From the InvisionFree archive
Announcing the merger of Zathyus Networks Support and Resources
One year ago, we played an April Fools prank. The prank declared that Zathyus Networks’ two boards: Support and Resources would be merged together immediately. We placed a new logo and put up mock test forums. We answered questions members asked honestly as if there really were a merge taking place. While some users treated the prank as just a joke, many users took it seriously and offered us valuable feedback. At the end of the prank, we decided that we would investigate the possibility of truly merging Support and Resources into one large board. Today, we are very pleased to announce that this merge will be happening within the coming months.
Why Are We Merging?
We believe that we can better serve our users on one board with one team. With two boards, we have found that there is an area of overlap and it has left our users confused on where to go for help and frustrated when they are redirected to the proper place. We want to eliminate that confusion. With all of our resources and support sections on one board, users can more easily find what they are looking for and find it fast. In addition, with our teams all centralized and focused on one board, they can reach a larger number of customers than they currently do between two boards. Our goal is to make this board your one-stop shop. Everything you need for your board will be found here.
How Are The Boards Being Merged?
We realize there are many questions about this merge so we’ll try to answer some in this topic. Others will be answered in our Discussion forum. What will happen is the two boards will essentially be combined into one board. When Brandon created Zetaboards, each user, post, topic, personal message etc. was designed to have a unique id. This is what will allow us to combine the databases of these two boards into one board. Now, this is not without some drawbacks:
What are the Pros and Cons of a Merge?
First, there will be duplicate accounts. Many of you have an account on Support and Resources. We have developed a tool that will allow us to merge these accounts into one account in a similar way to how we are merging the two boards. This process will be explained in depth as we get closer.
Second, there will be accounts with the same name. Because much of the software relies on unique user names, we can not have two users who have the same name on one board. We’ve developed a system that will determine which account keeps the name based upon activity, post count and age of the account. When the merge is initiated, the database will check for duplicate names and based on the system above, duplicates will be renamed. Accounts that do not keep their name may request a name change.
Will ____ be on the new board?
We are doing our best to keep many of the items unique to Support and Resources on the new board. That said, certain items will be changed, condensed or removed if necessary. We will, for example, continue the Theme of the Month voting. There will be a topic in our Discussion forum for more information regarding specific changes.
When Is The Merge?
At the moment, there is no set date for this merge. Our goal is to merge the two boards as soon as possible. Right now, we are currently testing the process and checking for bugs or problems that need to be addressed before we move on to merging Support and Resources. Once we have a solid timeframe, we will be posting an announcement on both boards and will begin preparations for the process. As more information is available, we will keep you informed on both boards. In addition, we will also be using our social networks on Twitter and Facebook, as well as our IRC channel to keep everyone updated.
