Old posts lost

[v6spider]

I was on this forum starting in 2001-2002. Put up a lot of posts up until 2005-2006. I did some searching and I can't seem to locate any of my posts from before 2006-2005. Did that information get lost in the recent upgrades or is it archived somewhere where a member could view it?

Thanks!
Rob

[So Cal Mark]

it all was archived and backed up when the switch to the new server was made. It's not readily accessible by the general membership due to differences in the software and server configuration

[v6spider]

Thanks for piping up Mark. If memory serves me correctly the old forum was microsoft based this forum is PHP and MySQL based. i am a web developer myself and work with databases al the time. Is there a reason that it has not been converted to work with the new forum?

Thanks!
Rob

[So Cal Mark]

Rob, I can only assume it's because of the time committment required to make it available. Evan is pretty busy these days and doesn't spend much time on this site. We've chatted about it, but hadn't come to a conclusion

[ventura ace]

Mark,
Please excuse my ignorance on this kind of thing, but does it make sense to make the archived material available on a CD in such a manner that it could be 'Searched' for information? If yes, I would be happy to pay for a copy. There is some very good useful information in the archives that you, I, and many others posted: Procedures, tips, troubleshooting, pictures, etc. Back in those days, i posted a lot of information on the forum, knowing that I could always use the Search function to find the info again later, so I didn't make any efforts to store the information on my computer for future use. It was frustrating of course, to learn that the information was no longer available.

If the archive reference CD concept is somewhat easy to do, and can provide the old information in a user-friendly Search base, this could be a good fund-raiser to help counter the expenses for this Web site. I would think most follks may be willing to pay $15 - $25 for a copy. Just a thought . . . .

Alvon

[lanciahf]

If you guys want I can help export data from the MS database, MSQL? Access? then write an import script into the new tables. Just need to know the data layout and table structures. Probably will take awhile but anything is possible with databases.

[v6spider]

That is true it would be easy to convert that data to access seeing how it is already probably in a SQL Server db.
I would be willing to help also. All we need is just the .MDF file and a little time. I might be willing to donate my time to do it. It would be easier to convert it into the database that is currently being use by the site though. There are data mapping tools that convert SQL Server to MySQL availible for download. That way everyone that is a member here would have access to it and there would be no need for an interface to be designed to interact with it. Again nothing but time.

Thanks
Rob

[karhawk]

Maybe I don't speak for everybody but I think the site has lost members and some interest because of all the data that cannot be accessed. I for one would like to see searchable data base that covers all previous posts. There is a wealth of material that's lost to the users. I know the site is owned by one person but without the members and all they bring there wouldn't be a site. There should be a way to either donate time or money to get the old posts restored.

Chris
Oakland, Ca.