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Post Info TOPIC: IMPORTANT SITE NEWS. PLEASE READ!


A Poncho Legend!

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IMPORTANT SITE NEWS. PLEASE READ!


Unfortunately after over 16 years running Canadian Poncho on this platform it's time to move to another one. There are a few reasons for moving that I'm not going to get into however cost is one of them. Activeboard has been great at keeping the site secure and we had very little downtime over the years. I certainly hope the new platform is just as reliable. I'm working very hard to make the new platform look as familiar as this as possible. If you're comfortable on here you should have no problem getting the hang of the new site. I'll post some tutorials once we are up and running. The new platform is very powerful from an administrative point of view so I'm hoping we'll be able to add some nice features in the future. Right now two moderators and two senior members have been on the new site and are helping with any bugs and offering much needed advise as to the look of the forum.

The big elephant in the room is what are we going to do with the 500000+ posts on this forum? Unfortunately there is no easy way to move them so it's up to us to move the important ones. "Sticky" posts such as the registries have already been moved. We are also moving some build threads and hopefully a good portion if not all of the feature cars (the past feature cars may just consist of one good photo and the owners write up) and other threads we feel are important reference to these great cars.  I hope to have the new forum opened in the next few days. Once it is open I'll let you all know and you can register. PLEASE use the same username you have on here. 

If there's a thread you created that you'd like moved over please feel free to do so. If there's a thread you feel is important that you didn't write please feel free to move it after checking to make sure it hasn't been moved before. The search feature on the new forum seems quite good.  Please cite the original author at the beginning of the post.  If you don't feel comfortable moving a thread let myself or a moderator know and we'll look after doing it. 

Some folks might be concerned about losing their post count. While I can't start you up on the new forum with the same post count as on here, you can send me a message on the new forum with your old post count and I'll see if we can't do something to recognize your years of contributing to the forum.

I was hoping to keep this forum open (but without the ability to post) until the end of February however we may have to shut it down the end of this month. This will only give us about three weeks to move what posts we feel are important to the new forum.

Like most of you I hate change and I've been resisting doing this for well over a year. Unfortunately it has to be done to ensure the forum and it's invaluable content can continue to help us preserve these cars for years to come. Thank you for your support!

   Todd

 



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Todd
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Canadian Poncho World Headquarters - Prince Edward Island

 



Uber Guru

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Great work Todd !

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A Poncho Legend!

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Sounds very positive Todd and thanks to you and your test group for ensuring the ongoing continuity of this important information.

I have no problem moving a few posts, however would like to know the procedure to do so.

You and the test group will have a lot of work ahead so glad to do my part in saving this critical information.

Best, Ray



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Ray White, Toronto ON

Formerly - The one and only 1973 LeMans 454 "Astro-Jet"

Built March 9, 1973 - Oshawa ON

1993 Corvette Convertible LT 1

Built January 10, 1993 - Bowling Green Kentucky 

 




A Poncho Legend!

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Thanks Ray. Once the site is live I'll issue instructions. Basically it's a case of saving the photos from the original thread (right click the photo and  "Save Image as" option pops up) on your computer, copying the original text, starting a new topic on the new forum, pasting the text you copied and uploading the photos you saved. As you can imagine with long threads (like a build thread) this can take quite a while! It's much easier to do on a computer than a phone. 
73SC wrote:

Sounds very positive Todd and thanks to you and your test group for ensuring the ongoing continuity of this important information.

I have no problem moving a few posts, however would like to know the procedure to do so.

You and the test group will have a lot of work ahead so glad to do my part in saving this critical information.

Best, Ray


 



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Todd
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Canadian Poncho World Headquarters - Prince Edward Island

 



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Thanks Guys. I have a number of threads bookmarked (pertaining to 65-70 B-bodies) that I'd like to get moved over. They pertain to 4 speed & disc brake conversions, power windows, etc.

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70 2+2 convertible
70 2+2 hardtop
70 Parisienne hardtop

 

 



Guru

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Todd, we knew this was coming because you had mentioned it before so whatever you feel is the right and best solution you have my full support.

 



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"Dad, which car are we taking?"                      "The Pontiac!"

"Which one?"                                                    "The red one!"

'67 Parisienne 2+2 - red

'01 Montana            - red

'06 Buick Allure

'12    Japanese minivan



A Poncho Legend!

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Clint please PM me the links and we'll move them.


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Todd
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Canadian Poncho World Headquarters - Prince Edward Island

 

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A Poncho Legend!

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This is probably the best place to post this since almost everyone will read this thread: We need feature cars! I have nothing for the rest of the year. Please consider having your car featured. They don't have to be trailer queens! An interesting story is often more exciting! PM me here or at canadianponcho@gmail.com if you are interested.


