Welcome to the new........

[ZacFields]

First off I'd like to say thanks to those of you who have been patient with the site being down today for a little while.

Secondly, I want to reaffirm that right now you are looking at a stock phpbb 3.0. I have a LOT of work to do on this! However, initially I won't be doing a lot of work to it because phpbb 3.0 is still in beta stages, so until it comes out of beta, only minimal work will be done. But I promise you all, this is going to be good.

Zac

[ZacFields]

Along with that last post, I've TEMPORARILY switched us back over to a black background. Originally we had a white background set up to represent our new domain name. However, I decided that it would be too much stress on everyone to try to learn how this new forum software works while at the same time trying to get used to a new color scheme.

Okay, spend some time getting to know the software and it's capabilities. I'm going to be performing some upgrades to the forums to make everyone feel at home, but those will show up on a day-by-day basis.

Also, we'll be moving soon to the shared host, but that should be a seamless transition.

Zac

[TURBOWHT]

Its going to take a little getting used to. but i think i already like the layout better then the old site. Alot easier to read in my opinion.

[ZacFields]

Yeah for sure. I like how the avatars and such are on the right side, thus putting the most important part of the forums in better view: the posts!

One thing I am going to make sure to get is a better "recent topics" function. That's something we're all used to so I would like to make sure thats one of the things I put back on.

Thanks for your support Turbowht. I've got some spare time on my hands so this should be fun. Should see somethin' new every day.

Zac

[black88gt]

Yeah for sure. I like how the avatars and such are on the right side, thus putting the most important part of the forums in better view: the posts!

i personally dont like it being on the right side. its extremely counter-intuitive considering just about every forum has that information on the left. just my .02

[krustindumm]

I vote for no more opening screen. open straight to the forum list like it does currently.

[biohazard]

I'd have to say nay about the avatars on the right hand side. It would be nice to be able to glance left to see who posted what. That and the 10 other forums I check on a regular basis are all on the left.

[TURBOWHT]

I have a few suggestions but I dont think signatures should be eliminated or at least limited to no pictures. Big bulky pics really make it hard to read. Have alot of skipping and stuff. just an idea.

[Drifte]

it loads fast, but i really miss some of those functions cru had that i took for granted. the quick reply box, the shout box, the recent posts. But this is neat lookin, i was ready for some change. avatars on the right make more sense, but just dont work with every other forum being on the left. but its jdm yo.

[slobalt]

take some getting used to but it looks good. I'll anticipate the changes as you go.

[DragonUSMC]

Wowo i didnt expect it to be up this soon... things on the right are going to mess me up for awhile but i'll get used to it... its is JDM fo sho!

I think we should switch the colors soon though... dont want people getting used to this and then switching that too =(

[ZacFields]

Yeah we are definitely going to end up with a lighter-color background. I just wanted to give people a week or two to get used to the navigation of this new forum and then throw in the color change. For some reason when it was white background, I was even having trouble navigating through here.

Also, we haven't yet moved down to the shared hosting server. Once that is done, the domain name will actually change to "IowaAutoForums.com" and crunderground.com will just point here instead of being up in your address bar

Zac

[TbTalon94]

Going to take some getting used to but I kinda of like it already. The stuff being on the right is ok, again will just take some getting used to. What you could try to do Zac for the signatures is get some type of code that will only allow one signature pure thread. So say someone posts like 4-5 times in the same thread...their signature (mainly if they have a picture) will only show up on their first post. That will cut down on space used for a million signatures and will increase load times. The black and yellow may get a little un-easy on the eyes. The user names also seem kind of small at the top of their posts. Like you actually have to look to see who posted and try to distinguish when the new post starts and the old ends. Just some Ideas.

