Post by Samantha on Sept 10, 2013 23:54:46 GMT
I am posting this under suggestions rather than announcements because I want it to remain among registered members for the time being.
Side note: Please remember to check your PM inboxes. I have a few PMs floating out there that haven't been opened/replied to—mostly in regard to the Round Robin—so just remember to glance at the "Welcome back" bar every once in a while. Thanks!
Two rather important things I have to bring up now. Firstly, regarding a very stupid mistake I made the other night. I was editing the "Contests & Events" board, and ended up deleting it in its entirely. Scroll down and have a look for yourself: all of our contest threads are gone. And considering that I make minor changes to the boards all of the time, this really shouldn't have happened, but somehow I effed up pretty badly, and have been kicking myself for it ever since. So I really, really, really apologize to all of you guys. It was such a stupid mistake on my part.
I talked to Proboards, and while there is a way to restore an accidentally-deleted board, I can't do it because I don't have access to the security log on this forum, as I'm not the head admin. The guy I talked to confirmed for me that, yes, our head admin is inactive (hasn't posted in just under a year now, and hasn't logged in since February), and suggested that I send her an email. I would, but I sent her an email back in May regarding promoting new staff members, which she never replied to. So I don't think there's any chance that our threads our going to be restored (again—I seriously, seriously apologize. I feel absolutely horrible about this).
But dealing with Proboards—and being once again told that I do not have the power to do something because I am not the head admin—got me thinking about some things that have been bothering me for a while. Like the fact that we don't have any staff members, and that I keep waiting for them to return so that I can start implementing some of ideas that are gathering dust at the staff board. I get a bit frustrated sometimes, because I want this place to do well, and I want people to be able to sign up and know that they are joining a stable forum, not something that runs the risk of fading away due to poor staffing/settings restrictions.
I've had this idea at the back of my head for a while now, but I've never given it much serious thought because I see it as a last resort, and something I don't particularly want to do. So I could either recreate the deleted threads—the Creators' Showcase and the Round Robin—and if you guys are happy enough with the way things are around here right now, continue on from there. Or else we can move. Create a new forum, where we'd be able to have full access to all admin/forum features, as well as a full staff. (Or else or else I could try, again, to contact Amy, but I feel like a pest, to be honest, especially because I have no clue what's going on in her life.)
I mean, there's major cons to moving. We could recreate many of our important threads, sure, but we can't recreate them all. We'd lose everything that's taken place here for the past two and a half years (the forum would stay open for archival purposes, I suppose, but that's not exactly the same thing). We'd lose all of our members (to play devil's advocate to this point: it's not like most of them are active, anyway). It might not feel like the same old Unofficial BBS if we move, either.
The pros? A full staff, which I hope you guys understand the importance of. If I ever leave, or have to leave unexpectedly, this forum is basically dead—that's it. We'd also immediately be upgraded to V5, which means that we can immediately start adjusting to it that rather than deal with all of this wishy-washy/state-of-liminality crap (I still have no idea how the upgrade's going to affect our shop and our participation badges). Plus I think we'd have a better chance of growing and expanding with a solid foundation, which I sometimes think we lack here.
Honestly, what do you guys think? Would you follow the forum if it moved? Is it even a good idea? Seriously, if you think it's crap and that I'm an idiot for even suggesting it, go ahead and call me out on it. Maybe this is rash, maybe I'm being overdramatic.
Housing-keeping notes: The Round Robin is still in progress. I know that we're a couple of weeks behind schedule, but some unforeseen problems have arisen (of course), and I'm working to get us back on track—which is why communicating, i.e. checking your PM inboxes, is so important.
ETA: Oh, and I've mentioned before that I have a V5 test board. Here it is, if any of you are interested to see what the forum would look like post-upgrade maintenance. Keep in mind that I've haven't played around with it in months, and that I only did so minimally, so there's probably a lot more that could be done, were I to really put some effort into it.
Side note: Please remember to check your PM inboxes. I have a few PMs floating out there that haven't been opened/replied to—mostly in regard to the Round Robin—so just remember to glance at the "Welcome back" bar every once in a while. Thanks!
Two rather important things I have to bring up now. Firstly, regarding a very stupid mistake I made the other night. I was editing the "Contests & Events" board, and ended up deleting it in its entirely. Scroll down and have a look for yourself: all of our contest threads are gone. And considering that I make minor changes to the boards all of the time, this really shouldn't have happened, but somehow I effed up pretty badly, and have been kicking myself for it ever since. So I really, really, really apologize to all of you guys. It was such a stupid mistake on my part.
I talked to Proboards, and while there is a way to restore an accidentally-deleted board, I can't do it because I don't have access to the security log on this forum, as I'm not the head admin. The guy I talked to confirmed for me that, yes, our head admin is inactive (hasn't posted in just under a year now, and hasn't logged in since February), and suggested that I send her an email. I would, but I sent her an email back in May regarding promoting new staff members, which she never replied to. So I don't think there's any chance that our threads our going to be restored (again—I seriously, seriously apologize. I feel absolutely horrible about this).
But dealing with Proboards—and being once again told that I do not have the power to do something because I am not the head admin—got me thinking about some things that have been bothering me for a while. Like the fact that we don't have any staff members, and that I keep waiting for them to return so that I can start implementing some of ideas that are gathering dust at the staff board. I get a bit frustrated sometimes, because I want this place to do well, and I want people to be able to sign up and know that they are joining a stable forum, not something that runs the risk of fading away due to poor staffing/settings restrictions.
I've had this idea at the back of my head for a while now, but I've never given it much serious thought because I see it as a last resort, and something I don't particularly want to do. So I could either recreate the deleted threads—the Creators' Showcase and the Round Robin—and if you guys are happy enough with the way things are around here right now, continue on from there. Or else we can move. Create a new forum, where we'd be able to have full access to all admin/forum features, as well as a full staff. (Or else or else I could try, again, to contact Amy, but I feel like a pest, to be honest, especially because I have no clue what's going on in her life.)
I mean, there's major cons to moving. We could recreate many of our important threads, sure, but we can't recreate them all. We'd lose everything that's taken place here for the past two and a half years (the forum would stay open for archival purposes, I suppose, but that's not exactly the same thing). We'd lose all of our members (to play devil's advocate to this point: it's not like most of them are active, anyway). It might not feel like the same old Unofficial BBS if we move, either.
The pros? A full staff, which I hope you guys understand the importance of. If I ever leave, or have to leave unexpectedly, this forum is basically dead—that's it. We'd also immediately be upgraded to V5, which means that we can immediately start adjusting to it that rather than deal with all of this wishy-washy/state-of-liminality crap (I still have no idea how the upgrade's going to affect our shop and our participation badges). Plus I think we'd have a better chance of growing and expanding with a solid foundation, which I sometimes think we lack here.
Honestly, what do you guys think? Would you follow the forum if it moved? Is it even a good idea? Seriously, if you think it's crap and that I'm an idiot for even suggesting it, go ahead and call me out on it. Maybe this is rash, maybe I'm being overdramatic.
Housing-keeping notes: The Round Robin is still in progress. I know that we're a couple of weeks behind schedule, but some unforeseen problems have arisen (of course), and I'm working to get us back on track—which is why communicating, i.e. checking your PM inboxes, is so important.
ETA: Oh, and I've mentioned before that I have a V5 test board. Here it is, if any of you are interested to see what the forum would look like post-upgrade maintenance. Keep in mind that I've haven't played around with it in months, and that I only did so minimally, so there's probably a lot more that could be done, were I to really put some effort into it.
