Page 1 of 5

Transtopia forums moving to Seibertron.com within the next couple of weeks

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:47 am
by Seibertron
Here's a message that I posted over on Transtopia that I thought I would share with all of you here on Seibertron.com ...

****************************************
// URGENT REQUEST
****************************************

If you have an account on Transtopia AND you have an account on Seibertron.com, it would help me out immensely if your usernames and email addresses are the same on both websites. Please update your accounts to make sure that your username and email address is the same. If you are unable to make your username the same, then your username on Seibertron.com will take precendence over your username here. You will be able to edit your information as necessary on Seibertron.com once everything has been imported. If you DO NOT have an account on Seibertron, please DO NOT register at this time on Seibertron. I will be importing all of the user accounts from Transtopia over to Seibertron.com within the next week and it will be easier just to import the accounts that do not have username or email address conflicts than to try to accommodate those instances.

Your account on Seibertron.com will take precedence and your information on Transtopia will be updated to match your information on Seibertron.com (such as your user IDs, for example). I will write a script that will look to see which account is older and use that date as the registration date so that if you recently signed up on one of the two websites, your older account's registration date will be used as your member date.

****************************************
// WHAT'S NEXT???
****************************************

Once I have sorted out all of your user accounts, I will update all of the posts and topics with your new user IDs. After that has been completed, I will import all of the user data, forums, topics and posts into the Seibertron.com Energon Pub forums. All of the existing forums will continue on Seibertron. Devastator and I will then work together to figure out which ones need to be merged with existing Seibertron.com forums (such as the General Discussion forum).

Bill (TFmaster) didn't originally want me to import all of the users and posts to Seibertron. However, after his untimely passing earlier this year, I felt that it was very important to maintain as much of Transtopia's forum content as possible so that we will always have a permanent record of Bill's contributions on the forums. That's one of the things that is important to me to honor my buddy Bill.

Once all of the forum content has been imported to Seibertron, I will write some scripts that will redirect people from tfmaster.com to the appropriate forum, topic, post or user on Seibertron. That way, we will continue to catch the people that are referred from the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN.

The next phase of this move will be to give Devastator access to some of the tools that I've been building quietly behind the scenes that will allow him to move over a lot of the existing content here on Transtopia over to Transtopia's new home at /transtopia/index.php. After Devastator has been setup so that he can start helping with the move, I will turn my attention to the next phase which is too upgrade the Seibertron.com forums from phpBB2 to phpBB3. There are a ton of new features on the new phpBB that I think all of you will really enjoy. One of the things that slowed this whole moving process down was waiting for the phpBB crew to release a stable version of phpBB3 that I can use on the site. phpBB3 will enable the Transtopia forums to continue to exist as needed on their own so that you guys don't have to scroll to the bottom of the page in the Seibertron.com forums just to get to the ones that are important to you guys. You will be able to easily and directly access the forums important to the Transtopia community at Seibertron.com. I think you guys will really be happy with this key part of the move.

****************************************
// THE NEW TRANSTOPIA
****************************************

After the Transtopia forums and existing content has been integrated into Seibertron, then comes the fun part ... building new tools that will allow all of the Transtopians to add their own galleries of the kitbashes they have breathed life into, the artwork which they worked so hard on and a new feature that is currently not part of Transtopia: fiction contributions. The new Transtopia will be structured something like this on Seibertron:

Main Transtopia Page (conglomeration of all 3 Transtopia sections)
/transtopia/index.php

Transtopia Kitbashes
/transtopia/kitbashes/index.php

Transtopia Artwork (2D Art Gallery)
/transtopia/artwork/index.php

Transtopia Fiction (Fan-Fiction Contributions)
/transtopia/fiction/index.php

****************************************
// IN CLOSING
****************************************

Whew. That's a lot of typing up there. :) And I'm not done yet. I know it's a lot to process. This is a HUGE ordeal and a lot of work. I want it to be done right. I want to preserve as much of Transtopia as possible. I want to promote all of your work as much as possible. There's a lot of great things that are about ready to come down the pipes for all of you. I ask for your patience during this crazy time and your understanding as WE collectively come across difficulties, unforeseen circumstances and other issues that may be out of our control.

Let's do this right for Bill. Let's make him proud up there in Kitbasher Heaven.

Ryan

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:12 am
by Dead Metal
Wil taht with the own Galleries be only for Transtopia, ore also for us here in the Seibertron Fanart forum?
Damn that sounds like a hell f a lot of work, you're doing!
I hope the new version will be XP compitable.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:15 am
by Seibertron
The topics within the Seibertron Fan artwork, fiction and kitbash forum will be merged appropriately with the new Transtopia forums here on Seibertron.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:17 am
by Dead Metal
Seibertron wrote:The topics within the Seibertron Fan artwork, fiction and kitbash forum will be merged appropriately with the new Transtopia forums here on Seibertron.

