Your Opinions - Is It Wise To Upgrade Now?

[ldk]

Hello,

I started a YaBB SE forum 5 months ago and it's grown so much that I now have over 4,000 registered members and get over 120,000 unique visits per month. If anyone is interested in looking, it's here:
http://www.craftster.org/yabbse/index.php

I'm really looking forward to SMF. Especially the full integrated "multiple attachment" feature as my forum is an arts and crafts "how to" site and pictures are very important. (People now host them on the web host of their choosing right now but this can be problematic down the road as the website may move, the host may change it's hotlinking policy, etc, etc.)

I'm wondering if any of you have opinions as to whether it's safe to upgrade to the latest Beta (I think it's at Beta 4 now). I have a lot riding on this site -- so much work has gone into it -- so I don't want to muck things up. I'm sure you can all understand.

My forum would benefit so much from members being able to post multiple pictures so I really don't want to keep them waiting too long!

Any opinions you have would be greatly appreciated!

[pulpitfire]

you can always back up your data-base, and move your old forum to another folder.  from what i've heard, the upgrade is safe.  you'll have to buy a charter membership to get the software now, though public release seems imminent.

[Slack]

I started a YaBB SE forum 5 months ago and it's grown so much that I now have over 4,000 registered members and get over 120,000 unique visits per...

Wow, that is very impressive for a 5 month old forum!

They've done a great job on SMF and I've got it live on my site - but it is much smaller than yours.  Pege, is right, the public release of Beta 4 should be very soon.  But here is what I'd do, -- your forum is big and busy enough to justify a charter membership, just for support in case you have any problems.... it is worth the peace of mind.   Install a practice copy of SMF and start learning about the changes in SMF, in the template system etc. (there are big changes in how things are structured)  While you are doing this, you can keep an eye out on the public beta release and watch for bug reports (there was a small bug in the charter release of Beta 4 in attahcments BTW, been fixed).  If it looks good (whcih I'm sure it will), convert your forum.  Your users will love the changes and you'll have a better understanding of SMF.

cheers,
slack

[pulpitfire]

how did you advertise your site to get that many people there that quick?

[ldk]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm gonna try to buy the charter membership now. Good idea to make sure I can get  support.

how did you advertise your site to get that many people there that quick?

Initially I talked about my new forum here and there on a couple of other popular forums that deal with the same subject. It really is *different* than those forums in many ways so people didn't think I was trying to steal members away. It has lots of important features that those other forums don't have.

Another thing that helped early on (after about 1,000 members) was that I asked BoingBoing.net (a popular pop culture blog) if they would want to mention my site and they did. That was huge because after that Gawker mentioned it, it was the Yahoo Pick of the Day, USA Today's Hot Website of the Day, HOW Magazine's Top 10 List for December, etc.

Crazy huh? I never thought this would happen! Guess I discovered a niche!

Now if only I could find a way for it to allow me retire early ... 

[Slack]

Crazy huh? I never thought this would happen! Guess I discovered a niche!

I'll say... Absolutely remarkable!  Congratulations (I think )  A few questions if you don;t mind.  Who is your host and are you on a dedicated server?  Did you have a computer background before this forum venture.  Scratch that, I'm reading about you on your website - which is very professionally done and no wonder.    You need to be written up as a Yabbse success story or something.

Now if only I could find a way for it to allow me retire early ...

With your traffic, it seems to me that you would attract all kinds of advertisers that would want to be on your site.  Your new craft it seems is crafting forums to accomodate large numbers of users.

Great story, thanks for sharing it!

cheers,
slack

 

[ldk]

Why thanks!

Yeah, I do work in software -- but easy multimedia stuff like Director and Flash. PHP and mySQL are totally new to me but luckily you don't need to understand too much to customize YaBB SE a little here and there.

Oh and funny you asked about hosting. I'm wrangling with this right now.

I'm actually on a regular ol' shared hosting plan with Aplus.net. It's a pretty basic package but they offer "unlimited bandwidth" (with fine print) which would otherwise probably be costing me a ton. My site uses almost 2 GB of bandwidth per day.

Since I really want to start enabling members to attach multiple pictures to their posts I'm now looking into moving to a dedicated server or a virtual private server. Mind you, it never crossed my mind that I'd have to bump up to this level one day! I first signed up with a $5/month host which gave me 5 GB bandwidth per month and I remember somehow thinking that I'd NEVER reach that limit. I have lots to learn...

