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xlnation's future

Discussion in 'Website Information and News' started by skullz613, Nov 11, 2022.

  1. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
    Staff Member

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    Not sure how many members notice the font issue on the site but I'm seeing most of it in bold font. Tested on Edge and got the same result.
    I checked the logs and it shows nothing but a deep dive using Firefox web tools show some errors in the css files. Looks like there's been changes in the way font's are displayed in browsers. This showed up after the last Firefox update that I got.

    Going forward I know the theme/style we use needs updating to the last version availible but Xenforo would need updating to the last version released before version 2 was released.
    This would be a free update but Icyhot owns the license so he would need to do it. The theme is the easy part afterwards.

    Another option is to raise funds to purchase a license as I'm unsure at this time if Icyhot can or would transfer his over. This would cost a fair bit though but would give us the new Xenforo 2 which will be more secure.
    There's a new version on the theme/style for Xenforo 2 also which we would benefit from.

    Thinking about all that needs doing and the cost of it I often think, is it really worth it?

    XLNation has lost many active users and is slowly sinking regarding traffic and new visitors. It's become a bit of a money pit which I have helped cover without a grumble apart from asking for a little help here and there.
    I'm very grateful for the donations (thanks Drazic for the latest) as every bit helps.
    I do not work due to health issues so recieve a benefit. Luckily I'm in a country that provides poeple like myself with a semi decent amount to live off, otherwise I would of not put my hand up when someone was needed to take over the site.

    Looking to the future maybe we need to change the site to something simple to access the mods etc...
    Open to ideas so feel free to comment.

    Hopefully you have made it to the end of this story sized post so I can advise you all I have purchased xlnation.org as a backup domain if anything ever happens. The original owner must of let it go as it has not been used for a while.
     
    juan jose castro likes this.
  2. Drazicdesign

    Drazicdesign Ambasidor

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    Hello Skullz613,

    Yes, I also noticed that all the characters on the site are bold. I thought it was done on purpose to make it easier to read.
    If I understand correctly, it's a bug. However, I hope this is a minor bug?

    Regarding the update, on Xenforo 2, I have no knowledge, skill, on this subject, it's as you feel, whatever it is, the decision you make will be the right one!

    As for the drop in traffic on the site and the energy to put into this update and the continuity of the XL NATION site, I don't know either. I have no certainty, I would so much like it to continue!

    My heart tells me that I would like XL NATION to still be here in 20 years...
    It's now more than 10 years since I registered there, and I spent some very good years there, still today I take great pleasure in using the site, the forum, the photo publication tool . . .. etc....
    And as long as the site is there I will continue to participate and feed it with my various shares.

    And at the same time, reason tells me that it seems diificile to maintain, I am thinking in particular of the financial cost that this generates, of the time it takes to maintain the site, to update the site, and that it is maybe time to switch what little life is left to Cities XXL by switching all mods to the STEAM workshop?

    Finally the workshop is always very practical, for modders and players, the "UGC Manager" tool for uploading Mods to the workshop seems, perhaps, for some complicated, but it is relatively easy to use .

    What is certain is that if the XL NATION site no longer presents Mods to be shared between players, XL NATION will no longer have a reason to exist.
    The forum also seems essential to the life of the site,
    Because if XL NATION only becomes a platform for sharing mods, you might as well share them on the STEAM workshop.

    I know there are also players from previous Cities XL Platinum and 2012 releases to consider.
    Plus all Cities XXL players, who are not on STEAM.

    Here you can see an interesting comparison of Cities X(X)L players on STEAM.
    Comparison - Steam Charts

    Looking forward to further responses and suggestions.

    samuel,
     
    juan jose castro and skullz613 like this.
  3. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    I just checked that link to compare version use and I'm surprised there is a steady number of active players across the three games.

    The bold has gone for now!! I just upgraded the mysql on the server and did a reboot. Seems to of sorted it out. Still not 100% sure what triggered it.

    I hoped the steam workshop would be a great addon for us but it has caused a few headaches. There's no full control like we have here regarding bad mods and stolen mods. It's easy to use as I found out but they only issue I found is out dated mods. XXL will not say what mod is causing an issue so it's a nightmare finding out what mod/s are.
    Expanding the forum to other games/topics could grab some more traffic and more active users. It's something I've been thinking about for a while.
     
  4. Nick97

    Nick97 Elite

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    I am willing to purchase this site so I can keep it operational for long time and I will closed down CountriesXL if I owned this site
     
  5. IcyHot

    IcyHot Administrator
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    So the XenForo License was current until 2012. To get "current" and renew updates it will be $95 per year. Wow I cant believe its been over 10 years since I played
     
    kipate likes this.
  6. IcyHot

    IcyHot Administrator
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    Another option is to migrate XLnation to the "Cloud" and hosted by XenForo. You can go to the XenForo website for more details. That would cost $60 per month and always be on the latest versions
     
  7. skullz613

    skullz613 Administrator
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    Glad to see your still around, hope your well and not frozen (seems most of USA is)
    Been busy with an ebike project so haven't spent much time on working things out with the site. It's running OK now the MySQL was updated. I'll focus more on the site in the new year when I can throw all my attention into it.
     
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