Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by white exec »

Site admin here, in my estimation, do a good and unpaid job - something that very few of us would know how to begin to tackle. For that, we should be hugely grateful.

It is quite unacceptable that an external web company, like Tapatalk, has administrative access to our forum and its content. It may not contain very much in the way of personal confidential information, but that is not the point.

Personally, I value the technical, historical and commercial detail available on the site, through our posts, as well as the chat and good humour. I would not like to see any of this compromised, hijacked or used for 'outside' commercial purposes. Tapatalk is just one of thousands of web companies offering facilities, but this is in return for site access.

It is not unreasonable for members here to want to continue to do things easily that Tapatalk offers - post photos, read text, and do this on small screens on the move. What they should be doing is politely ask our site admins to provide these facilities in a way that the administrators feel does not compromise security. We need to respect their technical judgement. If anyone feels that they can do a better job in this respect, they should of course volunteer, or at the very least join in the efforts to add the facilities needed.

As for comments along the lines of 'I'll no longer be contributing/being an active member....but will just continue to dip into the site when I need to....' - Well, that seems to me just selfish; all take and no give.

FCF is a co-operative forum, and that's one of its strengths. Things only improve when we work together, and part of this is the acceptance that not every suggestion will win through.

One thing's for sure in IT and modern communication: nothing stands still or stays the same for ever. WordPerfect, videotape, home DVD recording, Win XP, photographic film... Moving on can be, and usually does, involve a bit of stress, inconvenience and rethinking. In a good few cases, things get a tad worse before they get better. Hold on to that thought.
Last edited by white exec on 24 May 2017, 13:00, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

The forums demise started a while back. Once-active members stopped posting as prolifically and it has now slowed to a trickle, a mere handgul of posts mainly from the same few members. Well, I for one will also leave once TT support is discontinued as the current admins, one in particilar who shall remain nameless appears to be on his own ego trip and intent on implementing HIS view of the way things have to work without consultation, any mandate from the membership. Dont walk away just yet DavieM. Stay and voice your opinions loudly. This is a forum owned by its members and we need to have our views heard! We are not a bunch of rabid luddites which i'm sure is how one individual perceives us to be.

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Re: RE: Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

white exec wrote:Site admin here, in my estimation, do a good and unpaid job - something that very few of us would know how to begin to tackle. For that, we should be hugely grateful.

It is quite unacceptable that an external web company, like Tapatalk, has administrative access to our forum and its content. It may not contain very much in the way of personal confidential information, but that is not the point.

Personally, I value the technical, historical and commercial detail available on the site, though our posts. I would not like to see any of this compromised, hijacked or used for 'outside' commercial purposes. Tapatalk is just one of thousands of web companies offering facilities, but this is in return for site access.

It is not unreasonable for members here to want to continue to do things easily that Tapatalk offers - post photos, read text, and do this on small screens on the move. What they should be doing is politely ask our site admins to provide these facilities in a way that the administrators feel does not compromise security. We need to respect their technical judgement. If anyone feels that they can do a better job in this respect, they should of course volunteer, or at the very least join in the efforts to add the facilities needed.

As for comments along the lines of 'I'll no longer be contributing/being an active member....but will just continue to dip into the site when I need to....' - Well, that seems to me just selfish; all take and no give.

FCF is a co-operative forum, and that's one of its strengths. Things only improve when we work together, and part of this is the acceptance that not every suggestion will win through.

One thing's for sure in IT and modern communication: nothing stands still or stays the same for ever. WordPerfect, videotape, home DVD recording, Win XP, photographic film... Moving on can be, and usually does, involve a bit of stress, inconvenience and rethinking. In a good few cases, things get a tad worse before they get better. Hold on to that thought.
So what is 'the point' of discontinuing support of TT if, as you say, we have little in the way of confidential data. I mentioned earlier that we all sign up in the t&cs to our data NOT being the responsibility of the mods or admin in the event of any compromise. So ... just let us get on with things and hands off our data, admins. We're all big, grown up people well aware of the big wide internet risks out there and all prepared to take them as members. As for not showing respect to admins and the lack of 'give and take' ... where's the give and take in the 'non negotiable' stance being taken by one admin in particular?

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Hell Razor5543 »

I have a suggestion, but I do not know the technicalities involved, so I cannot say if it is a workable idea.

Would it be possible to build a Tapatalk 'portal' that would allow Tapatalk users to upload their posts? This 'portal' would then strip out that which Tapatalk adds on, check the submitted posts for security issues, and then pass acceptable posts through a firewall system to be posted onto the forum proper. Tapatalk users would not be posting directly onto the forum, but onto a 'mini forum' link dedicated to them (so instead of posting to "www.frenchcarforum.co.uk" they might post to "www.frenchcarforumTT.co.uk").

