In early August 2013, I became the new owner of the Nikon Cafe. This was not an easy decision for Patrick, but we agreed it was the best decision to keep the Nikon Cafe operational and growing. Some members might have noticed changes, but more are on the way. Some of the changes will not be noticeable, but most will be difficult to miss.
Some aspects of the Nikon Cafe will not change, the most important being the mission statement. The Nikon Cafe is, and always will be, a safe and friendly environment for the discussion of all things related to Nikon and photography. I promised Patrick that I would not change the nature of the Nikon Cafe that he and Frank created nearly a decade ago.
Here are some of the upcoming changes planned:
1. New server. The existing server is no longer supported by patches and upgrades and will be replaced on 28 November 2013. The new server is already operational and has been running concurrently with this server since early September 2013. Paul and I have been testing the new software baseline to ensure it meets the immediate and future requirements for the Nikon Cafe.
2. New software. The current version of vBulletin is no longer supported by Jelsoft and was superseded by subsequent versions. Unfortunately, the newer versions of vBulletin are too heavily integrated into social media sites, so we looked for a suitable replacement. We decided XenForo was the best solution for the Nikon Cafe, since its overall features can be fine-tuned to a much greater extent than any of the later vBulletin products, and it offers a nearly seamless import feature for the vBulletin database. Paul and I have tested this several times on various test platforms, and it works perfectly. When we migrate to the new server, we will also transition from vBulletin to XenForo. The Moderator Team has been working with the new Nikon Cafe configuration on the test server so they can become familiar with it prior to the change at the end of the month. XenForo is different than what you are accustomed to with vBulletin, but it has enough similarities that it should not be a challenge. The overall organization is similar to the current Nikon Cafe; however, more changes are planned for the fora presentation and order. I attached a screenshot from the test server that shows the working copy with very few threads and posts imported for testing.
3. Moderator Team. I made a difficult, and very unpopular, decision to change the Moderator Team. My decision was based purely on the desire for change and I am thankful for the selfless service the former Team provided. I hope you extend the same courtesy and respect to the new Team members as you did for the former Team members.
4. Tutiki. After the transition to the new server, we will monitor the load for a few months. If the new server can handle the load, we will bring the Tutiki out of hibernation and replace the link on the Nikon Cafe home page.
5. Photo Contests. The Moderator Team is putting the final touches on the next generation of the former Nikon Cafe Photography Challenge. The details will be announced soon after the transition to the new server is complete.
6. Donations. The donations feature has been permanently suspended. Since assuming ownership of the Nikon Cafe, only one member made a donation, which will be returned with my thanks. I will continue to fund the Nikon Cafe operating expenses without external assistance.
7. Cafe Store. I created an account at Cafe Press for members to buy various items with the Nikon Cafe logo. The items are priced at the lowest amount I could manage while minimizing a profit on the sales. The Cafe Press will disperse the meager proceeds from the sales quarterly, and I will announce the recipient charities each subsequent quarter. Feel free to offer suggestions for a suitable charity, as I do not want to keep the money.
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Some aspects of the Nikon Cafe will not change, the most important being the mission statement. The Nikon Cafe is, and always will be, a safe and friendly environment for the discussion of all things related to Nikon and photography. I promised Patrick that I would not change the nature of the Nikon Cafe that he and Frank created nearly a decade ago.
Here are some of the upcoming changes planned:
1. New server. The existing server is no longer supported by patches and upgrades and will be replaced on 28 November 2013. The new server is already operational and has been running concurrently with this server since early September 2013. Paul and I have been testing the new software baseline to ensure it meets the immediate and future requirements for the Nikon Cafe.
- The transition to the new server will start on 27 November 2013 at about 0800 UTC when we shut down the Nikon Cafe to backup the database and prepare for the final synchronization of the domain migration the following day. As both Paul and I have full-time jobs, we must balance our requirements to the available time
- To assist with the transition, the Administrator Team has been removing dormant user accounts and old threads. If you noticed a decrease in the membership number at the bottom of the home page, it’s due to removing thousands of dormant user accounts. The recent maintenance shutdown was required to repair and optimize the database, as well as reset the record counters for removed threads, posts, and members.
- When the new Nikon Cafe is turned on, it could take a while for the IP address to promulgate through the domain name servers. Please be patient with us during this transition.
2. New software. The current version of vBulletin is no longer supported by Jelsoft and was superseded by subsequent versions. Unfortunately, the newer versions of vBulletin are too heavily integrated into social media sites, so we looked for a suitable replacement. We decided XenForo was the best solution for the Nikon Cafe, since its overall features can be fine-tuned to a much greater extent than any of the later vBulletin products, and it offers a nearly seamless import feature for the vBulletin database. Paul and I have tested this several times on various test platforms, and it works perfectly. When we migrate to the new server, we will also transition from vBulletin to XenForo. The Moderator Team has been working with the new Nikon Cafe configuration on the test server so they can become familiar with it prior to the change at the end of the month. XenForo is different than what you are accustomed to with vBulletin, but it has enough similarities that it should not be a challenge. The overall organization is similar to the current Nikon Cafe; however, more changes are planned for the fora presentation and order. I attached a screenshot from the test server that shows the working copy with very few threads and posts imported for testing.
3. Moderator Team. I made a difficult, and very unpopular, decision to change the Moderator Team. My decision was based purely on the desire for change and I am thankful for the selfless service the former Team provided. I hope you extend the same courtesy and respect to the new Team members as you did for the former Team members.
4. Tutiki. After the transition to the new server, we will monitor the load for a few months. If the new server can handle the load, we will bring the Tutiki out of hibernation and replace the link on the Nikon Cafe home page.
5. Photo Contests. The Moderator Team is putting the final touches on the next generation of the former Nikon Cafe Photography Challenge. The details will be announced soon after the transition to the new server is complete.
6. Donations. The donations feature has been permanently suspended. Since assuming ownership of the Nikon Cafe, only one member made a donation, which will be returned with my thanks. I will continue to fund the Nikon Cafe operating expenses without external assistance.
7. Cafe Store. I created an account at Cafe Press for members to buy various items with the Nikon Cafe logo. The items are priced at the lowest amount I could manage while minimizing a profit on the sales. The Cafe Press will disperse the meager proceeds from the sales quarterly, and I will announce the recipient charities each subsequent quarter. Feel free to offer suggestions for a suitable charity, as I do not want to keep the money.
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