Answers to Your Questions Regarding the Forum's Futuregreenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread |
Hi folks, Chuck here. I just got done with dinner after working outside all day, feels good to have weather nice enough to be outside for several hours and still have feeling in your extremities. Hope your day went as well.I need to perform some rumor control concerning the plans to move the forum to another venue. I want to minimize the knicker twisting by keeping everyone up to speed on what is going to happen and why, so here goes.
As you know, in February, the magazine that was sponsoring this forum made the decision to shut it down. They came to the conclusion that it was, frankly, more trouble to them than it was worth. Whether or not that was a good business decision remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, the forum would have closed its doors in February, its contributors scattered to various offshoot forums, had not something been done to keep it going. That's where some of us came in, volunteering to take it over and keep it running separate from Countryside Magazine. I got the job of administrator, but lots of other people have contacted me and offered useful and much-appreciated help and advice. Whatever hard feelings there may have been are irrelevant now, and I hope you've noticed an attempt on my part to ensure that this forum will be a useful, cozy place to ask questions and share knowledge related to every aspect of homesteading.
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Here are some of the questions that I've been getting lately, with my answers. If you have a question that I don't answer here, feel free to post it and I'll do my best to answer it.
Question: Why can't the forum keep running just like it is?
Answer: There are several reasons that it will eventually have to be moved.
- The LUSENET server will disappear Mr. Greenspun allows this forum to exist on a server that he owns, mostly because he's a real nice guy. However, in my conversations with him he has been very clear that the forum exists on a server that is not being maintained or upgraded. This causes a problem because as the number of posts increase on all of the lusenet forums, they take up more space on his server. Eventually that server will run out of space. At that time, it will go down, most likely for good. We can only continue to exist in our current form until that day. I can't say WHEN it will come, only that it certainly will. It could be tomorrow, or a year from now. I'll try to contact Mr. Greenspun again and see if he can nail down an estimate for us, but right now it's an imminent certainty that this forum will eventually cease to exist in it's present form.
I can tell you very honestly that I'd be the happiest among us if I felt that the forum could continue without having to move. Please understand the enormity of the task in front of us, me and some of you and any programmer friends that I can hornswaggle into helping, in attempting to come up with a new site that will preserve the base of knowledge and sense of community that exists here. It would be much easier to simply let it ride. I'd like nothing more than to do just that. However, the writing is on the wall, and doing nothing just wouldn't be prudent.
- We need to change the name Since this forum still bears the copyrighted name of Countryside Magazine, and cannot be changed to another name on this forum, the deal as I understood it with Dave from Countryside when I took over was that they would allow us to continue using the countryside name for a period of time, as long as we were pursuing a name change. In reality, they could come in tomorrow and insist that we STOP using the name immediately, and we'd basically have to delete the forum in it's entirety, since its name cannot be changed on LUSENET. I don't expect that to happen any time soon, but we SHOULD continue to pursue a break to a new name, just to clear that issue up.
For the record: Nobody holds the copyright to this forum. It does not belong to Countryside Magazine or anyone else. It is a compilation of knowledge assembled over the last 2 1/2 years by you, the forums contributors.
- For all of its great qualities, this forum could be better. Like many of you, I am a big fan of the LUSENET approach to forums. They are clean, simple, and fast. However, there are some features that could make the forum much more useful.
For Example:
- A search feature
- mandatory categorization at time of posting. (this would make my job SO much easier!)
- email aliases - so those who don't want to endure the spam that comes with using their real email addresses could still receive personal messages.
- more sorting options - for instance, if you want to see all posts made by Stan, simply click on his name.
- the ability to create a personal profile - share as much, or as little about yourself as you like.
Please understand what I am saying here. I like the forum just like it is. It is possible that we could make some changes for the better without significantly altering the look and feel of the site. I will do everything possible to make the new site very much like this one, only better.
To do this, we have been evaluating several different packages. UBB didn't make the cut, so don't worry about that. One that I like a lot, but may have trouble implementing, is the upgraded version of the LUSENET forums running on Mr. Greenspun's site Photo.net. We won't go live on the new site until it has been thoroughly tested and approved by many of our "power users." Sit tight. I think you'll like what's coming.
Lastly, I intend to leave the forum where it is as long as possible, given the issues listed above. The change, when it comes, won't be completely painless, but we'll make it as much so as possible.
Question: Can we leave the current site running after we make the switch to the new site?
Answer: Yes and No. It must eventually be deleted, because the name cannot be changed, and yet we have to stop using Countryside. However, once we make the change, the plan is to close the current forum to NEW POSTS, with a message at the top stating the new forum address, along with an explanation of what has happened. We also intend to port over most, if not all of the current archives to the new site.
Question: What will the name of the new site be?
