A couple of people have asked me what it looks like "behind the scenes" at the 500Eboard, from a technical perspective. So, to oblige, I took a few screen shots to show what the inner workings of the site actually look like.
These shots are not of the actual software, but of the files on the computers that host and run the forum, and on my own computer.
So first, let's take a look at what the forum looks like, from a technical perspective, on the remote server at the hosting company, 1and1.com. These are the actual screens that I see when I am updating, changing, modifying, renaming and moving files around on the 1and1.com server. This is viewed through my Macintosh-based FTP program, which is called Cyberduck. Cyberduck is a cool program because it allows simple "drag and drop" of files from the local computer folders to the online system's folders. It's as easy to use as dragging files on your computer from window to window.
Here's what the "root" (lowest level) folder containing the forum software looks like, on the remote server. This is the actual files containing the code that the forum executes on.
It's basically just a listing of files and folders containing the php and image files that comprise the forum software, as well as uploaded images (yes, all of the photos you guys attach to your posts). Each type of image has its own folder and place where it is automatically put when it's uploaded or accessed.
The small "attached" window at the bottom of the windows above, shows the actual FTP (file transfer protocol) operations involved in the moving, uploading, modifying, deleting or renaming operations on the remote server, initiated by me.
Next up is what is on my own computer. I have had a folder on my computer since mid-2008 called "500EBOARD SITE MASTER FILES" that contains all forum software (including copies of past versions of the forum from vBulletin, the VaultWiki software, and the Tapatalk plugin and server files). I also archive the PDF copies of all of the magazine articles about the 500E (and other vehicles) that are uploaded to the forum, so that I have them if I ever need them (or if someone wants a copy and can't find it on the forum).
Here is what the "main" file containing everything looks like on my personal computer.
Each of the folders in the image above contain different types of files pertain to the forum in its present form, or past forms.
For example, here are the contents of the "Site Articles" folder, containing all of the uploaded magazine article PDFs. Again, these are on the remote server at 1and1.com, but these are just backup copies of each article that I have if I (or you) ever need them.
Next up, here is the content of the database backups folder. These backups go back to the very beginning of the site in late 2008, as you can see from the date codes on the files shown. Note that the latest backup, which I did last night (Wednesday), was a compressed 96 MB from a full database size of nearly 450 MB.
And then, you have the very first backup from December 3, 2008. That was literally four days after I first initiated the site and it came up. Note that the compressed database for that backup was only 117 KB, so the total size of the database was very likely only 300-400 KB.
A few more folders that contain some of the inner workings of the site, that make it what it is (and has been):
Here are the contents of the folder that contains the header images (the rotating banner images that you see at the top of the screen). These include some "draft" images from way back that I never finished ... works in progress I guess you could say. I never finished them because I felt that having a maximum of 7-8 rotating images was probably enough.
...and, the contents of the folder that contains older versions of the software for the vBulletin, VaultWiki and Tapatalk software. Most all of these versions were installed at one point or another in the past. Hence, when you would see my messages "Site down temporarily ... do NOT Wig, Freak, or otherwise go Postal because the 500Eboard is not currently up!!" If you have ever seen one of those messages before. If you have, then you know that I'm uploading and configuring these files. And these are the actual files that I'm uploading.
Same thing with the XenForo files ... I actually have had a XenForo version of our forum up and running for the last 1.5 years, at a secret URL. And every time XenForo releases new software, I update it to keep it in sync with the latest and greatest. Here you can see XenForo Developer Preview 2.0, the very latest version of XenForo. One of these days, I'll "flip the switch" to the new forum and software. One of these days......when version 2.0 goes live for general use.
And lastly, for historical purposes, here are the files from the "500Espot.com" forum, which ran from approximately July 2009 through 2011, on the phpBB free forum software. This was the immediate predecessor to the 500Eboard running on the paid vBulletin forum software, which I've been running since 2011. All of the 500Espot posts were imported into this forum at the time of conversion back to 500Eboard/vBulletin software. Yep .. we keep everything here at 500Eboard Galactic Headquarters.....
