Looking for someone to take over!

[webrunner]

Hi everybody.

I haven't spend enough time lately on this forum as i wanted.
I always have big ideas and plans but just too little time to execute them all.

Lately, with 2 kids and a new job, i have even less time.
So i am looking for someone to take over Fibsboard after all these years.
I have to say it is difficult for me since it was the first community i ever build and still have nice warm feelings for most Fibs(board) members.

What do you need to take over?
1. a dedicated or a virtual dedicated LAMP server (Linx, Apache, MySql, Php)
2. moderation skills
3. Php skills (limited)
4. An elephants skin
5. A good relationship with Socksey and the other mods.
6. You have to be a member of Fibsboard for at least 6 months.

I won't ask any money for Fibsboard (although i have been offered even 15.000 dollars for it)
I just want a agreement where in it says that i have first right to get it back for free in case when someone wants to get rid of it.
I made around $65 with adwords last year and i recieve $45 dollars a month for some link placements.
This barely makes up for the hosting costs (i host on a dedicated server) but the hosting can be a little cheaper.
Be aware that Free hosting will NOT WORK with the current configuration.

I am sorry to do this, Fibsboard means a lot to me but i just can't afford the time and money anymore.

Kind regards,
Webrunner

[Ilberg]

Thanks for the hard work. You've built up an excellent community here. Good luck with the new job!

[webrunner]

Thanks
Although i didn't post this to get compliments

[socksey]

You deserve one!  This has been a lot of work.......a labor of love.  Thanks, webbie.   

socksey



"Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys." - P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

[lewscannon]

Wouldn't it be simpler to get rid of the two kids & the job?

Seriously, webby, thanks for all your work.

[webrunner]

So far i rec ieved only one offer.
It is from the owner of the site BSPN

He offered to merge the sites.

What do you guys think about that?

[socksey]

Merging would erase Fibs individuality.  I don't think I would like that.   

socksey

[Kari_Grandi]

Merging would erase Fibs individuality.  I don't think I would like that.   

socksey

+1

[Tomawaky]

Yes certainly. It would never be as it was on FibsBoard.
But if webby stop, It wouldn't be neither.

BSPN do not look so bad and we can make some quiet good things there. I think.
We have the possibility to create group and I did there for Fibs. There is one Fibs Group with actually 40 members and PSPN have more than 700 members.

I really don't know if this is the good solution. But i did not think that Merging would erase Fibs individuality. There is not really great activity for the moment at BPSN and if we would merged Fibsboard at BPSN this would be the individuality of Fibsters that would be erase the majority of BPSN activity 

Do you really Think that Fibs individuality could be erased by anyone ?

They start at first, are always here and will be the LAST 

[socksey]

You make some good points, Tomawaky.     I signed up at BPSN and found I had to up my birthdate to 1977 in order to get on!     Already they are making me an aging woman!      

socksey



"There are dangers that come with successful careers. One can slide almost imperceptibly into a situation where the demands of the job are automatically accorded priority over other, more personal commitments." - William H. Rehnquist

[webrunner]

Although i feel for the points that Tomawaky makes and i also appreciate the offer if the owner of BPSN, i would always prefer a solution that keeps the Fibsboard site in it's current form.

[sixty_something]

my first impression of the BPSN site was not good .. it appeared to be just another overly commercialized "social networking" site that had no apparent focus .. the FIBS related focus at FIBSboard is our most important asset which is, imo, essential to maintain .. also, for personal reasons, i really don't like sites with a black background over crowded and busy with ads, thumbnail pictures, links, and worse, for me, tiny fonts - these old eyes have a hard time with all that

otherwise, i did not go beyond the BPSN home page .. had i discovered it on my own, i would not, at first glance be inclined to delve beyond exploring a few links and not inclined to join yet another group

however, webby, if BPSN is the best alternative to meet your needs, terms, and requirements, i trust your judgement entirely .. none of use are, imo, going to be wild about any changes, but if we must change, change we must

regarding the current look and feel of FIBSboard, our GUI, i have grown very accustomed to it and would love to see it preserved .. i have experience with many different styles of forums, mail lists, and social networks, but i am no expert .. so, i wonder whether our GUI is keeping pace with the many and varied rapid changes in these areas, i.e. is our old familiar friend keeping up or getting old fashioned .. i also wonder whether "keeping up" is even an issue .. there is always the if it ain't broke don't fix it argument for keeping the current GUI

for me, for now, i am inclined to make keeping this GUI with which we are all so familiar as a paramount goal in any transfer .. i am not clear whether a transfer of the server to someone like BPSN would necessarily entail a change in our GUI or not, i.e. make FIBSboard just another sub-forum of another GUI .. if we all agree that keeping our current GUI is of paramount importance, we should consider adding that to our list of requirements



p.s. socks, i feel your pain .. as time goes by i frequently find my birthday becoming out of the range on many sites and questionnaires .. i guess the twenty_somethings who are the creators of most such things on-line have no perspective on aging gracefully

