Shutting down the old forums following release of new portal...

[AffordYourPassions]

I just received the e-mail with the latest news about the portal. It mentions that "After a reasonable period of time, we'll shut down the old forums for good" - is it possible to get clarification of what "reasonable period of time" means, so that I can determine how much copy & pasting I have to do in what kind of time frame :)

[NicktheGeek]

The forums are a wealth of valuable information, so they will be available for your reference. New questions may be submitted to our StudioPress support team, or you may post in our new community forum for assistance from the smart StudioPress community.

We do not have an exact time frame on when they will be shut down but it will be after the new year most likely. We have several bits of code we want to pull out of the forum to turn into knowledge base articles for the new system.

[AffordYourPassions]

Thanks, Nick!

More knowledge base articles would be good :)

[NicktheGeek]

We are very excited about the new system. It is something we have been working towards for over a year and so many things that have frustrated us and you all as customers should be addressed in this. We have a lot more that will be coming liek the KB system but even in the initial state it is so amazing.

[cody]

Not sure I am following the information in this thread correctly, but are you saying your doing away with the help forums? The same forums that help 1000's of customers understand the way you present and sell your templates. If it was not for these forums I would have never bought my second template from you guys. The forums were the only place to find the answers I needed to make my purchased templates look and respond just like the demo. I purchased my first studio press template years ago and since then have managed to buy all of them. I am now worried because at times I do often refer back to the information found in the forums to help me fix any issues I am having with the studio press templates. In fact this was the best customer support forum I could find for Wordpress Themes. I hope you guys can help customers who have spent a lot of time and money using your software understand how to use them once the forums are gone.

[JohnEniste]

I'm not sure whether to be excited or anxious....Studiopress are well-known for the great support forum, and i for one am always telling people about it. Fingers crossed you don't drop the ball like another big theme company did this year.....

[WBS]

I don't think we are losing forums, just the current format. Here is an excerpt from the email I received last week.

We've got brand new community forums on the way for you. Once everyone's safely in the "new house," we're going to pause our current forums, making them read-only. After a reasonable period of time, we'll shut down the old forums for good, so go ahead and start using the new ones as soon as they're open for business!

[kelmom]

I never received an e-mail. :(

When will this change take place?

[NicktheGeek]

A couple of important pieces of information. These specific forums are being locked. There is a new community forum that is being started. In other words, we will be keeping forums as part of the full support solution. We are creating a support portal for technical and usage support. One of the biggest frustrations we have had with forum support is that it is not possible to track threads that need a response outside of our unanswered posts list. There are so many ways in which that causes problems. Also, if a mod has replied but ends up taking a day or even a few days off (we do need time off on occasion) there isn't anything in place that lets everyone else see a thread has been replied to. The new support portal addresses all of those things.

The old system made things difficult for maintaining downloads. USers had to either get ProPlus and get their download from a private forum, or they had to use a third party system which limited the number of downloads. There were so many problems it isn't even funny. People not receiving emails, the emails going ot the wrong address for various reasons and so forth. It is a bit of a nightmare really. The new system makes for a single portal so users purchasing just Genesis or Genesis and a few child themes use the same download system as users purchasing ProPlus. It makes so much more sense, and the tutorials are right there with the downloads. To say it is better than the current system is a vast understatement.

I know change can be scary. We have been talking about this for over a year with major development going on for nearly a year on this system. There might be some growing pains, but we have taken so long to get this into place because we want to make sure this is better for everyone. We know that the forums are a great place for the community to add to the product. I have been impressed at the help I've seen community members give one another and the cool things we have seen them share. In the new forums we truly hope this continues and we have tried to think of things we can do to encourage this such as providing space to show code you have used for cool projects. We wish to see the forums remain as one very important leg of the support system, but vBulletin is both overkill and limiting. It doesn't provide good searching and requires some pretty difficult integration steps. It is a great system but just isn't what is needed in this case.

