Future of the Forum

[AdMan]

Fair enough. Did you notice that plenty of folks are willing to volunteer time and materials? But JREF just isn't interested?

Sharon Hill announced she'd come on board to serve as creative consultant to the JREF to help rework the organization's online presence three days ago. Within 24 hours after that, she answered emails, including mine, that expressed concern for the forum as an important part of the online strategy. She expressly said that the forum is not currently a priority for the JREF.

Despite this, a little over 24 hours ago, she started this thread discussing the problems related to the forum and its future, and asking for help in dealing with them.

I don't know about the JREF's board, but Sharon has definitely shown an interest in helping the forum survive. I think anyone who cares about the forum should support her efforts.

 

[Damien Evans]

Sharon Hill announced she'd come on board to serve as creative consultant to the JREF to help rework the organization's online presence three days ago. Within 24 hours after that, she answered emails, including mine, that expressed concern for the forum as an important part of the online strategy. She expressly said that the forum is not currently a priority for the JREF.

Despite this, a little over 24 hours ago, she started this thread discussing the problems related to the forum and its future, and asking for help in dealing with them.

I don't know about the JREF's board, but Sharon has definitely shown an interest in helping the forum survive. I think anyone who cares about the forum should support her efforts.

 

[dasmiller]

Sharon Hill announced she'd come on board to serve as creative consultant to the JREF to help rework the organization's online presence three days ago. Within 24 hours after that, she answered emails, including mine, that expressed concern for the forum as an important part of the online strategy. She expressly said that the forum is not currently a priority for the JREF.

Despite this, a little over 24 hours ago, she started this thread discussing the problems related to the forum and its future, and asking for help in dealing with them.

I don't know about the JREF's board, but Sharon has definitely shown an interest in helping the forum survive. I think anyone who cares about the forum should support her efforts.

concur

 

[a_unique_person]

Sharon Hill announced she'd come on board to serve as creative consultant to the JREF to help rework the organization's online presence three days ago. Within 24 hours after that, she answered emails, including mine, that expressed concern for the forum as an important part of the online strategy. She expressly said that the forum is not currently a priority for the JREF.

Despite this, a little over 24 hours ago, she started this thread discussing the problems related to the forum and its future, and asking for help in dealing with them.

I don't know about the JREF's board, but Sharon has definitely shown an interest in helping the forum survive. I think anyone who cares about the forum should support her efforts.

+1.

Several times in the past there were forum appeals to send $$$$ and each time, plenty of $$$$ was handed over. If it's just a matter of time and $$$$, it looks like we have plenty of people offering time, and plenty of people offering $$$$.

 

[Jodie]

Well good luck with that...

 

[abaddon]

Sharon Hill announced she'd come on board to serve as creative consultant to the JREF to help rework the organization's online presence three days ago. Within 24 hours after that, she answered emails, including mine, that expressed concern for the forum as an important part of the online strategy. She expressly said that the forum is not currently a priority for the JREF.

Despite this, a little over 24 hours ago, she started this thread discussing the problems related to the forum and its future, and asking for help in dealing with them.

I don't know about the JREF's board, but Sharon has definitely shown an interest in helping the forum survive. I think anyone who cares about the forum should support her efforts.

Offers of assistance up to and including hosting the forum free gratis have been tabled. I see no rush to even explore such options. This is not about the practical matter of keeping the forum going. This is political.

 

[AdMan]

Offers of assistance up to and including hosting the forum free gratis have been tabled. I see no rush to even explore such options. This is not about the practical matter of keeping the forum going. This is political.

You see this even within the 24 (ETA: +3) hours since this thread has been open?

Sharon has just been dealing with this very recently. I think it's reasonable to give her a bit more time, before declaring "this is political," whatever that means.

 

[Wolfman]

Sharon has just recently joined JREF. She is not responsible for past policies, or the past actions (or inaction) of other JREF staff. So how about waiting to see what she actually does, rather than start off with accusations and criticisms?

To me, she sounds like someone who's just been given a huge load of stuff to do, some of which she's not really experienced in (like dealing with forum hardware and software issues). One of those issues is the forum. She came here in good faith, expressing a desire to figure out how to fix that problem. Her explanation was somewhat incomplete or confusing, because it is not her area of expertise.

Which, it seems obvious to me, is why she asked for help from people who are more experienced in this area.

I've been quite vocally critical of the JREF's participation (or non-participation) in the forums in the past, I'm no fanboy. But I personally think that we should give Sharon the chance to demonstrate her actual intent before launching into conspiracy theories and unsupported accusations. If later it turns out that the JREF does nothing, and this was all just smoke being blown up our collective butts, I'll be at the front of the pack to complain about that.

