Web site problems: Please read

[chuckb]

This sounds cool on the surface....but do we really want the type of posters this would bring?

I think the other thing to consider -- and this would obviously be OUHOOPS's decision since the site is his (hers?) -- is would the university or athletic dept try to censor or limit what is reported, written here, etc. If it's "their site," then they'll have some control over the content.

As for me, I'd be willing to pay some sort of fee to be a member and I'd also be willing to put up with ads if that's what's necessary. We should all be willing to pay for content that we enjoy and I've been a freeloader for years. I'm happy to contribute. Even when I'm not posting, I'm still reading regularly.

 

[usedtobe1]

I'm happy to contribute $

 

[OUHoops]

You guys are really making this difficult. As of about 2PM Saturday, I was about ready to just re-direct the link of this board to my @ouhoops Twitter feed and be done with it. Then they got the board fixed and now y'all are being so nice.

I need some time to think about how I want to approach this. I'm not sure if I want to just jump into the new VBulletin upgrade or go to some sort of Blog posting site with forum posts underneath it (like TFB and SBNation). I haven't even had the time to look into the new VBulletin costs yet.

I'll keep you updated and you guys continue to post any ideas/opinions here.

 

[OUHoops]

Ok, so I see two problems here.

1.) There may be an upgrade that costs money
2.) You are tired of the admin related work to the site

I'll admit, No. 2 is an issue for both Ada and I. I hope he doesn't mind me saying this. The moderating stuff is a chore. Both of us have grown tired of it YEARS ago.

I was done with it early on in the board's history. I don't mind seeing a wide range of opinions and fans from other teams. I even can stand the ocassional troll if it's funny and clever. The hatefulness though that develops between posters is bothersome and leads to tough decisions and lots of headaches.

Thankfully, Ada has stepped up and dealt with it over the past several years, as well as some others, over the past several years. I think we both would like to be in a position to just post at our own leisure and not have to worry about the headaches of moderating.

 

[OUHoops]

3.) Email Joe Castiglione and Lon Kruger and form a partnership with the University to make ouhoops.com the OFFICIAL site for OU basketball.

We've been doing this for almost eight years now and I've been going strong on Twitter for about three years. I can't remember ever getting a compliment from the university. They would probably be more happy if this thing went away, to be honest. Also, as someone mentioned above, they would want to censor all the negative opinions and that wouldn't go over well with you guys.

Edit: Your post did contain some good info and I'll look into it.

 

[Big Old Booger]

I'll admit, No. 2 is an issue for both Ada and I. I hope he doesn't mind me saying this. The moderating stuff is a chore. Both of us have grown tired of it YEARS ago.

I was done with it early on in the board's history. I don't mind seeing a wide range of opinions and fans from other teams. I even can stand the ocassional troll if it's funny and clever. The hatefulness though that develops between posters is bothersome and leads to tough decisions and lots of headaches.

Thankfully, Ada has stepped up and dealt with it over the past several years, as well as some others, over the past several years. I think we both would like to be in a position to just post at our own leisure and not have to worry about the headaches of moderating.

If you need more moderators then try to get a few more. We have quite a faithful 40-50 posters, and about 20 of us are here year round though I tend to not stop by as often in the summer. I'm more active from October to May/June.

I'm more of a database guy instead of app code but I can slog my way thru it usually and find the issue and correct. I would be willing to help with that if needed. I think Globecode above would be the best resource for this but I bet a few of us who are in IT can jump in when needed.

 

[CoachTalk]

I really like our simple setup we have.

 

[thebigabd]

Option A.) No more moderators. Establish anarchy and have a panel of trusted board members have the ability to take care of trouble-makers if it becomes bad, but this is not a regular chore. Make it a once a month thing to review behavior and other issues, ban people, etc. Go from a daily chore to a once a month deal done by a group.

Option B.) Get more volunteer mods, and OUhoops and Ada take on a higher role of doing mostly nothing but guiding the new mods when they have questions. Or do nothing all together. If Ada wants to head out to pasture and just be a normal fan again, nobody would have a problem with that. He's earned it!

 

[CoachTalk]

Option A.) No more moderators. Establish anarchy and have a panel of trusted board members have the ability to take care of trouble-makers if it becomes bad, but this is not a regular chore. Make it a once a month thing to review behavior and other issues, ban people, etc. Go from a daily chore to a once a month deal done by a group.

Option B.) Get more volunteer mods, and OUhoops and Ada take on a higher role of doing mostly nothing but guiding the new mods when they have questions. Or do nothing all together. If Ada wants to head out to pasture and just be a normal fan again, nobody would have a problem with that. He's earned it!

I like option b. Except Ada heading to pasture!

 

[AdaSooner]

I'll admit, No. 2 is an issue for both Ada and I. I hope he doesn't mind me saying this. The moderating stuff is a chore. Both of us have grown tired of it YEARS ago.

I was done with it early on in the board's history. I don't mind seeing a wide range of opinions and fans from other teams. I even can stand the ocassional troll if it's funny and clever. The hatefulness though that develops between posters is bothersome and leads to tough decisions and lots of headaches.

Thankfully, Ada has stepped up and dealt with it over the past several years, as well as some others, over the past several years. I think we both would like to be in a position to just post at our own leisure and not have to worry about the headaches of moderating.

I don't mind at all. You spelled out the part I left out in my post on thebigabd's thread. As you know, I actually "retired" two years ago, but came back when I didn't want to leave you short handed.

Moderating a fan board is a thankless job. Mods have to be dedicated or crazy or both to give their time freely so posters can express their opinion on a variety of topics. I have never had a problem with that. I enjoy intelligent, sensible discussions myself.

