Loss of Valuable Contributors

They moved stuff from the old forum to this one when they made the first software change.

"It was a bad idea for us to lock it, and it's probably a bad idea for BPL to have locked this one. The longer it goes, the more damage it does"

I have to agree with Dena – internet people are so fickle and short attention span – if people drift away it's hard to get them back

If you require a nominal fee to sign up and post, then at least all the currently registered people that aren't members will be able to post again which is good.

A lot of new people won't sign up if they have to pay because no one wants to give out financial information. It's like there will be a constant headwind slowing future growth.

I believe that RJ was refering to the "solid" content more than past postings. No, it won't be permanently lost, as I am sure Ryan and others are well aware. Most data representations can be translated to a different format (even pictures are held as encrypted groups of pixel locations and color values, ie numbers.)

Doing it now without further thought into the upgrade will cost money. Something that RJ will not be willing to spend out of pocket (especially if he also needs to work elsewhere for a living.) Chosing which sw to use will dictate what format to migrate the data to. Choosing now, as part of a "knee-jerk" response to a spam problem would be a BIG mistake. He had a plan to let the forum slide for as long as 5 years to pay back what the store had incurred in debt…to buy out the other partner(s)…to continue the site at all is a major task. Upgrades will be the minimum necessary because spending foolishly is not the mark of a good manager.

Some upgrades are simply not worth it. Rule of thumb says when you need a 10% overhaul of code, you simply skip it and rebuild it from the ground up. This takes TIME. Perhaps a year, before such measures can be fully implemented and in place…before it is in full "maintenence mode" so to speak. But that is not saying what the future will bring. No, RJ is correct. He cannot have stuff off line for that time…may as well be permanent. The existing site will simply die if he did nothing. Again, loosing the data, permanently.

"Security," is now equally important as "makinging it work." Not something that was as widely understood when these forums were first implemented. They were never designed for security. Spammers had their field day. Through hard work they were stopped. But, it was by making the program do things it could do already, but in a different way than was intended. Example: Login registration. They cannot change the way it works, but, they can just set a flag that says EVERYBODY must be a paying member…the result is no new members can post without paying to become a member, not something a spammer is willing to do.

Dan,

If you're not part of the solution you are part of the problem!

The substantive posts of many of these BPL guests is an important part of what was and still could be good about BPL.

Party On,

Newton