Also, as related to the server migration:
WHY?
The server this forum currently runs on has been running continuously for over a decade and is using an OS that was released over a decade ago and which officially went end-of-life about 7 years ago. That means I can't close security holes, update the server, or do much of anything else that might be needed to keep the thing healthy.
WHAT?
I'm going to create a new server running a modern OS, migrate our existing forum to the new server, then update the forum software. Once that's done, we'll just use the new server instead of the old one.
HOW?
I will "lock" the current forum (prevents new posts until I unlock - once I start the transfer, I get a copy of the forum "at that point in time" and anything new posted after that would be lost, hence the lock to make sure nothing is lost). Once the transfer is complete and the forum software is updated, I will point all DNS records at the new server. On the "old" forum I will make a single post (which I expect CAN be lost) letting everyone know "wrong forum, you may need to refresh your DNS settings to get to the new one" so...
1. If the forum is locked and you don't see "you're in the wrong place" you know the transfer is still in-progress.
2. If the forum IS locked and you DO see "you're in the wrong place" you'll know the transfer is done, but you probably need to wait for your ISP's DNS servers to update. This should happen within 15 minutes or so of the move being complete, so it should mostly be a "check back in half an hour" and it'll be fine so you see...
3. The forum will be unlocked and everything should be working as normal.
You don't really need to do anything or learn any new addresses, just wait for the migration to finish.
WHAT IF?
It doesn't work? Then I just unlock the forum on its current server and don't point the DNS records at the new server. No harm, no foul, and I try again later.
WHAT WILL CHANGE?
Hopefully, not much. It's likely that upgrading the forum software will bring about some minor appearance changes, and there should be some server performance improvement since we'll be running on newer hardware and software, but if I do my job correctly, you shouldn't notice anything unless you happen to get the "forums are locked" message because you visited in the middle of the move.
Oh, I *am* hoping to install an SSL certificate so we can get HTTPS instead of just HTTP. So that little "not secure" at the top of your browser might change (not that it matters because you're not sending any sensitive information here, right? RIGHT?)
POSSIBLE CAVEAT!
Tapatalk users may notice a difference. I've not tried to migrate a forum that uses Tapatalk before. At the worst, I'll have to re-register with Tapatalk and you'll have to re-sync your Tapatalk app by searching for the forum again. Shouldn't be too awful.
OTHER STUFF!
So this is the part where I ask for some opinions, because I do have an idea for a subtle change I'd like to make:
Right now, the "main" landing page for the domain is the HTML output from FBB. You have to go to pbsl.ijbl.net
/forum to get to the forum and there's no link on the main page... which probably keeps out spammers because you have to "know" the forums exist, but it does mean random people have no way of figuring out how to join us. I think it makes more sense to make either the main domain or the "/forum" link give you the forum and move the HTML output from FBB to something like "pbsl.ijbl.net/exports" - that might require some subtle bookmark updating, but what do you all think?
I have some other ideas, too, but one thing at a time.