Evolution of the 'Fish

[Silverfish]

Intro: if you're reading this for the first time, you can follow the evolution of Silverfish Longboarding.com's features and technical aspects from the "third server", forward. In July, 2006, we changed forum software and servers. The rest follows, chronologically...

Well, it looks to us like the forum migration is complete, and "mostly" under control as we've switched from the phpBB software to vBulletin. If you've noticed new features, that's one reason for the change. You may also have noticed less spammage, and that's not because we've been working overtime but because vBulletin is better than phpBB at helping us control it. Of course, it's an ongoing process, and we are very appreciative of your tips and requests on things that we haven't got working just right or that could be better. We especially appreciate the input we've received from some vBulletin admins.

You've probably also noticed that the Forums and the Front Page are finally "faster". The forum speed is a direct result of our Gun for Hire, DanZ (who's posting as "admin"). Dan has tweaked and tinkered with both vBulletin and our new server (the "Ultra Gnar 9000") to really improve our speed. Since our available bandwidth has vastly increased, you might also notice the ease with which greater numbers of us are online at any given time.

We're not done. In the coming days and weeks, we will continue to evolve the 'Fish. Here are some highlights and coming attractions:

Evolution of the Forums:

--"Skate Crews" Forum: we're going to create a new forum to carry threads for the big skate crews already running monster threads in Events & Sessions. Any crew with a post count over 1,000 will get their thread moved to "Skate Crews" and that's the only way to get a thread in there. We'll move the currently eligible crew threads in there to start, and those SoFla skaters will likely be the next to make it.

--Places to Skate: this forum may get a renaming, to something like Locations & Spots, or maybe not. (We ain't askin' ya, just lettin' ya know ). Either way, it's been getting much more activity later, and we're going to transition it to handle more "sessions" discussion.

--Events: Races, Jams & Clinics: we're going to try to focus this killer forum more on events. The first step is to pull the monster crew threads out, and the second will be to ask you all to focus posting in there on either promoting a coming event or talking about it after it happens. We think this will maximize the fun and utility of this area.

--MountainBoards go Hybrid: we need to cut a few forums to make room for more and to tighten our focus. The off road boards forum will be merged into the Hybrids forum, with an appropriate notation.
--Surf, Ski, Links to Go: think of it like tearing off a band-aid...some things have to happen. We're going to expire the Links, Surf and Waterboard forums.

--Hunting for Moderators: we've got two Forums with "hosts" right now: Tricks/Tips and Slalom. We're going to be looking for some additional "Forum Mods" and maybe also a few "General Mods" to assist with the humdrum of daily dru...er, the exciting opportunities to delete spam. We have some people in mind and will be contacting you. Feel free to contact us, too.

Evolution of the Front Page:

--New Software: we have our eyes on a new front end software that will allow us some better formatting, give us "one login" functionality (how many know there are three logins, now?) and improve our experiences as members of the 'fish. The look will change, but the feel should be about the same.

--New Features: the Ultra Gnar 9000 laughs at even the massive d/l bandwidth we had to support things like the Concrete Wave Evolutions DVD and the large library of videos on the 'Fish. Check it out, now. Well, the new software will enable us to carry more content and to download it even faster. Our Calendaring system will be far more robust, and we're working to provide Member Benefits you'll really enjoy. More on all that, later.

In the meantime, we're having a great time upgrading Silverfish Longboarding as we evolve to the next level, together! What a ride!

Go Skate!

[Sal Pic]

What about the "Links" Forum? That thing ever used? Most people place their links in another section.

Go SoFla Skaters!

[Silverfish]

Okay, the Offroad-to-Hybrid migration is done, and the Links Forum esta' tostado. Ha muerto. No Hay Mas. The Water and Snow forums are read-only for a leeetle bit, prior to "departure". The Skate Crews Forum has been created, but is inactive for now.

We really like hearing your thoughts and hope this "leaning out" is enough to compensate for the new stuff coming!

[Silverfish]

We're reading your PM's and thank you for them.

We'll go further with the implementation of the items listed above, today. Please use the Site Suggestions forum to let us know how we're doing on site features and design. Input is always appreciated!

Of course, for issues related to the functionality of our hot, new, different softwares, please feel free to use the section of forums related to the migration. DanZ/"admin" will be on it.

[lettucefresh]

for the skate crew thread, the Mile High Rollers don't have a single contiuos thread with 1000+ plus posts, but we do have lots of threads, and lots of posts!

[Silverfish]

Yeah... we think our initial idea for a threshold of 1,000 is too high. That would make for only 3 crews right now. We think that a lower threshold will be more attainable, but still representative of a "very active group", so we're gonna go 500.

