Zetaboards is going

[Livyjr]

Let me preface my further remarks concerning that piece of garbage known as the Tapatalk "bulletin board platform" by saying that I am a 72-year old disabled Viet Nam veteran more or less housebound out in the countryside, and my site on Zetaboards was my intellectual stimulation each day.

I borrow computer time, so am limited to the hours per day that I have access to a computer.

Thus, I had learned to make the most of that time, and Zetaboards offered me a perfect platform for maximizing my efforts in the time I had each day to tend to my site, which I started in 2010 as an informational and educational place in Cyberspace.

Thus, I had a reading room, not a chat room.

All of that has been stripped from me by this acquisition or whatever it really was, of Zetaboards by Tapatalk.

So what really did happen here?

There is where the questions arise, because it seems many besides myself were totally blindsided here, and there are no answers forthcoming from Tapatalk.

There was a type of help forum but it was abruptly shut down the other day by the corporate censors who now control Tapatalk's board, and all the comments, which were complaints about the takeover and the crappy Tapatalk board, disappeared.

I learned something was happening Monday afternoon, 20 Aug. 2018, when my Zetaboard site became inoperational, to then be replaced with the Tapatalk board, which is nothing but a very cheap, very flawed, stupid word processer that is worth maybe $.50 because it is such a piece of crap.

I used to look forward to mental stimulation on Zetaboards.

Tapatalk has replaced that with aggravation and downright anger on my part.

But more on that for later.

From Wikipedia, what I know now is as follows:

In 2016 Tapatalk acquired Yuku, and in July 2017 migrated the contents of that service to their own bulletin board platform.

In July 2017, Tapatalk also acquired Zetaboards and zIFBoards (formerly Invisionfree), the forum services operated by Zathyus Networks.

end quotes

That word "acquired" causes a peripheral question to arise, that being exactly what was it that Tapatalk "acquired" from Zetaboards, and my answer would be my intellectual property, which incidentally got thoroughly trashed by Tapatalk in this "migration" process, because all the formatting of my files got altered, so as to make documents unreadable.

But this is more the key sentence now, to wit: Tapatalk acquired Yuku, and in July 2017 migrated the contents of that service to their own bulletin board platform.

end quotes

I have no idea what Yuku was, but to me, Zetaboards was a first-rate platform that allowed me, who has no computer background, to operate a professional site, as said, for informational and educational purposes.

What is called Tapatalk's "bulletin board platform" is as said a cheap piece of garbage that Winter Wong, the founder of Tapatalk, found in a trash heap somewhere.

According to the only bio I could find for him, it says that Winter founded Tapatalk with a vision of transforming online community experience on mobile devices and beyond.

He certainly did that alright - he has transformed the pleasant Zetabords experience into a nightmare experience on Tapatalk.

 

[Livyjr]

One of the many disturbing features of this Tapatalk "bulletin board platform" is found at the bottom of my first page where it states: Support The Livyjr Files by making a donation.

I find that disturbing because someone I don't know is using my site to essentially scam the public, as I have never asked for money on my site when it was at Zetaboards, and I do not know who those donations are going to, or what they are for.

What I do know is that they do not go to supporting The Livyjr Files.

Another more disturbing aspect is this: if people do not "donate" to Tapatalk, are we then to be denied access to our sites by Tapatalk?

In any event, I have posted a notice on my site to not donate any money to Tapatalk, as I did not authorize Tapatalk to use my site and my intellectual property to collect donations from my readers.

 

[Livyjr]

My blogging experience began in 2004 when I became a member of the John Kerry forum, which folded its tent when the election was over.

At that time, I was invited to become a member of the newly-created Common Ground Common Sense site.

By 2010, due to absentee ownership of the site, it became chaos, with gangs of trolls going around and wrecking threads, and no way to prevent that, which looks to be the case again with this Tapatalk board.

Thus, I moved to Invision in 2010 and became a Site Administrator for what was my own site using the Invision platform as a host.

As a site administrator, I had my own control panel and complete control over my site, including as to who would be allowed to post.

Thus, I could protect my intellectual content from malicious attacks.

