Not really off topic

For the discussion of matters not relevant to Study Group mailings. idle chit chat, rants and raves - whatever is on your mind or care to share about.
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Chris Hall
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Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
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Not really off topic

Wed May 09, 2018 7:52 pm

Hello CW members,

It is coming time to renew the hosting service and domain registration for this site, and I do not feel inclined to continue funding the site given the low amount of activity overall. I've run out of energy to continue my efforts with this site, however if someone would like to step in and cover the fees (currently $171.87 annually, paid up front in a lump sum), I would be fine handing all of that over. The site is due for renewal fee payment by the beginning of June.

I will archive some of the material on this site so it won't be lost, as such. Sorry it has come to this, but it seems hard to get a forum going with only about 300 members or so. If the forum continues in some vein, I would definitely continue to be part of it, I just don't want to be carry thing load for it any more.
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Brian
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Re: Not really off topic

Thu May 10, 2018 11:17 pm

Hi Chris,

Just wanted to Chime in and say Thank you for running this forum and taking the expense for the past few years so that we can chat about these various flights of fancy.

Very much appreciated!!

Cheers
Brian
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Chris Pyle
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Location: St. Louis, MO
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Re: Not really off topic

Fri May 11, 2018 11:01 am

Hi Chris (and everyone),

Would there be any interest in migrating some of this content to a different platform that's free to use? I know Yahoo groups are really old but they are free and allow selective membership. If others know of free platforms for running groups like this, please speak up. I would hate for all of these projects and tool discussions to be lost. There is a lot of value in these threads.
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Brian
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Re: Not really off topic

Fri May 11, 2018 12:05 pm

Facebook is one that I'm aware of, and also it allows selective membership.
John Whitley
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Location: Seattle, WA
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Re: Not really off topic

Fri May 11, 2018 12:56 pm

I’ll bite. I’m a software developer by trade, and have a bunch of backend and site admin experience. I’d want to eventually migrate the entire site content to a platform that enabled easy photo posting, etc. I’m traveling now, but did a quick bit of research last night and there are a few options that allow for phpBB site imports, have open-source foundations for self-hosting, as well as managed hosting solutions.

I’m not a huge fan of Facebook groups for forums like this. They’re super convenient (i.e. completely managed and “free”), but are really terrible as an archival system. It’s just not easy to sanely organize and browse topically, or sometimes even by search. A unified timeline really hinders that sort of usage, which is a really valuable part of communities like this one. Don’t get me started about web search.
John Whitley
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Location: Seattle, WA
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Joined: Sun May 04, 2014 8:56 pm

Re: Not really off topic

Fri May 11, 2018 1:15 pm

Also, I’m chopping out the joint where the hip rafters hit the ridge beam RIGHT NOW (sorry, I don’t know the Japanese name yet), so what else could I do? :D
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Brian
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Re: Not really off topic

Fri May 11, 2018 1:32 pm

John, can you add a forum to a wordpress site? If so I’ll host it.

I already pay something like $300/yr to full access to the business version of Wordpress which gets support but works also like Wordpress.org (self host).

So maybe this can workout.
John Whitley
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Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 148
Joined: Sun May 04, 2014 8:56 pm

Re: Not really off topic

Fri May 11, 2018 3:54 pm

Thanks Brian. When I’m home, I’ll do some footwork to see if there are good options along those lines.

Chris, what’s your timeline for needing to do the handoff?
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Chris Hall
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Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
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Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Not really off topic

Fri May 11, 2018 4:44 pm

The expiration date is June 29th, and it auto-renews 15 days ahead of that, so this would need to be sorted out by the 10th of June or so I would imagine.

I appreciate that folks are willing to step in.
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Brian
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Re: Not really off topic

Sat May 12, 2018 3:09 pm

I can host a forum, so I created one working to display it. Once I have it worked out and ready to migrate I'll let you guys know and add you in as moderators.

Here is the direct link:

https://brianholcombewoodworker.com/community/

This plugin allows one to migrate another forum over, so I'm curious to see what that process involves.

and there is easy access through my main page, which is an option in my overhead menu.

https://wpforo.com/community/migrate-to ... #post-9769

I think probably best if Chris and John, if you guys become members on my site and I will make you moderators of the forum.

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