Takeforum to Lefora Migration Guide

Hi, this is a How-To Guide for Takeforum Admins who have recently moved over to the Lefora forum platform.  Our support forum is very active and we're here to answer any question you might have.   Check out some of these how-to's below to learn how to take the same actions you used to on Takeforum on your new Lefora software platform.

Questions about the move:

• My forum's new address is not working
• Why did my forum move?
• Why do I have two versions of my forum?
• How do I let members know about the move?
• I lost admin rights to my forum.
• I lost Takeforum posts from the first two weeks of May 2009.
• How do I change the Privacy Settings of my forum?
• Can I download a backup copy of my forum?
• I want my forum to have the same 'Classic' look as it did before.

 
 

Questions about Admin'ing your forum:

• How do I reset a lost password?
• How can I change my forum's theme or template?
• How do I upload a header or background image?
• How do members upload or attach photos?
• How do I ban a member?
• How do I move topics?
• How much storage do I have?
• How do members set their avatars?

 
 
If you have another question not answered here, please read the Lefora FAQ and browse the support forum to see if it's been answered somewhere else.  If you don't find an answer, feel free to start a new topic with an appropriate subject title and a fellow admin or somebody from the staff will answer your question.

Why did my forum move?
Due to a high level of server activity on Takeforum, the previous software setup of Takeforum could not handle the increased server load. This led to many forums returning mysql errors and preventing members from properly using their forum. To help with the server issues, Takeforum partnered with Lefora to migrate the forum onto the Lefora software platform. Lefora has been able to scale their software to host hundreds of thousands of forums and can handle the growth that Takeforum has seen recently. Lefora is a free service, just like Takeforum and will continue to host the forum for free. Lefora offers many upgrades over phpbb2, including email notifications, simple media embedding and uploading, and increased file storage space.  Lefora is home to over 65,000 forums!

Lefora has imported thousands of Takeforum forums of admins who volunteered for the move.  Takeforum and Lefora have both emailed admins to try and make this process go over smoothly, but there has been a number of hiccups, and we're doing everything we can to fix these and get you up and running with your forum.  So if you do have any problems, we will be here to help you and fix what we can.  It may take a few days, so please bare with us.  We've imported thousands of forums successfully, but there are a few dozen that need minor adjustments.

Please note, due to complexities of the two systems, Lefora is not able to import Private Messages from Takeforum.

Why do I have two versions of my forum?
At the moment, Lefora only supports forum wide privacy settings.  Either the forum is fully private, or fully public (admins can choose to turn on automatic member approval).  This will change in the future (Lefora is always in active development), but we had to import Takeforum forums into two different forums, a public forum and a private forum. 

For some admins, they only use one or the other, so it's fine.  For others, they use both.  Your members will not need to login again, their login will work across both forums.

Your forum: http://yourforum.takeforum.com
Your admin (or private) forum: http://yourforum-private.takeforum.com

To ease access between the two forums, we suggest using the Weblinks sidebar widget (Forum Admin > Appearance > Sidebar - add widget - Weblinks) to put a link to the other forum in each forum's sidebar. Or if you have an acquaintance with HTML, you could put in a linked image using the Custom HTML sidebar widget.

How do I let members know about the move?
All returning members will see a splash page when visiting your forum's old address, with a link redirecting them to the new address.

We recommend that you send all your members a Welcome Email and provide a link to your new home. 

To Send a Welcome Email:
1. Log into your forum with your admin account
2. Click 'Forum Admin' at the top left corner of your forum
3. Click 'Members'
4. Click 'Group Email'
5. Type a welcome email and include a link to your forum, like this email below.

Hey everybody, I wanted to let you know that we've upgraded our forum to a new site.  It has a different address, but your login info and password will still work.  Just login with your email address and your password and upload a new pic of yourself.  All your old posts are in the new home.

Our new forum: http://example.takeforum.com

Thanks,
[your admin]

My forum's new address is not working
If the links for your forum state that your forum does not exist, we can fix this - we just need to be notified about it.  Please contact ask@takeforum.com and include your forum's web address (old or new) and we'll get you up and running quickly.

If you are having troubles loggin in, please use the email address you registered with and your password to login. If you've forgotten your password or you are having troubles logging in, you can click 'Forgot Password' to have a password reset link mailed to your email address. If you don't know the email address you registered with, you can attempt to login with your username, but that doesn't always work.

I lost admin rights to my forum.
Email ask@takeforum.com with a subject 'I've lost admin rights to my takeforum forum', include the following info:
* link to your forum
* email address of current admins on forum (and CC them on the eamil)
* username of any current admins
* your username
* your registered email address if different then the one you're sending it from

I lost Takeforum posts from the first two weeks of May 2009.
Due to server issues and a takeforum server crash on May 17, 2009, 1-2 weeks of posts *may* have been lost for your forum.  We regret that there is no way to recover them.

