So, here's the basic game plan.
1) The server and server software are WAY old . . . still capable of pumping out pages, but the hardware upgrade needs to happen. The new box is up and running and a screamer. I'll also take advantage of some cloud services to speed it up even more.
2) This version of forum software is WAY old (and looks it!) I had modified so much of it early on (to add user features & popular hacks of the day) that it made upgrades to stay current nearly impossible. This is the toughest part of the transition . . . converting all the data to work with the new software.
DRN certainly isn't the "biggest" dirtbike forum out there anymore, but still, over a million posts with makes for a lot of data. (the database is 60+ gigs of raw text) .
It may appear nothing is going on as far as "new" goes for a while, but trust me, there will be a lot going on in the back ground.
3) Once it's all on the new box and updated to all the current software, OS, PHP, SQL, etc., etc ... then I'll make the new site available to the moderators and a few interested members that want to beta test for a couple weeks or so.
4) The main ("home page") is going to be completely rethought and rebuilt. Stay tuned for that, it's gonna be pretty cool.
5) Once we're all good, the easy part: Flip the switch.
If the cyberworld gods are good to us, it should only be a matter of (several) weeks . . . I may have to get some outside help with the data exporting/conversion/importing, to assure it's done correctly and that will push it a little farther-out, but ....
DirtRider.Net has been continuously online since late 1998 .... we're among some of the first "modern day" forums on the web, prior to that it was all about text based news groups and bulletin boards, "technology" that many of us may not have ever heard of, lol. The point is, there's a lot of history here, a lot of friendships that have lasted to this day, I owe it to the members and the site to either make it viable again, or let it go off into the internet graveyard.