POLL: Do we need the DB? (Please Vote)

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:51 pm

Serious question...if this is working in its current state, is there any need to try to add all the old stuff back in and re-populate the whole shooting match?

Or are we better off just starting new and making this place hella awesome from scrizzle?

bryan · Post by **bryan** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:53 pm

AB_skin_test wrote:Serious question...if this is working in its current state, is there any need to try to add all the old stuff back in and re-populate the whole shooting match?

Or are we better off just starting new and making this place hella awesome from scrizzle?

Probably depends on the amount of work involved. It surely would be nice to have the archives here, especially since it is searchable now, but I wouldn't want Scottie or anyone else to spend umpteen thousand hours on it.

wrecks · Post by **wrecks** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:57 pm

Will people have to re-register anyway? I think it's preferable for people who don't visit here every day (or every week) to be able to post here again without the hassle of starting over.

bryan · Post by **bryan** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:00 pm

wrecks wrote:Will people have to re-register anyway? I think it's preferable for people who don't visit here every day (or every week) to be able to post here again without the hassle of starting over.

Scottie can say for sure, but I suspect his admonishment to not use your "normal" handle was in anticipation of being able to restore those accounts and the associated activity.

Post by **admin** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:02 pm

bryan wrote: . . . but I suspect his admonishment to not use your "normal" handle was in anticipation of being able to restore those accounts and the associated activity.

You are correct, sir.

Post by **admin** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:05 pm

wrecks wrote:Will people have to re-register anyway?

Depends (again) on how much vb5 screwed with the older database(s). If it/they can be restored properly, nobody should have to re-register. Significant *if*, mind you.

Shrew · Post by **Shrew** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:43 pm

I say let's just start fresh. Screw anything that might cause hiccups going down the road,

Test Ride the Sybian · Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:52 pm

ShrewToo wrote:I say let's just start fresh. Screw anything that might cause hiccups going down the road,

I think some people who wrote regular articles on the old front page might like to see their work back. It might be fun to occasionally cruise through an old thread like the 2008 Presidential election thread, or read Karina as it happened, or the day JFK got shot or something, but I personally wouldn't be heartbroken starting fresh. Then again, seeing some old classics might be fun. If some threads from Unknown's era survived the Great Swamp Fire of Ought Six or whenever, that would be nice, but I don't think much of Unknown's post are retrievable. But, I have no idea what any of that entails, so I leave that up to Scottie.

howard test2 · Post by **howard test2** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:40 pm

um, if we (and by we, i mean scottie) attempts to connect this board software to the various databases that hold the swamp archives, and memories, and it breaks,

then, we can just start anew, fresh, from scratch.

the cost of attempting to build the databases into this framework is, basically, zero (above and beyond scottie's efforts). a failure does not make starting from scratch any more difficult.

there is nothing to lose by trying to build a complete swamp. except the scottie's time and effort. which he is willing to expend. even giddy. he seems to like this shit.

nothing to lose, nothing to be afraid of. man in his quest for knowledge and progress is determined, and shall not be deterred.

(but why does rice play texas?)

wrecks · Post by **wrecks** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:53 pm

So we're not talking total protonic reversal here?

howard test2 · Post by **howard test2** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:11 pm

no one is suggesting crossing the mf streams, venkman

Post by **admin** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:50 pm

I could use as much feedback as possible on this. It's the biggest (and most complex) of the jobs to be done. Kindly chime in with anything that comes to mind on the matter. Thank you.

Steve of phpBB · Post by **Steve of phpBB** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:59 pm

howard test2 wrote:um, if we (and by we, i mean scottie) attempts to connect this board software to the various databases that hold the swamp archives, and memories, and it breaks,

then, we can just start anew, fresh, from scratch.

the cost of attempting to build the databases into this framework is, basically, zero (above and beyond scottie's efforts). a failure does not make starting from scratch any more difficult.

there is nothing to lose by trying to build a complete swamp. except the scottie's time and effort. which he is willing to expend. even giddy. he seems to like this shit.

nothing to lose, nothing to be afraid of. man in his quest for knowledge and progress is determined, and shall not be deterred.

