We are in the final stages of the move to the new ABS website. I saved the trickiest for last- forum migration. In the next week I will be having professionals move our forum data to the new server, during this time the forum could be offline. When the migration is complete, this forum will be disabled- otherwise posts made here after the migration would not make it to the new site and would be lost.
At that time those wishing to use the new forum will need to log into their membership account at www.americanbladesmith.org where their ABS online experience will be all inclusive. Logging into www.americanbladesmith.org will include access to the forum, collectors corner and many new members-only features, which will continue to develop in the coming weeks, as it is a work in progress due to the urgent need to take the load off from this very dated old site.
Important announcement - passwords are encrypted and do not migrate, so you will need to update your passwords to log in at the new site. This is easily done with a "forgot password" prompt and automated email verification.
Journeyman and Mastersmith titles are protected, so in order to renew an expired membership at www.americanbladesmith.org you will need to register with an "Apprentice" level and then request an upgrade, after which you will see the renewal pages for Journeyman or Master in future renewals.
The last, and final, phase of the move will be the redirection of the domain www.americanbladesmith.com to the new server, at which time this website will go offline permanently and you will be able to find the new website at either www.americanbladesmith.org or www.americanbladesmith.com. Pray for me in the coming weeks as it is going to take a lot of bourbon to keep my nerves steady in that time.
"One test is worth 1000 'expert' opinions" Riehle Testing Machines Co.
Kevin,
Best of luck. My experience with other forums doing similar updates includes the loss of image attachments to posts. This can be crippling for a graphic intense forum like this one.
And That could very well happen. The two forums are very dissimilar, and it will not be a smooth ride. This forum has a separate membership interface from the website, the new one is integrated with the website, and is very much more involved and interactive. Because of this, it may cause me to request that membership not transfer and that we start fresh on the other site. This would make the existing posts more of an archive that we can just pick up with and add to with new user accounts. I would much rather do that than risk the new member data fields which I have spent months migrating already.
"One test is worth 1000 'expert' opinions" Riehle Testing Machines Co.
For those who don't know what this type of project entails, myself being from an I.T. background (that's not me volunteering for anything either), I can say with total confidence that this is no easy task.
Dan is VERY right on image transfers, they tend get lost if the coding references from website A to website B are not exactly the same, hopefully the contracting group have had experience with this. Personally being a visual learner and still very green, the images on here have helped me immensely to see what is correct vs. incorrect and how to set myself up for success.
Thanks for your work on this Kevin and I'll start a GoFundMe page for your bourbon needs. I can also recommend a few that "get the job done".
I will pray for your prayers.
Karl B. Andersen
Journeyman Smith
Wishing you the best Kevin and the best bourbon.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
You got this Kevin!! If there is anything we Mods can assist with..... USE US!! <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
Ed Caffrey, ABS MS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.CaffreyKnives.net
Good luck! See you on the other side.
Praying for a smooth site migration, and for you to get to know the LORD better through this difficult transition! And also for bourbon. (I recommend the Barrel Select from Traverse City Distillery! 
)
Evan L. Cihak
Is it safe to assume the new board is not up yet? I see no new topics can be started but looks like replies can still get made.
|quoted:
Is it safe to assume the new board is not up yet? I see no new topics can be started but looks like replies can still get made.
Not quite yet. I got called away on a family emergency last week and had to put things on hold for a week.
"One test is worth 1000 'expert' opinions" Riehle Testing Machines Co.
|quoted:
Not quite yet. I got called away on a family emergency last week and had to put things on hold for a week.
Thanks Kevin, hope all is well. Family definitley first.
