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This is an update on some of the stuff currently going on at Apolyton, the administration's current projects, etc.
Forum upgrade
Our highest priority at the moment is upgrading the forums. Currently, we are using a heavily modified version of vBulletin 2.0.3. We are looking at upgrading our forums to vBulletin 3 - that is, vB 3.6 or 3.7. Efforts to that effect have been ongoing for quite some time now. We do have a test version of vB3 running and all the basic functionality is operational but most of the advanced and semi-advanced functionality isn't working. Upgrading the forums is a very difficult process. Briefly, some of the points making it difficult are:
* No automatic upgrade tool exists for a move from a version as old as 2.0.3. to vB3.
* Apolyton is using a heavily modified version of vB - there are lots of tweaks that have been added over the years. Some are 3rd party hacks downloaded from respective websites, others have been developed in-house.
* Civgroups is a feature developed here at Apolyton that needs to be ported over. Some of the functionality that civgroups provide exists in vB3, some doesn't. Unfortunately, a lot of hand-coding is needed when transitioning as a "straight" move to vB3 usergroups for this system is not possible.
* Likewise, PLUS subscriptions need to be transferred to the new forums - the subscription information along with the working benefits of having a subscription, etc.
* The database structure differs considerably between 2.0.3. and the current versions of vB, and many further changes to the database structure have occured during our years of forum usage.
* Apolyton interfaces features and the overall Apolyton "look" need to be transferred to the new forums.
That's a quick description of the hurdles we're facing. This thread has a more in-depth discussion of some of these problems.
Gramphos is continuing heroic work on this entire mess. The vast majority of work on this upgrade is done by him, although he does only have limited time available to devote. Thanks to Gramphos for continuing work with this huge undertaking.
At the present time, we can't give an estimate of when the new forums will be up. It's not that we don't want to, it's that we can't predict when we'll be ready to switch. Rest assured that it's currently viewed by the administration as a matter of highest priority, so we will continue work on the upgrade and will launch as soon as possible.
As always, we welcome volunteers to assist with the migration. People with the desire to help and a knowledge of PHP and SQL are welcome to apply to help with the effort.
Civ4 coverage
While I'll be the first to admit that the activity in our Civ forums isn't as great as it used to be, we've made definite improvements with regards to Civ4 coverage in the last few months. CyberShy has compiled interactive reference sheets for Civ4 and both expansions. Nugog and RobWorham are continuing with the BtS TriLeague Tournament, the seventh game of which is about to go live shortly. 90 people have joined the TriLeague civgroup so far and we consider the tournament to be a success.
Forum user statistics
With special greetings to DrSpike, here are some statistics about forum users.
Users registered in 2007: 6178
Valid accounts registered in 2007: 4715 (approx)
Here, valid accounts registered means that the account has been activated and is not banned (ie, being a spambot). Out of these 4715 users, 724 have posted.
As for users who joined in 2007 and have been active. The number of accounts registered in 2007 that are valid and have more than 10 posts is approximately 110. The actual number is slightly lower because a few old-timers (such as WesW or CapTVK) have an incorrect 2007 registration date reported for them.
There are 22 accounts registered in 2007 that have more than 100 posts. With the 2 abovementioned people's wrong profile dates, the actual number here is 20. Congratulations to b etor for having the mosts posts out of people registered in 2007
A bit more traditional stats. 745 people have posted within the last month, 339 or 45% of them are posters with a post count higher than 1000. 555 people out of those 745, or or 75%, are long-time members as in people who joined before 2006.
Forum upgrade
Our highest priority at the moment is upgrading the forums. Currently, we are using a heavily modified version of vBulletin 2.0.3. We are looking at upgrading our forums to vBulletin 3 - that is, vB 3.6 or 3.7. Efforts to that effect have been ongoing for quite some time now. We do have a test version of vB3 running and all the basic functionality is operational but most of the advanced and semi-advanced functionality isn't working. Upgrading the forums is a very difficult process. Briefly, some of the points making it difficult are:
* No automatic upgrade tool exists for a move from a version as old as 2.0.3. to vB3.
* Apolyton is using a heavily modified version of vB - there are lots of tweaks that have been added over the years. Some are 3rd party hacks downloaded from respective websites, others have been developed in-house.
* Civgroups is a feature developed here at Apolyton that needs to be ported over. Some of the functionality that civgroups provide exists in vB3, some doesn't. Unfortunately, a lot of hand-coding is needed when transitioning as a "straight" move to vB3 usergroups for this system is not possible.
* Likewise, PLUS subscriptions need to be transferred to the new forums - the subscription information along with the working benefits of having a subscription, etc.
* The database structure differs considerably between 2.0.3. and the current versions of vB, and many further changes to the database structure have occured during our years of forum usage.
* Apolyton interfaces features and the overall Apolyton "look" need to be transferred to the new forums.
That's a quick description of the hurdles we're facing. This thread has a more in-depth discussion of some of these problems.
Gramphos is continuing heroic work on this entire mess. The vast majority of work on this upgrade is done by him, although he does only have limited time available to devote. Thanks to Gramphos for continuing work with this huge undertaking.
At the present time, we can't give an estimate of when the new forums will be up. It's not that we don't want to, it's that we can't predict when we'll be ready to switch. Rest assured that it's currently viewed by the administration as a matter of highest priority, so we will continue work on the upgrade and will launch as soon as possible.
As always, we welcome volunteers to assist with the migration. People with the desire to help and a knowledge of PHP and SQL are welcome to apply to help with the effort.
Civ4 coverage
While I'll be the first to admit that the activity in our Civ forums isn't as great as it used to be, we've made definite improvements with regards to Civ4 coverage in the last few months. CyberShy has compiled interactive reference sheets for Civ4 and both expansions. Nugog and RobWorham are continuing with the BtS TriLeague Tournament, the seventh game of which is about to go live shortly. 90 people have joined the TriLeague civgroup so far and we consider the tournament to be a success.
Forum user statistics
With special greetings to DrSpike, here are some statistics about forum users.
Users registered in 2007: 6178
Valid accounts registered in 2007: 4715 (approx)
Here, valid accounts registered means that the account has been activated and is not banned (ie, being a spambot). Out of these 4715 users, 724 have posted.
As for users who joined in 2007 and have been active. The number of accounts registered in 2007 that are valid and have more than 10 posts is approximately 110. The actual number is slightly lower because a few old-timers (such as WesW or CapTVK) have an incorrect 2007 registration date reported for them.
There are 22 accounts registered in 2007 that have more than 100 posts. With the 2 abovementioned people's wrong profile dates, the actual number here is 20. Congratulations to b etor for having the mosts posts out of people registered in 2007
A bit more traditional stats. 745 people have posted within the last month, 339 or 45% of them are posters with a post count higher than 1000. 555 people out of those 745, or or 75%, are long-time members as in people who joined before 2006.
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