Here are my thoughts about the old forum

Richards GuitarsRichards Guitars Posts: 589Member, Administrator
edited August 2016 in Forum Announcements
OK here are my thoughts.My original feelings were that nobody would probably care if the forum closed because its become a shadow of its former self in terms of volume of content.It was really nice to see some of the comments from people who have fond memories of the forum but also current members who feel the forum provides a sanctuary of sorts - this clearly is incredibly important to maintain.I have a tech - he is brilliant - who is going to help me try and retrieve as much historical data and membership information as possible and relaunch a new platform using vanilla forums open source software.The site will look much more like the original site did - a regular forum.My current idea is to have richardsguitars.co.uk be the community end and rguitars.co.uk the retail end with my news and updates featuring within the community pages.  Again, this is how it used to be.By making richardsguitars.co.uk the forum domain front page I hope to make far more people who visit the site aware of the community aspect and the link between the community and richards guitars - For me its important that I feel they are one - if they are going to exist. I do believe  we can continue to grow a thriving positive community from the small acorns that exist (thats you guys - you are the acorns ok?).Without the forum members who have expressed their appreciation of the forum and the spirit of the forum - there is no forum - its as simple as that.Hopefully with a new fresh, easy to use format we can find lots more friendly people who appreciate a nice place to chat about guitars - without the troll mentality larger forums thrive on.If you could tell me what you feel are the most important attributes to keep - I will keep that in mind when setting up the new forum.I am actually quite excited again!

Comments

  • LesterLester Posts: 1,730Member, Moderator

    I looked at vanillaforums.org and vanillaforums.com and they both show prices starting from $299 per month. Can I just ask: is that correct? Other reliable open source forum software is free (and often open to voluntary donations which is a nice touch).

    Other than that, we are with you, Richard.

    I am not sure what you mean by the most imnportant attributes to keep. To some extent, the features of the forum software will dictate some possibilities. As for board names, they are changeable as time progresses, so I'd retain the busiest boards and maybe forget or clump together the lesser used boards.

  • Richards GuitarsRichards Guitars Posts: 589Member, Administrator

    Hi - The hosted software is $299 but you can download it "open source" and taylor it to your liking which is what a lot of people do.   I have a brilliant tech to support me so I am happy to pay him to work on the forum. 

    The guys that run this are a nightmare - they are charging me $200 for the data dump and $150 Per Hour for any extra work so fingers crossed I dont need their help

  • ESBlondeESBlonde Posts: 980Member

    I like the diary section, I like to see how people evolve in their playing and wheer they came from. It's a feature not seen elsewhere I visit but if it's complex and costly forget the idea.

     

  • Mark PMark P Posts: 2,314Member

    For me the thought that the resulting change will be a forum more like the original site is a big plus all on its own, as I've found more recent versions to be less intuitive to use - but I'm afraid I'm a bit of a Luddite in these matters!

    As long as there are the basic board names to cover the main areas of interest and there's an off topic section to pick up the rest that's it covered for me. The main thing is that the friendship and spirit of the forum can continue - I will be grateful to be able to continue experiencing that in whatever form the software and costs dictate.

    Good luck with your endeavour Richard - hope it can all go ahead smoothly.

  • Derek_RDerek_R Posts: 1,721Member

    I'll support the new forum however it looks. But I agree the current version is less than user friendly - simplicity is key for me :-)

    ESB is correct, the diary idea is very good.

    Only other change I'd like is more encouragement for people to post music / videos of their playing. 

    Cheers

    Derek

  • SteerSteer Posts: 132Member

    The current forum has too many sub forums, most of which are rarely used. Because this is a quiet and small gang, I think one general Guitar talk forum , plus one off-topic forum would be enough. Possibly include the diaries type forum as well if need be.

  • Kevin PeatKevin Peat Posts: 3,232Member

    Richard, 

    Firstly. THANK YOU. For this blog. 

    It is the only one I know that has grown it's own legs and started to walk and talk by itself. So to stop it would be to kill your own child - infanticide, in other words. No pressure on you then !

    (Seriously though. When I've pressed the delete button on blogs there is an almost overwhelming sense of loss.)

    What seems to come up a lot to make it a success are these things:

    - guitar/gizmo reviews

    - self build projects

    - popular artists and video clips

    - Derek's clips

    To summarise:

    - Gear reviews

    - Self build projects

    - artists and videos

    - Reader's clips/stories

    I suppose that's all we need. And nothing on the EU thank you !!!

  • ESBlondeESBlonde Posts: 980Member
    Kevin Peat posted:

    And nothing on the EU thank you !!!

    Oh be reasonable, how are we going to know whats going on if we can't read it here?

    ;-)

  • Kevin PeatKevin Peat Posts: 3,232Member

    News is we're not leaving the EU. For that to happen (via article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty) requires a majority vote in Parliament and most of our MPs are pro EU. 

  • JockoJocko Posts: 7,107Member, Moderator

    Seemingly the government does not have to go back to Parliament to invoke Article 50. It is down to the new government to press the button.

    If they did though, with the likelihood of a General Election on the back of this, any MP who votes against the wishes of their constituents will be voting for their own P45.

  • Kevin PeatKevin Peat Posts: 3,232Member

    The requirement for a Parliamentary majority comes from the 1972 European Communities Act and for us to repeal that would need, you guessed it... a Parliamentary majority !

    Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty says we must activate Brexit according to domestic law (the 1972 act). Unless we reach a majority - activating A50 or repeal of the 1972 act - Brexit can be blocked. 

    https://www.theguardian.com/co...arliament-act-europe

    The panic on the Remain side isn't about stopping Brexit, it's more about trying to secure a proper public mandate to stop it. 

    It's why I wanted it to be a decisive win either way. 

    Anyways... were weren't going to talk about this !!!

  • SteerSteer Posts: 132Member

    FFS - take it to the in or out topic. 

    Can I be a moderator? image

  • Kevin PeatKevin Peat Posts: 3,232Member

    Tell that to Coldplay !

  • Derek_RDerek_R Posts: 1,721Member

    I still don't know any Coldplay songs. Bigger fan of Adele than I was before the weekend, though! In fact I've been having a whit female soul singer week on the commute to Birmingham this week. Yesterday Adele, this morning Janis Joplin, and this evening Eva Cassidy. 

  • Kevin PeatKevin Peat Posts: 3,232Member

    There's only one Coldplay song. It's called Yellow. Most of the rest are the same song as Yellow but called by different names. 

    I like them. I like Adele too, despite what I've said about her in the past. 

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