It's Been a Year!

[eigen]

I can't quite believe it's been almost a year since we originally found out the CHE forums were closing, and worked to set up an alternate site.

We're currently sitting at 1760 members, and 26,550 posts (including this one). We're about as active as the CHE forums were before the end, with about 80 new posts a day between users. We're also still (slowly) gaining members- lots of them are spam accounts, but we continue to approve new non-spammy members with regularity.

I wanted to start this thread to see how everyone feels about the experiment. Especially as we near the end of the free year provided by Reclaim Hosting (I just got the bill for the renewal in the mail).

Is this working for you? Do you have changes you want to see? Do you have thoughts, or concerns?

[dismalist]

The kinds of threads initiated here seem to me to be far more interesting on average than on the former fora. Perhaps this is because we live in more exciting times.

The posts seem better, too, though I miss those on the "Posting while Plastered" thread. :-)

A modest payment in future, if necessary, could improve quality even further.

If price is right, I'm in.

Best to all.

[science.expat]

I think it's great and very much appreciate the work of Eigen and colleagues to make this happen. Many thanks, all!

I've been with the fora since the Wild West days. This version is probably the most focused which makes sense given the history - and it's probably the better for it. Though I may take it upon myself to restart the 'Posting while Plastered' thread....

I'm happy to throw in a few quid to keep this going, how can I do this?

Cheers,
SE

[polly_mer]

Happy to chip in to keep it going.

[marshwiggle]

I'd contribute too. I suppose if you charged me by the word it could be profitable. :)

[Puget]

Yes big thanks to eigen and others who made this happen! Also the moderators-- the lack of spam here is magnificent compared to the old fora, and I can only suppose that the moderators' vigilance in screening out spammy initial posts is responsible for this blessed state of affairs.

I think for the most part things are going great. We have interesting discussions, and I've seen some wonderful supportive interactions. Sure, some discussions get repetitive and some posters rub each other the wrong way, but why would we expect this to be any different from any of our departments ;). Compared to most of the internet its downright civilized.

Also happy to chip on for hosting costs!

[downer]

How would payment work?

What changes to the platform are possible, without switching to a whole new platform?

[polly_mer]

What changes to the platform are possible, without switching to a whole new platform?

https://www.simplemachines.org/about/smf/features.php might give you some ideas.

[downer]

What changes to the platform are possible, without switching to a whole new platform?

https://www.simplemachines.org/about/smf/features.php might give you some ideas.

It doesn't seem like there's a huge amount that could be made different.

Is this feature currently available?: Ability to allow or disallow your users to select their own theme.

[eigen]

You can select your own themes already, to some degree. Instructions are in the stickies post on the mobile friendly theme.

[Katrina Gulliver]

Thank you Eigen for making this happen.

[namazu]

Thanks, eigen, for getting things going, and moderators, for keeping things spam-free!

[Larimar]

Chime to the thanks to all the moderators!

[darkstarrynight]

Wow! A year has flown by already? Thanks for making this possible!

[Hibush]

Thanks Eigen, for making this a big success. Happy to chip in.

Do the offer a Donate button? The challenge is that the IRS is curious about where the money goes.

Reclaim takes credit cards and PayPal. Can you ask them whether they can administer a crowdsourced payment? We would PayPal funds to Reclaim individually, and they would credit the Fora account.