Migration discussion

[crimsonghost747]

hmm okay so that is indeed something up with the discord registration.
Tried going straight to https://discord.com/register ?

Phone number isn't mandatory, just pick a username and a password and enter an email which you can verify. Also no need to install anything anywhere, just use the web version on your browser. (it's handy to have it installed but the web version is nice for trying it out)

[fenders53]

(07-20-2021, 12:15 PM)crimsonghost747 Wrote: hmm okay so that is indeed something up with the discord registration.
Tried going straight to https://discord.com/register ?

Phone number isn't mandatory, just pick a username and a password and enter an email which you can verify. Also no need to install anything anywhere, just use the web version on your browser. (it's handy to have it installed but the web version is nice for trying it out)

Phone number was the first gate through your invite. I am registered now.

[Kerim]

Hey all, Kerim here.

Very sorry for the long absence, and I'm very grateful for the thoughtfulness you've all expressed about the well-being of this community and how to keep it safe and growing (even if elsewhere).

I've had a harrowing couple of years, personally, and monitoring and managing the site just never got near the top of the list. I'm coming out of it now, but not exactly sure what the future holds. The biggest positive development is that I have left my job and am planning to take a LOT of time off before working again (maybe up to a year?). I am looking forward to a period of much less stress, and getting back to this site is one of the things I have been excited about.

Nonetheless, I completely understand the impetus to relocate, given my neglect, and I'd be happy to help in that effort in any way at all. Just let me know what I can do.

I also am willing and able, going forward, to give this site more attention if folks would prefer to salvage this instead of moving. There are some easy things we could do right away to protect against similar problems in the future. For starters, I'd be very glad to add some of you as moderators here, so that people other than me can activate new accounts, manage threads, and the such.

Also, I'd be open to ideas about the registration process. The spam to actual user ratio is so high that I instituted very tight measures to join up, but I don't think many people (if any) have emailed me directly to join. If you send me user names of folks that you know are actual people who want to participate, I can activate those accounts right now.

Again, my deep apologies for disappearing and not helping the community to thrive. I can spend more time here now, and would love to, but also stand ready to help the group to its next chapter if I can.

Also, my personal email address, should it be useful is KerimJunk at gmail dot com.

Thanks,
Kerim

[fenders53]

It's good to hear from you Kerim, and hope life improves soon. I'll keep it brief for a change.

-Definitely a few mods with some tech skills. That will take potential future stress off you, and we won't have to wonder if the forum is in danger.

-The sign-up process has to be very reliable. It's hard enough to keep a forum viable. Several of us have invested some time recruiting. Mine just got annoyed and gave up. They were approved but it took a few months. Not their responsibility to hunt somebody down to join. I'm sure you understand that. I have somebody waiting right now. I'll ask tell him to register tomorrow. I have no idea how to fix it but it has to be easy to join. We signed up on the new sites the same day. Bots haven't found them yet I suppose.

-I can't speak for anyone else but the general tone is nobody wanted to move. A few weeks after Eric got no response we became concerned. Unfortunately Divemenow already paid the hosting fees for the new site he set up.

[Kerim]

Thanks much. I completely agree about the ease of registration -- and it is possible that the difficulty I've had is related to the forum software I chose years ago (and I'd be happy to consider alternatives).

[kblake]

I have had al least 8-10 friends that signed up and they all got tired of wafting. Some signed up back in March and still cant post in the forum here. They got so frustrated so they went elsewhere. Not your fault Kerim. Things happen, we all understand that. These new people were excited to post and had question regarding investments and retirement. Not sure what other forums are out there, but non compare to here.

I know divmenow also paid for hosting for a year too. So I'm sure it cost him a few $100 to get that site up and register a new name. I think he's been on vacation, but I for one thank him for getting that all up for us just in case something happened here.

But I'm very happy to be staying here and that was now have a plan B for adding a few moderators so we can get all those newbies signed up and get active again on these boards.

THANKS KERIM for all you do and did for us here. Much appreciated and hope you get well and find happiness moving forward.

[Kerim]

Thanks much, KBlake.

Ugh, I really appreciate everyone's understanding. Nonetheless, I'm sorry to have caused such frustration, and I'm sorry that we missed out on some new, motivated members as a result -- which are not always easy to come by.

If we do move forward here, I think there are some easy-to-implement steps that will avoid a repeat of this problem. (And I'd be happy to reimburse any expenses incurred by divmenow or others in pursuing an alternative that isn't ultimately used.) But again, I'd of course understand (and help, if possible) if some or all of the group wants to continue heading to another platform.

For rehabilitating this site, I think the first order of business would be deputizing a few moderators other than me. We could start a thread to discuss, but maybe there are a few volunteers / obvious choices.

Next, we should have a discussion about the registration process and agree on the best configuration available given the existing software platform. (Longer term, it may be worth exploring whether a different platform would be better.)

Thanks all,
Kerim

[crimsonghost747]

Good to hear from you. And good to hear that you'll also be taking some time off to relax, I know life hasn't exactly been easy on you these past years. And I truly hope most of the hard stuff is behind you now. Don't worry, I'm sure all of us understand that a forum is not on the top of the priority list.

But now since you are back, I'd very much indeed like to stick around on this forum. First order of business should be accepting new members. Looks like there are 8 or so people on discord who haven't been able to join. (not many who actively chat though) And I'm sure there are many, many others.

I have no idea how to deal with spam etc. but I do think that the registration process for new members should be effortless and they really do need to be approved fast. 24h max. Most forums I've used in the past have had an automated system, not too sure if that works nowadays with all the spam that is going around.

[Kerim]

(07-26-2021, 03:00 AM)crimsonghost747 Wrote: Looks like there are 8 or so people on discord who haven't been able to join. (not many who actively chat though) And I'm sure there are many, many others.

Thanks -- if anyone is aware of specific people that are still hoping to join (and who have already registered), I can activate their accounts with their email or username, which you can PM me.

[crimsonghost747]

(07-26-2021, 08:36 AM)Kerim Wrote:

(07-26-2021, 03:00 AM)crimsonghost747 Wrote: Looks like there are 8 or so people on discord who haven't been able to join. (not many who actively chat though) And I'm sure there are many, many others.

Thanks -- if anyone is aware of specific people that are still hoping to join (and who have already registered), I can activate their accounts with their email or username, which you can PM me.

Excellent.
I sent out a notification thingy on discord and I'll forward those usernames/emails to you if/when I get them.

[fenders53]

(07-26-2021, 09:17 AM)crimsonghost747 Wrote:

(07-26-2021, 08:36 AM)Kerim Wrote:

(07-26-2021, 03:00 AM)crimsonghost747 Wrote: Looks like there are 8 or so people on discord who haven't been able to join. (not many who actively chat though) And I'm sure there are many, many others.

Thanks -- if anyone is aware of specific people that are still hoping to join (and who have already registered), I can activate their accounts with their email or username, which you can PM me.

Excellent.
I sent out a notification thingy on discord and I'll forward those usernames/emails to you if/when I get them.

Yeah the chat was pretty dead.  I appreciate that you did that though.  We'll likely get one or two.  This is like cold call sales lol.  It's not like we missed out on 50 active members.  People are going to register and post once or zero times.  I think we will grow a little by fall when the registration is easy and quick.

[ken-do-nim]

So glad to see you're back Kerim. I was really worried.

So if you're in between jobs, you must actually be living off your dividends in the meantime. We would love to see how you're doing it. Looking forward to seeing a post from you in the My Portfolio section.