(http://www.omnimaga.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12728.0;attach=11910;image)
Since this incarnation of Omnimaga started, the goal was to either merge the old boards with this one or convert it to SMF as soon as Invisionfree restores the content. Since the Invisionfree team restored their content earlier this month, over the past weeks or so, I started attempting conversions of the old boards posts into SMF format. Thanks to a Zetaboards->SMF script on Simplemachines Forums and an Invisionfree->SMF script by Jimbauwens, the old data was finally converted into 3 SMF databases, which were later merged together with the help of MyBB Merge System (a temporary conversion to MyBB was required for this).
Afterward, the next goal was to sort all the 16000+ posts from the z7 IF site into their appropriate categories, as they were all scrambled into a single one.
All of this has now been done, everything is in the exact same format as this board install and hosted on Netham45 server. The only thing, however, is that several of the old posts and topics were duplicates of several sections of the current site, such as the About section, the articles, file archives info pages, along with the old link section that eventually got replaced with TI-Freakware's (http://tifreakware.net/admin/link.php?catag=index) in April 2006. Those posts were not kept during the move. The staff section of the z9 board was also pruned, since nobody would be able to access it anyway. This resulted in the loss of over 2000 posts and 800 topics. Special thanks to Netham45 and Jimbauwens for fixing some of the compatibility issues that occured through the multiple conversion processes. Granted, some of the old posts data has partially be lost in the process, but what matters is that it is now located here. The move from Invisionfree also means that it's now possible to actually search through those old posts!
Since the old posts are still a separate database from the current site, for now that part of Omnimaga still remains independent in some ways. As a result, when you visit it, several Omnimaga features will be disabled there:
-OmnomIRC
-Post rating system
-Logging in (basically you view that board as guest, in read-only mode. I guess it's good to stop necroposting, though.)
-Skin settings (an alternate skin, using the current default design but the old color scheme, will replace your usual skin. That alternate skin can be viewed here (http://djomni.57o9.org/oldboardmergedsmf/).)
The archives, which are still being worked on, can be accessed from the board index below the suggestions board or at www.omnimaga.org/oldsite2 (http://www.omnimaga.org/oldsite2/).
TODO List:
-Install the alternate forum theme in the archives (in the works: Some images are still missing)
-Move http://djomni.57o9.org/oldboardmergedsmf/smileyreplacer.gif to http://www.omnimaga.org/Themes/omnimaga4/images/
-Get rid of the board statistics at the bottom of the board index (along with the EzBlocks), along withe the latest activity EzBlock at the top.
-Fix the Omni front page and board index's total post count since 2005 to reflect the deletion of the 2200 posts and 800 topics.
-Fix the Old Board Archive postcount on the Omnimaga board index so it says 54207 posts in 2329 topics instead of 56401 posts in 3126 or simply sync it with the archive.
-Fix the top navigation so that it's the exact same as the current site. (in the works: Login/Register links still won't switch to Inbox/Logout when logged in on the current board)
-Change some board titles and descriptions to the current ones, to make it easier for newer users to visit the archives.
-Merge every category (News, Community, International) into one, to make sure the entire board looks like an actual sub-forum rather than a separate board
Other possible future fixes and additions:
-Share current forum accounts with the old board, so you can use OmnomIRC and have the same skin on both sites.
-Merging entire board with current one (less likely, due to how SMF handles topic sorting)
For those who still want to browse the old topics in their original format, you can still do so here (http://z9.invisionfree.com/omnimaga). In the future, a full copy of that site might be done as is for nostalgia purposes, in case Invisionfree ever shutted down.
Enjoy!