Cool!
Now I will have a gallery on Seibertron.com Muhawahhhhh!

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:39 am
by Methusalen
Looks good then! I've been reading threads over at Transtopia for quite a while now, but never got around to registering an account there... I always enjoyed checking out everyone's kitbashes & repaints there, and attempted to create an account there a while back to no avail...

I see you have three forums set up, will you have a sub-forum set up similar to their kitbashes, repaints, homages, new characters, etc? Or keep it pretty similar to the way that Seibertron's forums are set up?

I can't wait to see what the new galleries will look like, and hope that you create a set specifically for Bill's work as well...

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:22 am
by GrimSqueaker
Way to go for gold Ryan-damn some people around here (myself included) just love to give themselves painfully large amounts of work to do!

Anywho, Rock on and u know that when the time comes ill be there to help! dammit i am egar for that promotion!

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:32 am
by City Commander
Wow


This is gonna be massive.



Can't wait to see it!

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:36 am
by Sherade
Great to see it all coming together. One step closer to uniting Transfans everywhere.
Keep on rolling.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 12:07 pm
by stellforest
but y r they r going of line?

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:04 pm
by Wheeljack35
I wonder how this will look

I'm looking forward to it I love Transtopia

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:06 pm
by kirbenvost
Wow, that's a lot of work! Hope it all goes well.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:14 pm
by Seibertron
Methusalen wrote:Looks good then! I've been reading threads over at Transtopia for quite a while now, but never got around to registering an account there... I always enjoyed checking out everyone's kitbashes & repaints there, and attempted to create an account there a while back to no avail...

I see you have three forums set up, will you have a sub-forum set up similar to their kitbashes, repaints, homages, new characters, etc? Or keep it pretty similar to the way that Seibertron's forums are set up?


That's where the new phpBB3 forums will come into play. Transtopia will get to have their own forum category, as will HMW, the RPG section and other areas of Seibertron so that most of their forums can stay intact without making our overall forum list really, really, really long. I think everyone from Seibertron and Transtopia will be happy with the way the new forums will be setup.

Methusalen wrote:I can't wait to see what the new galleries will look like, and hope that you create a set specifically for Bill's work as well ...


I'm planning on having a special section for Bill to showcase his work as an inspiration to other potential Kitbashers. He is, after all, the TF master ;) I also want that section to be a memorium of sorts for the community to remember him and, most importantly, so that his son and wife can have somewhere to come online to see how much he meant to all of us. Haven't quite figured out the specifics yet, but I'm sure some of you will be able to help me figure out how to do this section for Bill right.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:20 pm
by Seibertron
stellforest wrote:but y r they r going of line?


I took over their website in October 2006 after Bill (aka "TFmaster") approached me about merging Transtopia into Seibertron. He had a fatal heart attack in March at way too young of an age and left behind his son, wife, and thousands of fans in the Transformers community who greatly admired his incredible (and difficult) kitbashes. I am integrating Transtopia to complete my agreement with him, to bring about a memorial page/section to honor him and to bring back some life to the Transtopia community which has kind of been in a state of limbo throughout this year. I want to make Bill proud and do the Transtopia community right. It's a HUGE burden to do this right but I think once everything is all said and done, Bill would be very happy as will the members of Transtopia and Seibertron.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:55 pm
by Optimus Frimal
Aargh! This all sounds good, a fitting tribute to TF master Aargh!

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:58 pm
by Galaxy_Convoy
Optimus Frimal wrote:Aargh! This all sounds good, a fitting tribute to TF master Aargh!


Agreed, my piratey friend. This will be a fitting memorial for Bill. Heres hoping everything goes smoothly for you Ryan.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:30 pm
by the purifyer
Hooray!
It's about time.
One step closer till we have the full Transtopia back, and then some.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:25 pm
by i_amtrunks
This is going to be a monster addition to Seibertron. cant wait for the new and improved Kitbash/fan fic area!

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:27 pm
by Liege Evilmus
I'm not part of Trantopia, but if it'll help out my online home, I'll go goin up.

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:34 pm
by Malicron
YES!!!

I've wanted to join Transtopia for a long time now, I couldn't be happier. :grin:

PostPosted: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:50 pm
by Tom_Servo
Whiner-tron wrote:YES!!!

I've wanted to join Transtopia for a long time now, I couldn't be happier. :grin:

WORD!

Now we know why we haven't seen as much of ya lately, Seibertron! Good work man!
Tranastopia was one of the first places that I ever saw really high-concept Transformers kitbashes. Now I'm just itchin' to get my own gallery there! Itchin' I tells ya!

PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 8:32 am
by Seibertron
Tom_Servo wrote:
Whiner-tron wrote:YES!!!

I've wanted to join Transtopia for a long time now, I couldn't be happier. :grin:

WORD!

Now we know why we haven't seen as much of ya lately, Seibertron! Good work man!