Today, on Tapatalk, I am no longer listed as a site administrator; I have been reduced to "advanced member," and all control over my site has been stripped from me by Tapatalk, which corporation has in essence hi-jacked or stolen my files from Zetaboards without my permission or consent.

When I got my board from Invision in 2010, this is the "contract" I signed with them:

Registering a Board

The first step in preparing to manage a board is to register one.

To do this, you must successfully fill out the registration form here.

Note: Be sure to read the Terms of Service carefully before agreeing that you have read them.

end quotes

As to being an actual site administrator, this is the next thing Invision told me:

Managing your Board

Properly running your forum is more of an art than anything else.

It can take luck, patience and some skill to successfully run a community.

end quotes

Like many people whose tales of legitimate woe are now circulating on the internet after Tapatalk literally destroyed their work, I put a lot of time and effort into my site.

All of the fruits of that work has been trampled on by Tapatalk, and my site, which is no longer mine, has been degraded to the point of being a mockery.

So much for being an informational and educational place in Cyberspace.

Tapatalk, with its rules, does not allow for that:

· Cross-Posting. Don’t post the same post in more than one location.

· Proper Category. Post in the correct category.

· Hotlinking. You won’t do it unless the moderator approves.

end quotes

As to being an actual site administrator on Invision, which subsequently became Zetaboards:

Dealing with Annoying Users

Everything on your forum has been set to your standards.

Your boards have been created and are gaining posts.

Perhaps even a few members are joining here and there?

Then, all of a sudden a really annoying user is harassing others, posting nonsense and generally making your life miserable.

This article will highlight some of the key steps you should take when dealing with users of this variety.

Below you'll find three different levels, each with their own severity of punishment.

Understanding these levels will give you the ability to silence annoying users, and potentially shape them into a contributing member of your online community.

end quotes

Focus on this sentence: Everything on your forum has been set to your standards.

end quotes

Today, under Tapatalk, nothing on my forum has been set to my standards, because my standards no longer apply, nor is it even really my forum anymore, as I have been stripped of all control of the forum by Tapatalk.

 

[Livyjr]

So, from the point of view of other "site administrators," which I formerly was at Zetaboards, but am no more at Tapatalk, what does it really mean to be a "site administrator," besides absolutely nothing, if that status can be arbitrarily and unilaterally stripped from you by some corporate interest like Tapatalk with the money to rig a deal with your former web hosting site to hijack your files, as Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, born in Hong Kong, and holding a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, and a former software engineer at IBM and HP, has clearly done in the case of the Livyjr Files?

From the perspective of experienced site administrators, what exactly was the relationship between Zetaboards, and those like myself who registered a board with Zetaboards after successfully filling out their registration form, being sure to have read the Terms of Service carefully before agreeing that I had read them?

What exactly was it that Zetaboards "owned" that Tapatalk was then able to acquire?

In an on-line petition to Governor of California Jerry Brown
entitled "Tapatalk Group trapped us. They must let us leave with our property: our database" by a poster named LeFrenchQuarter made this point very clear:

Liberty of expression is being trampled.

We need to leave this disaster and recreate our forums elsewhere and to continue developing our boards, which for some represent years of work and efforts.

Tapatalk doesn't hear that.

They have trapped their users and reject any board owner's request to get his database back and move.

Users who are more active in defending this cause are simply banned and will end up losing control over their communities.

These are in addition to the unacceptable user experience Tapatalk forces board owners to give to their members.

Tapatalk offered unacceptable Terms of Service without regard to whether the previous boards owners accepted them or not.

This is an attack on basic rights and is illegal.

If the boards are not owned by admins and members, the content is intellectual property and must be returned to the rightful owners.

end quotes

It is indeed blatant theft of intellectual property that has occurred here.

And f it was in fact "my forum" that was being hosted on the Zetaboard server, which definitely seems to be the case, how then does Zetaboards breach its "contract" with me by "migrating" all my files from the Zetaboard server over to a server controlled by Tapatalk, where those files are no longer accessible to me for moving them to a private server?

From the perspective of experienced site administrators, how is that not outright theft of intellectual property?