(but why does rice play texas?)

This. It's not the end of the world without the database, but we have built up ten years of history here, and I would really like to be able to access it, if it can be done without extreme effort.

HDO45331 · Post by **HDO45331** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:24 pm

It would be really nice to go back. But I could live without that, as I would still have the memories.

But Jorts & cabbage soup, Pacer brawl in the stands, and Jerloma falling off the bridge would be nice to revisit.

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:58 pm

Yes, keep the database if at all possible. What are we without our words? I'll tell you what we are. We're just a bunch of, like, wordless things.

Post by **Sabo** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:04 pm

Any reason why we couldn't have the old DB as a read-only archive as a separate forum? That way, we could start new threads with links to the old threads and then start new conversations in the new forum.

Travzilla Beta · Post by **Travzilla Beta** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:31 pm

Preferable but not a deal breaker

bapo! · Post by **bapo!** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:44 pm

Travzilla Beta wrote:Preferable but not a deal breaker

It's a bit more important to me than that. I've started a bunch of threads, and I don't want to recreate them. You can't reproduce magic! And one thread about Connor McDavid or KPop in the Swamp's lifetime is probably more than enough.

(The last time our database was wiped out, I thought about making a clean break with this place. Unfortunately for you, Trav, I reregistered.)

A searchable, linkable database as Sabo mentioned would be better than nothing, tho.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 3:09 pm

Semplica Girls wrote:
Travzilla Beta wrote:Preferable but not a deal breaker
It's a bit more important to me than that. I've started a bunch of threads, and I don't want to recreate them. You can't reproduce magic! And one thread about Connor McDavid or KPop in the Swamp's lifetime is probably more than enough.

(The last time our database was wiped out, I thought about making a clean break with this place. Unfortunately for you, Trav, I reregistered.)

A searchable, linkable database as Sabo mentioned would be better than nothing, tho.

It'd be nice to have them somewhere, even if we could only link to them.

The DSG · Post by **The DSG** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:30 pm

I would also like the previous versions of the Swamp available. If not part of one giant Swamp, at least searchable and linkable.

This place is about the people and the previous Swamps are us.

Test Ride the Sybian · Tue Mar 12, 2013 7:53 pm

The DSG wrote:I would also like the previous versions of the Swamp available. If not part of one giant Swamp, at least searchable and linkable.

This place is about the people and the previous Swamps are us.

Really? I always thought this place was about the onions!

SlimChristian · Post by **SlimChristian** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 9:56 pm

Personally, I couldn't care less about the archives.

Johnny Hotcakes · Post by **Johnny Hotcakes** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:45 pm

I think the history is very important, though I have no clue how much time and effort it would take to get it operational again. It would be awesome, but it might not be fair to put it on Klozmodius. He has already done so much, and I hate to saddle him with additional demands. I trust the judgement of Klozmodius on this one.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:08 am

Without the old swamp or nu old swamp or whatever, we may have some problems getting the Fantasy Football League back up and running in proper divisions.

The Burglar · Post by **The Burglar** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:17 pm

restore the virgin jokes!

temporassy · Post by **temporassy** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:47 pm

Don't bury bronto's cherry!

Inanimate Carbon Rod · Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:30 am

If it's doable then why not?

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:56 am

Inanimate Carbon Rod wrote:If it's doable then why not?

One more cryptic vote to read about Bronto's virginity I guess.

Scottie · Post by **Scottie** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 1:15 pm

UPDATE: Late last night I tested out the most recent database, the one that was in use with the "upgraded" vBulletin version 5 software, on a dummy phpBB3 board just to see if I could integrate the DB with the forum software. It was decidedly not pretty. vBulletin reformatted the database to suit itself. Looked at it in its present state, it is completely unreadable (on the very few occasions it will load anything but a blank page).