We will leave these forums open for reading, searching, and copying. It is just not going to be open for posting new threads/posts. The new forums will open for that and should fully replace these forums over time. I don't have an exact time frame but I can say these forums aren't likely to disappear before the end of the year. I imagine the traffic will be monitored and once we have everything we need for the tutorials/knowledge base and traffic is down to a crawl these forums will be phased out the rest of the way. By then everyone will be using the new forums.

As to the timing, we are setting this up right now. We will be doing some final testing, checking to make sure the accounts are all setup, and then making the final change. The exact date is a bit up in the air but watch for an email in the next few days with the hard details.

If these forums get shut down and you didn't get an email with your new account details, PLEASE (seriously I can't stress this enough) let us know via our contact form. Let us know your purchase email address and forum account name. We are doing everything we can to make this as painless as possible but with almost 90k registered members it is possible for some to slip through the cracks and there are going to be users who never registered in the forums. We are trying to compare and merge data from past purchases with forum member details and then convert that all to the new system but we are aware that things may not be 100% on the switch over. So please let us know if you think you were missed. We want to do everything we can to find your account and make sure you have access to the new system.

[JohnEniste]

Thanks for the very detailed information Nick. We have all come to expect a lot from Studiopress because you've always given so much.

Is there no way that you could keep these forums somewhere on the server for longer? I know you said you were building a knowledgebase from them, but i imagine that is a pretty mammoth task and some posts may be useful without you realising it and hence disappear without trace (eg: if they contain a link to something that someone found very useful, or if a post gave someone a lightbulb moment)

Whatever happens, i'm pretty sure you have the best intentions... I will continue to look forward to the new system with a mixture of excitement and fear.

[AffordYourPassions]

Originally Posted by NicktheGeek

I have been impressed at the help I've seen community members give one another and the cool things we have seen them share. In the new forums we truly hope this continues and we have tried to think of things we can do to encourage this such as providing space to show code you have used for cool projects

^ This...

I'm a relative newbie to Genesis and StudioPress, but I've learned so much from just participating in the forums over the past two months. I've gotten to the point where if I have spare time, and see an unanswered question, I do the research to see if I can come up with the answer. If I'm not sure of the answer, I will wait for the question to be answered by a moderator, but in the meantime, I've learned something that I might not have ever been looking for. It's this interaction with the community that I enjoy, and hope that the new forums will provide us, as users, the opportunity to continue to learn more.

I'm not a Pro Plus member, but I've bought so many themes just because I've spent time hanging out here on the forum. If this forum didn't exist, I might have just purchased the one theme.

Good luck! I can't wait to see what the new forums/portal brings us!

[successfulgeek]

I am very happy that there will be a forum available. I got worried when I saw that the forums would become read only. I have received a lot of help here, but I also very much understand the need for the new system. I'm very excited to see what you guys do moving forward. My Studiopress area looks great.

[NicktheGeek]

Thanks.

[mromero]

The alarm was raised in this thread:

http://www.studiopress.com/support/s...ad.php?t=65271

Perhaps Nick can splice that thread here before the Forum is shut down (Read Only) in the next couple of days.

Originally Posted by cody

Not sure I am following the information in this thread correctly, but are you saying your doing away with the help forums? The same forums that help 1000's of customers understand the way you present and sell your templates. If it was not for these forums I would have never bought my second template from you guys. The forums were the only place to find the answers I needed to make my purchased templates look and respond just like the demo. I purchased my first studio press template years ago and since then have managed to buy all of them. I am now worried because at times I do often refer back to the information found in the forums to help me fix any issues I am having with the studio press templates. In fact this was the best customer support forum I could find for Wordpress Themes. I hope you guys can help customers who have spent a lot of time and money using your software understand how to use them once the forums are gone.

[mromero]

Another change I've just noticed is that when you go to Studio Press the menu no longer shows a Blog, but rather Releases. It appears Brian has a very simple personal blog elsewhere not talking about the new themes as they come out and so on.

I agree that these forums have become cumbersome but I believe this has to do with the software, VBulletin, which has been abandoned by many forum owners after it changed ownership. There is better software out there - Invision comes to mind - that offers a sleeker solution with customer support modules.