But in the meantime, rather than trying to convince Sharon that the forum is filled with misanthropic jerks who don't deserve the effort necessary to improve things, we instead try to demonstrate that we're a friendly and welcoming group who are more than happy to work with the JREF on a solution that benefits both sides?

 

[lionking]

That's rich. The OP asks for advice that obviously shows she's out of her league and people explain to her that she's not saying something that makes sense and they get attacked for not being NICE.

How about this instead,

If you don't know what you are talking about stop cluttering up the thread with a welcoming committee and lots of really nice comments.

If there's a real problem, which the OP clearly indicates there is, let those who DO know what they are talking about give advice.

Sorry, what have you done to assist? Are you an expert in this field? Are you not cluttering up this thread?

At least I've said I'd contribute. What will you do?

 

[rjh01]

I have exchanged several emails with the OP. I have had fast responses.
My suggestion to members is give her time. As in weeks or months rather than hours. It will take her time even to find the basic information to do her job. Then form relationships with the people with power.

One thing, the forum has got smaller over the last few years, as in number of new posts and number of active members. I also suggest the OP read the other threads with the tag as this one, especially for comments by Darat and Terry.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Sharon has recently joined JREF, but has been posting on the JREF forum since 2007, mostly in Bigfoot threads and other paranormal matters.I think it reasonable to expect she would be aware of the Admin & Mod structure. Her OP comment about "The moderator" may be just shorthand. Let's assume so.

I do not think it reasonable to expect her to have detailed understanding of the forum hard and software, but I'd hope she is in a position to at least find out the details of what hardware the forum uses and to post those data here.
Several opinions by people who seem to understand these things suggested that the problem might be not using a dedicated server.
Sharon says it is a dedicated server. If that is correct, then the solution may be either in software, or in beefing up that server, or adding a second database server.
Beefing it up is only possible if the initial configuration is known.


While there are knowledgable people on the forum they must have two way cooperation to achieve anything. We know the same software runs faster on similar and larger forums. We need to find out why it runs slowly on this one.

I am getting the impression that while not simple, the fix is straightforward. It is a matter of money and applied savoir faire. Both are available and have been for years and yet some obstacle keeps preventing the fix going ahead.

It may be Sharon's role to find out what that obstacle is and remove it.

 

[icerat]

Fair enough. Did you notice that plenty of folks are willing to volunteer time and materials? But JREF just isn't interested?

Well I got a response that they're collecting names of people offering assistance and it's being passed on to the person with responsibility for the site who will be deciding how to proceed.

Seems reasonable to me.

I'm thinking perhaps we could have a ground-up solution as well - Can others who have skills/money who are interested in improving things PM me with what they can contribute and we can co-ordinate something?

 

[quadraginta]

That's rich. The OP asks for advice that obviously shows she's out of her league and people explain to her that she's not saying something that makes sense and they get attacked for not being NICE
.

Maybe I missed a few posts but I don't think it was the explaining that anyone found fault with.

How about this instead,

If you don't know what you are talking about stop cluttering up the thread with a welcoming committee and lots of really nice comments.

What's wrong with being nice? More than a few people have been concerned about this issue, and aside from Darat this is the first real sign that the problem is being addressed and the first sign at all that it is being addressed by the JREF itself, and not just volunteer staff.

I can understand people expressing their relief and gratitude. I don't understand why you think it is so inappropriate.

Weird conspiracy theories? Now that is cluttering up the thread.

If there's a real problem, which the OP clearly indicates there is, let those who DO know what they are talking about give advice.

Is there something that makes you think they aren't? Who's stopping them?

 

[quadraginta]

Sharon has recently joined JREF, but has been posting on the JREF forum since 2007, mostly in Bigfoot threads and other paranormal matters.I think it reasonable to expect she would be aware of the Admin & Mod structure. Her OP comment about "The moderator" may be just shorthand. Let's assume so.

I'm sure willing to assume her wording was less than explicit. For that matter, longevity on the forum doesn't mean participation. She only has a few hundred posts. You don't have to read read much of the FM sub-forum to see people with a lot more involvement in the forum demonstrate a less than perfect grasp of all of its structural peculiarities.