If you want to know what it looks like, find a system file on your computer (a .DAT or .BAK for example), open it in NotePad or any simple text editor. You get this sort of gibberish:

½”dÓíÍ?”¤2µŒgj¶tûíÉ‚Þ—8‘… Â^|HÓnæ¨Â‚Ú¡öD™\m^¶Xˆ#ç` í:#TÈÉÊñ1E8åE¸œÜ¸¦Ù$©WÇPî¼nƒ]~o„[w? í´Ú`´çŸÔbcdùÁÅ üƒ€! åº‘B¨D`2€&€P@ðDyëWÀseØ.ðÝ’ñéÿ¡Í¿ÿ… éÙÍšäê$é˜¡ÚóÿQnï§jó¶GövˆÁÓå×³÷(¼a†¦… hÂÕæ „^,ÑøÉ’Xéôÿ[©¿ór=bŸÙÝìuàWºSiû>?yï`… ê½Q™7«¾f.UÒž>VˆcB,6ozºdè%"ÝýY*Ã©TˆÂ~… T ‡×s€±¢Ûh`¿Hyjë$‡AY1Ú˜€*ÿe«PR[ï«Å® ôˆy©ª×]9ÍA_—ùõ9€òòÜv¹‚ÎÐ×»€FëÄÙÈe.Eª’Y… ûÁp! å¦«¡!T"0²Å(¢Aà; LÇ>y*@*’‚W‘ÛÌìOMö/ð™u69÷µÁØ8-?ø}s1+… ü®Þ§«Xøãóv.! Ü]Õðz;µUå&7=V›`†Ò Îâ¡†[i¨ÒºM˜=Fì-@¶†©Z î›NeF1ÐÙÊäó)Ô;ÃÈÞê0 È®D]zúÄkÈT6z1oƒkjÜ^BLÊIÚ%ÃÑ‹aä°”—= *[;‹–Qµg“qƒ<òÆ²p=J¬³lÀöe·ÙN¯²*BTJïõ… x²±-‹)åÉ‰zÖ ^al–½Ò

Try to imagine tens of thousands of lines of that.

I'm trying to figure out how to roll back the database, if possible, to a pre-vb5 state. I'm not convinced even that will necessarily work as I've seen differing testimonies regarding a movement from vBulletin to phpBB. It is not by any means the same as upgrading from, say, phpBB2 to phpBB3.

So, yeah, it's getting frustrating but I'm still on it. A backed-up copy of the database, pre-vB5 upgrade, would solve it maybe. But unless there is a back-up somewhere in the ASmallOrange system, I don't believe we have one.

FredRomero · Post by **FredRomero** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:37 pm

The DSG wrote:I would also like the previous versions of the Swamp available. If not part of one giant Swamp, at least searchable and linkable.

This place is about the people and the previous Swamps are us.

I like this idea too, if it's possible and easier to do.

Post by **Shirley** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:37 pm

Scottie, are you saying we converted our database to a new format and didn't make a backup first?

Really?

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:47 am

They made a copy, he told me to delete it after the upgrade, only need to find it on the server.

Scottie, let me know if you have no luck and I'll try and contact the tech that did the upgrade and find where he stashed it.

ZMan · Post by **ZMan** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:34 pm

I say we copy/paste all the old posts into new posts manually, then backdate them through the admin panel.

TheHumanComa · Post by **TheHumanComa** » Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:38 pm

admin wrote:
bryan wrote: . . . but I suspect his admonishment to not use your "normal" handle was in anticipation of being able to restore those accounts and the associated activity.
You are correct, sir.

oh shit! did not get the memo about not using your normal name! can i delete this account or something?

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 12:45 pm

He's never mentioned it, but this sort of makes me hope bronto watches Riverdale.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 12:56 pm

Hey Rass, when I saw you bumped this thread I thought you were bragging about the time everyone voted to let you stay!!!

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 1:00 pm

I found some great stuff while looking for that comic!

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 1:05 pm

I want that but without the words?

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Nov 07, 2017 1:12 pm

I can send you all 13 frames?

Happier Swamp times:

Do we need/want the old database threads on this board?