# BBS Member Code



## dioxide45 (May 12, 2010)

Does this ever change? I know that when it was changed in the past it cause an Armageddon. However if it was changed regularly people would get used to it and everyone would know and remember how to update it.

Guess it doesn't really matter. Some people may be walking around as members when they are really just guests, but I was just curious.


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## Makai Guy (May 13, 2010)

Yes, an update is long overdue.  I'm sure there are lots of folks shown as TUG Members on the BBS whose memberships have actually expired.

But you cannot imagine the grief each update creates for the staff.  

I do agree, though, that if this were done on a more regular basis, it would eventually become "business as usual" and no big deal.


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## dioxide45 (Apr 26, 2014)

It has been about four years since I posted this question, but a thread in the Sightings forum brought an issue to light a little more related to this. Changing the BBS Member Code more regularly wouldn't prevent the issues discussed in that thread, but making sure that paid members are the only one that have access to the forum is still an important issue for paying members.


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## TUGBrian (Apr 28, 2014)

dont disagree with anything youve said.

Sadly the focus right now is on the new website development and rollout...which im hoping should come sooner rather than later.


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## dioxide45 (Apr 28, 2014)

TUGBrian said:


> dont disagree with anything youve said.
> 
> Sadly the focus right now is on the new website development and rollout...which im hoping should come sooner rather than later.



So will the new website integrate with the BBS removing the need for the BBS Member Code?


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## TUGBrian (Apr 28, 2014)

no, the paid member only section of the site and the BBS will remain on separate servers.

although I would like to implement some features that cross platforms for members...but for now as far as you guys will see, it will be an aesthetic only change (with the technology on the back end thats mostly hidden from view).

for those that have seen the previews and work we have done sofar (volunteers/mods/etc)...reviews are fantastic!


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## Passepartout (Apr 28, 2014)

TUGBrian said:


> Sadly the focus right now is on the *new website* development and rollout...which im hoping should come sooner rather than later.



Woo-Hoo! That's pretty exciting!


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## dioxide45 (May 13, 2016)

Just bumping to see if this would get any consideration this time around?

Is it possible that for a period of time two member codes show BBS users as TUG Member during a transition phase? Use the old code along with a new code and a BBS announcement that as of X date, the old code will become inactive.


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## Makai Guy (May 14, 2016)

dioxide45 said:


> Just bumping to see if this would get any consideration this time around?
> 
> Is it possible that for a period of time two member codes show BBS users as TUG Member during a transition phase? Use the old code along with a new code and a BBS announcement that as of X date, the old code will become inactive.



Yes, that's the way it was set up 'way back when, so the required programming is already in place.  There is a transition period when either old or new code works.  When the transition period is over only the new code works.

But it still creates a major upheaval.


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## dioxide45 (May 22, 2016)

Could you not have a script run on the BBS to update the BBS Member Code for at least those people that have the same email address registered on TUG as they do on the forums? So the only people that would have problems are those that used different email addresses for the forums and the TUG website.


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## Makai Guy (May 22, 2016)

dioxide45 said:


> Could you not have a script run on the BBS to update the BBS Member Code for at least those people that have the same email address registered on TUG as they do on the forums? So the only people that would have problems are those that used different email addresses for the forums and the TUG website.



The bbs runs on self-contained commercial bbs software.  The company producing the software knows nothing about the separate TUG member data base information and provides no means of accessing external data bases.  The two separate systems are just not interconnected.  That's why we had to come up with the BBS Member Code work-around in the first place.

If we were able to compare a user's TUG and TUGBBS records to see if email addresses matched and do something with that information, we could go one better and just automatically set a BBS user's record to TUG Member or Guest depending on whether a current valid TUG Membership was found.  Believe me, we'd love to have this degree of consolidation between the two systems, but nobody has figured out how to do it.


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## dioxide45 (May 23, 2016)

Makai Guy said:


> The bbs runs on self-contained commercial bbs software.  The company producing the software knows nothing about the separate TUG member data base information and provides no means of accessing external data bases.  The two separate systems are just not interconnected.  That's why we had to come up with the BBS Member Code work-around in the first place.
> 
> If we were able to compare a user's TUG and TUGBBS records to see if email addresses matched and do something with that information, we could go one better and just automatically set a BBS user's record to TUG Member or Guest depending on whether a current valid TUG Membership was found.  Believe me, we'd love to have this degree of consolidation between the two systems, but nobody has figured out how to do it.



I wasn't sure if you could pull all of the email addresses out of the BBS database and match those up with all of the email addresses registered as TUG members. Then if the BBS sat on a SQL database you could run a SQL script that would wipe out all of the BBS member codes of users without an email address registered on TUG and then update the BBS members code for all of those registered on TUG. The main thing is, are both of the databases in SQL? If so, can you run a script against the BBS SQL database? Even if they aren't, you may still be able to run a scrypt to do as I describe. It is just semi automating what the user can do themselves. You still just have the issue of people who use a different email address on the BBS than they do on TUG.


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## TUGBrian (Jun 12, 2016)

the plan at this point is likely to dump vbulletin altogether and upgrade to a much better and more feature rich forum software (xenforo).

sadly those who have upgraded to vb4 and vb5 report some pretty unflattering issues and complaints after the upgrade, so vs deciding on which one of those to upgrade from vb3 to...xenforo is reported to be a clearly better alternative.

and thankfully, it will allow us to simply upgrade while keeping all posts, user data, forums, etc.  so noone will have to re-register or change anything at all!


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## dioxide45 (Jun 12, 2016)

TUGBrian said:


> the plan at this point is likely to dump vbulletin altogether and upgrade to a much better and more feature rich forum software (xenforo).
> 
> sadly those who have upgraded to vb4 and vb5 report some pretty unflattering issues and complaints after the upgrade, so vs deciding on which one of those to upgrade from vb3 to...xenforo is reported to be a clearly better alternative.
> 
> and thankfully, it will allow us to simply upgrade while keeping all posts, user data, forums, etc.  so noone will have to re-register or change anything at all!



I believe that XenForo is what Disboards upgraded to not too long ago. While I wasn't a fan of it at first, I have started to get used to it. Though there are still some things that I don't like. I really like the UserCP feature of vBulletin where I can see subscribed threads and subscribed threads with new posts on the same page. On XenForo, I have to go to two different pages to see this same information. They have separate tabs for Watched Forums and Watched Threads. I also don't like that threads dissapear off of the Watched Threads page as soon as you read it. It only shows unread watched threads where the UserCP at least keeps them on there until you are logged out of the BBS. Not a big deal, just a nuisance. I haven't found a way in XenForo where it just lists all subscribed threads like on vBulletin. I did like that I didn't have to re-register and all prior posts and threads were retained when Disboards upgraded.

I just suggested that the BBS Member Code be updated since there are some great member benefits on the BBS and there are also plenty of people that are probably not members that are still using this. While I wouldn't think a lot of people would not renew, it is possible there are many out there. I also know how cranky people get when their moniker doesn't indicate "TUG Member". It seems that showing you as a member is important to people. Updating the BBS Member Code might spur a rash of renewals by people that are still showing as TUG Member but have not actually renewed their membership.


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## TUGBrian (Jun 12, 2016)

yep, looking at disboards its indeed a xenforo forum.

sadly any software upgrade that changes the interface and ways of doing things (which it would do even upgrading to later versions of vbulletin) are going to be challenging no matter how good the upgrade is.  

but we have to migrate, this software while still supported by vbulletin, is simply outclassed by the features and functionality of more modern forum systems.

not to mention the increased speed and usability and reduced load on the server...its just a much more efficient way of managing a very large forum.


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