As an aside, propaganda for Tapatalk on the Compasslist site from Tapatalk CEO Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, states as follows concerning Tapatalk, known now throughout the internet as Crapatalk, with good reason, to wit:

The Tapatalk app turns once-clunky online forums into user-friendly mobile communities, helping them

end quotes

Talk about fake news and false advertising, there it is right there, in plain sight.

Talk about a "clunky online forum," this Tapatalk "bulletin board platform" is the epitome, the acme, the top of the heap when it comes to what a "clunky online forum" is really all about, and what a sad day for internet users here in the United States of America that really is, as corporate censorship from Tapatalk is being imposed of liberty of speech by individuals trying to use the blog-o-sphere in a responsible manner as a part of their citizenship responsibilities in this country.

 

[mysiteguy]

Forum owners authorized Tapatalk indirectly through the Zetaboards terms of service. They said they had the right to change their terms at any time and your continued use of their service. Zetaboards announced back in May the features what would be there once migrated to Tapatalk, including donations. And they've said donations could be used to either turn off ads for a forum's users or cashed out by the forum operator. Or they could turn them off.

The forum operators never owned the database, and Zetaboards did, until and if the forum starter paid them to export the database. That's how they've operated since at least their 2014 terms. Intellectual property? Well, by using Zetaboards the forum starter granted them a license to use it.

It's not that I'm unsympathetic to your situation, but forum owners there have had ample opportunity to migrate out. Between the time Tapatalk acquired Zetaboards, their numerous announcements they would eventually migrate all the forums, and their finally doing it, was months It's not the first time we've heard the woes of someone who relied on "free" forum services only to learn there isn't any such thing as a free lunch.

Figure out what you can to do move on and host the forum yourself, and see there's any way you can purchase the database from Tapatalk. Because right now it seems you're mainly writing a novel about how angry and upset you are.

 

[R0binHood]

Is there even any kind of export option anymore? Once you're on the TapaTalk platform?

 

[Livyjr]

No, there is no way to access your files and get them removed from Tapatalk.

 

[Livyjr]

Forum owners authorized Tapatalk indirectly through the Zetaboards terms of service. They said they had the right to change their terms at any time and your continued use of their service. Zetaboards announced back in May the features what would be there once migrated to Tapatalk, including donations. And they've said donations could be used to either turn off ads for a forum's users or cashed out by the forum operator. Or they could turn them off.

The forum operators never owned the database, and Zetaboards did, until and if the forum starter paid them to export the database. That's how they've operated since at least their 2014 terms. Intellectual property? Well, by using Zetaboards the forum starter granted them a license to use it.

It's not that I'm unsympathetic to your situation, but forum owners there have had ample opportunity to migrate out. Between the time Tapatalk acquired Zetaboards, their numerous announcements they would eventually migrate all the forums, and their finally doing it, was months It's not the first time we've heard the woes of someone who relied on "free" forum services only to learn there isn't any such thing as a free lunch.

Figure out what you can to do move on and host the forum yourself, and see there's any way you can purchase the database from Tapatalk. Because right now it seems you're mainly writing a novel about how angry and upset you are.

With all due respect to you, mysiteguy, you obviously do not have your facts straight here when you claim that I should have known what a cheap piece of crap I was going to be handed when this Tapatalk conversion took place.

You are clearly mistaken when you tell me that my site administrator status with respect to MY intellectual property was going to be stripped from me along with all control over what used to be MY forum.

You are seriously misled if you think that I knew that all my files were going to get thoroughly trashed in the course of this migration, which has ruined them, and all the work I put into them.

Or you are simply quite blasé about it.

I went through a transition from Invision to Zetaboards and lost no data, had no data defaced or destroyed, had the same QUALITY board after the transition with all of my RIGHTS as a site administrator intact, one of which was the ability to LOCK my files so that no one not authorized could access them.

That transition was seamless with no losses incurred all the way around.

Perhaps you find that a triviality, but I do not.

And why would I expect any different this time, because we were never told anything more than Tapatalk is coming and it is going to be this great new experience.

Which was a blatant misrepresentation of fact and an outright lie.

For example, as a site administrator at Zetaboards, I could put in service tickets.

