Future of the forum

rockdemon

Administrator
Staff member
Hi all,

As some of you know I've had health issues for the past year which mean I couldnt drive or maintain the rover anymore, and the car has now been bought and will be going this week.

I had Cauda equina syndrome, which meant I had to have a disectomy and decompression surgery to alleviate the problem, but I've been left with quite a few residual problems, including bladder, parasthesia and pain from sitting or standing, which have changed what I'm capable of, and spinal injuries don't magically get better.

I'd like to have an OPEN discussion on here as to how we handle this. I'm not going to shut down the forum tomorrow, but I think we need a plan to migrate looking after the site to someone else, and i'd like that to be agreed by those that use the forum regularly, afterall i don't see it as belonging to me.

Happy to continue hosting it on my server, but needs someone else to actually do the maintenance. It's unfair on me to keep on doing it when it's a reminder of what i cant do at least for a year or two.

All ideas are valid - you could suggest that we approach the p6 clubs, a p6 parts supplier, or a.n.other option.

Thanks,

Rich.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your health issues, and hope that time will see some improvement for you. As for the forum, I can understand you wanting to take a step back from it, and it would be remiss of me to not thank you for the efforts you've put in since you took over. I wish I was in a position to offer help, but I'm too much of a dumb sh*t with computers to be able to do that.

My view is that the forum should remain independent of both the clubs and the suppliers, and I'm sure there must be someone on here who has the ability and enthusiasm to take it on, much like you stepped in when the need arose a while back.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your health problems, too Rich. I thank you also for your sterling work in keeping this forum going.

Unfortunately, like Harvey I'm a numpty as far as computers are concerned. This is easy to say I know & it seems to pass the buck, so my alternative solutions are:

1. The forum being run as part of a club's web presence, even with adverts. I don't think we're particularly partisan to one or the other - as I've said elsewhere recently, it's the most civilised forum I know. It's time for the P6 fraternity to get together more anyway & put past politics aside.

2. Users to subscribe & pay someone to do the IT side. Some of the users have donated over the years (mine more sporadic perhaps than it should have been) & it's a case of formalising this.

I have no real idea of the time involved with this & any associated charge (so please don't be offended), but let's say it's £150 per month to administer. That's £1800 per year. If we have 20 users who are willing to subscribe (hopefully many more) that's £7.50 per month each. I appreciate there's the setting up of that as well!


Just suggestions to see what others think.
 
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Hi Rich
Sounds like you have had a bit of a rough time, lets hope things get a lot better.
Rich, I am not to be trusted with anything techy, blimey I can hardly figure out how to put my socks on most days, so forum operator is a wee stretch too far.
Seems like if you are a Rover owner then steam power and carrier pigeons are likely to be more compatible than social meja.

But the support is there, and I am keen to see the forum continue and prosper.

Lets hope the right support comes along.
 
Hi Rich, I was wondering where you were, but didn't like to ask. Wish you all the best with your health, and vary many thanks for taking over the Forum and keeping it running.

I am not IT techy enough to help, but would be quite happy to help with the funding, on the proviso that it stayed independent and didn't go to one of the clubs. I've nothing against them, but I do feel it would spoil the forum.

Richard
 
Hi Rich,

We've spoken a couple of times recently, so I'll skip the personal stuff and just put forward my suggestions;

1. An individual who is currently a member offers to take the forum on completely
2. An individual offers to take on the costs and admin, but it's still hosted on your server
3. A business offers to take on the forum - the only obvious one would be Mark Gray
4. A club offers to take on the forum - not sure how viable, as facebook is more popular in many ways


Chris
 
I am a phpBB admin of old, here are a couple of old phpBB forums I did Windsor Safari Park - Index page UFO FORUMS - Index page they are basically dead and dusty now but show phpBB basically in comparison to XenForo which is this site.

My idea (which probably wont be popular :p ) is to get a copy of this site's XenForo's database , doing that will not change anything on here at all, operations on here continue as normal, meantime the copy is used to create a phpBB version of these forums at another domain e.g classicroverforum.co.uk (or similar) , so now you have 2 sites with very similar content , "where are you going with this?" I here you ask, well the point is that no damage has been done to this site, all members can look at the new "copy site" and see if they are content for that to "take over" , if not, no harm done . if members want this option I will handle all costs involved and set this up within 1 month but lets see what other options we get first, early days.

