# Current Status of SDMB Upgrade **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 9, 2008, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854 "2008-09-09T21:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/81 "2008-09-17T19:11:30Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Crusoe, I show your membership as having expired September 1, which was when we were initially going through the upgrade process. > > You can resubscribe at any time. Check the “Paid Subscription” link in the User Control Panel from the list on the left hand side. > > The user titles are not all correct for all people – this is something Jerry needs to address at some point. But since all relevant titles can read and write to the board – Charter Member, Member, and Guest – it’s not an urgent matter. Ah, thank you **TubaDiva** , bad timing on my part makes sense. Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/82 "2008-09-19T07:23:03Z")
Progress seems to be achingly slow. I’m somewhat anxious and disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/83 "2008-09-19T12:36:54Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Progress seems to be achingly slow. I’m somewhat anxious and disappointed. Another update would be nice, the last update to the op was 09-12-2008 at 04:04 PM. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/84 "2008-09-19T14:42:34Z")
FYI, I’m still show as a Member instead of Charter Member. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/85 "2008-09-19T19:30:12Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Progress seems to be achingly slow. I’m somewhat anxious and disappointed. What functionality is missing? We all use the board in different ways … so there be some blind spots I’m not noticing. EDIT: :smack: forgot about Quick Reply … but that doesn’t affect the board experience for me overmuch. More of a “nice to have” than a “have to have”. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/86 "2008-09-20T01:02:19Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > What functionality is missing? In addition to the Quick Reply box, I still can’t seem to use the Thread Tools dropdown. I normally only post to about half the threads I read, so being able to subscribe without posting is a huge plus for me. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/87 "2008-09-20T01:03:52Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > In addition to the Quick Reply box, I still can’t seem to use the Thread Tools dropdown. I normally only post to about half the threads I read, so being able to subscribe without posting is a huge plus for me. You can subscribe/unsubscribe to threads now at the bottom of the page. There is a new heading down there called “thread tools”. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/88 "2008-09-20T01:27:49Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > You can subscribe/unsubscribe to threads now at the bottom of the page. There is a new heading down there called “thread tools”. Sweet, thanks much. I thought it was a bug that instead of a dropdown it just scrolled down to the bottom of the page. As Microsoft would say, that’s a feature, not a bug. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/89 "2008-09-20T11:48:13Z")
There is something I wondered although it doesn’t affect me personally. What is the current status of the Guests? They are still called “Guest” but I don’t know what they can or can’t do at the moment. Many old posters returned but the registration agreement still refers to the old 30-day-trial deal. To put it differently, will anybody’s membership still expire or is that already a thing of the past? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/90 "2008-09-20T14:09:57Z")
The difference between a Member and a Guest is that Members do not see display ads. That’s what subscription buys you these days. Guests can post and search and etc. just like Members do but their experience includes display ads. Charter Members are just like Members except that they pay less for the privilege of not seeing display ads; back a few years ago we were actively soliciting subscriptions and made all our people then a heck of an offer. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/91 "2008-09-20T16:07:46Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Charter Members are just like Members except that they pay less for the privilege of not seeing display ads; back a few years ago we were actively soliciting subscriptions and made all our people then a heck of an offer. Due respect, but while your statement is literally true, I don’t think it conveys the meaning of charter membership, at least from this member’s perspective. It wasn’t just that you offered a great deal and we grabbed it while we could. It was that you and we together went out on a limb to try an experiment to help the board survive. No one knew at that time whether pay to post would work at all or, for that matter, whether the board would be around much longer. Granted, we paid less than those who followed, but we were the ones who stepped up in order to express our faith in you and the Chicago Reader. There had been many offers of help of every kind, from free coding to donations, but for business reasons those were rejected. So when there came a time when we could put our money where our mouth was, we did. That’s why we’re Charter Members, and with the greatest respect, I would ask you to remember and recognize what we did and why we did it, rather than just toss us off as members who got off on the cheap. