Website Updates Coming

[J.A. Marlow]

This has been a while in the making, but I think we are getting close…

I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that there are some major website updates coming in the next few months. The entire site will be moving to a new CMS with new forum software. All user accounts will be saved as well as the posts already in this forum. So, don’t worry about the update resulting in having to register again or that the forums will be empty. Won’t happen.

Another big change is that the chat software will eventually move from X7-Chat, which will have problems as PHP versions continue to advance but the coding of the chat software does not. At the moment, we are planning on using the same chat software that is currently in use at Writing Groove. If you want to test it, here is the link.

Some of you know about Writing Groove. Well, with these changes the reasons for Writing Groove will be going away. So, this update will merge the two websites. When the new FM website goes live, the Writing Groove domain name will point to Forward Motion.

Have any questions? Ask away!

J.A. Marlow
The String Weavers, Salmon Run, Redpoint One series.

Writer alter-ego of Dreamers Cove

[Ashe Elton Parker]

Will there a heads-up link to the new site before the current versions of FM and WG go the way of the dodo so we have time to settle in?

Ashe Elton Parker
"Just love me, fear me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." ~ David Bowie as Jareth in Labyrinth
~*~
Member since 1998.
~*~

[Magic Seeker]

Thanks to all of you for doing the work!

Happy writing,
Deb Salisbury
The Mantua-Maker, Quality Historical Sewing Patterns and Books
www.mantua-maker.com

The Art of the Hoop: 1860 - 1869, Dress, Sewing, and Clothing Care Advice
https://www.mantua-maker.com/a---1860s-fashion.html

Dead Wizard's Loot: Wizard Whitewing #1
http://www.djsalisburybooks.com/Dead-Wizard-s-Loot.html

[J.A. Marlow]

Writing Groove will remain up until I’m absolutely certain that the new FM site is working and stable. That way we can use it for support in the interim.

When the main testing is over the new website will go active as the main site. At that point I’m hoping (HOPING) it will be an easy thing to move this site to a sub-domain under the main domain so it’s still active. That way if something catastrophic happens I can quickly move it back. Because I have to manually port new posts over to the new site from the old, there will be a certain point where all new forum posts will need to be in the new software instead of the old.

I hope that makes sense.

J.A. Marlow
The String Weavers, Salmon Run, Redpoint One series.

Writer alter-ego of Dreamers Cove

[Mooseythehut]

For Chat, will the Writing Groove Chat remain active and move over to FM with the existing logins or will we have to re-register at the FM site after the move?

[J.A. Marlow]

Mooseythehut wrote:

For Chat, will the Writing Groove Chat remain active and move over to FM with the existing logins or will we have to re-register at the FM site after the move?

Thanks for the question, Moosey!

I own the chat room that is currently at Writing Groove and can embed it anywhere. It is not tied into the Writing Groove user database, nor will it be tied to the FM database (although that might change in the future. We’ll have to see. It’s not something that will happen anytime soon.).

For a while, the Writing Groove chat room will exist at both FM and WG, and people can chat with each other from either website. This will be a great way to get hold of me if you are having issues with the migration.

Please note that the chat Writing Groove is using does not require you to register anywhere. However, if you register with an email address then you will have access to additional settings. But it’s all your choice.

If you have already registered with Writing Groove chat through the Minnit website, you will NOT have to register again. Your registration will still be valid, and your user name and avatar will appear like it should, even once both sites permanently merge.

J.A. Marlow
The String Weavers, Salmon Run, Redpoint One series.

Writer alter-ego of Dreamers Cove

[magicalbookworm]

Oh this should be fun to have a new forum. I miss dropping by here every night, same with the chat room.

[bonnie824]

Now nano camp is over and it’s awhile till November, I am glad to see a message from this site. Looking forward to seeing the new stuff.

[magicalbookworm]

I’ve really missed this site and the chat room when there were dozens of people there talking about writing and life.

[J.A. Marlow]

The work on the new FM site continues. I have all the major elements in place and am now working on the smaller items. My goal is to get the new site up and running before Nano. So far I am on track for that.

And I agree. It will be nice to have all of the activity centralized again. Hopefully we’ll have more visitors into live chat!

J.A. Marlow
The String Weavers, Salmon Run, Redpoint One series.

Writer alter-ego of Dreamers Cove

[magicalbookworm]

It’ll be nice to have everything in one place. I’ve joined a ton of writing facebook groups but everything is messy and it’s hard to find everything. And you hardly see everything that’s been posted. It’ll be fun to have a brand new site here and a brandnew nano site for the year.

[J.A. Marlow]

Big testing is done!

Software has now been cloned to the new FM site location, and is up and running.

For the next week will come more testing, and then I will do the big import of the users and forums from here to the new site. At that point I will be pointing the domain to the new folder and the new site will be live.

I’ll post here just before I do that final bit. Hopefully 24 hours before, but it might be less than that.

We are close!

J.A. Marlow
The String Weavers, Salmon Run, Redpoint One series.

Writer alter-ego of Dreamers Cove

[J.A. Marlow]

I had to update the PHP version used on the hosting site, as the old version used isn’t being updated any longer and has several big security problems. As you can see, it broke part of the current FM site. However, the new site is working just fine on the more secure version of PHP.

So, I’m giving notice. I’m porting over all of the users and forums into the new site sooner rather than later. If all goes well, the new site will go live within the next 24 to 36 hours. If it goes REALLY well, then it will happen sooner than that.

Here’s to hoping it goes smoothly!

CLINK!

J.A. Marlow
The String Weavers, Salmon Run, Redpoint One series.

Writer alter-ego of Dreamers Cove

[ErinMH]

So this is why I can see topics if I have a direct link or have them bookmarked, but if I go to a board, there’s nothing there! I hope it all gets straightened out soon — if I hadn’t visited this thread yesterday, I wouldn’t have had the address in history to check.

Thanks for all you’re doing!

[Ashe Elton Parker]

Yeah, I habitually do not bookmark topics, so I can’t keep up with the goals board much at all.

Ashe Elton Parker
"Just love me, fear me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." ~ David Bowie as Jareth in Labyrinth
~*~
Member since 1998.
~*~

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