I have to say if members don't want this , then fine, there are already plenty more options listed above :p Rich I note you say It's unfair on you to keep on doing it when it's a reminder of what you cant do at least for a year or two. so I hope fingers crossed in a year or so you'll be recovered and have a P6 back !! gotta keep positive and we are all feeling for you
 
Hi Rich
I empathise with your issues and can only wish you a full recovery (no IT skills whatsoever).

Having suffered from spinal stenosis for decades and not being keen on surgery, finally got to the point where the symptoms became too much to bear.
Went in in mid May and was fused and screwed. Early July drove from Melbourne to Cairns and then on to the tip of Cape York and back home. The round trip was 11,000km including quite a few thousand kms of corrugations with no issues.
So a positive result is possible. Are you contemplating further surgery?

All the best

Mike

Happy to accept falkor's kind offer.
 
Hi Rich
I empathise with your issues and can only wish you a full recovery (no IT skills whatsoever).

Having suffered from spinal stenosis for decades and not being keen on surgery, finally got to the point where the symptoms became too much to bear.
Went in in mid May and was fused and screwed. Early July drove from Melbourne to Cairns and then on to the tip of Cape York and back home. The round trip was 11,000km including quite a few thousand kms of corrugations with no issues.
So a positive result is possible. Are you contemplating further surgery?

All the best

Mike

Happy to accept falkor's kind offer.
Hi Mike,

In my case the surgery is completely successful as it goes. It was just too late and left permanent nerve damage. I'm ok though in myself etc. Just need to move on. Concentrating on other hobbies... Music and antique computers :)

IMG_20191117_182334.jpg
 
Rich, your collect is just as bad as mine, although I've been selling a lot of it off - more profitable than P6 parts!

Got a Spectrum+ 128k listed at the moment, and an Atari 800XL and 520ST to follow. Still have an Atari 130XE in the box, which will probably go at some point, and several Atari floppy drives.
 
I'd definitely be interested in the 2 8 bit ataris? I already have an st which is maxed out to 4mb and hard drive there.
 
Sorry to hear of your troubles Rich. You've been a real hero keeping the forum going and I'm sure we're all extremely grateful.
I said in the past that I'd be help a little and am still willing but a few changes in my life mean I'm rather more pushed for time now. So I'm able and willing to join a team but not take on more responsibility than that.

Falkor's generous offer looks good, but I didn't catch the reasoning behind the suggested switch to phpBB. Familiarity? Or because it would be an improvement?
 
phpbb isnt as nice as xenforo, but he's familiar and it's a no cost option, compared to xenforo which costs 100 pounds a year approximately.

Gives you the gallery and documents store features.
 
Currently this site is also on a fast server too. It's around 45 pounds a quarter. That could be cut if you don't mind it being slower
 
I am a phpBB admin of old, here are a couple of old phpBB forums I did Windsor Safari Park - Index page UFO FORUMS - Index page they are basically dead and dusty now but show phpBB basically in comparison to XenForo which is this site.

My idea (which probably wont be popular :p ) is to get a copy of this site's XenForo's database , doing that will not change anything on here at all, operations on here continue as normal, meantime the copy is used to create a phpBB version of these forums at another domain e.g classicroverforum.co.uk (or similar) , so now you have 2 sites with very similar content , "where are you going with this?" I here you ask, well the point is that no damage has been done to this site, all members can look at the new "copy site" and see if they are content for that to "take over" , if not, no harm done . if members want this option I will handle all costs involved and set this up within 1 month but lets see what other options we get first, early days.

I have to say if members don't want this , then fine, there are already plenty more options listed above :p Rich I note you say It's unfair on you to keep on doing it when it's a reminder of what you cant do at least for a year or two. so I hope fingers crossed in a year or so you'll be recovered and have a P6 back !! gotta keep positive and we are all feeling for you
Do you think you could take on the forum @falkor ? Sounds like you have some experience and relevant knowledge.
 
Sorry to hear of your problems, Rich. All the best to you.

I don't understand these things enough to comment much so would be happy to go with the flow.
 
Hi Rich I am sorry to hear your news we are all thinking of you through this difficult time, and a big pat on the back for keeping it going for so long as well can’t of been easy.
I have a suggestion would it not be more easy for someone just to take over the hosting account have it transferred with the domain if that was going with it so the account was now transferred so you didn’t have to maintain it that’s one option,
The other option would to be to build a new forum with a new domain and hosting account.
I would be happy to build a new forum, if we get stuck or a temporary one so we can all keep going for the time being, or falks can build one if he wants to ? What do you think guys
 
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