[Tomawaky]

I think that making Fibs goup no black background and some other color is very easy to change. I think we can integrate fibsboard with some kinf of look like Fibsboard theme with the help of BPSN. This is not matter.

[sixty_something]

yes, the black background is just a matter of my own strong personal taste and that of many others with diminishing eyesight which comes naturally with aging

however, the look and feel issue has another parameter other than appearance alone, i think .. if we were to become a direct sub-forum at another website, we would lose the archival nature of all the posts here wouldn't we?

when i first joined and started using FIBSboard, i spent a good deal of time referencing old posts .. i found many very useful in not only better learning the FIBS interface, but the history and social dynamics of the community here and at FIBS .. i would really hate to see any changes that would lead to the disappearance of those old threads and history

[webrunner]

Looks to me like integrating it is not really an option.
The BPSN is created using a free online service. It is hard to add any customisation.
I could just as easily create a new network using the same service but that wouldn't copy all the histiry that Sixt is talking about.
This is the main reason why i myself am not to enthusiastic about this idea.

[inim]

i found many very useful in not only better learning the FIBS interface, but the history and social dynamics of the community here and at FIBS .. i would really hate to see any changes that would lead to the disappearance of those old threads and history

Seconded, spekating for the two technical projects I'm involved in (JavaFIBS and RepBot) fibsboard is used as a bugtracker, newsfeed, technical whiteboard and history book all in one. While it would be possible to use the SourceForge infrastructure for at least RepBot, losing the feedback of many years would be a very bad thing. Furthermore, many not-so-nerdy users probably prefer a simple forum GUI over the highly sophisticated SF infrastructure.

Thus, in case any messages are lost during whatever transition may take place, I would ask for some form of backup of old messages in the RepBot and JavaFIBS forums in some machine readable format (SQL dump, XML, one-page HTML).

But let's all hope this isn't required and FIBSBoard just continues data-complete. Cudos to webrunner for creating and running this facility, it is a great contribution to the FIBS user and developer community.

[Tomawaky]

I could just as easily create a new network using the same service but that wouldn't copy all the histiry that Sixt is talking about.

If there is not all the history 
BPSN is a very bad Idea. I thought it was possible in a way or another.

[playBunny]

Fibsboard means a lot to me but i just can't afford the time and money anymore.

Kind regards,
Webrunner

Might I ask what exactly is the monetary cost and what are the tasks that need to be done?

Is the money side such that a few members could contribute adequately without digging too deep?

Would it be possible to transfer the entire site - name, contents and hosting package? That is, it doesn't move anywhere or get disturbed in any way; it's just a change of ownership? That would nicely preserve the GUI, the history and the future (apart from the new owner's fiddling about).

Would it be possible to add someone to the management team and delegate part, most or all of the workload? (Or would that be too much temptation and you really do need to let go of the whole thiing for now?)

Would the new person have to land on their LAMP legs and start web running immediately or would there be time to get up to speed, eg. if their expertise is in other areas of web programming?

[Tomawaky]

I am sorry to do this, Fibsboard means a lot to me but i just can't afford the time and money anymore.

About Money : I think that there is some places where it can be hosted for free. I know you already answer Webby that it's not possible if we want to keep "Spell Check" option and some others thing. But if this is the price to keep FibsBoard almost like it is actually, It worth the little loss. Even if I do not speak a good English, I never used the "Spell check".  Yes I certainly would have do sometimes. And then I try it know  .

Result : Webby is not recognized and I forgot the E at the English word 

About time : Many moderators would be able to go on their job and even if there is no more improvements at FB. It's already so good like it is that I am not afraid. We have all we want here (Except for me advertising  But Just teasing)

[spielberg]

Would it be possible to transfer the entire site - name, contents and hosting package? That is, it doesn't move anywhere or get disturbed in any way; it's just a change of ownership? That would nicely preserve the GUI, the history and the future (apart from the new owner's fiddling about).


Would the new person have to land on their LAMP legs and start web running immediately or would there be time to get up to speed, eg. if their expertise is in other areas of web programming?