If this were possible (and feasible within the limitations of the forum and it's moderators) it could be a way to allow for the forum to move forward while retaining all of the members who would otherwise be adversely affected by this change.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by xantia_v6 »

xantiamanic wrote:The forums demise started a while back. Once-active members stopped posting as prolifically and it has now slowed to a trickle, a mere handgul of posts mainly from the same few members. Well, I for one will also leave once TT support is discontinued as the current admins, one in particilar who shall remain nameless appears to be on his own ego trip and intent on implementing HIS view of the way things have to work without consultation, any mandate from the membership. Dont walk away just yet DavieM. Stay and voice your opinions loudly. This is a forum owned by its members and we need to have our views heard! We are not a bunch of rabid luddites which i'm sure is how one individual perceives us to be.

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Personal attacks on members, whether admins or not, and whther specifically named or not are NOT acceptable behaviour on this forum.
Take this as a warning that any further unpleasant posts here or elsewhere on the forum will result in a ban.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

Are you reading between the lines and thinking that i may be referring to yourself here? I respect most admins, not all and especially not when decisions are taken which affect the forum without any member input. My prerogative. It seems that when 'bans' are being threatened ahead of constructive debate then my point about a 'dictatorial' regime having infiltrated the forum is being made for me.

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Last edited by superloopy on 24 May 2017, 09:08, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by xantia_v6 »

Hell Razor5543 wrote:I have a suggestion, but I do not know the technicalities involved, so I cannot say if it is a workable idea.

Would it be possible to build a Tapatalk 'portal' that would allow Tapatalk users to upload their posts? This 'portal' would then strip out that which Tapatalk adds on, check the submitted posts for security issues, and then pass acceptable posts through a firewall system to be posted onto the forum proper. Tapatalk users would not be posting directly onto the forum, but onto a 'mini forum' link dedicated to them (so instead of posting to "www.frenchcarforum.co.uk" they might post to "www.frenchcarforumTT.co.uk").

If this were possible (and feasible within the limitations of the forum and it's moderators) it could be a way to allow for the forum to move forward while retaining all of the members who would otherwise be adversely affected by this change.

That is a good suggestion, and something similar has been considered, but it would be quite a lot of work, and would require the co-operation of the Tapatalk software developers to do most of it, as their software licensing terms are not compatible with us implementing such a scheme.

With regard to the forum font size viewed on mobile devices, we can do something about that, and we will have a prototype version to test available soon.
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Re: RE: Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

xantia_v6 wrote:
Hell Razor5543 wrote:I have a suggestion, but I do not know the technicalities involved, so I cannot say if it is a workable idea.

Would it be possible to build a Tapatalk 'portal' that would allow Tapatalk users to upload their posts? This 'portal' would then strip out that which Tapatalk adds on, check the submitted posts for security issues, and then pass acceptable posts through a firewall system to be posted onto the forum proper. Tapatalk users would not be posting directly onto the forum, but onto a 'mini forum' link dedicated to them (so instead of posting to "www.frenchcarforum.co.uk" they might post to "www.frenchcarforumTT.co.uk").

If this were possible (and feasible within the limitations of the forum and it's moderators) it could be a way to allow for the forum to move forward while retaining all of the members who would otherwise be adversely affected by this change.

That is a good suggestion, and something similar has been considered, but it would be quite a lot of work, and would require the co-operation of the Tapatalk software developers to do most of it, as their software licensing terms are not compatible with us implementing such a scheme.

With regard to the forum font size viewed on mobile devices, we can do something about that, and we will have a prototype version to test available soon.
So, realistically, the 'portal' idea is dead in the water reading between your lines. If you intend to ban me going forward for my views then give me 24 hrs warning during which i will not post and clean up my message box. You can then delete my account and all posts attributed to me during the term of my membership.

Can i just ask though, before i possibly get banned, why is it that other forums which i subscribe to and access via TT, namely BX forum, XM forum, C1 owners club, Aussiefrogs.. do not appear as 'robust' in theur handling of 'security' issues as you seem intent on. Why is that do you think? Why is THIS forum being managed in a totally obtuse way to these others? Are you saying that they are less secure in which case members subscribed across both may wish to reconsider membership.

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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by ekjdm14 »

CitroJim wrote:Although I'm not a big forum user by any means, all of the other forums I visit on a regular basis have no Tapatalk facilities...