I do not think it reasonable to expect her to have detailed understanding of the forum hard and software, but I'd hope she is in a position to at least find out the details of what hardware the forum uses and to post those data here.
Several opinions by people who seem to understand these things suggested that the problem might be not using a dedicated server.
Sharon says it is a dedicated server. If that is correct, then the solution may be either in software, or in beefing up that server, or adding a second database server.
Beefing it up is only possible if the initial configuration is known.


While there are knowledgable people on the forum they must have two way cooperation to achieve anything. We know the same software runs faster on similar and larger forums. We need to find out why it runs slowly on this one.

I am getting the impression that while not simple, the fix is straightforward. It is a matter of money and applied savoir faire. Both are available and have been for years and yet some obstacle keeps preventing the fix going ahead.

It may be Sharon's role to find out what that obstacle is and remove it.

I hope so. I think so.

If nothing else it is reassuring (to me at any rate) to see someone from the JREF proper explicitly and officially addressing the problem.

 

[idoubtit]

Let me be clear - I DON'T know the technical issues and I did not know the forum structure. I used the forum for specific topic areas, I was not well versed on the politics. I really am just the go-between attempting to solve the problem.

I'm more informed now!

No excuses, but my JREF position is part-time in addition to a full-time job elsewhere. So, I'm doing the best I can. I'm not deliberately being "coy", it's just unprofessional to provide information that may not be my position to release. FWIW, I have a 22 year career in civil service, I understand politics and various agendas, wrenches in the works, etc. pretty well. Things are more complicated than they appear on the surface. ANNNNYYYWAY....

Huge thanks to icerat, we are pursuing his offer.

Also, thank you to all who have submitted thoughtful (or hostile) comments. I get it your frustration, I really do. I just want to move forward. My apologies to Darat, I have emailed him a response.

 

[Wolfman]

Okay now...how can we twist that very reasonable response into proof of Sharon's complicity in a JREF plot to deceive and disenfranchise us?

Option One: Oh, yeah, Sharon? Well if the JREF really wanted to do anything, why would they appoint someone without any of the requisite technical knowledge? That proves that you're just the patsy for the PTB!

Option Two: Why didn't you tell us from the beginning that you were only part-time? You deliberately led us to believe that you had more power than you do, just more proof that the JREF can't be trusted!

Option Three: You could arrange to send emails to everyone in the forum database, but instead you just start a solitary thread in an area of the forum that most members never even look at...you're obviously not sincere in your desire to 'reach out to the forum membership for help'.

Option Four: Last year, someone else in the JREF failed entirely to respond to an important email that I sent to them, and since you work for the JREF too, you obviously bear the blame for that, and I see no reason to trust you until you rectify that problem!

 

[Damien Evans]

Okay now...how can we twist that very reasonable response into proof of Sharon's complicity in a JREF plot to deceive and disenfranchise us?

Option One: Oh, yeah, Sharon? Well if the JREF really wanted to do anything, why would they appoint someone without any of the requisite technical knowledge? That proves that you're just the patsy for the PTB!

Option Two: Why didn't you tell us from the beginning that you were only part-time? You deliberately led us to believe that you had more power than you do, just more proof that the JREF can't be trusted!

Option Three: You could arrange to send emails to everyone in the forum database, but instead you just start a solitary thread in an area of the forum that most members never even look at...you're obviously not sincere in your desire to 'reach out to the forum membership for help'.

Option Four: Last year, someone else in the JREF failed entirely to respond to an important email that I sent to them, and since you work for the JREF too, you obviously bear the blame for that, and I see no reason to trust you until you rectify that problem!

Thanks, I needed a laugh.

 

[varwoche]

On the flip side, hardware is often cheap compared to people, so is it better to spend a few hundred or thousand dollars to double the RAM, or spend tens of thousands on developers to improve RAM usage?

Agreed. I constantly see companies put $$$ into this/that/theother when a few $ on RAM would have done the trick.

The evidence points to a hosting problem, as you and others have suggested. I would not change the software, other than updating to current version. If this means losing customization, screw the customization. It's a bad idea for jref to customize in the first place, given lack of resources.

That said -- over the years, the forum has gone belly-up a number of times apparently due to database corruption. In the unlikely event that it's super-easy to switch the database from Mysql to Postgres, I would consider this change after the hosting is straightened out.

 

[varwoche]

It's awesome that icerat is helping. <applause icon goes here> Just make sure that jref isn't then required to signup additional companies to receive the service.

 

[John Jones]

I'll contribute $100 towards whatever hardware/software solutions are needed. Failing that, I'll give the $100 to abaddon to help defray his costs.

Likewise. In a previous life I was a SQL Server Admin/db designer and a C programmer for whatever help I can offer.