That service is now gone, as follows:

Priority Support

Support Tickets are only available to customers that have subscribed to Basic or Premium Tier.

Upgrade to paid tier or submit your question to our support community group?

end quotes

In other words, what I once had at Zetaboards as a site administrator has been stripped from me by Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, born in Hong Kong, and holding a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, and a former software engineer at IBM and HP, whose cut-throat business model seems to be based on a form of extortion.

And the "community support forum" was closed down because people were using it for its intended purpose, so that is a joke, just as is trying to make contact with any support staff, in my case with the question of how I can close out my files and quit Tapatalk.

I can apparently do neither.

So anyone can take over my threads, and they can act as if my forum is theirs, and they can even edit my posts to make them into gibberish which is the same kind of issue that had me flee CGCS and set up MY forum on Invision, where MY forum was actually mine, and could not be tampered with.

And Zetaboards was never "free," and only a gullibhle fool could have thought otherwise.

As a site administrator, I had to allow ads on my site to pay for the right to be there, and for a long period, I was paying money directly to Zetaboards to keep the crappy hook-up site advertisements off my board, so the site was hardly free, but was worth what I was paying for it.

So again, you don't know what you are talking about when you speak of "free sites."

And you are right, I am quite angry, in fact incensed would be the better word, and what I am angry about is having my files trashed by Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, born in Hong Kong, and holding a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto, and a former software engineer at IBM and HP, as has clearly done in the case of the Livyjr Files.

I am very angry and incensed with having had a FIRST-RATE board taken from me to be replaced by one of the worst word processors there could possibly be on the internet.

My posts on my site are intended to be analytical in nature, so they are longer posts.

For example, I post on the physiology of muscles and soft tissue when affected by stress or fright.

When I import a file and go to post it, the cheap piece of crap word processor provided by by Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, changes the font size on certain lines on its own, so I then have to go back and re-format which is quite tedious and time-consuming.

To find out that the PIECE OF CRAP Tapatalk word processor has changed my formatting, I have to hit preview, which takes me to the top of the page, and when I find out that the formatting has been changed, I have to scroll down through about six inches of dead space to get back to what needs to be changed.

And if the changes are required more than a few lines down, I have tom scroll all the way back up to change font size, which is very limited, where before, I controlled font size and all other formatting with HTML.

This piece of crap foisted off on me by Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, does nor recognize HTML, which is why all my files have been trashed, to the point of where some lines of script have been reduced in size so they are unreadable.

It sounds as if that does not trouble you in any way, but I took great pains on the internet to come across as what I actually am, which is a professional engineer who was providing a public service to MY viewers.

Now, my files so painstakingly assembled, have been made by Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, to look like the work product of a moron or idiot.

Perhaps, mysiteguy, your professional reputation in Cyberspace means nothing to you, and in America, you have the right to have that be the case.

But not so with me.

So tell us, mysiteguy, where did Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, get any kind of right to alter and deface my work product to make it look like the work product of a moron or idiot?

 

[Livyjr]

Zetaboards announced back in May the features what would be there once migrated to Tapatalk, including donations. And they've said donations could be used to either turn off ads for a forum's users or cashed out by the forum operator.

Or they could turn them off.

You seem to missing the FACT, mysiteguy, that you cannot make contact with anyone at Tapatalk to get donation thing removed.

We are now definitely second-class citizens at Tapatal, unless we want to submit to extortion and "upgrade," but to what?

You talk about "announcements" as if they actually meant something.

They don't.

They only mean something when you can actually get the service advertised or announced, and on Tapatalk, you cannot.

Consider what a poster named "shakeninsane" posted on the phpBB site concerning making contact with Tapatalk on Jul 19, 2017 9:47 am, to wit:

Hi people!

Ok, so we have a bit of an odd problem here.

As you might have heard, Tapatalk has been taking over a few hosted forum places. (Yuku, Zetaboards, maybe someone else?)

I was an an admin at a forum over at Yuku.

We got moved to what is called the Tapatalk Group, which uses an admin CP with phpBB.

But the forum itself is so crummy, I am tearing my hair out.