Yeah, I just moved two weeks ago. My gallery setup is all in boxes right now and the room where I'm going to do my galleries is floor-to-ceiling full of 18 Rubbermaid tubs full of loose Transformers and tons and tons of boxes full of boxed Transformers. I'll have to take a picture of this room for you guys. I don't think I've ever had all of my collection boxed up in one room before. It's pretty cool seeing how big my collection is when it's all boxed up.

Before I can setup my gallery area again, I need to figure out a shelving system in this room for all of my figures. In the meantime, since I knew I was going to have this gallery downtime, I have shifted my attention to working on some much needed tools and upgrades that many people have been waiting a very long time for. I'm not totally back into my groove yet of working on Seibertron in my new apartment, but I'll get a system worked out.

Tom_Servo wrote:Tranastopia was one of the first places that I ever saw really high-concept Transformers kitbashes. Now I'm just itchin' to get my own gallery there! Itchin' I tells ya!


It really makes my day to see how excited you guys are. I just wish we could get the Transtopia guys as excited. A lot of them don't like the idea of moving, but it's what Bill wanted so that's what I'm going to do.

PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 9:00 am
by Sonray
I cant wait for this! Ive been wanting to join transtopia since i found it but i havnt been able to because of this move.

PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 10:59 am
by Ramrider
Seibertron wrote:It really makes my day to see how excited you guys are. I just wish we could get the Transtopia guys as excited. A lot of them don't like the idea of moving, but it's what Bill wanted so that's what I'm going to do.

I think quite a few of the guys are/were just worried about how it'd be different. That, and I seem to recall some of them thought of Transtopia as being a haven from the 'rivalry' between various TF boards, and that permaenntly affiliating it with one of them would somehow compromise that.

Personally I was worried when it was first suggested, but hell, I've been here about as long as I have there, so I knew not to doubt you... ;)

I'm glad the ball's finally rolling. It's been winding down at Transtopia for a while, especially given that we couldn't take on new members. I like the sound of your plans, and I can't wait to see them in action.

PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:06 am
by Seibertron
Ramrider wrote:
Seibertron wrote:It really makes my day to see how excited you guys are. I just wish we could get the Transtopia guys as excited. A lot of them don't like the idea of moving, but it's what Bill wanted so that's what I'm going to do.

I think quite a few of the guys are/were just worried about how it'd be different. That, and I seem to recall some of them thought of Transtopia as being a haven from the 'rivalry' between various TF boards, and that permaenntly affiliating it with one of them would somehow compromise that.

Personally I was worried when it was first suggested, but hell, I've been here about as long as I have there, so I knew not to doubt you... ;)

I'm glad the ball's finally rolling. It's been winding down at Transtopia for a while, especially given that we couldn't take on new members. I like the sound of your plans, and I can't wait to see them in action.


It's up to you guys to keep Transtopia alive here on Seibertron. There's only so much I can do to give you guys a place to make the Transtopia community stay active. The Transtopia community will need to show their support and embrace this change to keep the Transtopia community thriving. I'm also keeping the creative section called "Transtopia" because I think it's pretty well known who (and what) the Transtopia community is throughout the fandom.

I'm hoping beyond hope that the Transtopia community will operate in a similar fashion to our resident Heavy Metal War community and our RPG community. They kind of just do their own thing. I wish more of them would come out of their areas and visit with the rest of us, but if they're content in the HMW area and the RPG area, so be it. I'm glad they found an online home where they're comfortable.

PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2007 11:44 am
by Ramrider
Seibertron wrote:It's up to you guys to keep Transtopia alive here on Seibertron. There's only so much I can do to give you guys a place to make the Transtopia community stay active. The Transtopia community will need to show their support and embrace this change to keep the Transtopia community thriving.

Oh, totally. 'You can lead a horse to water', and all that - you've already put so much work into building our new billabong, we can hardly expect you to drink for us, too... :lol:
I think it's also not gonna hurt, though, that Seibertron's own burgeoning kitbash community (which is already partially Transtopian, and partially not) will be able to help keep things fresh.

Seibertron wrote:I'm also keeping the creative section called "Transtopia" because I think it's pretty well known who (and what) the Transtopia community is throughout the fandom.

Yeah, I like that. I think Transtopia has built up a fair rep over the years, thanks in no small part, of course, to Bill's work. It's nice that that gets to survive (and hopefully thrive).

Seibertron wrote:I'm hoping beyond hope that the Transtopia community will operate in a similar fashion to our resident Heavy Metal War community and our RPG community. They kind of just do their own thing. I wish more of them would come out of their areas and visit with the rest of us, but if they're content in the HMW area and the RPG area, so be it. I'm glad they found an online home where they're comfortable.

That sounds like a perfectly feasible expectation, to be honest. The creative forums here (even without galleries) seem to be pretty self-sustaining too (although I think there's more overlap with the other forums than HMW and the RPG); I think they'll chug along just fine...