Thomas Veil
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- Mar 23, 2022
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In case you hadn't heard about it already, please read theSeb's announcement about The Snug's future.
That of course raises the question: where do we go from here?
I've discussed this with theSeb and others on Discord and Slack, and there are a few options that don't involve going back to MR or TA...as if some of us even could.
Please bear with me as none of these ideas are fully formed, they are simply here for us to discuss.
1. arstechnica
theSeb describes this forum as a "well known hive of educated discussion and liberalism". I was not that familiar with it, but that sounds like a pretty accurate description.
Pros: it's got a lot of members already and it would cost us nothing to join (AFAIK). Possible cons: it's got a lot of members, so a small group like us may kind of get lost in the crowd there. Also it's got rules, regs and mods, just like MacRumors. Not that they're necessarily as capricious, but some of us have an aversion to the very idea.
2. The Snug continues under new management.
As Super King suggests at Discord, perhaps someone would want to keep the existing site and take over payment and operation of it.
Pros: everything stays the same. Cons: easier said than done--at least to me. Not all of us have the technical skills or the finances to do that. (Of course in reference to the cost of running a site, we could always try some kind of fundraising, like making this a paid membership site, for example.)
3. A similar site, under the same name.
In this scenario we'd basically try to find the most economical forum hosting solution we can, and then migrate there. I did investigate one host and, using their free trial, actually created the Snug 2.0 version, as it were, that is linked above.
Pros: it's not Xenforo, but it's similar. It sounds like it may even be able to import this existing forum, so we wouldn't lose it. From what I understand, the host, websitetoolbox, handles the technical side. You built the forum. Cons: you still have to pay for it, though it may be less expensive than some other solutions. In case you're wondering, this is what pricing looks like.
4. Discord.
Not the ideal solution, but a fallback.
Pros: ? I'm not sure how this kind of platform is funded. Cons: obviously it can't be divided into topics, threads, whatever, the way a real forum can. And some, like Scepticalscribe, have said in the past that they dislike the idea.
Please feel very free to correct me or expand on some of these thoughts. Thank you.
That of course raises the question: where do we go from here?
I've discussed this with theSeb and others on Discord and Slack, and there are a few options that don't involve going back to MR or TA...as if some of us even could.
Please bear with me as none of these ideas are fully formed, they are simply here for us to discuss.
1. arstechnica
theSeb describes this forum as a "well known hive of educated discussion and liberalism". I was not that familiar with it, but that sounds like a pretty accurate description.
Pros: it's got a lot of members already and it would cost us nothing to join (AFAIK). Possible cons: it's got a lot of members, so a small group like us may kind of get lost in the crowd there. Also it's got rules, regs and mods, just like MacRumors. Not that they're necessarily as capricious, but some of us have an aversion to the very idea.
2. The Snug continues under new management.
As Super King suggests at Discord, perhaps someone would want to keep the existing site and take over payment and operation of it.
Pros: everything stays the same. Cons: easier said than done--at least to me. Not all of us have the technical skills or the finances to do that. (Of course in reference to the cost of running a site, we could always try some kind of fundraising, like making this a paid membership site, for example.)
3. A similar site, under the same name.
In this scenario we'd basically try to find the most economical forum hosting solution we can, and then migrate there. I did investigate one host and, using their free trial, actually created the Snug 2.0 version, as it were, that is linked above.
Pros: it's not Xenforo, but it's similar. It sounds like it may even be able to import this existing forum, so we wouldn't lose it. From what I understand, the host, websitetoolbox, handles the technical side. You built the forum. Cons: you still have to pay for it, though it may be less expensive than some other solutions. In case you're wondering, this is what pricing looks like.
4. Discord.
Not the ideal solution, but a fallback.
Pros: ? I'm not sure how this kind of platform is funded. Cons: obviously it can't be divided into topics, threads, whatever, the way a real forum can. And some, like Scepticalscribe, have said in the past that they dislike the idea.
Please feel very free to correct me or expand on some of these thoughts. Thank you.
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