Hi, gang!
I know it’s been a long time coming, but we are finally moving forward with plans to upgrade our server and install new forum software. This will help eliminate many of the technical issues (and spam!) that have become so pervasive around here.
We are at a crossroads now. Our choices are to shut down the site and catch up on bills; charge significant membership fees; or attract advertisers. Clearly, advertising makes the most sense. Our partner E-store has been operating in the red for some time now, so we will be phasing it out. (Order your supplements now!)
To do all this, we need to make important upgrades to our current system. We will be moving to a new server, installing a completely new version of vBulletin--our forum software--and will add new ‘mods’ that provide specific functionality. In a sense, we’ll be starting over, because it’s more economical and less problematic to purchase updated forum software than attempt the many upgrades and patches required to get us there. One of my concerns has been preserving the many posts we currently have—over 1.5million!—as they are rich in information and have been helpful to so many people. However, we have figured out a way to archive all of the posts, and we’ll be bringing the content along for the ride.
Working hard in the background to ensure these improvements is our new IT go-to guy, Zach. He’ll be checking this thread as we migrate the server from old to new. Zach has been extraordinary helpful already, and we feel very lucky to have him helping out.
We hope to begin work next week, and to complete the first phase by early October. Phase One will include server migration and installation of updated forum software. Phase Two will focus on attracting advertisers. We’ll also work hard on improving our search engine optimization, so people can find us without us paying the existing exorbitant rates to Google Adwords. The third and final phase will depend on whether or not we’re able to support the new forum with ad revenue. If not, we’ll have to look to some sort of subscription-based model. I know, I know—I don’t like it any more than you do. But we need a way to pay the bills, that’s the bottom line.
Please prepare for a little down time and inevitable glitches as we move our current website and forum; we’ll do our best to provide proper notice and keep interruptions to a minimum. Also know that we are working with a very tight budget so we may need to phase in some changes more slowly than we’d like.
I’d like to extend a deep and heartfelt THANK YOU those of you who have shown your support by donating to our PayPal account and also to those who participate as Subscribers. It is very much appreciated. If you have not contributed, we urge you to do so. We are assuming some risk with this upgrade, because we still have many bills to pay and this requires an investment in money and time. I am using personal funds to make this happen, but I cannot continue to do so for much longer. So please donate if you can.
As a side note, I’m looking forward to becoming more involved in the forum after a long time away. I want to share with you what I have found helpful in succeeding at long-term recovery, which I hope you will find of interest.
I’ll start a new thread to follow this one and include some resources you may wish to check out!
All the best,
RJ
I know it’s been a long time coming, but we are finally moving forward with plans to upgrade our server and install new forum software. This will help eliminate many of the technical issues (and spam!) that have become so pervasive around here.
We are at a crossroads now. Our choices are to shut down the site and catch up on bills; charge significant membership fees; or attract advertisers. Clearly, advertising makes the most sense. Our partner E-store has been operating in the red for some time now, so we will be phasing it out. (Order your supplements now!)
To do all this, we need to make important upgrades to our current system. We will be moving to a new server, installing a completely new version of vBulletin--our forum software--and will add new ‘mods’ that provide specific functionality. In a sense, we’ll be starting over, because it’s more economical and less problematic to purchase updated forum software than attempt the many upgrades and patches required to get us there. One of my concerns has been preserving the many posts we currently have—over 1.5million!—as they are rich in information and have been helpful to so many people. However, we have figured out a way to archive all of the posts, and we’ll be bringing the content along for the ride.
Working hard in the background to ensure these improvements is our new IT go-to guy, Zach. He’ll be checking this thread as we migrate the server from old to new. Zach has been extraordinary helpful already, and we feel very lucky to have him helping out.
We hope to begin work next week, and to complete the first phase by early October. Phase One will include server migration and installation of updated forum software. Phase Two will focus on attracting advertisers. We’ll also work hard on improving our search engine optimization, so people can find us without us paying the existing exorbitant rates to Google Adwords. The third and final phase will depend on whether or not we’re able to support the new forum with ad revenue. If not, we’ll have to look to some sort of subscription-based model. I know, I know—I don’t like it any more than you do. But we need a way to pay the bills, that’s the bottom line.
Please prepare for a little down time and inevitable glitches as we move our current website and forum; we’ll do our best to provide proper notice and keep interruptions to a minimum. Also know that we are working with a very tight budget so we may need to phase in some changes more slowly than we’d like.
I’d like to extend a deep and heartfelt THANK YOU those of you who have shown your support by donating to our PayPal account and also to those who participate as Subscribers. It is very much appreciated. If you have not contributed, we urge you to do so. We are assuming some risk with this upgrade, because we still have many bills to pay and this requires an investment in money and time. I am using personal funds to make this happen, but I cannot continue to do so for much longer. So please donate if you can.
As a side note, I’m looking forward to becoming more involved in the forum after a long time away. I want to share with you what I have found helpful in succeeding at long-term recovery, which I hope you will find of interest.
I’ll start a new thread to follow this one and include some resources you may wish to check out!
All the best,
RJ
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