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/92 "2008-09-20T18:13:39Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > I would think in this instance to have a page of posts, open one in new tab, reply/to it/close it out/move to the next one on the page/open in new tab, that’s really not a huge amount of resources. > > But I’ll bring this to Jerry’s attention and see what’s to be done here. Fair enough. However, I would think that there’s a chance that a newcomer to the forum, unaccustomed to a somewhat unintuitive workaround, could get frustrated and become disinclined to come back…meaning of course that said newbie wouldn’t be served the ads that are at the heart of the new business plan… EDITED TO ADD: I see that some don’t think of it as a problem at all. Whatever. On an unrelated note, any chance we could get the spiffy new (to here) push-button spoiler boxes (that many other current vBulletin forums are using)? Example [here](http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=4031020#post4031020). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/93 "2008-09-20T19:29:25Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > On an unrelated note, any chance we could get the spiffy new (to here) push-button spoiler boxes (that many other current vBulletin forums are using)? > > Example [here](http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=4031020#post4031020). Do you have an example that’s open-access? That link brings up a “you must be a registered member to see this page” message. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/94 "2008-09-20T21:37:07Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Do you have an example that’s open-access? That link brings up a “you must be a registered member to see this page” message. Here’s an example [from my board](http://www.skipmagic.net/magicboard/index.php?showtopic=30527). That’s Invision software and not vBulletin, but the concept and results are the same–even if they don’t look exactly the same on each board. What **RobuSensei** is talking about is a custom tag using javascript; it’s not part of the upgrade. Personally, I think it’s something worth looking into, but that’s just my opinion as a poster. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/95 "2008-09-20T23:00:08Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > Here’s an example [from my board](http://www.skipmagic.net/magicboard/index.php?showtopic=30527). That’s Invision software and not vBulletin, but the concept and results are the same–even if they don’t look exactly the same on each board. Ah, I see. No biggie to me either way. What we have works, but isn’t quite as shiny cool. You can play some interesting games with our current spoiler tags, though. It’s an interesting effect when you hide most of the spoiler text, but certain words still show through. Or when you can just barely see part of it, if you look closely. Maybe it would remove some objections if the text “Spoiler:” at the top of the spoiler box said “Spoiler (highlight to read)” or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/96 "2008-09-20T23:04:20Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Maybe it would remove some objections if the text “Spoiler:” at the top of the spoiler box said “Spoiler (highlight to read)” or something similar. My objection to the current spoiler boxes is that it hurts my eyes to read light text on a dark background. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/97 "2008-09-21T01:32:43Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Do you have an example that’s open-access? That link brings up a “you must be a registered member to see this page” message. Oops! Sorry:smack: Anyway, it works just like the ones on Skip’s board. The vBull hack has a “show/hide” button just above the box, instead of a text link. If you want to see, I think [this example](http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=3942058#post3942058) is in the JREF public forums. And actually, this isn’t a big deal for me, I was just curious about if we could get it. I’m still cool with the old-style highlight to read boxes. There was a thread a long while back where people used yellow text in the spoiler box to make Q&D Star Wars opening crawls… I still would like to see the “view new posts” timer set to more than zero, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/98 "2008-09-22T18:04:40Z")
I’ve got a question… I understand that some functionality is removed or reduced during this transition. For example, I can only see the most recent 200 threads, and search doesn’t work. How then, are older threads popping up with new replies? Just now I saw a thread in Cafe Society about the Economics of Star Trek, which had been dormant since August 26th (long before the ‘most recent 200’) and suddenly there were new replies, as of this morning. How are users seeing these older threads? Can I adjust a setting somewhere, so that I can see them too? thanks, thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/99 "2008-09-22T18:41:39Z")
> [@thwartme](#): > > How are users seeing these older threads? Can I adjust a setting somewhere, so that I can see them too? The SDMB is now open to outside search engines, so you can search even though you can’t use vBulletin’s search function. For a good example, use Google to search for “Gaudere’s Law.” Wikipedia comes up first, followed by a link to the thread in which Gaudere’s Law got its name. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854/100 "2008-09-22T18:50:59Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > The SDMB is now open to outside search engines, so you can search even though you can’t use vBulletin’s search function. > > For a good example, use Google to search for “Gaudere’s Law.” Wikipedia comes up first, followed by a link to the thread in which Gaudere’s Law got its name. It’s not open yet. > [@robots.txt](#): > > User-agent: Mediapartners-Google\* > Disallow: > > User-agent: \* > Disallow: / Which explicitly disallows all search engines. That thread comes up because someone else on the internet linked to it. But you can see that Google didn’t actually download the page. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/current-status-of-sdmb-upgrade/462854.md?page=6)