Can't Reach Forum Admins, How Can We Help this Site?

[scorp508]

I've been trying to get in touch with anyone who runs the forum and www.zr1netregistry.com, but have been unsuccessful so far. I've sent emails to webmaster@zr1netregistry.com and president@zr1netregistry.com.



I was recently at an event with several new ZR-1 owners and registry members. Many expressed problems being able to register their vehicles on zr1netregistry.com. I am also affected as it appears the required modules will not load.


modules.jpg


There was also a shared concern over the old v3.8.11 of vBulletin being used on the forum given it is very much out of support and also lacking modern vBulletin features such as but not limited to tagging users and liking posts. I have a post on it here: https://zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=35246


Is there any way some of us could band together to bring the site into a supported vBulletin state? Some of us new members work in the technology industry and may be able to provide some assistance.


Thank you very much for any connections folks can help make.

[Mikey]

Hopefully Mark will see your message soon. He?s always got a lot on his plate.

[HAWAIIZR-1]

I agree it is garbage and one of the reasons why I do not frequent it so often. If the board members can look into upgrading the site. There must enough membership funds to do something better?


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

[scorp508]

Originally Posted by Mikey

Hopefully Mark will see your message soon. He?s always got a lot on his plate.

I hope so, we just want to help in some way. I worry about all the knowledge built up over the years on this site somehow going *poof*.

[A1990]

I will make sure at our July meeting we discuss both the ability to registry vehicles and the forum upgrade. We weren't tracking version 6.x and what it can do for us.



I assure you funds are not the issue.


If you have technical abilities please reach out to me at treasurer@zr1netregistry.com Would appreciate discussing our technology needs with you.

[Vette Guy]

scorp508

Thank you! While I have not received your email (I triple checked), rest assured all the history on this site is of the utmost of importance to us. As such, we have not upgraded to the later and problematic versions of this software. Similar to CF, we've stayed on the last version of the 3.x platform. (I checked their site on 7/9/2024 and they are also still on V3.x, however they've modified it on their own). We will research V6.


Regarding our registry, during the last upgrade of our main website software and modules by our contracted developer, this capability was omitted and we missed our opportunity to identify the omission before we accepted the work.
That said, we do update the registry often during membership reporting and renewals via our membership management software. It is our intent to have this capability reinstated during the next upgrade, which we discussed at this evening's Board of Director's meeting.


Feel free to PM me, as I'm interested in any and all ideas you have to make our websites better!

Regards,
Mark

[scorp508]

Originally Posted by Vette Guy

Thank you! While I have not received your email (I triple checked), rest assured all the history on this site is of the utmost of importance to us. As such, we have not upgraded to the later and problematic versions of this software. Similar to CF, we've stayed on the last version of the 3.x platform. (I checked their site on 7/9/2024 and they are also still on V3.x, however they've modified it on their own). We will research V6.

Thanks, Mark, I just got back from vacation and was pleased to see your response. I wonder if vBulletin Cloud would be an option to also consider, so if there are problems it is up to vBulletin to correct. The pricing doesn't look too bad depending on what this site's monthly bandwidth is.

Hopefully, fingers crossed, if it was earlier versions of v4/v5 with issues maybe they've worked through them. At least I'd hope so all these years later, but you never know.

I myself work for Microsoft. I get nervous when customers I support sometimes lag far behind on versions, sometimes for valid reasons I can't blame them for, as the institutional knowledge of what it takes and sometimes access to intermediate version binaries can become hard to find when the time does eventually come to get onto a more current edition.

It is our intent to have this capability reinstated during the next upgrade, which we discussed at this evening's Board of Director's meeting.

Thanks for the background. Glad to hear it'll be fixed in the future.

[ZBrink]

Originally Posted by HAWAIIZR-1

I agree it is garbage and one of the reasons why I do not frequent it so often. If the board members can look into upgrading the site. There must enough membership funds to do something better?


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

Zach Miller and I are hot on this topic right now. Two biggest issues we have to tackle:

1) As I understand it, the dataset from the Registry website is close to 100% separate from the dataset of the forum i.e. two separate logins entirely. It's truly two separate "memberships". We have to figure out a way to reconcile and sort of combine these two datasets into one site. We currently do not have a feasible solution but are working to figure it out. We welcome input from IT pros on this.

2) Preservation/backup of the the forum data, updating to the latest 'v Bulletin' software, and migration is simply A LOT of work. We are also looking at other forum software platforms not related to 'v Bulletin'. If any of you have solid examples of other forums, not necessarily car related, please show us!

[scorp508]

I appreciate Zack^2 taking on this challenge. If I can be of assistance somehow, I'm more than happy to throw my hat into the ring.

1) I don't have an answer either, but does vBulletin or other forums options support Okta, Entra ID, or other central Identity Access Management platforms? Perhaps that may open up a set of opportunities on how to redevelop the database side of things if we know the forum can handle the same IAM.

2) Yes, a ton of work, well stated. Preservation/Archival of this information in an alternate form would also be comforting.

I would also add a semi-related item...


3) Ability to reach admins/etc. and get a response. During the process of trying to reach someone to discuss this aging forum, as well as trying to reach board members during the nomination/voting process it was like sending email into a black hole even when sending to multiple published addresses. Whatever workflow is in use today feels like it is not working if members cannot get a response from any of several board members and/or if board members say they never received the mail, and it also was not in their junk folders.

[ZBrink]

Originally Posted by scorp508

3) Ability to reach admins/etc. and get a response. During the process of trying to reach someone to discuss this aging forum, as well as trying to reach board members during the nomination/voting process it was like sending email into a black hole. Whatever workflow is in use today feels like it is not working if members cannot get a response from any of several board members and/or if board members say they never received the mail, and it also was not in their junk folders.

This is merely a glitch, albeit an important one. We have resolved a portion of it. If you use the "Contact" section of the Forum, both Zach and I now receive those emails. We are still working on the rest of the formal @zr1netregistry.com email addresses which all board members have. Our first official board meeting is tonight and we look to have that fixed this week.