Excellent questions both. If it is possible to transfer the whole site as an ongoing application this strikes me as ideal. I'd like to add to the second question - would it be possible for the new "owner"(s) to have no programming knowledge at all if the whole package just kept running? I know that's like asking "how many bugs are there in this piece of software?" but how much maintenance work does the site need on average webrunner?



And (I greatly enjoy starting paragraphs with "and") I know you don't want them webrunner but I'm adding my thanks to you for fibsboard (so there).

[webrunner]

I have tried several times to get paid memberships. The module is already installed and can be used. I turned it of because after 2 years i didn't have one single donation. In the past people used to donate a few bucks every now and then (nor nearly enough for the hosting though) but that is not the case anymore. I guess people expect that we all put in our money and effort for free.

That is the reason why i started putting ads on the site. They make up for a small part of the hosting costs and i have put up some links.
Removing those will remove any income.

I can hand-over the complete website and database. heck, i will even install the complete website.
taking over the hosting package is not an option, it is now on a dedicated server that hosts one other site (that i am also getting rid of )

Tomawaky: i always like to look at the numbers in stead of looking what i do: 60% of the non-english speakers use the spell checker.
I think it is imparitive for an international community.
Please stop telling everyone that it can be hosted for Free: it can't (!!!) and also i won't let it happen too.
Free hostings are slow with complex queries on databases and the forum is getting heavier every month. This will result in a sluggish site that will get slower and slower. Believe me : i know what i'm talking about.

So about the money: a virtual or dedicated server is the best way to do it. If you have a really stable and fast internet connection (especially an fast upload) you could host ity on a linux server at home. The power will cost you some money per year for the server.

I am willing to help anyone get up to speed for a short while and i also will remain admin as a backup.
But i prefer someone that has some experience (since time is the main reason to stop with this site).

As a matter of fact someone else maybe offered to host the site already. That person is willing to do the tech hosting part but not the site maintenance, management and moderation. So if someone is interested in that let me know.

And... thanks Spielberg

[stog]

hi thx web for all your efforts - if you do not get any other offers i would be willing to take it on - as it is (same moderators etc). i have 4 boards and forums for my own work and serverspace in uk and usa
just tested an installation and all seems fine

best wishes

[Kari_Grandi]

Stog sure would be a great admin!

Thanks to webbie also for all the great work, he's done. Fibs became more great place to be since fibsboard came to back it up.

[webrunner]

Hi Stog,
Thanks for your kind offer, i will look in to it.
Did you also try the spellchecker implementation?

[stog]

hey yes - enabled and it werks! could have been weeks or woiks!!


just finished testing out a conversion from one of my forums ( a php bb) and all data transferred well.
we could upload total from a zip file - what kinda of size is it  - incl all history and photos etc?

(and what is its growth in mbs a year on average)i read somewhere on the board that you had a 2mb limit on attachments and that there was a downloads section?

[webrunner]

That sounds great.
I am using smf 1.1.7. together with TinyPortal. The Tiny Portal need to be upgraded.
You could trying to upgrade to SMF 2.x. It is in Beta but pretty stable already.

The attachment directory is about 200 megs according to SMF.

Could you give us an insight on what your plans are for the site?
Are you thinking af any changes or improvements or do you just want to keep it as it is?

What about banners, payed membership, etc?

[stog]

i should like to continue as you have - with the same level of ads to contribute to costs, but no paid subs..I would basically upload "as is" and monitor. i would rather keep  to the stable release (but will test out the beta - when i have the time). if tiny portal is the theme used, then i would keep that for  now (which is the theme/ file i need to upgrade-is it only for the beta 2 release?). My feeling is the forum is just fine and that any mods i make will be gradual, as i think, it would be best to just "get to know a good routine with it"

(i have already tested a smf installation and migrated a database to it - you have the link don't you?)

we could set up a mirrored site this week if you like and see how it performs. (if you want  you could upload a .zip of the"folder" and a backup of the database, which i can then restore to a new installation +any mods or themes you have added) to my guest ftp directory, (i'll send you details in email)

[webrunner]

Tiny Portal is not a theme, it is a portal system that connects to SMF.

As i mentioned i have another option that i want to explore, the choice is difficult.
I'll comne back to you as soon as possible, this week at the latest.

[stog]

ok - i see that tiny is a panel mod.(which has a beta upgrade available)

You should have received my emails and can see a working smf.board. Contact me when you have made your decision.

regards stog