Does anyone even visit this forum anymore??

[DEV0 E30]

I bumped the other thread, quote from it's first page:

Now that I've click baited you into thinking we are closing down (we are not..) I have a few updates.

It's obvious the vBulletin 5.X migration has caused a large number of problems. Performance is horrid, we have constant database issues, searching fails and locks the cache event table which crashes the forum, and we are running into random login issues occasionally.

vBulletin support is worthless, and while they have one good resource over there (Wayne Luke), it seems as if he is the only employee handling support and thus can only ask questions and not jump into determining why we are having the issues we are having.

So, with that being said, after looking at options and speaking with other vendors we are moving at a large expense over to the Invision Community Platform.

This will be a slow migration and we are currently testing how well our 22GB Database is going to migrate into the Invision Platform. I will keep members posted via this thread on our status and once a beta site is available for testing.

Few things to keep in mind

1) it's going to look and operate a little differently, honestly, deal with it, and adapt to change. If you are providing feedback on why a button you used to have is now on the other side of the screen I cannot help you with that. R3V is supported by other business ventures of mine, we don't have ads, we don't charge membership, and I don't plan on changing that, so keep that in mind when you complain for the sake of complaining

2) We will be on vBulletin until I am content all the CONTENT and USERS are migrated over properly. R3V is a database/wealth of knowledge that is my primary concern, followed by ensuring existing users can log in without issue

3) I vetted several vendors and decided on Invision due to the support teams they have, in fact, it was 6 times the cost of other platforms and frankly didn't offer much more than say XenForo, but I don't have time to spend hours upon hour digging through logs trying to figure out why a button does not work when I can toss in a ticket and have them point to the problem.

More to come, bare with us, we are doing what we can

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Absolutely nobody can repay James for the work he's done to keep this going and nobody could possibly bad mouth him.

What James pointed out was the plan last year, I assume this is still the plan with the E30 Chapter support?

Having just looked again at the pricing breakdown for Invision Software / Community... the cloud I assume is what you're going to transition to, those costs are definitely pricey month to month with our database and potential active users.

I'm going to assume some membership fees will help with this some way tied into the E30 Chapter of BMW CCA?

[Aleman]

times change unfortunately. i still visit the forum but these cars are becoming collector cars instead of drivers and as people have moved on the knowledge has too. it happens to every chassis.

r3v is still the best e30 resource out there

I do laugh a bit when I search for advice on my r3v and find what I need in a post that's over 10 years old! Thankfully, the r3v guys don't archive stuff off to the black hole after a certain age.

[McGyver]

Next person who talks shit about James is getting the BAN HAMMER

[2mAn]

Next person who talks shit about James is getting the BAN HAMMER

test me

[McGyver]

times change unfortunately. i still visit the forum but these cars are becoming collector cars instead of drivers and as people have moved on the knowledge has too. it happens to every chassis.

r3v is still the best e30 resource out there

I DD mine, but I get your point. Its annoying that after dailying an e30 for a decade, I'm just now starting to learn about the more technical aspects (engine building and management) as the care are getting more rare and prices are going up.

[moatilliatta]

E30tech herd that James been slacking and is coming back for E30 forum domination.

http://www.e30techarchive.com/

Ill have to get my dated windows XP machine out to load up outdated BB version of R3V in 15 years when computers are obsolete while warming up the still to make some corn juice for the E30 to run on.

[downforce22]

times change unfortunately. i still visit the forum but these cars are becoming collector cars instead of drivers and as people have moved on the knowledge has too. it happens to every chassis.

r3v is still the best e30 resource out there

[Victell]

...I wonder who is running the E30 CCA Chapter...

The site says James is the vice president.

[2mAn]

E30 Chapter was spearheaded by Chris (agent), James and a few other Brodeo guys. I was originally part of the "SoCal" wing but I didnt really see any value in the BMW CCA, let alone an E30 chapter of it and once my E30 was gone I had less and less motivation to stay with em. I will do what I can to help R3V and I asked James again to give me ban powers (dont fuq with me) but we'll see. I can see the potential in R3V being the forum-home of the E30 Chapter but we'll see how things shape up in the future.

[NC325iC]

I haven't been active on r3v in several years but it is always a great resource to me even without an e30. Not to mention nostalgia...

Having only briefly skimmed through this thread my only comments are that the site is no slower than some other bmw sites. 2002FAQ for instance crawls along and throws errors, m42club sometimes doesn't even work if I'm on the wrong network, blunttech is a snail.

I shudder to picture a world where we have to discuss cars on facebook, can't stand the place.

All of that being said I am too lazy to offer a hand to help, so I thank those that have kept it going for so long and accept the fate that is dealt.

[nando]

That's good to hear. I wonder who is running the E30 CCA Chapter - hopefully, there are forum members involved, or at least we can have input on what needs to happen to fix this site. I haven't been to the E30 picnic in years, but I don't think it's run by the same group of people anymore (it's been nearly 20 years since the first one!).

Can James at least give one of us elevated privileges? or make you able to ban people? Just so we can limp along a little easier in the meantime..

Yeah, James has done a good job for a long time. I don't blame him for not having the time anymore.

[Digitalwave]

Obviously running or helping on the forum is 100% a thankless job. I hope James doesn't take this all the wrong way. He's done good by the forum all these years. We just want to see it continue.

[2mAn]

I was bored waiting for the cops earlier (check the nonsense thread for the background on that) and figured I should try and call James. He didnt answer but I left him a message and he text me back.

TLDR: the E30 CCA Chapter will be helping to manage the forum in the near future...

Basically R3V has outgrown James (his words, not mine). There were already some plans to spread the load with the E30 Chapter, but the timing hasnt been working out well, as they are also taking over the E30 Picnic. Forum is still updated (not sure if this has helped us or hurt us), but thats about the best thing he can offer us at the moment. He still loves R3v but has a lot on his plate.

I guess we can consider this part of the ebbs and flows of life and the Forum is just one piece of that puzzle...

Best thing we can all do is update our own threads, create the threads and keep posting. As annoying as it is, its the best way to get through this.

[DEV0 E30]

yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was arguing with you either.

That's a great question. There's things I could do to help, but I think the main problem is it's probably too much for just one person to handle. I don't think he wants to let this turn into E30tech but that's kind of what's happening unfortunately. Maybe there's stuff happening behind the scenes we don't know about? I have no idea.

James is somewhat active on facebook, but I think you and the remaining active mods/admins should reach out to him in a phone call or chat of some kind to see what you can help with etc. I vaguely remember him saying the database wasn't importing into the next software he wanted to transition to, but I could be wrong about that. Maybe backup the database, send it to a select few to see if they can get it imported or at least stable in another software.

I mean TJ is kinda right, I don't think this forum can go another year in painfully slow page-load, spam infested purgatory. This isn't to put blame or say what James and everyone who has contributed and still contribute to make this a resource are owed a debt of gratitude that can't really be repaid. It's just these forums are already losing the battle or have really lost the war in activity to facebook, which isn't to say it needs to compete, but in it's current state it's a painful posting experience but we want it to succeed and live on.

[MR E30 325is]

R3v has been my number one since 2005, but this place is slower than it has ever been. Makes it very difficult to check in on every day.