The New Board

[tornado]

I have one comment and would ask anyone else to chime in.

Before, no matter what time of day, there was always the possibility of running into the stalls and churning on the old php Bulletin Board.
This one NEVER has any slowdowns, and certainly doesn't have the slow churning that causes people to post twice and 3 times thinking the system didn't get their first effort.

Other message boards that are still using the phpBB format are actually getting worse.
Has anyone tried the ISU board (Redbirdfans.com).

They have a fine board and some really good topics, but they are having the same slow/churning problem we used to have on phpBB. This new vBulletin board is definitely an upgrade!

If any Redbird fans notice it, then have your people check into a switch.

[ser_solace]

Thank you to the moderators for working hard to make this place such an excellent site.

Looking forward to the new designs and features.

Not sure what the cost of managing this stuff is, but I'm sure some Bradley fans including myself would not mind chipping-in if it becomes necessary.

[Da Coach]

Thank you ser_solace, and to others who have offered support. Maybe someday we will need your support, or there may be some services that will require subscription. But for now we're doing fine.
Just having the input and contributions of all the great fans is all we need right now.

[amckillip]

Please no subscription, I don't mind paying. But I think subscription will turn lots of would-be posters away, and I don't understand the idea of a subscription only board... Just so those who pay can feel special? Please guys, I love this board, Don't do to subscription, I'm sure there a lot of us who would donate.

[mike radigan]

I have one comment and would ask anyone else to chime in.

Before, no matter what time of day, there was always the possibility of running into the stalls and churning on the old php Bulletin Board.
This one NEVER has any slowdowns, and certainly doesn't have the slow churning that causes people to post twice and 3 times thinking the system didn't get their first effort.

Other message boards that are still using the phpBB format are actually getting worse.
Has anyone tried the ISU board (Redbirdfans.com).

They have a fine board and some really good topics, but they are having the same slow/churning problem we used to have on phpBB. This new vBulletin board is definitely an upgrade!

If any Redbird fans notice it, then have your people check into a switch.

I do not know the differences between the two, but it is not because of php or the database, MySQL.

Scalable solution - database server and web servers can reside on separate machines.
MySQL back-end database

vBulletin can be run on any machine that can support PHP and MySQL (Solaris, BSD, Linux, Windows, Mac)

Written in PHP which makes for a fast and efficient product

[Da Coach]

None of us know much about programming and computer languages. Yes, this new board is written in php and uses MySQL databases like the old board did. But what tornado was referring to is that there must be other differences in the 2 types of message boards that makes this vBulletin board much faster and more reliable to run. It is also much more resistant to the spammers and hackers, which had become a huge problem on the other board.
On the old board, most posters experiences occasional delays and failures in loading pages, especially when posting and sending PMs. This board works better in that regard.
Also, the old board got kicked offline a couple times a week, and it hasn't happened yet here. We think things will continue to hold up better when things get busy.

The vBulletin board is the most widely used message board in the world, and even a higher percentage of the most busy forums use the vBulletin. These were some of the reasons we chose to switch to it, even though it is more costly to use.

[mike radigan]

I can only assume the reason it is faster and more reliable is its servers are better. If it is more difficult for spammers and hackers, it is just better security code.

BTW, both php and MySQL are open source and free to anyone to download. I've downloaded and run MySQL on one of my machines.

[BradleyBrave]

Anyone have the link to the 'Countdown to Bradley Basketball'? I think it's time we make that a sticky again...we're getting close!

[Da Coach]

Click here for Countdown to 2007-2008 Bradley basketball

[thefish7]

I like the new board a lot, seems fast and much reliable. Excited for the return of the red. The only thing I don't like (and it may be something I can control as a preference for my account) is that it seems like there are fewer posts per page of discussion. I'll mess around with the settings later, and probably be able to fix it myself.

[Da Coach]

it seems like there are fewer posts per page of discussion

Yes, you can set this option to custom fit your preferences and the speed of your connection--


Click on the User CP (User Control Panel) on the left of the blue menu bar across the top of every page
Then select Edit Options from the choices in the left column (4th choice from top)
Then scroll down to Thread Display Options, and the 3rd part of that section is where you can select Number of Posts to Show Per Page.
Everyones choice is automatically set to the forum default, which is 10, but you can set it for 5, 10, 20, 30, or 40.

10 does seem like too few, so I think I will reset the board default for 20 instead. But you can still select any of the other options for your own setting.

[SFP]

Instead of paying why can't someone work out a deal with the Bradley Bookstore and create a link from here to buy BU merchandise and then have the site collect a commission (affiliate program) from the sales which will help defer some of the costs running this site.

[MacabreMob]

You know... if BradleyFans.com came up with a mascot for the site with a logo that could be marketed... like say a Squirrel - they'd sell so many hats, t-shirts, school notebooks, etc... hey, they might even make so much they could even buy a newspaper!

[tornado]

Instead of paying why can't someone work out a deal with the Bradley Bookstore and create a link from here to buy BU merchandise and then have the site collect a commission (affiliate program) from the sales which will help defer some of the costs running this site.

In effect you are asking why don't we have ads like every other site does.

That would be like me asking you why don't you have big banner ads on the sides of your car like all buses do?

The simple fact is that almost every site like ours does sell advertising, and it gets annoying and obnoxious. I don't want it, do you? I like BradleyFans the way it is with no advertising.
We just aren't desperate but maybe some day it would happen if the costs of running the site escalate.
As for a link to sell merchandise, again that would take some negotiations and they'd want advertising space, or in many cases, the university does not want any direct connection with fan sites for 2 reasons.
First is that they would not have any control over content, and 2nd they'd have potential conflicts since the university per NCAA rules cannot discuss any recruit until he signs, as we discuss recruits all the time. So they have to disavow any connection with a site that discusses the recruits.

[basketball nut]

I like the board the way it is and I am sure that if money became an issue that many would chip in to help but please never resort to saleing advertising to keep it up. This is better, by far, then the local paper that likes to feature people leaving the area to go to school and other schools more then BU. Forget about the ones that want to go to other states to go to school, except one paragraph a year maybe. If they don't want to go to BU then I could care less how they do in college.
Keep up the great work on this board
also what am I doing wrong as I am not being able to add a quote and post. help me out