Answer: After taking a vote, the majority of you chose HomesteadingToday.com. Subsequently, I purchased that domain name for our use. We can easily point more domain names at the site, such as HomesteadHelp.com or CountryHomesteadingHillbillies.com or TheForumFormerlyKnownAsCountryside.com, all it takes is money.
Question: What about my other favorite forums, CS Families and Freedom! and the Cooking and Crafts Forum, among others?
Answer: While I have not discussed it yet with all of the other administrators, I think it would make sense for us to try and keep the original CS forum and its "children" together, as long as the other moderators are amenable to doing so. Many of us frequent several of the forums on the lusenet site, and if we can all help save each other, so much the better. Suffice it to say, we'll be discussing it.
Question: Is Chuck just doing this to make money?
Answer: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! Ahem, but seriously, give me a break! This is a volunteer position, and I'm happy to keep it that way. As a matter of fact, I'd be really happy to see us eventually conduct elections for a new moderator, someone who would serve for a definite term. Perhaps once the changeover is complete. The effort required to make this forum a money making venture would far outweigh any potential profit.
However, I DO hope that this site can somehow generate enough income to pay for itself. I'll foot the bill if I have to, (many of you have indicated the same willingness) but I'd rather not do it indefinitely.
I hope that this (extremely long) post has helped allay your concerns regarding the future of our forum. I'll do everything I can to keep you all updated on our progress, and to make sure you have a chance to give feedback along the way. Thanks for sticking with us, and for making my job, so far, pretty easy. You guys are great!
Be Nice,
--Chuck (woah@mission4me.com), March 09, 2002
I'll keep this part shorter than it should be - thanks for all the time & effort.There are a couple of farm-based forums that have a pretty good format, both 'owned' by individuals. They are friendly people, perhaps you could pick their brains for ideas on software & ideas.
www.newagtalk.com (or talk.newagtalk.com for the newer link) is run by a nice farmer at his own expense. Good software, must be somewhat inexpensive to run.
www.ytmag.com is run by Kim, has banner ads which don't seem to be making much income these days. But, another well-run forum, can borrow some ideas from it perhaps. She can maybe tell you about changes _not_ to make, when she changed software about 2 years ago & there was a near riot. :) Simple and easy is often best.
--->Paul
-- paul (ramblerplm@hotmail.com), March 09, 2002.
Thanks, Chuck. You're doing a great job.
-- Laura (Ladybugwrangler@hotmail.com), March 09, 2002.
"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between a leader is a servant." Max De PreeConsidering what we a paying Chuck, I think we are getting a pretty good deal.
-- paul (primrose@centex.net), March 09, 2002.
Chuck when the move begins please let me know so that we can address relocation options for the singletree site also. Thanks
-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.
Howdy Chuck, I'd like to recomend these folks at Best Boards for a well run and inexpensive bulletin board host. They are flexible and have differnt pricing levels depending on how many pop ups you want to live with, or not. The administrators are very quick and responsive to problems.http://bb.bbboy.net/
An example of a huge board they are temporarily hosting while the original board works through some problems, The Straight Dope.
http://bb.bbboy.net/straightdope
-- Tis I (really_tis_i@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.
Chuck, Thanks for clearing up some of the confusion many have had lately. You're doing a great job. Thanks!!!!
-- Murray in ME (lkdmfarm@megalink.net), March 10, 2002.
Hi Chuck! Having been busy with a move this past month I have not taken the time to thank you for all your hard work. You have made everything that is going on with this situation clear and understandable and I appreciate your time and efforts!Thanks from Ohio going out to you! Kelly
-- Kelly longing to live in our woods (angelridgemom@prodigy.net), March 10, 2002.
Chuck, I also want to thank you for taking on this tremendous task. I also would like to move the "raising rabbits for profit" since it is an offshoot of this forum as well.
-- tracy (murfette@stargate.net), March 10, 2002.
Thank you Chuck. I don't care what it's called, so long as it's simple and not Ultimate anything. A few side bar links would be Ok and what your planning sounds great! Well I must go look for new born lambs, we're at 90 and winter made a comeback last night. Oddly counting sheep no longer puts me to sleep.
-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), March 10, 2002.
Chuck, you're doing a great job. Many thanks. Folks, I think we need to raise Chuck's salary, perhaps double what he's getting now? Or maybe we should go all out and triple his wages. ;)
-- Lenette (kigervixen@webtv.net), March 10, 2002.
YES, I would love to tag along... I would really appreciate the back up, and the computer knowledge you so obviously have. Thank you!
-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 10, 2002.
Thanks Chuck, all your hard work is much appreciated. Checking out the forum is my daily escape. God bless!
-- Sharon (chessyemailaddy@notreal.com), March 10, 2002.
