NL UK - Upgrade of forum software - Stage One

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Hi,<p>Some of you may be aware that we are planning a major upgrade to the forum software in the close season.<p>Before we can complete this, we are going to upgrade the existing forum software. Please read through this message to the end - especially the bit marked WHY???<p>We have a beta version running at this address http://www.nonleague.net/beta/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi<p>Please give it some bashing and post any comments that you have in any of the test forums that you see.<p>There is one MAJOR difference, and quite a few minor ones...<p>First of all AVATARS - these are the images that appear to the left of your posts for members - as AVATARS are now an integral part of the software and not a 'hack' it means that you will need to choose a new AVATAR when the new software goes live. If you do not, then simply no avatar will be displayed - not a major problem, but warning you in advance, will hopefully prevent any posts saying 'Where's my avatar!' <p>Secondly there are several differences to the layout - WOL is back, and the Polls are different. So be warned that the usual buttons might not be in the same places etc. It also means that for a short period of time, ALL forums will look very similar.<p>As with any software upgrade we will loose a few features temporarily, but most of these will return after a few days.<p>If I, or indeed you, do not discover any major problems with the new version, then I will implement it one day next week - there will be a downtime of about 30-45 minutes.<p>You do not need to register in the BETA / Test forum, as posts are allowed from un-registered people, in the first forum - but you can register to test out some of the member features.<p>

***WHY???***<p>The new software that we will be using is very different, and in order for me to complete the transition without any major downtime or hiccups, I need to stabilise the existing forums first. This includes removing many of the hacks that are in place. Fortunately with this new version many of these hacks have been made part of the software, so many functions will remain.<p>The new software will also work differently as far as the customisation of the various club forums is concerned, as a result I need to put all these back to a standard design for the time being.<p>This version is still beta software, although it is running on several sites without problems. We do not envisage any major problems here. If you do spot any problems please let us know.<p>Timescale - at the moment I cannot give you any timescales for the new forum software, but I envisage it being during May, although I might have to extend this to June, depending upon how testing goes. This is stage one. When we do transfer to the new software all posts, forums, and member details will be moved as well.<p>If you have any questions, please reply to this message.