[RustyBurrito55]

I'm really looking forward to all these changes. And I thought the Fish couldn't get any better!

Silverfish, Did you get my PM?

[Mojo Jojo]

I'm bummed about the loss of the Surfing forum. I came to Silverfish as a surfer looking to improve his surfing through skateboarding. I visit alot of surfing forums already and if I had not found Silverfish's Surfing forum, I probably would have listened to their advise on buying a Sector 9. I still hope there's room in this forum for Surf styled skating for those of us who aren't into sliding, bombing, or pool riding.

[EBasil]

Tons of room for surf-style skating!

[McPhenius]

Woot! No Hills here in SoFla. except our trash dump turned city park, but tons of skaters!

[Sideburnt]

Love the new spring cleaning, still reckon a Skate art area is needed though.

[RustyBurrito55]

Love the new spring cleaning, still reckon a Skate art area is needed though.

I've seen some skate art in the videos and photos section. Maybe a subforum in the videos and photos section? I don't think there would be many posts.

[Voyce]

This is amazing! I only come here when I can't skate or bike and hadnt seen how cool my Silverfish has become until just now! I may not come often but i love this place and rely on it when i do get online. The "evolution" is great and I totally see the differences and the improvments that are coming too!

[Directive0]

Just thought I'd check in!

This migration has been pretty painless to me! Dan, you've done a great job, I went through old posts and still found everything to be as it was. Theres a few bugs here and there, but everything I've tried is working awesome! A few things still missing here and there, but I'm pretty impressed. I've seen a few things like this go down, and never this well orchestrated!

Well done guys!

[Silverfish]

How about some updates? Well...

--We're working hard, behind the scenes, to finish the new "front end" that we're going to replace the software we run the Front Page and Galleries on. DanZ is jammin' and we're installing capabilities to do some cool stuff. The banner ad size is going to change a little, so if you're a supporter of the 'fish look for an email on that, soon.

--We've added some "permissions" for user ranks above Fresh Fish in the Buy/Sell forum. That was a good suggestion, and we took it. After you sell your item, you can close the thread, among other things.

--We've added some permissions for the post whores we know and love as "Order of the Fish" and above. They'll have to find 'em...

--The Torrent server for the 7 gigs of vids we host is down. We oopsed something and we're going to fix it for the "opening" of the new front end. It's just a pain in the neck, so we're putting it off for a week or more. We found a newer Torrent software that will let us use the Ultra Gnar 9000 to seed at a higher level when users aren't participating...so it will be faster for you all when you're downloading a vid that's not "super hot" to other members.

--Hot apple pie with sharp cheddar on it, RULES.

[RustyBurrito55]

I can't wait!

[El Beefo]

--We've added some permissions for the post whores we know and love as "Order of the Fish" and above. They'll have to find 'em...

Dang, looks like I have to get busy!

[Silverfish]

An update:

--Our man Danz is working hard with your favorite dready to finalize our front page renovation. Not much to report, other than that we're working hard on that.

--We've just tinkered with the "Smiley" menu and the Icons we can click for Post headings. We think this mixture is more useful.

--If you haven't gone into your USER CP and activated the FULL WSIWYG EDITOR, please do so! You will love it, and it's fast.

--We'll post a call for custom avatars in another thread. Check that out!

--rhubarb pie, no strawberry.

[Silverfish]

Further updates as the 'Fish evolves:

--We're very close to the conversion of the "Front Page" from the software we currently use to a brand new, "Joomla!" engine. This will look better, function better from the perspective of a visitor, function better from the perspective of Admins, and will be much easier to control/update for spammer issues, etc... that have forced us to turn off the "reviews" catalog section.

--To prepare for the new front end, we've moved all the threads related to the new Forum Software into the "Site Suggestions & Bugs" forum. We did this to "clear out" the space we'd used for that to become a "New Front Page" info and debugging forum. We really appreciated all the helpful and insightful input we received when making the painful switch to vBulletin and we think the site works great because of you doing it. We think the Front Page swap should be less intrusive (since it's been planned more thoroughly), but expect a few things might crop up. We look forward to you finding it and helping us out.

--We asked for persons to volunteer as Moderators of particular forums, and several people stepped up to offer their time. We have good news regarding the "time": this new vBulletin software and our upgraded security have cut spammers down to about 1% of what we used to deal with, every day! We will be sending PM's to some of you, today, about Moderating.

--Apple Pie is also very good with melted, sharp, cheddar on it.

[Silverfish]

One more thing: when the Front Page flips over to the Joomla!, there will certainly be some black air...we'll be "down" for several minutes. Don't be alarmed, this is only a test.