Question; Why can't this forum continue to stay here under the current name? It's titled "Countryside", not "Countryside Magazine". The word Countryside in this form is not bound to any copyright laws so I'm wondering why you say this forum can't continue. Countryside Magazine doesn't hold claim to the word "countryside". In fact, nobody does nor could anyone claim title to that specififc word if they wanted to. Anyone can see for themselves that Countryside Magazine can't possibly hold claim to this forums title by looking themselves at http://www.loc.gov/copyright/search/It would seem to me that all that needs to be done is remove the link to Countryside Magazine in forum publisher information. To say that Countryside Magazine could prevent a forum here titled Countryside is incorrect.
-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 10, 2002.
That's a good point, Dave. However, Dave Belanger, Ken and I pretty much agreed when I took the forum over that we would eventually move away from the name. They are being very nice about it, but I intend to fulfill my word to them on this issue, unless they tell me at some point to forget about it.
-- Chuck (reply@mission4me.com), March 10, 2002.
Great job Chuck. We appreciate the forum remaining active.
-- Hank (hsnrs@att.net), March 10, 2002.
I for one could not imagine a better way to handle all of this, than you have and are doing Chuck. I feel we are all very fortunate to have you working for us on this. Thank you.p.s. Could you repost the info. for the forum CD on this thread? I for one have the darnest time finding old threads.
-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 10, 2002.
I would imagine that even once set up, there has to be some daily cost to running such a forum; how much is that, and assuming it is not negligible, from where does it come? If that is likely to be a problem in the future, could that be addressed somehow proactively? I wouldn't lose sleep if there were some banner ads which graced the top or bottom of my screen (hell, I might even BUY something!). Don't get me wrong; I'm not out to turn this into a glitzy commercial site, but we all (or mostly all) read Countryside Magazine, and it has advertisements but I don't see us recoiling from that and cancelling our subscriptions.
-- Andrew (jstones@scican.net), March 10, 2002.
I will take responsibility for whatever costs are incurred for the time being. That doesn't mean I won't seek some way to offset those costs, the plan is to try and make the site self sustaining, if that is done through unobtrusive banner ads (NOT pop-ups! I hate those things!) or donations or sales of something (any suggestions?) remains to be seen.The bottom line is, we've been freeloading on Mr. Greenspun's nickel for a few years now, and it's time we figured out a way for the site to pull its own weight, I think.
Further research into the possibility of a major change in LUSENET (like it going away) makes it look like it could happen in months more likely than years. Still seeking a word from Mr. Greenspun on that, however.
I'll keep you posted.
-- chuck in md (reply@mission4me.com), March 10, 2002.
Hi Chuck ! Those are great ideas. You remind me of Steve B. the originator of this forum. I have watched you from a distance and I believe you can and will make this work. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD LUUUcKKKKK !!!!
-- Joel Rosen (JoelnBecky@webtv.net), March 11, 2002.
Great Job Chuck. I agree with your idea's.
-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), March 11, 2002.
Thanks, Chuck. Sounds like progress is being made nicely. Oh, and for _you_, next step, PRESIDENT OF THE BENIGHTED STATES!
-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), March 11, 2002.
Maybe the easiest way to fund this forum when you do know what you need would to be to take a lesson from PBS and maybe have fund drives a few times a year asking for donations. I think that this faimily would be able to keep it going in that way. I also think that Chuck is spending a lot of his time on getting this set up for us and that he should not be expected to cover all the expenses too. gail
-- gail missouri ozarks (gef@getgoin.net), March 12, 2002.
Some sites I frequentt have 'breeder's listings'. Think I paid $10 to have a breeder's listing for a year, not a lot of money, but with a number of breeders it all adds up. You could have breeder's listings, with a link to their website if they have one. There could be links on the home page- for cattle breeders, click here, for goat breeders click here, for handcrafted items, click here, so that there wouldn't be a big long list right on the home page. I for one would jump at the chance to pay for such a listing- just think about how much traffic the forum gets, and the people who come here are the type who want what I have to offer- goats!
-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), March 12, 2002.
Wouldn't it be great if we could all share a "shopping cart" for our crafts, honey, soap, quilts and things. If I accept credit cards on my domain, it's 35.00 a month, and I just don't sell enough to cover that cost. And I don't sell much because I can't accept credit cards. What if we gave say, 20%, of the item to cover costs to the site, would that work? We could raise our prices just a tad to help cover it. And we could buy things from each other this way also. Or, would we have to pay a monthly fee each for the cart? Can you have lots of different accounts on one shopping cart, so it's all automatic? Lots of question I know, but it'd be neat.
-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), March 12, 2002.
Cindy, I like that idea. Wonder if it could actually be done?! I would certainly be interested.Chuck ~ Thank You.
-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), March 12, 2002.