It's the mean spirited posters who feel they have a right to say anything they want I don't like. Posting on a free board should be a privilege, not a right. Yet some who come here, especially after a loss, seem to be determined to ruin the experience for everyone. My tolerance level for people like that is not nearly as good as it used to be. That's what I meant when I referred to myself as a "cranky old man" on thebigabd's thread. To be perfectly honest, I don't like the person I have become.

 

[coolm]

I lost my tolerance level for the negativity after moderating years ago. I still like the person I became even if the rest of them didnt. No one needs that kind of crap.

 

[Smash Williams]

Or we could just call up boca and he could get Steve Nash to help out

Boca has more money than Nash.

OUHoops, bubby...Boca's your white knight.

 

[stormspencer]

If you guys set up a "gofundme" account or a donation account, I would happily oblige with some monetary help.

I would also help moderate, but unfortunately, I would have to take a Xanax about every other game in order to do an effective job while trying not to lose my mind with this team.

 

[coolm]

what type of money are we talking about?

 

[AdaSooner]

what type of money are we talking about?

OUHoops said he will post it when he gets an estimate on the upgrade.

 

[ByronHoustonsSweatyPalms]

what type of money are we talking about?

10 cents a post.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[usedtobe1]

I tried to get a "ballpark" estimate of what it would take to upgrade to the most current version of vBulletin software. Some of my estimates are based on my experiences with IT software contracts. I also inserted my opinions/recommendations, and assumptions based on my years of IT management. I could be off base on my assumptions and OUhoops has a better perspective of where we stand with vBulletin.

I assume OUhoops is hosting the service on an old PC he uses as a server, and probably is in his house or place where only he has access to among us users of rhe Wayman Tisdale board. This means he has to personally install upgrades as necessary, or trouble shoot any problems.

The most current version is vBulletin 5 Connect + Mobile Suite Bundle .... plus probably a couple of desirable add-on's. I'm guessing the one-time costs to be ~ $500. Most software contracts require 20% yearly maintenance of the "then-current license fee". Assume $100/year. OUhoops is probably paying maintenance for our old version out of his own pocket every year......

An option I like is to host the service in the Cloud. It's something that major corporations are doing more and more of ..... example is ServiceNow for Helpdesk software. The service is called vBulletin Cloud and cost $180/year. They would host the service (eliminates need for keeping and maintaining a local server), they would be responsible for installing all upgrades (assume migrating from old version to version 5 including existing historical data) and perform any trouble-shooting and maintenance (takes burden off OUhoops). That translates to $700 this year (maintenance not required for first year) and $300 beginning in year 2 and every year thereafter.

Bottom line: $500 one-time cost plus ~ $300/year annual fees ($100 annual maintenance plus $180 for cloud hosting).... only $180 ongoing in year one. There might be periodic one-time costs if we upgrade to a newer version .... version 5 to version 6. We're talking $700 this year if we go with my suggestions. These are just my guesses, but we then need to figure out how best to share the cost burden.

Note: We might be able to negotiate a better price....... but this is just meant to add perspective of costs.

http://www.vbulletin.com/en/purchases/

 

[sperry]

Would happily chip in financially.

Also, if OUHoops is sick of running the site, I implore him to hand the keys over to someone else. This is one of the best message board communities I've been a part of. I would hate to see it die.

 

[OUHoops]

I tried to get a "ballpark" estimate of what it would take to upgrade to the most current version of vBulletin software. Some of my estimates are based on my experiences with IT software contracts. I also inserted my opinions/recommendations, and assumptions based on my years of IT management. I could be off base on my assumptions and OUhoops has a better perspective of where we stand with vBulletin.

I assume OUhoops is hosting the service on an old PC he uses as a server, and probably is in his house or place where only he has access to among us users of rhe Wayman Tisdale board. This means he has to personally install upgrades as necessary, or trouble shoot any problems.

The most current version is vBulletin 5 Connect + Mobile Suite Bundle .... plus probably a couple of desirable add-on's. I'm guessing the one-time costs to be ~ $500. Most software contracts require 20% yearly maintenance of the "then-current license fee". Assume $100/year. OUhoops is probably paying maintenance for our old version out of his own pocket every year......

An option I like is to host the service in the Cloud. It's something that major corporations are doing more and more of ..... example is ServiceNow for Helpdesk software. The service is called vBulletin Cloud and cost $180/year. They would host the service (eliminates need for keeping and maintaining a local server), they would be responsible for installing all upgrades (assume migrating from old version to version 5 including existing historical data) and perform any trouble-shooting and maintenance (takes burden off OUhoops). That translates to $700 this year (maintenance not required for first year) and $300 beginning in year 2 and every year thereafter.

Bottom line: $500 one-time cost plus ~ $300/year annual fees ($100 annual maintenance plus $180 for cloud hosting).... only $180 ongoing in year one. There might be periodic one-time costs if we upgrade to a newer version .... version 5 to version 6. We're talking $700 this year if we go with my suggestions. These are just my guesses, but we then need to figure out how best to share the cost burden.

Note: We might be able to negotiate a better price....... but this is just meant to add perspective of costs.

http://www.vbulletin.com/en/purchases/

Great info. Thanks.

 

[usedtobe1]

This link outlines the primary competitors to vBulletin:
https://itxdesign.com/vbulletin-vs-xenforo-vs-ipb/

Interesting discussion on the pros and cons of each product. Add a 4th option of BurningBoard:
http://www.webmastersun.com/threads/9626-XenForo-vs-IPB-vs-vBulletin

Because of the prevalence of forums using vBulletin, the probability of more easily migrating historical data from vBulletin version upgrades instead of between products, lack of time to evaluate the options, etc. I would lean towards staying with vBulletin. Plus I really like the concept of Cloud hosting and turning over the burden of everyday hosting to someone else.... thus easing the day-to-day technical tasks off of OUhoops' shoulders.