Links are now broken

[vibok]

Is it possible to do something about it? For example, I have this link saved, but I can't follow it anymore http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-mod...arkplaces.html

[Solecord]

Unfortunately no. The link structure changed in the new forum software

[Seven]

Hello Solecord,

That is really unfortunate.
All the links that ever got created outside of this forum that linked to this forum are now dead.
It is like turning back the clock to zero again.

And of course also all the links within this forum threads linking to other forum threads are as well dead.
That makes searching for solutions almost impossible.

That is in my opinion the worst thing that can happen to a forum with tons of informations, solutions, files, helps, tips.
It turns them all to non-existent.
What a huge loss. To an already shrinking community.

I am sorry to hear that this step/decision was unavoidable.

Regards,
Seven

[MadGypsy]

There is no way to create an .htaccess that has tricky rules which redirect old links to the new link structure? This site is already suffering greatly; having all your old links wrecked is like killing the site while it is still active.

WordPress, vanilla and phpbb3 have options that allow you to choose your link structure based on a few presets in admin panel. Maybe VBulletin has a similar feature. At best, you may be able to choose a link structure which is the most similar to the original and do some mod rewrite in .htaccess based on as little difference as possible.

There IS a solution to this and I'd be willing to bet I am spot on. Ignoring this or chalking it up to "fuck it" would be a terrible decision. This is erasing you from the internet and potentially discouraging people from participating/investing effort.

Have you considered that your best plan of action is to revert to the old site, build the new site locally on your home computer ~ addressing all the various issues, and put the new version up when it is a completed product? It is not better that we have "something" (especially a something that breaks your presence). In it's current state this site seems practically abandoned.

[Phenom]

There IS a solution to this and I'd be willing to bet I am spot on. Ignoring this or chalking it up to "fuck it" would be a terrible decision. This is erasing you from the internet and potentially discouraging people from participating/investing effort.

Have you considered that your best plan of action is to revert to the old site, build the new site locally on your home computer

I vote this. Solecord if you don't have enough time on your hands then this would be a practical solution.

MadGypsy hit the nail on the head - 100%'ish Broken links means 11 years of backlinks, link authority, link recognition and general linking are down the toilet which is suicide for a forum community.

#MakeQuakeOneGreatAgain!

OR Switch to Drupal !

[Baker]

As a "coping with the problem" measure ....

Using this broken link as an example

Broken link: http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-mod...penkatana.html
Take link and prefix with this: https://web.archive.org/web/20140619162932
Somewhat usable link: https://web.archive.org/web/20140807...penkatana.html

If I remember, the old site used some sort of SEO optimization add-on to convert plain vanilla links into super-search-engine-high-ranking-results by modifying the URL, otherwise the link would have referenced just a thread number.

[Baker]

The new link for OpenKatana is http://quakeone.com/forum/quake-mod-...902-openkatana
Old link is http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-mod...penkatana.html

Can it be something as simple as adding 227 to the number?

Here is a link that doesn't work ... http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-hel...ck-frozen.html

10913 + 227 = 11140

http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-hel...ck-frozen.html

Still doesn't work, but if I then remove .html from the end?

http://quakeone.com/forums/quake-hel...s-stuck-frozen

Works? No. 11192 is the needed number and it is off by 52. So apparently it isn't a hard 227 number difference, the thread id number varies some. So no fixed pattern

Actual link: http://quakeone.com/forum/quake-help...rozen-in-place

[Solecord]

So basically the vB conversion scripts renumbered all the threads because they have new database schemas. That's why it's not just straightforward. The reason I upgraded was the site was getting "hacked" a couple times a month because I was running a version of vBulletin that had security flaws. It was either leave things the way they are and allow the site to get hacked or actually upgrade. I chose to upgrade. Yes it sucks all the old links are now broken, but it is what it is. I still have the old database so I can attempt to create a lookup between old threads and new and manually build an htaccess redirect, but that will take some time.

[dumptruck_ds]

but it is what it is.

Dude WTF? Gypsy or Sevin or ??? did and amazing how to teach yourself QC thread that was incredibly valuable to people, like me who referenced it. Now it's gone and I was just getting started. Even if you use search to find old threads you cannot access them now. What a catastrophe.

[MadGypsy]

I'm pretty sure I know the tutorial you mean. Click below and find post #22

http://quakeone.com/forum/quake-help...e3?view=thread

[dumptruck_ds]

I'm pretty sure I know the tutorial you mean. Click below and find post #22

http://quakeone.com/forum/quake-help...e3?view=thread

Thanks Gypsy. This is indeed the one I was referring to. NOW I can teach myself how to learn!

[MadGypsy]

dumptruck_ds ~ teach how to learn

I know it sounds stupid but, that tutorial does teach you a method for learning . Ive used that method on the source for numerous things. It allows you to gain scope pretty quick.

[dumptruck_ds]

dumptruck_ds ~ teach how to learn

I know it sounds stupid but, that tutorial does teach you a method for learning . Ive used that method on the source for numerous things. It allows you to gain scope pretty quick.

Agreed and it's tied to a tool in this case (Notepad++) that makes it incredibly easy, so it's a great example of using tech to go further, faster.