Deadline end of year

[wardenferry419]

I think that the time between the closing of this forum and the arrival of the next book would be the optimal time for working out kinks in the transition. There will be a small but seasoned number of members with several months of system testing time to manage the influx of new and renewed activity.
Plus, I agree with the dislike of the Reddit system of karma points. While some of the Facebook groups and the Discord chatroom that I have joined are friendly and talkative; I sense that many are only recently asking plot questions that have been discussed in great detail here.
I could be mistaken; but it is how I feel.

[groinkick]

I'm looking for servers to host a website...  So far the cheapest (reliable server) I can find is around $200 a month.  Will keep looking

[Griffyn612]

Are we saying we should reform around the time the new book comes out? And just, between 1/2018 and then go about our business, because whatever I'm certain iago wants to shut this place down near the end of the year.

No. I'm saying we have a forum soon, I'll pay for it out of pocket and set up one method of donating or another to reimburse along the way, and we'll focus on getting the new site with new features up by the next book, at which time we'll ask folks for a modest donation.

I like the idea of transparency in the fundraising.  Maybe Patreon will be better.  But we have time to research that.

I'm looking for servers to host a website...  So far the cheapest (reliable server) I can find is around $200 a month.  Will keep looking

Dude, no.  No no.  We just need a Linux box for web hosting and DB storage.  Check out this page, which is TMDHosting's page specifically for hosting a SMF site like we have now.
https://www.tmdhosting.com/smf-hosting.html

Just hold off on buying anything.  We need to strategize.  If Iago isn't open to migrating, we'll skip SMF (since there's no real benefit at that point) and we'll just develop DolphinPro or Oxwall.

Look at these two samples.  Note the tabs.

DolphinPro


Oxwall


Both of these are free, so all we'd be paying for is the hosting fee, which is the same as the SMF option.  It'll just take time to develop these.

[jonas]

I think that the time between the closing of this forum and the arrival of the next book would be the optimal time for working out kinks in the transition. There will be a small but seasoned number of members with several months of system testing time to manage the influx of new and renewed activity.
Plus, I agree with the dislike of the Reddit system of karma points. While some of the Facebook groups and the Discord chatroom that I have joined are friendly and talkative; I sense that many are only recently asking plot questions that have been discussed in great detail here.
I could be mistaken; but it is how I feel.

I've specifically linked people to threads in the reference section that covered some of those questions, others I 'wowed' with what I consider an old hat.
...Hate Reddit for theory.

[wardenferry419]

Both look nice and seem to offer alot of room for expansion.

[Ananda]

There is a poll for everyone to voice an opinion. But, the decisions made by a group are usually slower than the decisions made by one.

There are over two months, still. Just set a deadline for making the decision so it gives enough time to implement the plan but enough time to assess the options. I’ve set up lots of websites, being a designer, but a free and professionally hosted forum service is probably best for a non-centralised community like this, I think.

Where is the poll? There are so many fora here, I can’t find much.

[raidem]

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/board,82.0.html

This is the official Future Forum Category.  The poll is one of the threads in it.

[wardenferry419]

And 17th shard-styled forum is in the lead.

[Ananda]

Thanks. Not that it was a close vote, but I also voted for a forum replacement.

[wardenferry419]

I think that many, like me, just prefer the ease and structure of a forum over the chaos of other social media.

[wardenferry419]

I agree. While I have found the odd thread once or twice that has given me food for thought; they really don't match this forum for detailed discussion and debate.

[khadgar4606]

you know pantheon would be nice way to keep the forum going plus we can have rewards like a character you create appears in the future book you choose or ability to affect plot on some level( we are still wait for peace talks so why not help jim write next book for small fee)

[raidem]

We have a woj on this... Jim views fan crack theory boards for entertainment.

That's perfectly enough material to come up with fan crack theory.  And fan crack theory is awesome.   I love reading fan crack theory.  I will go through occasionally and look at the crack theory boards, and it's like excellent.    And occasionally its like 'ooh that's actually better than what I had planned..."

Noquiexis
https://comparisons.financesonline.com/hostgator-vs-tmdhosting
HostGator has a higher rating at that website than TMD, 9.3 vs 8.2.

https://hostadvice.com/tools/web-hosting-comparison/hostgator-vs-tmdhosting/
This has TMD better than HostGator. 8.9v 6.0.

https://aspnethosting2go.com/hostgator-vs-tmdhosting/
This says Host Gator is better as website grows. HostGator has better Windows functionality, customer service, self-help forums. TMD limited to ticket service.

http://wpvsblogger.com/tmdhosting-vs-hostgator/
TMD cheaper. More worldwide datacenters.

[Kindler]

Reddit is a kharma Chase.

I actually just find it incredibly obnoxious to read. There's no straight format. Replies go to comments, so you have multiple subthreads, and people respond to the OP, missing stuff that was already covered in the comment threads, then people getting mad that they missed the subthreads.

But yeah, Kharma is stupid, and promotes mass downvoting of unpopular ideas. NOT THAT I WANT START ONE BECAUSE WE'VE ALL BEEN THERE TOO MANY TIMESbut imagine a Murphy character thread on any place BUT a regular, linear forum, for example. The minority will be shouted down every time. Not that that doesn't kind of happen here, but at least everyone's messages are displayed, and have a fair shot of being read.

[Griffyn612]

     I looked at the TMD website. I could find no "Terms of Service" on any web page. This should be on the landing page and any sales page after that. Also, most of the "Shared Hosting FAQ" questions will not open. Omissions and errors like this do not inspire a great deal of confidence.

     HostGator has a promotion "Starting at only$3.95/mo*" (which increases after the first term). See their Hosting price chart. Scroll down to the "Shared Hosting" section. The longer the term, the less the website will cost.

"Hatchling - Linux Shared  Regular  Price after 20% off
3 years @ $6.95 ($5.56)* $250.20 $200.16
* This is the price per month, including the 20% discount which applies to every month you order in advance on your initial payment."

     I have two SMF forums at WebHostingPad, but I may be moving to HostGator. Apparently WebHostingPad hosts porn websites, so they are blacklisted by several web hosts. Some of my admins cannot get e-mail from my website. My "family friendly / work safe" forum is at Magnus Bay Colony if you want to see the current version of SMF software (2.0.14).

     I also have the current version of Coppermine Photo Gallery (cpg1.5.46) if you would like to see that. Other than the User pictures, there is no need for CPG for this forum. That being said, it would cost no more to install it.

I like the fact that TMD will help transfer the existing forum, offers free spam help for domain email, advertises SSD, free domain, and claims to have experts for each forum software listed on the site to handle all upgrades.

As for comparisons, this site has TMD ranked 7th of all sites (HG isn't in the top ten), and has TMD winning the head-to-head.
https://hostadvice.com/hosting-companies/
https://hostadvice.com/tools/web-hosting-comparison/hostgator-vs-tmdhosting/

Here's another that has TMD ranked better.
http://wpvsblogger.com/tmdhosting-vs-hostgator/

Their terms are listed here.
https://www.tmdhosting.com/terms-home.html

That said, I'm not married to one or the other.  I've got one more day of work, and then I'm off for 11 days. I'm planning on spending some time reviewing more options.