A Big Change To The Forum Is Brewing

[Red Feline Team]

Upcoming Forum Changes

Change is inevitable, and it is important for everyone to know and consider what specific changes are coming. While the fact that changes will occur is certain, the exact nature of these changes is the key question that everyone should be thinking about.

It is clear to us that most registered members do not show much interest in what we post in this sub forum.

This lack of engagement is not a problem; those members will simply have to adjust to the new changes, if they are able to. Their question when the changes happen will be WTF?!!

Archiving Threads and Posts

One significant issue is the need to archive many threads and posts. A large number of threads have been inactive for months, as have several sub forums. Only two sub forums remain active; the others have seen little activity.

There is one sub forum in particular that does not require a separate space. The few threads that are still active there can be moved to the main sub forum, Open Discussions. It's name will change.

Potential Sub Forums for Removal

Some sub forums may be removed as part of the upcoming changes. The following sub forums are at risk of being discontinued:
• Producers Corner
• Mainstream GIMP
• GIMP stories
• Movie Reviews

It is also possible that some of these sub forums will be merged as part of a reorganization of the current format.

Transition to Archive Format

The current format, consisting of all threads and posts, will become an archive. This means the content will remain accessible for reading and visiting, but new posts will no longer be accepted.

Consideration of Feedback

The comments from the two or three people who actively read these notes will be considered during the transition process. Pertinent questions will be answered.

Possible Re-Registration

There is a possibility that the upcoming changes will require members to register again.

Conclusion

With these notes, we leave this information here and slowly step away.

[BobDarkroom]

Hello Team,

It's certainly a good thing to rationalize the site and to transform some of the less used threads to "Read only" archives!

Besides that, I think there's also room for rationalization in the 2 main threads by merging similar or even redundant topics.

Best regards,
Bob

[rtonet]

Hi:

I have enjoyed this site for many years! Yes, I'm pretty much a lurker, however I have greatly appreciated all the work and effort that goes into it. Work from the contributors as well as the team itself. Whatever you decide will be the new existence of the site, I'm sure it will have the best interest of us all at its core. I hope new postings will continue to be allowed, at least to a limited extent. Thank you all for everything.

[bakerboy]

Hi:

I have enjoyed this site for many years! Yes, I'm pretty much a lurker, however I have greatly appreciated all the work and effort that goes into it. Work from the contributors as well as the team itself. Whatever you decide will be the new existence of the site, I'm sure it will have the best interest of us all at its core. I hope new postings will continue to be allowed, at least to a limited extent. Thank you all for everything.

Ditto

[KirstensKutje]

Of course I understand that change is inevitable, so I’ll just go with the flow of your decisions. Just for me personally—(but who am I, really, to voice any kind of an opinion as a litte painslut that I am?)—the GIMP Stories Section was once the fundamental reason I ever ended up on this forum. And that—even though visual stories are playing an (annoyingly), increasingly important role here—I consider “the art of the written story” an important part of the GIMP community and tradition.

So I would be very sorry to see the “Stories” category discontinued as a subforum. I do believe it deserves its own special kind of place and , for example, that in the past we’ve already lost a (small) number of truly beautiful, finger-licking, and wet-making stories in some kind of malfunction/update, that were part of the stories database, that are truly a loss for the gimp-tradition. Hopefully you’ll take that into consideration.

Anywho, I’m following all developments and changes closely, and thank you for your service!

[Ralphus]

Potential Sub Forums for Removal

Some sub forums may be removed as part of the upcoming changes. The following sub forums are at risk of being discontinued:
• Producers Corner
• Mainstream GIMP
• GIMP stories
• Movie Reviews

Let me go on record as saying I REALLY would not want to see those sub-forums discontinued. They are largely inactive, I realize, but they are still useful, particularly the database of mainstream reviews and listings of whipping, hot iron, rack and electro films. Seeing as I had a huge part in adding these to the site when I used to be here, I wouldn't want to see my work simply deleted to save space. But do what you're going to do; it's not like my input matters around here anymore.

[Red Feline Team]

Potential Sub Forums for Removal

Some sub forums may be removed as part of the upcoming changes. The following sub forums are at risk of being discontinued:
• Producers Corner
• Mainstream GIMP
• GIMP stories
• Movie Reviews

Let me go on record as saying I REALLY would not want to see those sub-forums discontinued. They are largely inactive, I realize, but they are still useful, particularly the database of mainstream reviews and listings of whipping, hot iron, rack and electro films. Seeing as I had a huge part in adding these to the site when I used to be here, I wouldn't want to see my work simply deleted to save space. But do what you're going to do; it's not like my input matters around here anymore.

Nothing will be deleted, we're looking to put inactive threads in an archival form, but it has not been settled yet. Some sub forums might be merged, like Producers Corner with Open Discussion and GIMP Stories with Art, Movie Reviews with Mainstream GIMP.

It's a big Maybe. We have an issue with the current phpBB which is not operating properly. We need to solve that first.
Solving it might include having the current forum become an Archive.

Again, nothing will be deleted. The expected solution we are working on is that all of the files and data will be moved to a new phpPP platform.

It will take weeks or a couple of months to see how this will work. If the transfer works well, there's nothing to worry about except that maybe some sub forums will merge.

And Ralphus input always matters.

[Tbinder]

I’m all for streamlining the forum and doing what is best for future health and longevity. I really love the community and definitely want it to continue. I am a lurker so my input is marginally less important but feedback is important.

[MAV]

If those subforums are barely being used/clicked on anymore, I for one am fine with those being removed/archived/etc. Thanks RF team for keeping this community going

[Gray8059]

Given that you operate this forum without a steady revenue stream (fundraising notwithstanding), these decisions must be yours to make.

Reducing the number of discussion threads and archiving inactive material into read-only mode seems a very sensible approach to me. I suspect I am not the only one who (1) follows active discussions while also (2) goes back to look at older material (art or stories, reminders about vintage mainstream movies).

Thanks for all you do.