The GhostBSD community forums have moved to a new home! After careful consideration, we’ve transitioned to Flarum, a modern and lightweight forum platform, to provide a better experience for our users. Here’s why we made the switch and what it means for you.
Why the Transition?
The decision to move away from our old forum platform, phpBB, wasn’t taken lightly. However, several challenges made it clear that a change was necessary:
- Maintenance Difficulties:
Over time, phpBB became harder to update and maintain. Many extensions were outdated or abandoned, which limited functionality and created persistent issues. - Upgrade Problems:
The issues caused by the last phpBB upgrade underscored the need for a more reliable, modern solution that could better serve our growing community.
Why Flarum?
We chose Flarum for several key reasons:
- Modern Features:
Flarum provides a sleek, user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate. Its responsive design ensures a seamless experience across devices. - Active Development:
Flarum’s extensions are actively maintained, and its community is engaged and forward-thinking. This ensures better long-term support and continuous improvements. - Seamless Integration:
Flarum integrates well with the tools we already use to manage Drupal for our website. It is also distributed under the MIT license, an open-source license similar to our BSD license.
Why No Data Migration?
We decided not to migrate old forum data for several reasons:
- Outdated Content:
Much of the existing content was no longer relevant, and starting fresh allows us to focus on current and future discussions. - Inactive Users:
Many users on the old forum were inactive, so we chose not to import user data, providing a clean slate for everyone. - Technical Challenges:
While data migration was possible, it would have required significant effort to clean and restructure the data for the new platform.
The old forum will remain accessible as an archive at:
https://old-forums.ghostbsd.org
What’s Next?
We’re excited about the possibilities that Flarum brings! The new forum offers a clean slate and plenty of room to grow with the community’s needs.
If you have suggestions for new features or extensions, feel free to share them on our forums. Together, we can make this space a vibrant hub for GhostBSD users.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding during this transition. We look forward to seeing you on the new forums!
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