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Todd
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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Good and bad news, the good news will outdo the bad in no time Todd, hope it all goes well. I assume we will all have a signature option in the new site, we could include our history numbers there?

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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC.
1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada

Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic



Poncho Master!

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That's great Todd. You told us the change was inevitable and coming soon. I think if some posts are important to the group as a whole you should do the best you can to save them. But each individual should do their part to save the posts that are important to themselves too.
The sticky posts would be the ones most needed to be saved....
You and your moderators have done an "upstanding" job to keep this forum running..

Regards
Bruce

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A Poncho Legend!

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Certainly if anyone has stuff they would like to see copied onto the new site PLEASE PLEASE take some time to save it and paste it when the new site goes public. There is SO much good tech info here it would be a shame to lose it.

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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles 

1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)



Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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What Carl said,

ALL photos on here can easily be saved to a desktop folder. Same goes for post text saved to notepad. They certainly can be added later.

If anyone is looking to save something, but is not sure how to do this, send me a pm with a copied link to the post you'd like to see saved. I'll do my best to save it for adding at some point later.

 

Perhaps we could consider a new page here that you can post a link to any worthy articles. We know it all can't be kept, but I'll sure try for the best stuff.

Actually, just reply here with any worthy links.



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 67 Grande Parisienne 4 door HT. 69 Parisienne Convertible.
 
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Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Good for you Todd, for taking that leap. Whatever makes your life easier and less stressful !!! All I do is...log in and enjoy!! Another thanks to the Mods that are always working behind the curtain. Your time is appreciated ! As far as contributions to CP (has been a bit for me) Do I wait and contribute to the new site....or does it all go in the same bucket???

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A Poncho Legend!

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Good idea Don. Your old post count could be included in your signature.


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MC


Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Good stuff, Todd.  While change has its drawbacks, I'm sure that overall it will be for the betterment of the site moving forward.

I would caution about letting too much of the valuable tech and historical information slide, though.  For some, I think that a very valuable asset of this site is all of the information that has been accumulated about Canadian Pontiacs/GM of Canada unique brands over the years.  There are so many little details of these cars and historical information about them that you just can't find anywhere else.

I'm not sure if there's a way to archive everything before the changeover, but if there is, it might be a good idea.  Once it's gone it's gone, but there are always instances where a topic comes up in the future that somebody may have a vague recollection of, but there will be no source to check.  This would perhaps include some insights posted by members who are no longer with us, or have otherwise left the site for some reason or another.  I'm not sure where you would even start to parse it all out, as there is so much information, but that's also the wealth of the site as a whole. 

As an example, there was a modeling site that was devoted to vintage NASCAR models, the Randy Ayers NASCAR modeling site, that existed for years and was attended by many people who were personally involved in NASCAR during what I would call the golden age of the sport from the 1950s through the 1970s.  The site was a treasure trove of information for the most minute details of these cars, and also included stories about behind the scenes happenings in the sport, personalities of the participants, etc.  One day the site crashed and since it wasn't backed up, all that info was lost.  The site came back online and continued along for awhile, but many of the people who had contributed over the years no longer posted, or had passed away, and it never really regained its level of activity from before.  Eventually it declined to the point where the "site" was moved to a facebook page and the actual messageboard was shut down.  I don't care for the facebook format so I haven't been back since.

It's probably too ambitious of a project for me to think that all this could be preserved for future use, but if there was a way to do it, there might be some value in it for the CP community.  Regardless, nothing lasts forever, and you can't keep everything, so here's to new beginnings.  In the very least, if most of the build threads, the feature cars, and the library of tech/historical info can be retained, there will be a lot to rebuild from.

Best of luck with it, Todd.  I know I speak for everybody here in that we appreciate your efforts and know that you will do the best that anybody can do with everything!



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A Poncho Legend!

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MC wrote:

 

I would caution about letting too much of the valuable tech and historical information slide, though.  For some, I think that a very valuable asset of this site is all of the information that has been accumulated about Canadian Pontiacs/GM of Canada unique brands over the years.  There are so many little details of these cars and historical information about them that you just can't find anywhere else.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I totally agree, that's the biggest worry about all this. I often find myself digging back, sometimes years, because I know a technical thread from who knows when has the answer to my question.



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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles 

1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)

MC


Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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4SPEED427 wrote:
MC wrote:

 

I would caution about letting too much of the valuable tech and historical information slide, though.  For some, I think that a very valuable asset of this site is all of the information that has been accumulated about Canadian Pontiacs/GM of Canada unique brands over the years.  There are so many little details of these cars and historical information about them that you just can't find anywhere else.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I totally agree, that's the biggest worry about all this. I often find myself digging back, sometimes years, because I know a technical thread from who knows when has the answer to my question.


