[Serious] Future of the Forums (Discussion)

[Athene]

Also, it would be helpful if more members would make a commitment to starting more threads. Even one new thread a day from regular uses could be prove to be helpful in increasing traffic.

How often do folks log in and quickly log out, because nothing but the same dry, tired-ass threads are being discussed? Guilty as charged, btw.
The average thread loses it's freshness in about 2-3 days. If there's not much new, folks make their time short and check back later. 

Instead of waiting for something worth discussing, why start a discussion?

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I used to belong to a few other forums, and they petered out before dying, but in those cases, they just became too toxic. Meanwhile, I've had close to ten years on this forum, and the prospect of it dying like this... it feels like it'd be slightly less traumatic than seeing my father die.

And with Thena's post, I decided to swallow my pride as a cheap bastard and become a Patreon.

I'll make a quarterly donation tomorrow (or rather, today) after work.

[emjay]

Whatever you decide to do Tibs, thank you for the wonderful site you created here. I made some great friends here, had a lot of fun, and learned a lot. I know I don't come here very often any more, but that's no judgement on the site, just that I see everything as having a time and place and it was just time for me to move on... but it doesn't change the appreciation I have for everything you've done here... this place was highly instrumental and formative for me in developing my views as an atheist, so it will always be part of me, so thank you to you and everyone else I met along the way, for your/their part in that, and best wishes for the future no matter what you decide to do with this site

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I was at RDF when it closed down. I was at JRF when it closed down. Friends lose friends this way.

[LastPoet]

I have been on a horrible year, remodeling the house, the car broke down, increased expenses for my daughter education, etc, couldn't churn out any money.

I have however asked for a raise and it was granted, by the end of november I will earn more and in december I will get my objectives bonus, and the remodelling, my wife's mobile and car fix are payed for. I belive from there forward I can patreon 10 euros per month safely.

As to admining, no one can do better than you Tibs. You know the insides and outs of the machine.

[Pat Mustard]

I have been on a horrible year, remodeling the house, the car broke down, increased expenses for my daughter education, etc, couldn't churn out any money.

I have however asked for a raise and it was granted, by the end of november I will earn more and in december I will get my  objectives bonus, and the remodelling, my wife's mobile and car fix are payed for. I belive from there forward I can patreon 10 euros per month safely.

As to admining, no one can do better than you Tibs. You know the insides and outs of the machine.

I'll have to see how much I'm currently dropping in the kitty too. I can afford more right now, even before my promotion raise (single man, not too many vices).

Would be an awful shame to see the place go.

[Brian37]

I hope you sell it and not simply shut it down, not that I want you to, only if you have to.  Mom and pop message boards centered around atheists in this format, which I find very easy to use, are few and far between. But I am sure life outside this forum is extremely important to you Tibs and Shell, and juggling all that with jobs and family can weigh on you too.

I don't want to see you or Shell go, but I'd also completely understand when you have lots of real life stuff going on too.

But if you do go, try to sell it so it can stay up under a new owner.

[Tiberius]

The costs are certainly a resolvable issue for me. I have the backend of the site set up in such a way than 99% of the administering is automated. Multiple backups, DDoS protection, emails, etc. Really the only manual thing I need to do is forum upgrades.

[Tiberius]

That said, if I did hand the site over to someone it wouldn’t be to just anyone. As someone mentioned, there’s privacy issues involved and I would also want to know the person had a hold on things and could understand the backend systems.

[Alex K]

Hi friends, long time no see, great to see you around. My life has after years of job worries finally turned into a more stable situation where I'm not busy putting out fires *all* the time. I felt exactly like Tiberius a coupla years ago which is why I post in this thread, just not having fun, and lots of real life challenges. I still miss the community from the old days, though I still barely have the time to keep up with a forum. I'll post an intro thread later, maybe

[LastPoet]

That said, if I did hand the site over to someone it wouldn’t be to just anyone. As someone mentioned, there’s privacy issues involved and I would also want to know the person had a hold on things and could understand the backend systems.

Jackalope seems like a good choice if he wanted. I could understand the backend but I fear I don't have the time.