But I am wondering, is there a way to download the forum's posts from Tapatalk Groups (admin CP) and migrating everything over to our own forum?

I see there's a list of how-to's using and FTP and such, which looks like it's doable, but I can't seem to find out where or if it's even possible to download the forum as such from the ACP in the Tapatalk Groups.

end quotes

And then @ Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:09 am :

At the moment, we don't have anything as this change happened out of nowhere just two days ago.

(We were told it would be minor change when Tapatalk took over Yuku, turns out it was a total change and even changed our URL).

Tapatalk doesn't seem to know what a forum is, to be honest.

end quotes

And @ Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:03 am:

Maybe Tapatalk has removed some features, or am I missing something?

Which was answered @ Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:10 am by Mannix:

Yeah it looks like it, you should have Database option under Forum Logs but they restricted it.

The only way I see now is to contact them to give you the backup.

end quotes

So, a new problem arises.

I contacted Tapatalk Groups.

First I contacted them through their own forum.

A teenager apparently "working" at Tapatalk tells me I cannot "download" the fourm.

I ask if it does not use phpBB and in which it most likely should have a database.

As an answer, I get that Tapatalk might give us the feature to download the database......later.

I had also asked the official Tapatalk Support, waiting with a ticket and all.

I get an answer, again from this underage teenager.

Saying they don't provide online databases.

Obviously this makes me super annoyed.

Not only do they make our forum look like an entire mess with very little ways to fix this

(Other than using css to, like, making text bold/bigger here and there)

It's a complete joke.

end quotes

Now, mysiteguy, I challenge you to tell me that any of that was in these "announcements" from Zetaboard that you are touting in here as a way of telling me that I must be a stupid site administrator to not have known, a priori, that my forum was going to be trashed by by Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, to look like the work product of a moron or idiot.

 

[doubt]

Is there even any kind of export option anymore? Once you're on the TapaTalk platform?

Were there any legal export options with Zetaboards?

 

[Livyjr]

Yes, I believe the control panel for a site administrator on Zetaboards allowed for that, but there is now no way to prove it, since all of that is gone.

Personally, and contrary to what mysiteguy is trying to peddle in here, my understanding was that Zetaboard was a web-hosting service that allowed me to use their SECURE server to store my files in exchange for me allowing them to show advertisements including hooker ads on my site, or I could pay them to keep the hookers from advertising on my site, which I was doing.

Notice the term "SECURE" server.

If anyone was actually at Zetaboard, they will recall at least one major hacking attempt that closed down our access to the servers, and which attack Zetaboard vigorously defended against, while keeping us appraised through a separate announcement message board.

So they were web hosting, and what has happened is that Zetaboards made a deal with Tapatalk to breach that security, which the hackers tried to breach, so Tapatalk could then steal our files that Zetaboard was previously protecting as a web hosting service.

And if one looks at the bottom of the page at Tapatalk, one notices that Zetaboard is listed not as something "acquired," but instead as a partner, and if one then clicks on the word "Zetaboard" under "partners," this is what one gets:

Want to Build a Community?
Already have one that needs a place online? ZetaBoards offers free forum hosting that serves as the perfect site for growing an online community. Our forum software has been used by millions of people looking for a place to gather, discuss and share.

end quotes

So what is the deal here, people?

 

[mysiteguy]

You seem to missing the FACT, mysiteguy, that you cannot make contact with anyone at Tapatalk to get donation thing removed.

Its in your control panels.

We are now definitely second-class citizens at Tapatal, unless we want to submit to extortion and "upgrade," but to what?

You talk about "announcements" as if they actually meant something.

They meant something when there was still an opportunity to export the database before Tapatalk migrated your forum to their platform.

Now, mysiteguy, I challenge you to tell me that any of that was in these "announcements" from Zetaboard that you are touting in here as a way of telling me that I must be a stupid site administrator to not have known, a priori, that my forum was going to be trashed by by Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, to look like the work product of a moron or idiot.

This isn't about challenges, I'm not here to fight about it. That would accomplish nothing either of us. Zetaboards announced they were acquired Tapatalk, there was an opportunity to check on Tapatalk's reputation (which is horrible in my opinion), and time to take steps.

