Forum status

[rlaggren]

Hi Stu

Thanks for stepping up to the admin chores. Best luck - better you than me... <GG>

My .02:
- The format looks usable, to me anyway. But I'm a text philistine from the old days of green ascii on a 15" CRT.
- KISS. Go slow, plug all the holes, nail all the passwords (there are probably several ways into the board internals), don't "enhance" or add features w/out really good reasons - "features" carry a stiff security, stability, and maintenance price.
- Start a "Forum" category and keep posting regular updates to let people know life continues.
- Honor Mr. Sharkey by including his name prominantly in the domain or at the top of the home page. I think that'd be a proper thing but I'm not really doing Sharkey any favors with this suggestion, but rather recognizing that people are creatures of habit and tradition - they like the familiar and will return to it. Cross-linking front and center between Sharkey's site and forum would be good if that is acceptable to you and he. As it stands, it doesn't seem immediately clear how to reach the forum from Sharkey's site; and he is hosting some great bus stuff which certainly deserves a link from the forum.
- Don't be afraid to add you own vision, topics, rules, opinions, etc as you get comfortable - I think you're going to earn the right... <G>. That's what makes a forum live; it's what makes the corner Ma-Pa cafe so much more inviting than StarBucks.

Best luck to all.

Rufus

[stuartcnz]

Thanks for your input Rufus, it is appreciated!

The only feature I am planning on adding at this stage is chat. This is a feature that used to be on the forum, and was used. I have a version that works with phpBB3, which I will add in due course. I don't feel it is urgent at this stage, as chat is traditionally quiet on the forum at this time of year, so I will do more work, before introducing it.

Security: has always been a major priority on this forum. the decision to upgrade from phpBB2 to phpBB3 was not made lightly, with security being an important consideration. Sharkey has done, and is continuing to do a huge amount of security development and testing for the forum. Without his efforts, particularly over the last week, I probably wouldn't have done the upgrade. This is still a time of hardening the new format, particularly security-wise.

This is a transition period for the forum in more ways than one. Currently it does not have a permanent home, this should be rectified by the end of this week hopefully. I am waiting on the expiration date for a currently disused domain name, which I think is ideal for the forum, both now and into the future. Provided it doesn't get renewed, and I don't think it will, then I will purchase it and base the forum there. Failing that, I already have a couple of un-used domain names that could be used. In the meantime, I am providing a rough and ready portal into the forum from my site http://www.nomadichome.org. I will continue to port into it from there permanently, though intend on refining the way I do that with time.

Reference to Mr Sharkey and his site is covered in a gentleman's agreement, that he drew up, when passing over administration duties to me. The agreement is to a large extent a living document, ie, is able to be continuously molded between us by agreement, to suit both of our purposes. Getting the balance of recognition for Mr Sharkey on the forum, that is suitable to all parties, will probably take some time, he may or may not want to expand on this. While Sharkey has passed administration duties to me, he still has full administration capabilities in the forum.

An important tenet of this forum, for me, is the lack of restrictions imposed on members here. My style is different to that of Mr Sharkey, however I want to try to maintain that same lack of restriction as much as possible. How I do that, while maintaining a sense of order will probably evolve as I grow with the forum.

Another important tenet has been the lack of advertising on the forum. I am carrying the full cost of hosting the forum and at some stage may look at trying to cover that cost somehow. That said, I have seen other forums add advertising and without fail, I have not been impressed by the way in which it impacted on my interaction with those forums. Because of this, it is my stated aim, that no paid advertising will appear on the forum itself.

- Start a "Forum" category and keep posting regular updates to let people know life continues.

I will do something along those lines, I just haven't figured out exactly what form it will take yet.

- Don't be afraid to add you own vision, topics, rules, opinions, etc as you get comfortable - I think you're going to earn the right... <G>. That's what makes a forum live; it's what makes the corner Ma-Pa cafe so much more inviting than StarBucks.

As I see appropriate I will add topics, opinions, and even rules if I deem them necessary. I see rules as a particularly thorny issue, as they can easily detract from the user experience, if the manner in which they are laid out is not done with the utmost thought. So far the forum has done exceptionally well without a defined set of rules, so for the time being I will leave it that way.

As you have probably noticed already, I have added a boat forum. This is because that is where my own experience lies, and as you and other members also are familiar with boats as homes, I think it appropriate. I also have one more major topic to add, which covers subject matter that is also covered within these forums. But I do not want to get to far from the simple layout that we currently have, as I think that is key to maintaining a focused group, come to share their similarities, no matter the differences in the rest of their life outlook.