-Trevor

[rysbrnr]

I do like the quick loading of this new setup. Are you planning on incorporating some of the conveniences of the old style? ie: quick reply, link to latest post, etc.etc? Like someone said previously, I wouldn't mind seeing a limit on avatar size and limited pic size in signatures. No offense Dustin.... but the post of that dude is kinda tall and makes more for extra scrolling when reading posts... ya know? Limited avatar/signature sizes make for a more uniform appearance.... just my .02

[DustinsDuster]

it loads fast, but i really miss some of those functions cru had that i took for granted. the quick reply box, the shout box, the recent posts. But this is neat lookin, i was ready for some change. avatars on the right make more sense, but just dont work with every other forum being on the left. but its jdm yo.

yeah, i miss the quick reply and recent posts as well. is there any way we can get those functions on this board style?

i dig it Zac, keep up the good work

[ZacFields]

I do like the quick loading of this new setup. Are you planning on incorporating some of the conveniences of the old style? ie: quick reply, link to latest post, etc.etc? Like someone said previously, I wouldn't mind seeing a limit on avatar size and limited pic size in signatures. No offense Dustin.... but the post of that dude is kinda tall and makes more for extra scrolling when reading posts... ya know? Limited avatar/signature sizes make for a more uniform appearance.... just my .02

Basically to sum up the entire problem of our old software is this: It was free, but expensive as hell to run. I loved all the features, but it came with a lot of stuff that was completely unneccesary. I definitely like that people are noticing the speed increase of these new forums. I was spending $80/month out of my own pocket for at least the last 6 months to make the old site as fast as it was, and it still really wasn't that fast. The hosts were telling me that the amount of SQL queries we were running per hour was simply staggering, and telling us that a dedicated server was in our future. That was the point where I was thinking "are you flipping kidding me?" A $125/month dedicated server for a relatively small forum of only about 400 regular viewers? That's completely unheard of. Realistically our traffic would need to increase 5-fold before I could justify getting a dedicated server.

But while our old software had hundreds of little bells and whistles that we completely 100% never used, it definitely had a good handful (and seriously like 5 or 6) modifications that were of good use. Those 5 or 6 things I will definitely be incorporating into these forums over the span of a few months. Quick reply will be added just as soon as I can, and we will be looking into adding a few more things as they become available for this new software.

I want to get the garage up ASAP but that is going to take some work so everyone will have to be patient about that. I still have all the database information from the CR:U garage so if all goes to plan we won't be losing any of it. Now, that's far from a promise, though. We will have to see how things play out before I can give you a clear-cut estimate of when and if I can get a fully functional garage in here with no problems and no lost data.

Well there's your updates for this evening. I am glad people are enjoying the new site.

Zac

[tylers88]

This is awsome Zac I really like the new lay out of everything

[melhoneybee]

I'm loving it Zac.. good work. I didn't think we were gonna get it moved this fast... but the sooner to get the changes and modifications the better! Thanks again man for everything you do for us!!!

[ZacFields]

Thanks everyone. I am pretty pleased with the look of the new forums and will get some modifications added soon. I think this software is really close to coming out of the RC stages and hopefully a final will be released soon.

Once the hosts finally move the site to the new shared server, we'll be accessing this site by going to IowaAutoForums.com (or CRunderground.com if you prefer, they both will work)

Zac

[NewSpeedSteed]

All I can say is "what took you guys so long!?"

LOL, just playing... took a little longer than you expected but doesn't everything in life take longer than what you plan for? Oh well its not a big deal... I'm really pumped for today now that I have IAF (not really missing CR:U anymore). But I was checking everyday (sometimes 3-5 times) to see if it would load but I got the "request 80 server down" or something like that. I did today too... I saw the address change from cedarrapidsunderground.com to iowaautoforums.com but it didn't take me here so I had to type in http://www.iowaautofroums.com to get here.

And might I say that the site looks awesome Zac, I really like it. It IS a little Halloween themed or thats how I thought it looked but I like it. I'm just stunned I guess everything is so new and awesome. Thank you Zac, I'm sure you and everyone have put a good chunk of time into creating this for us.