Rather, I'm stating that rather using this forum solely as a sounding board for your anger, which will not solve anything, use the expertise here to seek a solution. There are people who can help, myself included. Scrapping your forums and placing them into a database you own is doable, though it will take some work. Then it's just a matter of importing those into a forum, such as the free phpBB software.

If you're interested, contact me via the Conversation feature and we can work something out. I can do a full scrape, migration into phpBB (or MyBB), and host it for you. Or someone else here if my bluntness rules me out. Whatever works for you.

 

[R0binHood]

How can you scrape the users? Or would you just effectively shut the TapaTalk site and put up a notice informing users they need to re-register on the new forum?

 

[mysiteguy]

I know of ways to get needed data for users, without re-registering. For anyone else offering similar services, I'll leave it up to them to figure it out like I did.

 

[R0binHood]

That’s a shame. Would be really interested in how you would do it just out of technical curiosity. I guess it’s fair enough if you’re making money off the service though.

 

[Livyjr]

I was on Zetaboards since 2010 and thought it was a fine site.

This Tapatalk site that I was transferred to is a literal piece of garbage.

Total crap that is tedious to use and confusing to navigate, plus I was stripped of things I had for free at Zetaboards, starting with control of my site.

Does anyone know of a site that has a Zetaboards type platform?

First of all, before I reply to the "bluntness" of mysiteguy, which frankly I appreciate, not being turned off by bluntness, but by sycophancy, I would like to make it incandescently clear that the ONLY reason this discussion between myself and mysiteguy, is because a poster named The Sandman pre-moderated my first series of posts, and then, after careful consideration, the kind of careful consideration one would hope for in a professionally-managed site such as this so obviously is, where there was no time lag in hearing from The Sandman, nor was I treated with condescension and disdain, as is the case as Tapatalk, which is a stern warning to anyone even considering that site - treat it like a viper, unless all you do is post selfies of yourself doing keg stands, or have your friends taking selfies of you being blotto drunk with 35 empty pints in front of you, and then Tapatalk might be your cup of tea.

If you are professional and care about the appearance of your work product, avoid Tapatalk like the plague.

As I understand it, it is have this very discussion that after pre-modifying my posts, The Sandman asked me to make them public.

By doing so, mysiteguy was drawn into the discussion in the very blunt and to-the-point manner I as a military veteran appreciate, as opposed to the mealy-mouth, condescending drivel I was fed at Tapatalk when I asked on the "community help forum" that no longer exists how to close and lock my threads on Tapatalk as I could do on Zetaboards:

Unfortunately your board can't be restored back to Zetaboards.

All boards previously hosted on ZB are converting to TT because they bought out ZB.

Many people would have wished it worked out differently, you have only two options now.

Either start over from scratch elsewhere, or stick with TT.

end quotes

Now, focus on this sentence, people, while thinking of how many different stories we are being told here, some of which are pre myth such as the myth that I had some kind of choice with this pirating of my data from Zetaboards:

All boards previously hosted on ZB are converting to TT because they bought out ZB.

end quotes

Now, people, seriously, how many different meanings are there for the phrase "All boards previously hosted on ZB?"

How many different meanings are there for "hosted on ZB?"

Doesn't "hosted on ZB" mean a secure server?

And of course it does, a point proven in real time when Zetaboards was fighting off hackers, which raises this important question, to wit:

When Tapatalk says it "acquired" Zetaboards, does that imply a successful hack of Zetaboards by Tapatalk?

And the exact analog here would be a secure storage facility where you would store your personal possessions, or a bank safety deposit box.

The exact analog here would be the owner of the secure storage facility telling you that a thief made him a real good deal, so the thief was given the key to your locked room, so he could steal all your possessions and then hold them for ransom.

Or a bank giving a thief access to your safety deposit box so as to be able to steal your jewels.

What has happened here, with this trite phrase, "we can change the conditions of your contract whenever we choose," is that the meaning of the word "secure" has been turned on its ear, along with sanctity of contract.

Should we care?

 

[Livyjr]

Its in your control panels.



They meant something when there was still an opportunity to export the database before Tapatalk migrated your forum to their platform.



