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Zamani
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1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Zamani »

Dear Everyone,

Mike Harris and I have decided that it may be time to call it a day for this forum. Dwindling user base is one of the main reasons, expenses is another and in addition to that the time to fix any problems which is mostly attended to by Mike.

This forum will eventually be shutdown by the end of 2018. We're open to other suggestions. Maybe someone would like to take over this forum? Or should it be moved to Facebook?

Hopefully we will able to move this forum to a new platform which will have lower expenses and maintenance..
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Duk »

Lets do everything we can to keep the forum alive and the excellent information that lives here available for many more years to come.

I'm sure that most people are more than happy to make contributions to cover the cost of any move to a different platform. But I really believe that it needs to stay away from a social media type arangement.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by MD »

Ditto from me.

Just doing some mental doodling.
Would there be any merrit to offer the site contents to be taken over by the Alfa Romeo Owners Club Of Australia,

http://www.alfaclubvic.org.au/forum/index.php

which has facilities in its Forum to cater for all types of Alfas including the transaxle.

Perhaps running the idea past the organisation could be fruitful.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by chukles10 »

i agree that we should not lose this site, and not move it to any social media arrangement.

The suggestion that AROCA take the site over is a good one, and would keep the site alive, if that does not work I am willing to contribute some funds to assist in keeping the site alive.

PS. it would be a good idea to email all members of the potential closure, as there is no notification on the website header of the intending closure.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Giuliettaevo2 »

Loosing this site would be horrible and a waste of knowledge.

I would be happy to donate some money for keeping it online.
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MD
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by MD »

We have had this financial question raised before and it got resolved. However to be fair, it might be reasonable to reveal the ACTUAL annual costs of maintaining this site. Knowing the costs may help explain Mike's problems but it would also provide a clear indication of how much all keen supporters of this site are willing to contribute. From recollection of the last fund drive, I don't remember it being a huge sum. Revealing would tell all. This is not a commercial venture site so the financials should not (in my opinion) be matters in confidence.

As for the second problem of IT maintenance,.I'd be happy to put the hand up to do it if knew the difference between a megabit and a tidbit. Perhaps there are members of our Forum who have the qualifications and dedication to help out. Anotherwords, we take care of business ourselves just like it has been done for years.

So I guess the there are two choices:-

1 D.I.Y.
2 Farm it out.

In any case, how about getting some discussion going about this issue fellas?
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by 4SFED4 »

Any consideration of monetizing the site to offset costs?
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Zamani »

Let me talk to Michael, on what are the different aspects of the site I need to keep up. Maybe I can take it over completely. Right now, it's more like 60/40, where I do some admin work and Michael does the lion's share of the work like registration and other backend stuff.

I think the main expenses are domain reg. fee and maybe the diskspace fee. Which, if we contribute once every few years should cover everything.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by bteoh »

Sounds like a good plan for you to take it over Zamani. I think most of us here would be happy to contribute some funds towards the maintenance of the site. Let us all know what is the best option to move forward.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Duk »

[quote="4SFED4"]Any consideration of monetizing the site to offset costs?[/quote]

I for 1 am totally against this appoach to running a forum.
There becomes a conflict of interests and that very rapidly intrudes into the freedom of speach we all enjoy here.

I was once instructed to alter, (Alter, not edit but completely change!) a comment on the AlfaBB after I made a blanket statement that after market air filters are largely BS and worthless on basically standard engines. It was a blanket statement and never at all mentioned any particular brand(s).
I was given the option to do that myself of an administrator would do it for me.

So obviously the owners of the forum didn't want to piss off the advertisers that pay them.

And personally I think that is absolutely disgusting!


From the sounds of it, funding the costs of the forum is very doable via donations.
The actual running of the forum seems to be the sticking point.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by 4SFED4 »

[quote="Duk"][quote="4SFED4"]Any consideration of monetizing the site to offset costs?[/quote]

I for 1 am totally against this appoach to running a forum.
There becomes a conflict of interests and that very rapidly intrudes into the freedom of speach we all enjoy here.

I was once instructed to alter, (Alter, not edit but completely change!) a comment on the AlfaBB after I made a blanket statement that after market air filters are largely BS and worthless on basically standard engines. It was a blanket statement and never at all mentioned any particular brand(s).
I was given the option to do that myself of an administrator would do it for me.

So obviously the owners of the forum didn't want to piss off the advertisers that pay them.

And personally I think that is absolutely disgusting!


From the sounds of it, funding the costs of the forum is very doable via donations.
The actual running of the forum seems to be the sticking point.[/quote]

Duk, with all do respect you are confusing moderation with monetization. There is no connection to opinions voiced and the ads shown or not shown. It is just a real estate transaction. The AlfaBB is owned by an automotive consortium group called AutoGuide.com, that is why the moderators are acting as they are, it is not in anyway related to AdChoice or AdWords or any other ad channel you may wish to integrate. AutoGuide Group owns hundreds of different forums and automotive related blog sites, a completely different animal to us transaxle enthusiasts. This site could probably pay for itself by allowing display ads to be shown and NOT influence the comments made by posters in any form or fashion.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Zamani »

Let me get some numbers from Mike on the running costs. If it is around $500/yr then if 20 people chip in $25/yr, we could easily keep this site running. I think it is cheaper than that.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Dennis »

I’d be happy to contribute yearly to keep this forum from closing or relocating to Facebook or any other social platform (don’t know what would be worse).

Would we want to make that contribution as a subscription or donation? What do you think? I’d rather keep away from advertising, but it is the only way to keep it free for everyone.
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Zamani »

Oh look who is back..... :lol:
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Re: 1-Year Notice of Forum Closure (End of 2018)

Post by Dennis »

Never been gone, just in lurk mode, waiting for when I’ll have time to get the gtv out of storage. ;)
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