IMPORTANT: NEW FORUM SOFTWARE picture attachment for all

[wollastoni]

Dear members,

Important communication :

For several years I have been trying to upgrade the Insectnet forum software which is provided by the company Proboards (chosen by Clark).
Unfortunately Proboards has never responded to our most basic requests and is now causing us additional problems:
- unwanted ads
- connection problems for some members
- message to the administrators threatening to close the forum for strange reasons that I will not reveal.
- Cloudflare bugs for some members
- more and more insane bills for the hosting of photos (although not many)

So I decided to change the software for the forum.

The new software will have the following advantages :
- possibility to attach pictures in the messages for ALL members for free
- better mobile version
- it will be an open-source software which means that I can optimize it with my technical team without waiting for the Proboards team if we need a new option
- small details improved
This new software is ready and has already been tested by the whole moderation team. Thanks to them for their many insights.

The only concern is that Proboards refuses any migration of topics and user accounts to another forum software...

This means that :
- the future forum will be open around June 1st on the new url : forum.insectnet.com
- you will need to create a new account on the new forum (keep the same username, it will be easier for everybody).
- the old forum will be closed to comments BUT will remain AVAILABLE on the address : archive.insectnet.com
- all members will be notified by email of the change in order to have the maximum of posts quickly on the new forum.

The change should take place around June 1st. I will keep you informed in this topic.

This is a big change, but I'm sure the ability for all members to attach photos will make the Insectnet forum more interesting and richer in substantive discussion.

Cheers
Olivier

[eurytides]

Sounds like some great new improvements. Thanks for all your hard work!

[wollastoni]

Yes, the ability to easily attach picture is very important, we will have much more live topics, as all members will be able to share their field, collection or spreading board pictures.

And keeping the archive forum is key too ! The old members of Insectnet remember how sad we all were when Clark failed to keep the first forum in an archive.

[lamprima2]

wollastoni, 
Thanks a lot for fixing the attachment issue,  while saving the archive.
It is really unfortunate, that we've lost the initial archive a while ago. 
At that time about 75% of Insectnet members believed in "Intelligent Design",
and the same percentage (a rough estimate) were excited about the Iraq War. 
Clark was extremely patient with us, I should admit.
We did not know about "Global Warming" yet...

[skandinavisk]

May 17, 2022 23:02:56 GMT -8 lamprima2 said:

 We did not know about "Global Warming" yet...

The Keeling curve started registering climatic changes back in the fifties... long time before the internet and also insectnet was a thing. Already 35 years before insectnet we knew about global warming, just nobody took it serious back then - and til now, for some.

Jan

[wollastoni]

For info, the new url for the "future old forum" is now in place : archive.insectnet.com .