Meadowmufn

I am now the proud owner of new forum software. There will likely be downtime tonight. I'll post a notice at least an hour before I start the migration (probably around 8pm PST) and will be locking the board once it starts.

I think I've settled on IP.Board. There will be downtime this weekend as I install and migrate the old board. I'll post a notice and lock the board when the migration is going on (probably late Friday night).

Oh yeah, I completely broke the downloads section. LOL! I guess I know what I'm working on tonight.

Keep the input coming. Good stuff. Hoss, part of the reason I'm switching is because VBulletin makes is so hard to customize the look and heaven forbid I apply security patches, it obliterates half my changes. They've really gone downhill since they were bought and I finally reached my limit of frustration. The gallery has always felt kind of kludged together. It's supposed to use the forum template, but it just doesn't work well. So, it'll be nice to have everything in the forums with consistent look and feel. Oh, I remember, the another reason I mentioned the marketplace is because I loved the download feature it had that would be great for the artwork/crosswords/etc Hoss has made available on occasion. It kept track of downloads, versioning, etc. Really slick. I may be able to find a plugin/mod for that though. Or we can just stick with having the downloads in Wordpress for now. Which.... I had better go check still works. I made some changes to the site this weekend and may have broken some links. LOL.

Thanks, Rog. That means a lot to me to know that folks appreciate what I've done. Two years ago, I had been unemployed for two years, no unemployment benefits left, no income, hardly any money in savings, very ill, and living off credit cards. I came very close to turning the lights off on this place, but it was folks like you that made me determined to keep HazzardNet up and running. It's hard times like those that teach you who your friends really are and who they aren't.

It does. Agreed, but I thought I'd throw it out there in case anyone else was interested. Yes, but it's kind of a mess. Apparently, both IP and XF can import Photopost galleries into the forum, which I think will be better in the long run. I just mentioned it because they have modules for that and we have occasionally had folks on here trying to sell Dukes stuff, probably not enough to warrant buying the module. Plus, I just realized I'd have to make some configuration changes to the server to accommodate it, so that's out. IP comes with a built in chat room for 5 users. Do we need more? The next level is 20 users. So do I. I'll do what I can when things get set up and then people can make suggestions for changes.

Also, for comparison, here are the appearances of the demos after customizing them. This is the IP.Board demo. I will probably be able to customize it further if I purchase it, but this is as much as I could do with the demo. This is the Xenforo demo. Much easier to customize the look without having to touch CSS and HTML files. What do you guys think?

I'm trying out demos of each software I'm considering to see how they are from a usability standpoint and also in terms of customization and administration. Both Xenforo and IP.board have their plusses and minuses. There are, of course, add-ons for each and I'm wondering what, if anything, you guys would like. Blogs? Gallery? Marketplace? Wiki-type functionality? Anything I missed? Do any of you still use the chat room? There are options to integrate a chat room too, which might be easier than the current third party option. Also, what do you guys think of the current color scheme? Keep it? Too dark? Now's the time to give your input. I should be making a decision later this week.

Sounds like great fun, Hoss. It's been a long time since I've been to a car show. My dad used to take me a lot when I was younger. And then there were Cruisin' 50's nights every Friday in the summer. Fun times.

That's one of the few I've been looking at. Another one I'm looking at is xenforo.com.

Just a heads up, folks. I'm seriously considering switching to another forum platform and am currently investigating alternatives. I will, hopefully, be making the change sometime in the next week, so there may be some intermittent forum downtime. I want to provide a better experience, including mobile, for everyone and the current software is not as flexible as I would like. If you have any suggestions or would like to provide some input, feel free to post here or PM me.

It's a shame they tore Laramie Street down. I got to explore it for a few minutes while on the set of the last reunion. I wish I'd had hours instead of minutes. It was very, very cool, especially for fans of westerns.

I got to see Jimmie in action on the Dukes reunion set. Not only was he amazing in front of the camera, but I swear he knew more about the workings BEHIND the camera than anyone else on the set. His knowledge was amazing, such a talent. I'm so grateful he invited me to see that.

He and Burt were good friends. I think Burt even attended his acting school. He told Jimmie back in the 70's that in a few years he'd be a household name and he was right.

Thanks, Roger. He was quite a character, definitely one of a kind. I was fortunate to spend a lot of personal time with him, fishing, talking, joking, discussing creative endeavors, and just plain carrying on. Jimmie would still tear up when he talked about Sorrell. I know they're together once again and that makes me smile.

I had written this many years ago in response to a fan fiction challenge involving death. I never finished the story or published any of it, but I thought this section of it would be appropriate to share now. It originally included Taps and a 3 volley salute, led by Sheriff Little, but I thought that part of it would be too sad. Maybe someday I'll publish the whole thing. But for now... The Funeral of Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane http://www.hazzardnet.com/blog/2015/04/08/the-funeral-of-sheriff-rosco-p-coltrane/

Jimmie wrote this poem a while back. This is how he wants us to remember him... with laughter. http://www.hazzardnet.com/blog/2015/04/08/remember-me-with-laughter/

I don't think Jimmie had fallen on hard times. I won't comment on his net worth, except to say I'm pretty sure that website is inaccurate. He did move from a mansion in Oviedo, FL to other homes over the years and I think they may have "downsized". Jimmie once told me he wanted to make sure he left plenty for his family and knowing him, I'm confident he did. And that's all I'll say about that.

Jimmie died this morning at the age of 88, after a brief illness and double pneumonia. As many of you know, I was fortunate enough to know Jimmie personally. As soon as I have time to gather my thoughts, I will post something on the main page of Hazzardnet. In the meantime, feel free to leave your fond remembrances of him here.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

I may be moving to another host. There have been quite a few outages over the last year, most only an hour or two, but since the first of the year there have been two major outages. Getting tired of it.

As some of you may have noticed, the site was unavailable most of yesterday. There was a major outage in the datacenter for my webhost, affecting thousands of sites. Things have been resolved, but you might experience some residual connectivity problems until things settle.

Ha! I was going to mention that you might not be able to tell the difference from my regular posts. I'm feeling pretty darn good, all things considered.

Chuaigh sé go maith. Tá mé ag resting sa bhaile. (Yay, Google translate.) It went well. I am resting at home. If I post anything nonsensical in the next few days, that's the drugs talking. LOL.

Today's the day. I'll let you guys know how I'm doing as soon as I can. Wish me luck!