husband how to build PC's...loved doing that and even had a business building computers and cleaning spyware off. I got into that side of it when I had a boot sector virus infect my computer. Trying to save stuff off it was a nightmare. And I couldn't just back it up onto another computer cause it would have infected the other computer. LOTS of CD's later (DVD format was still pricey then), I managed to reformat to clean it. I got mad at the people who wrote the virus and learned how to clean not only mine but others. I was even an ASAP member for a few years (ASAP: Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals). Then the virus creators started throwing worse and worse stuff out and I had become more involved in designing my own graphics and then digital scrap booking. Got to the point that the creative side pushed the security side to the back burner and then all the way off the stove.

I discovered forums about 2004? My first one was PHPbb, then moved to paid software, vB. Started with version 3 but moved away around version 3.6? Tried IPB (paid) in there at some point, SMF (free) and I think that was it.

We also moved over to iMacs in 2005 which also meant my focus on building my own went away. But even during our last move in 2013, we still had stuff like hard drives, memory, power supplies, etc.

Now, I run this site but let my tech admin handle the upgrades, etc. I did it for awhile. She is the one that took my version of the theme and made it even better.

 

[nlamb80]

You know what? I think it may have been phpBB that was used. Especially because my DH loves open-source stuff, ha!

Viruses are a PITA. I've been fortunate to only have had one or two "nuke the OS from orbit and start again" types. I learned to partition my OS, and it's not an issue anymore for reinstalls. In fact, I just installed the final Insider release of Win10 last night! I like it a lot so far.

I think it's neat that you were able to turn that stuff into a hobby/career.

(Pssst, you know you wanna build a PC again, just for funsies!)

 

[southernlady]

(Pssst, you know you wanna build a PC again, just for funsies!)

Yes, BUT...I'm almost a decade behind now in what motherboards are best, etc. Also I still do not have the physical strength to push in connectors, that was my husband's job. And he doesn't have the dexterity to do that anymore.

BUT I still drool at Newegg and Tiger Direct, LOL

 

[nlamb80]

If you're only a decade behind, not much has changed. Mobo, RAM, chip, heatsink, power supply, GPU, SSD (HD), soundcard if you want it. Case configurations have changed slightly, but not much. You'd be shocked at how similar it is. ASUS is still top for most parts, Crucial for RAM, WD for hard drives, etc. ATI is now AMD in terms of GPUs. GPUs are the size of bricks now, though, it's crazy. I think mine weighs like a pound. You haven't forgotten as much as you thought!

I understand, though, snapping stuff into place is always my least favorite part, the RAM hurts my thumbs!

NewEgg fo' life!

 

[JackieOnLine]

I have no idea what most of your words mean however I have been on tons of message boards and this one rocks.

I go anywhere else (for example the OthHer site) and it's so clunky, wish we could just advertise there to come over here: better board, more vets, no commercials!

 

[brooklyngirl]

I have no idea what most of your words mean however I have been on tons of message boards and this one rocks.

I go anywhere else (for example the OthHer site) and it's so clunky, wish we could just advertise there to come over here: better board, more vets, no commercials!

Yes, yes and yes

 

[unavidanueva]

@southernlady, I could not follow half of what you two were talking about, but let me just say that I am very impressed by all that you have done and continue to do. I've often wished I had listened to the people telling me what to do with my life, back when I was 18, and they all told me to take my Spanish skills and study both that and computers. Instead I became a Spanish teacher. I like what I do, most of the time, but I sure wish I could do what you do!