Also, please be sure you are checking both the public and private versions of your forum to make sure the posts exists.

How do I change the Privacy Settings of my forum?
Click Forum Admin -> Settings -> Privacy

You have the following options:
1. Public, with auto-membership approval and no guest posting
2. Public, with auto-membership approval and guest posting
3. Public, with membership approval required
4. Private, with membership approval required

We recommend #1 as it offers the most exposure from google searches and does a good job at preventing spam.

Can I download a backup copy of my forum?
This is a feature we're working on with Lefora and hope to have it available over the next few months.  You'll be able to download a copy of your forum in a public format with a spec on how it can be used for import into other forum software.  This will be a free service as we do not want admins to feel like they are held hostage to the Lefora software platform.  Our current focus is making for a smooth transition from Takeforum to Lefora.

How do I reset a lost password?
No sweat, as your members can do this automatically.  If a member forgots their password, they can click the 'forgot password' link next to the email/password login boxes.  An email will be sent to their registered address which will allow them to reset their password - as an admin, you don't have to lift one finger!

How can I change my forum's theme or template?
Click Forum Admin -> Appearances.  This will allow you to choose from different themes and layouts.  Once you have the layout you like, click the 'Colors & Images' tab to change the color of your forum.

How do I upload a header or background image?

To upload a header image, click 'Forum Admin' -> Appearances -> Colors & Images. Click 'Browse' to select an image from your computer, we recommend something around 990x190px.  After your browse for the image, click the 'Upload Image' link, it will take a few seconds to a few minutes to upload.  Then click 'Save' (you will see a preview at the bottom)

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To upload a background image, you will need to use CSS for this, follow these steps:
1. Upload the image to a photo or file storage website, such as justupit.com
2. Click 'Forum Admin' -> Appearances -> CSS
3. Paste in this CSS code, replace http:// LINK-TO-YOUR-IMAGE. jpg with the actual link to your image

#page {background-image: url(http:// LINK-TO-YOUR-IMAGE. jpg);}

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If you want themes, check out all the available themes listed here:

How do members upload or attach photos?
Members can either upload photos directly to a post, or they can 'embed' a photo from a photosharing website, like flickr and photobucket.

To upload a photo, just click the 'Upload Files' button and the photo will automatically appear at the bottom of the post.  We resize photos so that they fit neatly in the thread, if the photo is bigger, a member can click on it it to see the full size image.

To embed a photo you can just paste a direct link to the image in your post text editor and hit <ENTER>, we'll automatically detect it.  Or you can use the 'Insert Image' button to paste the image link there.

To embed a video, click the 'Embed Flash' button and paste your flash embed code from sites like youtube and vimeo.  The video will be included at the bottom of your post.  TIP: just paste the url of a youtube video directly in your post and we'll automatically detect it!

How do I ban a member?
You can quickly 'remove' a member in your 'Members' tab of you admin panel, however, this still allows them to rejoin.

If you want to ban a member and prevent them from joining again.  You must first 'Warn' them in your 'Members' tab of you admin panel by clicking on the link next to their name.  After they are warned (immediatly if you choose), you have the option of banning them by clicking the drop down next to their name, this is used for changing the role of a member or banning them after they have been warned.

TIP: As some forums have thousands of members, if hitting 'next page' takes to long for you, you can adjust the page number directly in your webbrowsers address bar. 

How do I move topics?
Just visit the topic and click the 'Topic Admin Actions' button at the top of the topic, from here you have the option to move the topic, lock it, make it sticky, or even rename it.  Admins and Mods have access to this.

How much storage do I have?
You get a whooping 2GB for free.  We automatically compress avatars so as not to eat away at your space.  If you find that you need more space or want to upgrade your forum in other ways, such as removing ads, you can click the 'Upgrades' tab in your admin panel and select 'Lefora Pro'

How do members set their avatars?
We tried to make this really simple on Lefora.  Although admins cannot set the avatar of their members, we make it dead simple for a member to set their avatar.  When no avatar is set, we will use a random color anonymous avatar graphic.

Members of your forum who have not set their avatar, will see a big 'Upload Avatar' link over their own avatar, reminded them to upload one.  When clicked, it will take them to their profile editor where they can choose one of the methods:

1. Choose from our library of dozens of free avatars
2. Upload an avatar from their computer
3. Use an avatar or image from another website, they just have to plug in the web address of the image.

I want my forum to have the same 'Classic' look as it did before.
This is a simple change, you just need to select the 'Classic' theme in your admin panel, which is similar to the default theme in phpBB.  

Click 'Forum Admin' -> Appearances and choose the Classic theme and click Save.