Anyone have hosting recommendations while I'm at it?! I'm kind of liking Servint.com right now. But, wow, is it confusing. One friend told me to only go with a machine that has RAID 5 access and not SCSI (or was is IDE). Hmmm. Another friend told me just the opposite. It's greek to me!

[[Unknown]]

Well, I feel the need to say one thing.  It's unpopular, but someone has to say it.

This is beta software.  While it's great that you want to try it, and by no means am I saying you should not... I feel the need to warn you that it still has bugs - and by no means will I promise it does not.  If you are comfortable with all of:
  - using beta versions of software.
  - updating your version frequently, in case there is an irreversible or security bug.
  - dealing with your forum members reporting bugs in the forum...

Then I would certainly recommend it.  If not, I would recommend you at least wait until well after the public beta to upgrade your actual forum (although doing test upgrades and the like is nothing but beneficial even before this!) so as to wait until the major bugs are found for sure.

While I'd love to see another forum running SMF, I just want to make sure you're aware of the risks - as well as everyone else.

-[Unknown]

[Yeehaw]

Well, I feel the need to say one thing.  It's unpopular, but someone has to say it.

This is beta software.  While it's great that you want to try it, and by no means am I saying you should not... I feel the need to warn you that it still has bugs - and by no means will I promise it does not.  If you are comfortable with all of:
  - using beta versions of software.
  - updating your version frequently, in case there is an irreversible or security bug.
  - dealing with your forum members reporting bugs in the forum...

Then I would certainly recommend it.  If not, I would recommend you at least wait until well after the public beta to upgrade your actual forum (although doing test upgrades and the like is nothing but beneficial even before this!) so as to wait until the major bugs are found for sure.

While I'd love to see another forum running SMF, I just want to make sure you're aware of the risks - as well as everyone else.

-[Unknown]

Actually, you just described WinXP....

In any case, beta be damned - full speed ahead!

I double-dog-dare you to release SMF!

[[Unknown]]

LOL, people are going to be quoting this post or something probably but it won't be long now.

And yes, I know I described Windows XP - that is very very true.  but I guess you probably shouldn't get me started on Microsoft .

-[Unknown]

[Yeehaw]

And yes, I know I described Windows XP - that is very very true.  but I guess you probably shouldn't get me started on Microsoft .

-[Unknown]

Preaching to the choir..I'm a MS network admin by trade (I do Solaris x86 for fun and email servers).
My motto is "Ain't Skeered"

[ldk]

Well, I feel the need to say one thing.  It's unpopular, but someone has to say it.

This is beta software.  While it's great that you want to try it, and by no means am I saying you should not... I feel the need to warn you that it still has bugs - and by no means will I promise it does not.  If you are comfortable with all of:
  - using beta versions of software.
  - updating your version frequently, in case there is an irreversible or security bug.
  - dealing with your forum members reporting bugs in the forum...

Then I would certainly recommend it.  If not, I would recommend you at least wait until well after the public beta to upgrade your actual forum (although doing test upgrades and the like is nothing but beneficial even before this!) so as to wait until the major bugs are found for sure.

While I'd love to see another forum running SMF, I just want to make sure you're aware of the risks - as well as everyone else.

-[Unknown]

OK. I think I may become a charter member and get the Beta but just install it in a test area for now. Thanks for the words of caution.

[Slack]

OK. I think I may become a charter member and get the Beta but just install it in a test area for now. Thanks for the words of caution.

Always a prudent thing to do.  But I'm betting since you are a computer pro - the public beta will be irrisistable. 

Anyone have hosting recommendations while I'm at it?! I'm kind of liking Servint.com right now. But, wow, is it confusing. One friend told me to only go with a machine that has RAID 5 access and not SCSI (or was is IDE). Hmmm. Another friend told me just the opposite. It's greek to me!

No, sorry.  I love my host (powweb.com) but they only do shared servers.  It sounds like you need to go to a dedicated server - especially if you are going to make it easier (and encourage) folks to up/download pictures... saves on the pain of moving twice, expect the best.

It used to be that the throughput on a SCSI hardrive was much better than IDE, but they now make IDE's that perform just as well.  It's worth learning a little bit about fault tolerance (Raid) and harddrive speed - but your host would probably educate you. 

cheers, and good luck!
slack