This isn't about challenges, I'm not here to fight about it. That would accomplish nothing either of us. Zetaboards announced they were acquired Tapatalk, there was an opportunity to check on Tapatalk's reputation (which is horrible in my opinion), and time to take steps.

Rather, I'm stating that rather using this forum solely as a sounding board for your anger, which will not solve anything, use the expertise here to seek a solution. There are people who can help, myself included. Scrapping your forums and placing them into a database you own is doable, though it will take some work. Then it's just a matter of importing those into a forum, such as the free phpBB software.

If you're interested, contact me via the Conversation feature and we can work something out. I can do a full scrape, migration into phpBB (or MyBB), and host it for you. Or someone else here if my bluntness rules me out. Whatever works for you.

Yes, mysiteguy, in some ways, you are right - it is way past time to learn a real serious lesson here, which is "NOBODY ASSOCIATED WITH A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY CAN BE TRUSTED," and to then move on, which actually, I have been doing, albeit at the speed of molasses in January, since all of this website business is foreign to me.

So let's start here, if I want a platform (if I use the wrong words, it is because I am totally ignorant of what the right words should be) exactly like the platform I had at Zetaboards, with a series of categories, each with its own files, but on a private server, am I stupid to try and use Wordpress?

 

[Livyjr]

And no, mysiteguy, it is NOT in my control panel because on the cheap piece of crap I was issued at Tapatalk, I don't have a control panel.

I have two choices, to pay Tapatalk for a more complete board that might have a control panel, and since Tapatalk cann ot be trusted, who would really know, or to suck eggs and pound sand.

 

[Livyjr]

Zetaboards announced they were acquired Tapatalk, there was an opportunity to check on Tapatalk's reputation (which is horrible in my opinion), and time to take steps.

Not surprisingly, since I am an engineer, I am considered "highly anal" on the zero-to-one hundred scale of anality in use in America today, because I save things, like the service contract from Invision, and all the notices sent to me by E-MAIL from Zetaboards BEFORE the takeover, or acquisition, or partnership, whatever it in fact was.

Now, when I go back to review any of those Zetaboards messages, I have found they went POOF!

They no longer exist, so now there is no way for me to show anyone what I was informed of before the change-over,

And much of that notice was on my control panel, and in neither place do I recall any of what mysiteguy was talking about.

As he seems to make incandescently clear here, all of us aggrieved site owners were rubes and fools who were easily gulled by Brandon at Zetaboards and Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, and now we have to look in the mirror and realize that when we hear the expression used by such internet luminaries as Brandon at Zetaboards and Huang Dongri, aka Winter Wong, Founder and CEO of Tapatalk, that there is a sucker born every minute, the suckers in question are us, the dupes who thought a secure server actually meant a server that was secure regardless, not a server that was secure until somebody made a sufficient cash offer to make it insecure, which takes us back to this statement, to wit:

All boards previously hosted on ZB are converting to TT because they bought out ZB.

end quotes

First, I would like somebody to point out to me the element of choice in there, because at no time in the process was I aware of choice, other than discontinuing all the work I had put into my site at that point, which I did not foresee and need or desire to do, foolishly thinking in my obvious naivete that a secure server meant exactly that - integrity of the contents.

And then I think the message that mysiteguy is trying to convey is that even though I had no idea what that meant, I still should have known all of what that meant, even though I didn't find out any of what that meant until it was too late.

When I trust Brandon of Zetaboards to keep my data secure on this web hosting site, I was very stupid to trust Brandon, at all, and yes, looking back, he is so obviously right.

So what outcome would I like to see here beyond the creation of a new board for myself that is truly secure?

Seeing Tapatalk driven out of business by the aggrieved internet community using the power of the internet to isolate Tapatalk and starve them for revenue, the way the internet community stripped the sponsors of Laura Ingraham of Fox away from her in a matter of hours.

That would be a good start.

 

[Livyjr]

For anyone really interested in what life on a Tapatalk board is really like, here is the link to the "support forum:"

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tapatalksupport/forum-migration-support-f99/

When I click on it, all I get is unintelligible garbage.

That is the level of support one can expect from Tapatalk.