The unending slew of cookie cutter themes being released also I think led to congestion with lots of scrolling down to find what you were looking for.

Originally Posted by NicktheGeek

A couple of important pieces of information. These specific forums are being locked. There is a new community forum that is being started. In other words, we will be keeping forums as part of the full support solution. We are creating a support portal for technical and usage support. One of the biggest frustrations we have had with forum support is that it is not possible to track threads that need a response outside of our unanswered posts list. There are so many ways in which that causes problems. Also, if a mod has replied but ends up taking a day or even a few days off (we do need time off on occasion) there isn't anything in place that lets everyone else see a thread has been replied to. The new support portal addresses all of those things.

[NicktheGeek]

As noted above, these specific forums are going away. The forum model is not. We already have the new community forums in place at:
http://studiopress.com/forums/

We really expect to see these forums be all the best parts of this forum. The downsides to pure forum support are being augmented by the new system including a much more accessible product system, better documentation, a growing knowledge base for self help, and 1-1 support so users support questions don't get missed because they accidentally knocked it off our radar or someone else replied before we did making us miss it.

Ultimately we want to make the things that are broken work and the things that are working better. We want to see the community continue to grow and I peaked over at the new forums just a minute ago ... I'm very happy to see people already putting in some really cool "How to" type stuff not just "how do I..."

That is the stuff that really makes for better community, open sharing of really cool ideas that can help all of us.

Yes, change is scary, but if we take what we know is good about these forums and push to make the new forums even better, then this is going to be an amazingly good change.

[chrismccoy]

how can we get access to the child themes, right now im just showing the framework, no child themes, im a pro member.

[NicktheGeek]

Chris,

Please use this help form to request help getting this fixed. We will get it taken care of quickly.
http://my.studiopress.com/help/

[ceo]

I'm confused...

I got the email for the my.studiopress.com area thing and logged in there...but are we supposed to register at the new forums or is that the same login as the support area? (They both are WP login screens which is where my confusion is.)

I'm glad to see the support being streamlined and I think in the long run it will be a much easier way to handle things and get assistance. However, there is a vast wealth of information here in these forums and I do hope they stick around for reference for more than just the next six weeks!

[NicktheGeek]

Cyndy,

You will need to register for the new forums separately. We looked into merging them and I even made a plugin to merge bbPress and Premise membership (which is running the new portal) but we want to keep the new forums completely open to encourage the larger community to participate.

[mromero]

Hmmm...

I've registered at the new forums and it is a Ghost town there so far.

The new forums frankly suck or maybe it is the software BBSpress they are using.

Can't someone like Nick or some of the more helpful developers apply to adopt these forums and keep them up?

Originally Posted by NicktheGeek

Cyndy,

You will need to register for the new forums separately. We looked into merging them and I even made a plugin to merge bbPress and Premise membership (which is running the new portal) but we want to keep the new forums completely open to encourage the larger community to participate.

[Brian Gardner]

It's a ghost town because we just opened them. Trust me, they will get populated quickly. I'm sorry you think they "suck", but we're doing our best to address requests and quirks as soon as they come in.

Originally Posted by mromero

Hmmm...

I've registered at the new forums and it is a Ghost town there so far.

The new forums frankly suck or maybe it is the software BBSpress they are using.

Can't someone like Nick or some of the more helpful developers apply to adopt these forums and keep them up?

[kelmom]

*sigh* I did not receive contact details for the new customer portal. I sent a request using the contact form link that Nick provided. I unfortunately had to choose "Presales" as my category in the contact form. Really hoping this gets taken care of.

[earthy]

Good luck with the change-over guys, and thanks for all the support you've given me and others on this soon-to-be-retired version.

I've filled in the form to get my details sent for the new system, but won't get stressed if it takes a day or two. I'm sure you must be inundated...

Anyways ... see you on the other side ...

[kelmom]

Rebecca, you rock! Thank you for answering my support e-mail so quickly! :)

I am definitely going to miss these forums.

[mromero]

I just realized.....

