Topic: Restored Access / New Forums?

[The Ultimate Koopa]

Yes it does. If JonLeung's #1, that makes him superior to all of his little minions.. er... members. <_<

[JonLeung]

>_>



Just thought I'd ask, seemed like a good time as any to ask if I ever were to.    If not (because I expect we'd probably transfer the user IDs as they are), no big deal.



Less frivolous things I'd rather see:

-a link back to VGMaps.com from the forums

-the footer ad seen on every other page on VGMaps.com also on the bottom of the forums

[bustin98]

Might have to keep the IDs the same to keep the associations with posts, but I may move the users over first, then grab the IDs from this forum and move the posts one user at a time, updating the associated userID during the process.



So, yeah, we'll see...

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Cool beans

[JonLeung]

Well, if it's too much trouble, and/or could potentially mess things up, don't risk it on my behalf.

[bustin98]

Well fellas, the new forum database is quite a bit different than this one. Its not going to be a simple manner of moving things over into the correct spots, mainly due to the way user passwords are encrypted.



I could have you all create new accounts using the same usernames you have now, but there will still be users who haven't checked in a while who will be left out. And that will create gaps in the messages.



So, the boards need to be updated but we will have to agree on the loss of current posts. I'm not saying we have to completely remove the posts. This forum can be disabled as far as new posts go and you can come in anytime to find whatever info is here.



Ultimately its up to Jon. I'll hang back till he speaks. (Check your PMs Jon)

[Revned]

If it's just the passwords, can't you assign new ones and email everyone?

[bustin98]

Hmm... maybe. It salts the password and I have to see how the salt is generated.

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Cool beans

[The Ultimate Koopa]

Wait what does salt mean?

[Revned]

You usually don't store users' passwords in plain-text, otherwise the database administrators would have access to them. I don't know about you, but I don't really want Jon to know my password. Instead the system stores a cryptographic hash of the passwords, which makes it very difficult to find the original passwords.

[The Ultimate Koopa]

Hey, were members 255, 257, 258 and 262 removed on purpose, or lost by accident?

[JonLeung]

Well, bustin's doing all the unsalting anyway.  Besides, if I really wanted to login as you, there are other methods of accomplishing that even without knowing your password.  >_>



In any case, you're just trying to figure out how the salt is generated, not specifically to snoop out passwords, but so you can apply the same salting to transfer the passwords over, I'm guessing.  That doesn't necessarily have to involve seeing the passwords yourself, does it?

[The Ultimate Koopa]

It's probably best I don't post in this topic.

[Revned]

No, there isn't an easy way to get the passwords back. Cryptographic hashes are intentionally very difficult to reverse. And it's not that I don't want you logging in as me, it's that I use this password elsewhere and I don't want anyone else seeing it.



Since bustin98 can't get our actual passwords back and since he can't transfer the hashes over, I suggested that he gives us all new passwords which we can manually change later.

[bustin98]

We'll see. I certainly won't be doing it be hand, so say hello to randomly generated strings of letters and numbers.

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Cool beans

[JonLeung]

Okay, so assuming you can deal with the password issue, does that mean you can transfer the users over, and hence the user-post association, and then likely move us over to new forums without losing any posts?