BigTreesTech Going Down?

[bigtreestechman]

I am about to start the process of attempting to port the forum over to the new platform.  During this process, I will be disabling the ability to post to this forum.
If the process is successful, then later today, or tomorrow, I will be switching over to the new site and completely disabling this one.
When complete, the URL for the new site will still be http://www.bigtreestech.com.  If you've bookmarked the site before and get an error message, just make sure you lop off the /home part of the URL.
The new site is by no means fully functional.  I still need to make some changes in my information server (the machine that uploads pictures and weather station data).  Until those changes are done, the pictures and weather graphs on the new site are just placeholders.

I expect that next few days to be a bumpy road… but, you never know 

By the way,
Thank you for the recent donations!
joe

[Anonymous]

Sample page looks great Joe, thanks again for your hard work!

[bigtreestechman]

if you want a sneak peek at what's going on in the development process…
https://bigtreestech.com/wp2013/
Don't bother bookmarking that page.  It will soon (hopefully) be gone.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of the hard work and service you provide us with!  Good luck – I will check back next week and see if there is a new site.  Thanks – Pam

[bigtreestechman]

I made some good progress today 
That's good news and bad news.
Good news because it means I'll be working on making the switch-over soon.
Bad News because to make the switch-over means shutting down the existing site and forum while I stumble through the process and debug problems that arise.  If I'm lucky this will only take a few hours.  If I'm not so lucky it could take a few days.

Hopefully by the end of the weekend we'll have a new forum up and running, the Live From Dorrington snapshots will be running, and I hope to have 24 hour graphs of weather conditions available.

Things that might be broken:
You might have to request a new password.  With the new system you will be given a password, not sure if you can set one yourself.
Current Conditions text may come later.
Forecast information will definitely come later, though I can easily provide a link.
Road Conditions will definitely come later, though here also, I can provide a link.
Formatting of the site will be an ongoing process for a while.

[Anonymous]

Quote:

Yes, thanks for all your work.  While I don't often comment,
I do read the site quite regularly to keep up with things.
Again thanks and good luck with the reincarnation.

Gary..

ALL BTT Users!
While I am sure that Joe appreciates the words of thanks, he has just put a project on hold to move BTT to another platform and keep providing all of us with a communication medium we have come to depend on, or at least enjoy.  He is doing this as a voluntary endeavor.

I think anyone who would miss this site if it went away should move their cursor to the upper right corner on the site and click the Donate button and demonstrate their appreciation for Joe's hard work from the financial perspective….

[bigtreestechman]

FYI, PG&E just showed up, up the road a bit and it looks like them may be replacing a pole.  If updates stop happening it's probably because we lost power.
joe

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Joe, for all your work on this great site!  It's been tremendously helpful in multiple ways.

[Anonymous]

Yes, thanks for all your work.  While I don't often comment,
I do read the site quite regularly to keep up with things.
Again thanks and good luck with the reincarnation.

Gary..

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for all of your hard work Joe!

[bigtreestechman]

ARGH!
I had a browser crash just after my last post and lost an hour's worth of work on the forum converter.  Fortunately, it will go faster the 2nd time through.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I'm exhausted just reading what you have ahead of you!  Thanks, Joe, for all the time you spend on BTT…it is a fabulous website!

[bigtreestechman]

Thanks for the offers of help folks!
Due to the imminent threat of getting shut down, I put my other project on hold for a bit to at least get the foundation built for the next incarnation of BigTreesTech.
Like most descriptions of reincarnation, the new BigTreesTech is going to come back as a different animal with only a vague resemblance to the old version.  Similarly, at birth, the new incarnation will not be fully mature or functional.
Enough with the metaphor…

Here's where things stand.
I have installed the new WordPress platform,  (which you can't see yet).  I have a couple raw themes to work with as well.
I have installed a new forum on top of that platform.
I am in the process of creating a forum converter template to use with the new forum that will hopefully bring over the old forum users and messages.
Once that is done, I am likely to flip the switch.  At that point I'm sure there will be a lot of disappointed users because, to continue with the metaphor, we will be moving from an experienced, talented, though old and dieing friend to and infant crying out to the world for the first time.

Please bear with me,
joe

[Anonymous]

Quote:

Thanks, Allen.  I think in the long run that might make things a bit more difficult rather than less.  My web host is not talking about kicking us off so much as disabling a particular piece of software that the current site relies on heavily.  I have a pretty good idea as to what I want to do with the next incarnation of BTT but unfortunately I have another big project that is behind schedule at the moment.  A temporary fix that I may put in place will include a new form but unfortunately many of the current site's features will have to wait until I have more time for development work.
On the positive side, this is a migration that I have been wanting to do for several years and my web host just gave me the kick in the butt that I needed,
joe

OK. Let me know if you change your mind.

[Anonymous]

i'd be happy to set the site up under vbulletin.  i used to run a huge vbulletin forum.  its the defacto standard for forums.

[Author]

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