Hope this little peek into things gives you a bit more illumination into how things operate and are maintained behind the scenes.
Cheers,
Gerry
These shots are not of the actual software, but of the files on the computers that host and run the forum, and on my own computer.
So first, let's take a look at what the forum looks like, from a technical perspective, on the remote server at the hosting company, 1and1.com. These are the actual screens that I see when I am updating, changing, modifying, renaming and moving files around on the 1and1.com server. This is viewed through my Macintosh-based FTP program, which is called Cyberduck. Cyberduck is a cool program because it allows simple "drag and drop" of files from the local computer folders to the online system's folders. It's as easy to use as dragging files on your computer from window to window.
Here's what the "root" (lowest level) folder containing the forum software looks like, on the remote server. This is the actual files containing the code that the forum executes on.
It's basically just a listing of files and folders containing the php and image files that comprise the forum software, as well as uploaded images (yes, all of the photos you guys attach to your posts). Each type of image has its own folder and place where it is automatically put when it's uploaded or accessed.
The small "attached" window at the bottom of the windows above, shows the actual FTP (file transfer protocol) operations involved in the moving, uploading, modifying, deleting or renaming operations on the remote server, initiated by me.
Next up is what is on my own computer. I have had a folder on my computer since mid-2008 called "500EBOARD SITE MASTER FILES" that contains all forum software (including copies of past versions of the forum from vBulletin, the VaultWiki software, and the Tapatalk plugin and server files). I also archive the PDF copies of all of the magazine articles about the 500E (and other vehicles) that are uploaded to the forum, so that I have them if I ever need them (or if someone wants a copy and can't find it on the forum).
Here is what the "main" file containing everything looks like on my personal computer.
Each of the folders in the image above contain different types of files pertain to the forum in its present form, or past forms.
For example, here are the contents of the "Site Articles" folder, containing all of the uploaded magazine article PDFs. Again, these are on the remote server at 1and1.com, but these are just backup copies of each article that I have if I (or you) ever need them.
Next up, here is the content of the database backups folder. These backups go back to the very beginning of the site in late 2008, as you can see from the date codes on the files shown. Note that the latest backup, which I did last night (Wednesday), was a compressed 96 MB from a full database size of nearly 450 MB.
And then, you have the very first backup from December 3, 2008. That was literally four days after I first initiated the site and it came up. Note that the compressed database for that backup was only 117 KB, so the total size of the database was very likely only 300-400 KB.
A few more folders that contain some of the inner workings of the site, that make it what it is (and has been):
Here are the contents of the folder that contains the header images (the rotating banner images that you see at the top of the screen). These include some "draft" images from way back that I never finished ... works in progress I guess you could say. I never finished them because I felt that having a maximum of 7-8 rotating images was probably enough.
...and, the contents of the folder that contains older versions of the software for the vBulletin, VaultWiki and Tapatalk software. Most all of these versions were installed at one point or another in the past. Hence, when you would see my messages "Site down temporarily ... do NOT Wig, Freak, or otherwise go Postal because the 500Eboard is not currently up!!" If you have ever seen one of those messages before. If you have, then you know that I'm uploading and configuring these files. And these are the actual files that I'm uploading.
Same thing with the XenForo files ... I actually have had a XenForo version of our forum up and running for the last 1.5 years, at a secret URL. And every time XenForo releases new software, I update it to keep it in sync with the latest and greatest. Here you can see XenForo Developer Preview 2.0, the very latest version of XenForo. One of these days, I'll "flip the switch" to the new forum and software. One of these days......when version 2.0 goes live for general use.
And lastly, for historical purposes, here are the files from the "500Espot.com" forum, which ran from approximately July 2009 through 2011, on the phpBB free forum software. This was the immediate predecessor to the 500Eboard running on the paid vBulletin forum software, which I've been running since 2011. All of the 500Espot posts were imported into this forum at the time of conversion back to 500Eboard/vBulletin software. Yep .. we keep everything here at 500Eboard Galactic Headquarters.....
Hope this little peek into things gives you a bit more illumination into how things operate and are maintained behind the scenes.
Cheers,
Gerry