Let it be known that the Genesis / Studio Press Original Forum Shutdown Date coincides with a Public and Bank Holiday in our country. There must be a link somewhere here, good things underway?

The 19th of November is Garifuna Settlement Day In Belize.

The 19th of November will also mark seven days since John McAfee went on the lam in Belize - unless he is captured earlier.

Originally Posted by Brian Gardner

It's a ghost town because we just opened them. Trust me, they will get populated quickly. I'm sorry you think they "suck", but we're doing our best to address requests and quirks as soon as they come in.

[AffordYourPassions]

Originally Posted by mromero

I just realized.....

Let it be known that the Genesis / Studio Press Original Forum Shutdown Date coincides with a Public and Bank Holiday in our country.

This forum isn't being "shut-down" on Monday; it's being turned into "read-only" mode at that time. When someone comes to the site on Monday, they will see the link at the top in yellow, directing them to the new forum.

[custompc1]

Are you guys (and gals) moving over all the posts from the old forum to the new one?

Will we really have to login 3 different times to get access to all the content we currently have with a single logon?

I agree with most people that the forums and open support is what made my purchase the pro package. Your selling point may be the support forums more than the themes themselves.

I get 90% of my help from the forums. I see others questions and answers, and I can take the advise given and apply it to me in most cases. If we move to submitting private requests for email, how will the new forums get populated with this wealth of information?

Change is always new and scary so i will wait to see what happens before i come to a conclusion. You have my purchase so there is nothing I can do at this point.

I will be very disappointed with a change that results in less community support.

I just submitted my first request using the new system and the private email response will only benefit me. I don't see how this will continue to build a new wealth of information especially with all the questions floating about regarding the responsive themes.

[AffordYourPassions]

Originally Posted by custompc1

Are you guys moving over all the posts from the old forum to the new one?

It is my understanding that they won't be moving over all the posts from this forum to the new one.

Originally Posted by NicktheGeek

The forums are a wealth of valuable information, so they will be available for your reference. New questions may be submitted to our StudioPress support team, or you may post in our new community forum for assistance from the smart StudioPress community.

We do not have an exact time frame on when they will be shut down but it will be after the new year most likely. We have several bits of code we want to pull out of the forum to turn into knowledge base articles for the new system.

[NicktheGeek]

As Susan correctly said. The existing forum data is not being imported to the new forum. Quite frankly there is a ton of outdated information in these forums. There are too many problems where someone asks a question then that question gets lost.

The old system was great for a much smaller user base but now it is just not working.

As for questions asked in the new 1-1 portal, we do have the new community forums and you can post your questions there if you prefer a community response. in some cases we may even recommend you put your questions there.

[mromero]

Nick, that argument will lead you down the road of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Outdated information is pruned with the pruning tools of the forum software.

Upgrade the forums with better software such as Invision, not downgrade it to a BBSpress plugin or whatever is my opinion.

As I stated in a separate post VBulletin which is which is what you been using here has been going down the tubes since it changed ownership and every new version is worse - in that I would support you.

The new ghost town does not have the sense of community and will never achieve what has been achieved here and what made Studio Press a superstar.

When we left Thesis the forums here is what made the difference for us and our customers.

But I know there is a business plan and Brian and his fellow shareholders have to do what is best for the business....

Originally Posted by NicktheGeek

As Susan correctly said. The existing forum data is not being imported to the new forum. Quite frankly there is a ton of outdated information in these forums. There are too many problems where someone asks a question then that question gets lost.

The old system was great for a much smaller user base but now it is just not working.

[NicktheGeek]

The "ghost town" forums will eventually work. They are filling in quickly and we are pushing for more community from the start.

In fact, in the past couple of days there have been over 50 new threads and about 300 posts. This is actually only a little behind these forums and with actual support moved out of the forum this means there has been more community involvement than the past couple of years in these forums on average.

If you will stop seeing the pain of change you will see this is going incredibly well for a new system.

That said, if you wish to continue this conversation some more you may contact Brian directly. This boat has sailed.

[AffordYourPassions]

Farewell, forum! See you on the other side :)