I find the FCF perfectly OK to use effectively in a very small browser on my mobile phone... I fail to se the issue quite frankly... If it will work well enough and is usable on my poxy old Windows phone then I can only assume that on more sophisticated phones and tablets it should be even better... I know on my Android tablet it is as good as being on a laptop and that's only a small screened tablet.

I'm in full agreement that security has got to be top priority and Tapatalk does appear to pose considerable risks to the integrity of the forum and its database contents.


Works fine for me on laptop, ipod and iphone... Cannot see the problem either, considering the potential risks posed by ALL forum data being accessible by tapatalk (or anyone who happens to hack tapatalk). it's one app (albeit a useful one maybe) amongst many other ways of using the forum & if the forum is indeed that useful & that important to someone that they bemoan not being able to access it via their preferred app, SURELY it's worth accessing it another way?

Put another way, if tapatalk itself ceased to exist would they stop using the forum then, or would they find an alternative? :?
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Paul-R »

As promised I posted this situation on this other forum that I participate in. Some of the staff members (certainly at least one) uses Tapatalk for about 50% of his postings there and was surprised and worried by the news. Others, like me, don't use it and have no issues but that leaves some others who used to use Tapatalk and now no longer do.

One of the senior Admins said that he had had doubts about Tapatalk for some time and now no longer uses it. In fact he decided that he would close his account. He then said that Forum Runner is better. Is this something that people are aware of?

There is no decision there yet about whether to pull Tapatalk for everyone.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by superloopy »

The forum IS a wealth of knowledge, no dispute there. Without TT i would access less frequently on a read only basis as it would need to be via a pc which isn't my oreferred option. TT manages to talk across multiple foruns which i DO access daily, UNraid, AVForums amongst others. No TT access would mean i'd just drop FCF from that list. Access would be infrequent if at all. Everyone keeps going on about 'works ok on iphone' et al but we dont all possess iphones! Browser windows on a mobile qhen you dont need them is just plain backward looking. Fine if you want the forum to to run into a gradual decline due to lack of considered thinking. As i say, all of the other citroen enthusiasts forums ARE do support TT. Who is being paranoid here?

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Last edited by superloopy on 24 May 2017, 11:31, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by ekjdm14 »

I didn't necessarily suggest everyone go out and "upgrade" their phone, but seriously if tapatalk ceased to exist (or had never existed in the first place) would you suggest deleting all your posts (some of which would doubtless be useful to other "lurkers" and not-so-active members) and leaving the forum, or would you be reasonable about it and find some other way to access the forum?

I suppose that question answers itself really, if the forum was worth it to you then of course you would. Seeing as how you say none of your cars are now roadworthy though, I imagine the forum is of limited usefulness to yourself anyway & you'd be less likely to make an effort to continue on with it.

Those of us who do find it a useful resource and also wish to contribute to it and try to help others with what we've learned through our own trials, will continue to do so in whatever way we can.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by CitroJim »

The answer to all of this is to go out and buy an old but functional laptop and run Linux on it... Such laptops can be got for tiny sums now as they are not good enough for Win10 perhaps but are fine with a basic copy of say, Unbuntu installed on it for web browsing and forum access...

I use a 10 year old laptop at home that originally ran Vista... It is worth about 10p but does the job with Ubuntu splendidly. It's got wireless on it and is small and compact. I'll bet one similar could be got for a silly amount of money and will keep you going on the FCF Mike ;)

Not as small as a phone admittedly but not by any means cumbersome and very portable...

And as I have said before, if the forum is OK for me on my crappy old Windows phone I'm sure all others will be fine too...
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by xantia_v6 »

Paul-R wrote:As promised I posted this situation on this other forum that I participate in. Some of the staff members (certainly at least one) uses Tapatalk for about 50% of his postings there and was surprised and worried by the news. Others, like me, don't use it and have no issues but that leaves some others who used to use Tapatalk and now no longer do.

One of the senior Admins said that he had had doubts about Tapatalk for some time and now no longer uses it. In fact he decided that he would close his account. He then said that Forum Runner is better. Is this something that people are aware of?

There is no decision there yet about whether to pull Tapatalk for everyone.

I am not familiar with Forum Runner, but their front page does not indicate support for current versions of phpBB. I will look into it further when I have time.

Part of the problem is that phpBB has had on its future features list (for some years) a safe API for third-party front-ends, but sadly it has not materialised yet.
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Re: Discontinuation of Tapatalk Support

Post by Paul-R »

And Forum Runner may not be an answer either, even assuming it supports phpBB's latest version. The chap who uses Tapatalk for half of his posts posted "Did not like Forum Runner at all :( ".
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