Good Evening Everyone, TL;DR: New site platform, new permission / membership model, new host, new SSL layer, Limited Lifetime Benefactor offer in effect for October, new design coming soon. As many, if not all, of you are aware we have migrated from the dead horse that is SMF to a new, vibrant and engaging forum software of XenForo. With this migration there have been many challenges and there continue to be many more. Currently we have migrated to XenForo and I have, just today, gone through and done a complete audit of all our security levels and forum permissions so that things are much more interchangeable and some permission levels work in conjunction with other permission levels. This was done to resolve the issue of users purchasing Benefactor packs, or Space Pimp packs, and then not getting the immediate access to the resources, guides, videos and posting areas. A case of the old system crashing with the new. Next, our old server host made the decision to move away from Managed VPS Solutions to un-managed VPS hosting. For those of you in the know; I do not have the time, nor knowledge, to manage a server on a 24/7 basis all the while conducting updates and daily backups and blah blah blah. So yesterday, when I received a text from the old host, saying that there was an imminent drive failure on the server I made a decision. I opted to spend the remaining Benefactors money and move us to a private server with an individual, well known in certain circles, who runs a private hosting company. This did two things. First and foremost it moved us back to a managed solution and second it moved us to a server which is just all around better. You should directly notice things being faster and easier to reach. Also, as of tonight we will be adding SSL to our server so expect to see the little secure server feature. This was done because several of you wanted to donate however felt that without the SSL you weren't secure. Well, we are going to secure this for you. Benefactor packages, oh my?!?!?! Many people requested that we continue to offer the Limited Lifetime Benefactors option throughout the month of October. Even though we raised the money necessary for the site migration we will honor that original offer. So, during the course of October, you can purchase lifetime Benefactor access for just $10.00. This gives you access to all the stuff that is outlined on the Upgrade page. Space Pimps get a few things more but hey, they are Space Pimps. If you were a Benefactor on the old site please contact me via PM and we can cross reference against the old database and ascertain your status going forward. As a final word on this update; the new design is coming. I am working on getting the functionality set up properly before moving over to work on the design. The MechSpecs community is roughly split between wanting the old color scheme and wanting a new layout/design and that makes things tough. In the end the decision will be made in house but your input is always appreciated. Regards, MechSpecs.com Team (yes, we have volunteer staff now)
I really like how much faster the site is, and I look forward to seeing the new formatting. It's also really nice to have the old build ratings wiped, as the time of jump snipers and guass is over for now.
Awesome Keep up the great work on the site! Happy to see the extension of the offer.. ended I think before payday, now it doesn't.
Messaging works like a charm and the notifications are intuitive and useful. So far I am extremely pleased with XenForo! Looking forward to the new layout
