WTB: Convert Some Old Listbox Messages to Xenforo

[Amphicar770]

Hi all,

My forums started way back when on Listbox, went to YahooGroups, then VB, now Xenforo.

Anyway, a bunch of the original listbox messages never were migrated as listbox went belly up. However, I do have archives of all the original email messages.

I am willing to pay someone to write a conversion utility to bring these into Xenforo. Minimally, I would put them in a subforum and they would be searchable. Ideally I would like to somehow maintain the discussion threads (original post and related responses). I am attaching a sample of the archives below. You will note that the names also show email addresses, I would want to strip out the email addresses. No need to match these to current forum users as many are no longer around.

If this is something you think you can do, let me know what you are proposing, how long it would take, and how much you would charge.

Sample follows, I can send some longer samples if someone is really interested in taking on this job

=====================

amphicar-lovers-digest Tuesday, August 4 1998 Volume 01 : Number 009



Forum for Discussion of Amphicars
Mike Israel <mike_israel@merck.com>
Digest Coordinator

Contents:

Spline boots
Just a Question
Re: Spline boots
Re: wheel bearings

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Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 11:00:56 -0400
From: Betty Anne and/or David Field <bafield@kos.net>
Subject: Spline boots

amphicar-lovers

Does anyone have any suggestions for replacement of driveshaft boots - the
ones that enclose splines (2" dia x 8"). 2" flexible crushproof hose (NAPA
#BK8275050) is one suggestion and is available in 10' length for $40.00.
Other alternative is Harley Davidson Sprint Fork Boot (#46001-62) which is
not available but 46001-54 is, but I haven't found out it's dimensions. At
$12.50 maybe I should order one on spec. I guess I have to remove
driveshaft and axles etc. to install?! Any help to simplify job will be
appreciated.
Thanks;
Dave Field.

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 19:47:54 -0400
From: "O'Donnell, Maryellen T." <maryellen_odonnell@merck.com>
Subject: Just a Question

amphicar-lovers

I was vacationing this weekend in Galena, MD on the Sassafras River and
thought to myself "Gee, wouldn't this be a wonderful time to have an Amphi
car" while watching the motorboats, jet skis and sailboats zipping by.

Which then begged the following question:

Everyone subscribed to this digest (except for yours truly) has an Amphi
car. Obviously this is not your only mode of transportation. Does anyone
else own, or once owned, any other "unique" or "unusual" cars? It seems to
me that it takes a *special* individual to own a car like an Amphi which
leads me to believe that a few of you have probably owned some other
interesting cars.

I would be interested in hearing your other auto stories (as long as the
digest admin doesn't object!) .....

Thanks,
Maryellen the Amphiless

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 17:22:35 -0700
From: "Randy Tusone" <randy6@mailexcite.com>
Subject: Re: Spline boots

amphicar-lovers

Dave,

The only way to replace the boots is to take apart the entire rear suspension of the car. There is a specific method for accomplishing this that is too detailed to go into here. To answer the question about the boots, unless someone else has a better idea, one of the designs/purposes of the original boot is to be able to compress the boot, in the install position, for future servicing of the U joint. Therefore, any boot you purchase should be flexible enough to allow you to move and/or compress the boot enough to give access to the U joint grease fitting.

Later,
Bill 6
Randy typing

On Mon, 03 Aug 1998 11:00:56 Betty Anne and/or David Field wrote:
>amphicar-lovers
>
>Does anyone have any suggestions for replacement of driveshaft boots - the
>ones that enclose splines (2" dia x 8"). 2" flexible crushproof hose (NAPA
>#BK8275050) is one suggestion and is available in 10' length for $40.00.
>Other alternative is Harley Davidson Sprint Fork Boot (#46001-62) which is
>not available but 46001-54 is, but I haven't found out it's dimensions. At
>$12.50 maybe I should order one on spec. I guess I have to remove
>driveshaft and axles etc. to install?! Any help to simplify job will be
>appreciated.
>Thanks;
> Dave Field.
>
>**********************
>amphicar-lovers
>Post submissions to amphicar-lovers@listbox.com
>Post admin requests to majordomo@listbox.com
>


Free web-based email, Forever, From anywhere!
http://www.mailexcite.com

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 17:36:17 -0700
From: "Randy Tusone" <randy6@mailexcite.com>
Subject: Re: wheel bearings

amphicar-lovers

Hi All,

We are of the "if it anin't broke..." school ourselves. Taking apart rear wheel bearings in an Amph can be a risky proposition, unless you have all the know how and equipment needed (so that you don't ruin any parts). The rear wheel bearing is a partially sealed unit with a grease fitting that is available for regular service, without dissasembling anything.

