Update on 650 Rider

[Travis]

A little update on 650 Rider... It was a lot more work to get it back online than I thought it was going to be. It took a while to get the files from Gerald and they were huge! Mostly because the main zip file (4 GB) included everything twice. Someone had zipped up all the files, then another zip was made which included the previous zip file and everything else again. Also one of the database files I got was partially corrupt, and the version of MySQL (database software) he was using was not as current as what my host is using, so that caused a few problems too. I also needed to update some features with my hosting account to be able to handle and administer both sites.

So once that was all done, I took a break from the whole thing for a while and then started working on how to go about importing (importing is the process of converting content from one forum software to another). I think it should work and have been running tests to make sure the process is as clean as possible. I'm still hoping to be able to import certain threads and also allow certain threads to be manually moved over by the member who started the thread.

A few members have expressed interest in donating to help support xs650.com and to help with getting the information from 650 Rider back. Now that I've got 650 Rider back up, I feel comfortable taking donations for the project and I've created a way for members to donate if they wish. See the About Us page to make a donation.

So where do we go from here? I still have a lot of behind-the-scenes work to do with testing and tweaking the importing process, but in a few minutes I'll be setting up the 650 Rider Import forum which will be viewable only by users who are logged in. That will be a place for us to further discuss how this importing process is going to work and will give us a place to identify the information worth bringing over. A big thank you to everyone for being patient through this whole process.

 

[650Skull]

A big thank you to everyone for being patient through this whole process.

No a big THANK YOU I am short of funds right now, will definitely give a donation (yea right, checks in the mail) hopefully in the next week or so...........going through some of the rider links i have come across a few 404's would this be caused by the partially corrupt files

 

[Travis]

Could be... Most of the problems were related to buggy plug-ins (like chat) that were installed on 650 Rider. If the 404s (page not found) are to member's profiles or are related to logging in, they are caused by my "quick and dirty" method of making the site read-only, which was to delete the log-in pages. All of the threads and posts should be there. When I get time, I may allow existing members to be able to log in, but not to edit or create new posts. That will give members access to their old PMs. If this is something people really want, let me know.

If you've come across other 404s that are caused by something other than not being able to log in, let me know and I'll look into why they are showing 404 pages. The content might be there, but just not linked correctly.

Also, the 650 Rider Temporary Forum has been set up (for members only).

 

[pamcopete]

Travis,

I guess that I do not understand why you are going to maintain both sites. There is already a large contingent of former riders over here and that trend will probably continue.

 

[Gordon]

Hey Skull, what's the rest of that saying? Check's in the mail , something, something, I can't remember.Could you elaborate?

 

[Travis]

I do not plan on actively maintaining both sites, especially after seeing how unintuitive and inefficient the software on 650 Rider is to administer and work with. I just want to make sure that the content that was there is showing up. If the page not found error (404) is showing up for a thread that might be useful, I'll try to fix it. Also in a few months, after the selected content is moved here, the information that remains on 650 Rider will be read-only like it is now. So I guess I'll be "maintaining" both sites for a while, but once some of the info is moved over and the redirects are set up, I won't actively be managing 650 Rider anymore.

And it does seem like most of the active members from 650 Rider were either already a member of xs650.com, or became a member after 650 Rider went down. I just want to get some of their build threads and good tech stuff moved here so it can be searchable from one site.

Did that address what you were getting at? Or did you mean that now that I've got 650 rider back up, I should just leave it as an archive and not worry about transferring content here?

 

[650Skull]

Travis here is a link to check out for the 404 Third one down, (what oil to use).......second post-first link in (top end cooler)

 

[weekendrider]

650skull, the links were written wrong. Click the link for "what oil to use" the topic identifier is 1248. Now click one of the good links and replace the last 4 digits with 1248 and hit your go button. WALA you have your topic/thread. The same with the other link.
I thought I had pm'ed you about them when rider was up.

 

[Travis]

Those links that aren't working look like they are pointing to an archive for search engines. Maybe the software that 650 Rider uses has an archive feature and it's turned off. I'll look into it.

Weekendrider, so you're saying those links didn't work before the site went down? Either way, as you pointed out, the content is there, just the links in that thread are not right.

 

[650Skull]

weekender, thought i had redone them or maybe i had deleted the source on my computer and lost my reference point. Can't remember if you gave me the information on how to find and repair the link but i tried it before (replacing the last four no's), and it works

 

[Travis]

So the member-only 650 Rider discussion forum has been up for several days now. There has not been as much activity on that forum as I thought there would be. It seems like people are pretty content with keeping 650 Rider as an archive site and just linking to it when needed. I have 650 Rider pretty well cleaned up so there aren't a lot of dead links or broken images. I think the general consensus is, either leave all the content there or just bring over a few specific things. The way it's looking, the only things that might be moved over are a few how-to articles and build threads that the owners would like to have moved. A lot of the main technical topics regarding the XS650 have already been pretty well covered here, and moving the same content from 650 Rider would just cause duplicate content.

So that's the current news on the 650 Rider situation. I will probably be shutting down the temporary 650 Rider forum soon unless anyone objects, so if you have anything you'd like to throw out there for everyone to discuss, you better post it soon!

 

[Gordon]

A Great big Thank You to Travis, his work is fantastic!

 

[mortikan]

well this is great i think the read only archive of 650rider would be a wonderful tool to be able to use. there are thread upon thread that helped me when I was building a few years back I would hate to see it lost to future would be builders