 I have even found myself looking back at old car for sale threads when I see one online that looks familiar.  Not that this has any tangible value, but it almost tells the tale of some of the cars when you see them change hands, some often.  I wouldn't expect old for sale threads to be kept, ever, but it's just an example of the type of thing that a person might find themselves missing later on that doesn't come to mind right away.  Perhaps, just a heads-up for members to try to copy and preserve any info on the site that they find personally useful or interesting.  After the new site is up and running people could always re-post it (by copy/paste and uploading photos) if they want.  But as Todd says, it's probably a good idea to coordinate this so that there isn't a bunch of duplicate threads on the site.



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A Poncho Legend!

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Honestly, I would be fine with duplicates because we can just delete any that show up more than once. That would be a good problem to have actually!

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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles 

1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)



Addicted!

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Todd, I truly appreciate everything you and the moderators are doing. Having been involved with various organizations I know it isn't easy. I've even upgraded a few personal sites over the years, it can be challenging.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Sometimes the new host is willing to go in to the old site and port everything over to the new site. Since the look and feel of the two sites are going to be similar it might be worth looking into. I know the cost involved usually isn't cheap. There are a lot of members on this site who benefit from keeping the history, and like myself, they may be willing to contribute financially to ensure 100% of the cost is covered. It may be worthwhile seeing if it can be done and at what cost then putting it to the membership to see if the funds can be raised.

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A Poncho Legend!

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Glenn Musgrave wrote:



FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Sometimes the new host is willing to go in to the old site and port everything over to the new site. Since the look and feel of the two sites are going to be similar it might be worth looking into. I know the cost involved usually isn't cheap. There are a lot of members on this site who benefit from keeping the history, and like myself, they may be willing to contribute financially to ensure 100% of the cost is covered. It may be worthwhile seeing if it can be done and at what cost then putting it to the membership to see if the funds can be raised.


 I like your thinking Glenn.



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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles 

1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)

MC


Canadian Poncho Superstar!

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Date:

4SPEED427 wrote:
Glenn Musgrave wrote:



FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Sometimes the new host is willing to go in to the old site and port everything over to the new site. Since the look and feel of the two sites are going to be similar it might be worth looking into. I know the cost involved usually isn't cheap. There are a lot of members on this site who benefit from keeping the history, and like myself, they may be willing to contribute financially to ensure 100% of the cost is covered. It may be worthwhile seeing if it can be done and at what cost then putting it to the membership to see if the funds can be raised.


 I like your thinking Glenn.


Me too.  100%

The nuts and bolts of doing this is all beyond my experience, but if it were just a matter of a number of people kicking in a few bucks, it would be a worthwhile pursuit, IMHO.  I'd be willing to chip in for the greater good of keeping all the old site information intact where possible.



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A Poncho Legend!

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A friend of my son's is a high end AI programmer and he explained what we wanted to do. Apparently the going rate to copy forum posts and move them to the new one is several thousand dollars.
I'm working on a couple of other possible solutions. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime we are moving what we can. It's the photos that are the most time consuming (those that were uploaded here) as they need to be saved locally then reuploaded to the new forum.



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Todd
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Canadian Poncho World Headquarters - Prince Edward Island

 

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A Poncho Legend!

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The new forum is now at the point we can share it with everyone. I tried my best to get it to look as similar as possible to this version. The link is www.canadianponcho.ca

If you register PLEASE use the same username you had here. Your password can be different though. I have a busy next couple of days so it may take a while for me to authorize all the new registrations.

Let me know if you have any issues.

Thanks

 



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Todd
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Poncho Master!

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Joined....Looks good

How long will this site stay up? Will there be a re-direct once it's down?

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Hanover, Ont

Ontario Rodders Forum



A Poncho Legend!

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Canadian Poncho wrote:

The new forum is now at the point we can share it with everyone. I tried my best to get it to look as similar as possible to this version. The link is www.canadianponcho.ca

If you register PLEASE use the same username you had here. Your password can be different though. I have a busy next couple of days so it may take a while for me to authorize all the new registrations.

Let me know if you have any issues.

Thanks

 


 Thanks for all the effort you have put into this thus far Todd.

And I will add, if anyone has posted stuff they want to remain, PLEASE move it to the new site (pictures, tech data etc) because as you've mentioned, there's a good chance it will all be lost.

Also, I want to encourage everyone to use the new site as much as possible because of that. Let's get it up to full speed as soon as possible.



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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles 

1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars (now converted to a "factory" 4 speed)

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