RaceDepartment re-styled and upgraded

[Bram Hengeveld]

I think it's safe to say that the upgrade of the forum yesterday was succesful. It took me a lot of hours to get everything up and running again (sorry for that) because we had quite some mods installed on the prior version of the software. To avoid conflicts during the upgrade all needed to be uninstalled and cleaned from the server.

As you can see I have tried to work on something that could be called a RD style in our known colors

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]What did exactly change?

• A new content management system (CMS) that gives us more freedom to create a nice interactive homepage at www.racedepartment.com
  • easy publishing
  • logged in users can now directly comment on news articles
• A new upgraded forum software
  • vBulletin was getting a bit obsolete with the 3.8 series and has now release a rewritten vB 4 that we currently use. It was in combination with the CMS quite expensive again, but we hope it is wort the money.
  • Complete new interface as you can see on the forum. It takes some time to get used to it, but it grows on you quite rapidly

So this is it?


No quite yet. I think we are now 10% done with a new forum and lots and lots need to be done to get RD up to speed again

• Revamp the download section for your daily mods
• Install some forum mods that make your life on the forum even more easier
• Integrate league standings on the frontpage
• Continue looking for enthusiastic bloggers that would love to publish (virtual) motorsport news on our website. Contact me if you are interested to help out!
• Update the server with the latest version of Teamspeak
• Some minor fixes

What happened to the custom styles? With the launch of vB 4 all previous created forum styles got useless the moment we upgraded. I have spent so many hours, days, weeks on them the last years that it sad to see them go but unfortunately that was the biggest downside of the upgrade.

At this moment I am too occupied with real life work that I don't even see the slightest chance to get the redone again so I fear we are stuck with what we have now. I hope you all like it, or will like it later on when you are used to the new features.

Later

 

[Ivo Simons]

Thanks for your hard work Bram. It already looks awesome.

 

[Ryan Callan]

I don't have permission

 

[Hans Sneep]

The Forum looks Whowwww

Hans

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I don't have permission

Solved now?

 

[Ryan Callan]

Yes, thanks

 

[Glenn Petersen]

Looks very nice. Thanks for having a great place to visit.

 

[Brian Duddy]

Looks like a great redesign, good job

 

[Ken Collins]

Nice work!

 

[Michel Usal]

Bram, great work, thanks a lot for this. Very professional.

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

Bram, as everyone above me has said, thank you so much for all the hard work you and the other Admins have put in. I love this new forum style... great job.

 

[Eric. K]

1!! Great job Bram!! Thanks!!!

 

[Warren Dawes]

+2 :smile:

Top job with the new Site and Forum, I quite like it so far. I'm sure we'll all get used to the changes very soon and appreciate the improvements it can bring.
The current Forum speed is great too.:wink:

 

[Ryan Callan]

Who would have thought eh Bram? From your old RPM days to this!

 

[Will Marquez]

Thanks Bram! Awesome job!

 

[Omer Said]

Great work Bram and other dear Administrators! This new Forum is much more better. Thank You! :smile:

 

[Craig Hume]

Looks super cool. Thanks for the hard work Bram. Now take a break and go enjoy christmas :wink:

 

[David Zafiu]

Indeed great and hard work Bram!
This new version of RD is trully amasing.I like it very much.Firt time i was a little bit confused but now,boom...everything seams to be very easy. :biggrin:

 

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

Well done Bram, nice christmass gift!!

 

[Bert Poesen]

Good job Bram.. Getting used to it and love it.. seems faster too??
Keep it up