Billy has changed the rear axles and successfully has re-used the rear bearing. A very cheap move on his part. New is always preferable, if it can be afforded. Until the bill comes in, that is.

Later,
Bill 6
- --

On Sun, 2 Aug 1998 23:32:04 David Chapman wrote:
>amphicar-lovers
>
>
>>If it ain't broke don't fix it. I don't know how frequently people repack
>>or replace rear bearings - I'd guess, not very often. Are you sure
>bearings
>>need repacking, as you are discovering you seem to have a major job
>
>When they get really bad the races start to turn, this will damage
>driveshafts and in really bad cases will also damage the housing, both very
>difficult and expensive to fix. It could also cause excessive load on the
>hub nut and potentially the wheel could come off.
>
>I find I need to replace rear wheel bearings once every 5 - 8 years, takes
>about 3 hours each side but can be combined with other jobs.
>
>We have a different atttitude to these things in Europe. In the UK and
>Germany there is an annual vehicle safety test where the inspector spins the
>wheel and if bearing noise is heard then the car fails and is not allowed on
>the road. I've noticed that generally cars are maintained to a much higher
>standard here, perhaps because we have crowded, narrow roads and drive much
>faster !
>
>David Chapman in the UK
>
>
>
>
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>

 

[Digital Doctor]

Jake Bunce would be the man here.
You'd be indirectly supporting Xenforo as well.

Awesome idea BTW.

Keep us in the loop how you do converting the old group to a forum.
Sometimes people just won't give up on the oldschool groups !

There was some recent discussion on this very topic you might be interested in.
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/xenforo-review-by-forum-software-org.41478/

 

[craigiri]

That would seem pretty easy to do....heck, I could parse that one out based on the separator.....

Jake just did this for me with 2200 QA which were in another CMS - not the same exactly, but the same idea. Here they are in a read-only forum.
http://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/questions-and-answers.38/

Notice we also took the "replies" count out of the listing so they all don't display zero.

 

[Amphicar770]

Still looking for someone to take this on. Will pay for this work.

 

[Amphicar770]

A few folks have indicated that this is fairly straightforward but I have not had any takers. I did not put a price out there as I am open. However, if it will entice someone to take on the work, I'll offer $200 to do this and see if there are any takers.

Again, these are old archives so they will be imported into a unique sub forum. Ideally would like to keep the threads and their responses correlated. Do not need to map names to current forum users as many of these messages are 10 plus years old.

Thanks.

Mike

 

[Jake Bunce]

How many posts total? And what is the exact format? Are they individual text files per post? Or are they all in one big text file? How big is the file? Is each post going to be its own thread? Or is there some way to associate multiple posts with the same discussion?

The hard part is getting the information into a database format. From there it's easy. So I want to fully understand the current format and structure of the posts.

I can probably do this for you, but I already have a few things on my plate right now.

 

[Amphicar770]

Hi Jake,

I took a look at what is there. Indeed there is one file containing the messages for each given day. Each file is numbered. They start on July 27, 1998 and go through #655 on July 28,2000. Through all of these dates, there may be one missing here and there, but for the most part they are complete.

I understand the problem with linking one thread to the original. Maybe the best solution would be to just list each days file as its own single posting withe the date as the topic. Something like "Archive from July 29, 2998". People could always search by the title within the message if they wanted to follow the thread.

If you send me you email, I can forward you 2-3 of the sample files to look at. I've waited 12 years to import them so if you can't get to it right away I don't think that will be the end of the world!!!

Thanks,

Mike