#SLOE: People's Basketball Sim League

Hey Everyone,

Very Sorry for the multiple tags.... but we have some important information to share.

First and foremost, @WigNosy will be able to speak to this better, but high level, the webserver is in need of a much overdue upgrade, as the current server has fallen out of support. As a result, we (mostly Wig lol sorry Wig) are looking to migrate the server, which will require a short "downtime" for the forum/index as it will take a few hours to get everything completed. Wig has some availability to run this this upcoming Saturday, but if he cannot, then we will have to put it off until a future date.

As a result, let's try to shoot for this Saturday! But in order to do that, we really need to get through the draft by EOD Friday at the latest. We were already autopicking Rounds 10-15 based on pre-draft conversations, but many have indicated that they don't really care about the Yellows-and-lower players too much and want to be "Recommended". So we are making this post now as a means for ANYONE who wants to go recommended the rest of the way...

PLEASE post here in this thread "Recommended" or "Recommend me" or whatever. You can also send lists as we have been doing already; if you do not wish to be recommended, we HIGHLY ENCOURAGE lists and list sending! You will not be penalized if you want to make your picks, but we will be trying to strictly enforce a simmed pick after the 1-hr window elapses (as quickly as one of the 3 inputters can sim if not right at the 1-hr mark). Please help us get this draft done sooner rather than later so we can get the forum/server upgraded and hopefully kick off this season by Monday!

GMs already requested Recommended:
Eazy P
RPF
digiskunk
JNR
SuperDog
AngryBanana
IamQuailman
GreepleAirport
Dr. Kavarga
Mike Lowry (via List)
Xist (via List)
CashCab (via List)
Wig (via list)

@drkavarga @78# @greepleairport @BigDaddyd8720 @JNR @Xist2Inspire @SuperDog @jlmarines @Mike Lowry @Eazy P @PaulyP @logpmess @digiskunk @RPF @IamQuailman @tbone963 @LazyTitanSmash @cashcab @Jedihero @WigNosy @AngryBanana @K-100 @NY_Magic_Garrett

Recommend


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AngryBanana wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 4:16 pm Recommend


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Added

List submitted to BigDaddyD8720; just throw that sucker in for the Blazers and sim away as far as I'm concerned.

WigNosy wrote: Wed Dec 11, 2024 4:54 pm List submitted to BigDaddyD8720; just throw that sucker in for the Blazers and sim away as far as I'm concerned.

Noted!

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.

Suns Recommended

I know I'm busy tomorrow so doing this to not hold things up.

List submitted to AB

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@WigNosy asi I see it, the league rests on your shoulders from a tech perspective and your last crack ran for a decade without OS support, so if you recommend it? I’m all for it

Please note that with the draft now finished, it's not mission-critical for the forums to be available 100% of the time.

To expedite the server move, I will be doing some techie twiddling; the site may be intermittently unavailable or acting weird Thursday or Friday evening as I prep for the Saturday morning "big lift." Some good progress already.

I’m excited to potentially see an “s” with the http!


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